Windows Xp CD-ROM Boot Install Software?

[cman]

I finally found the new forum! :redface:  Anyway , ( to continue my post from the old forum ) I got my system system booted from floppy but I think the software to make a bootable CD-ROM is available from Dell at this link: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?c=&s=&cs=&l=&DriverId=r146318 ( I haven't tried this yet as the download is something like 500 mb+  :shock: ) in case anyone else needs this software.  I finally upgraded from ME to Windows XP but I have a 64-bit system. Is Windows XP 64 a large improvement over Windows XP 32 when running 64-bit hardware? Thanks for any input!

[clive]

Don't most of the XP OEM DVD/CD-ROMs boot?

If you have more than 3GB of RAM consider the 64-bit version, otherwise getting the drivers may give you headaches.

Windows 7 64-bit is a bit of a pain because it doesn't run DOS or Windows 16-bit applications. On a 64-bit box, supporting virtualization, you could certainly run Win XP or ME with something like Virtual Box.

[Vortex]

Dell's CD-ROM image looks like IBM's server installation guide. Probably, you can do an unattended installation with Dell's software.

[cman]

Ok , thanks for the information!  :t I have to download the CD-ROM image for future installs ( I have a feeling 3.5 floppy disks will be extinct soon - the only place to get them now is Ebay ). Thanks for the tips.

[Vortex]

Hi cman,

What's the memory capacity of your computer?

[cman]

Hi Vortex , I think I read your last post incorrectly ( Dell's CD-ROM image looks like IBM's server installation guide ). I guess this isn't what I'm looking for! Anyway , my current machine has a 160gb hard drive and 2 gb ram , if that's what you mean by memory capacity. Thank you for your input!  :t

[hutch--]

Unless you want to write specifically 64 bit code on Win7, I would install XP SP3 32 bit on your machine as the disk is a bit small for later OS versions. XP runs OK on 2 gig of memory, 4 gig is better as it allows the OS and drivers to load into memory above the 2 gig addressing range limit but it depends if you can cheaply upgrade it or not.

[Vortex]

Hi cman,

If you decide to install XP, 2 Gb of memory will be OK. You can even use ramdisk software to accelerate some operations.

[xandaz]

    Well hutch, you're probailly more into that buisness than i, but i just want to say that Vista runs pretty well on mine and i only have 2 Gigs. I should also let you know that i only purchased the extra Gig a couple of months ago. It came with just one. Xp is extremelly faster but kind of unsafe.

[Vortex]

...but kind of unsafe.

Hi xandaz,

Sorry but I have to disagree here: Install all the required hotfixes. Use another web browser instead of IE. Run under a restricted account. Prefer portable applications. XP will be OK for you.

[xandaz]

    OK.... i'll take that in account next time i reinstall OS.

[cman]

I installed Windows XP sp3 and it works pretty nicely on my system.  Do I need newer development tools with this OS ? I have visual studio 6 , and while debugging some C code I received the error messages:

Loaded ntdll.dll no matching symbolic information found.
Loaded c:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll , no matching symbolic information found.
...

Do I need a new version of Visual Studio? I installed the sp6 upgrade and that didn't seem to help.

[xandaz]

  it's possible that some exports couldnt be found. Newer versions of windows have newer functions, others get abandoned...

[cman]

Thanks for the input.  Apparently one needs to install new debug symbols for the compiler when changing operating systems. Visual C++ 6.0 does not have the features needed to connect to the Microsoft website to download the proper debug symbols , but someone has written a piece of software that can download the symbols and put them in the proper location to allow the symbolic debugger to work properly. The software is called symget and can be downloaded from DebugInfo.com , in case anyone else needs to use VC++ 6.0 with Windows XP.

[hutch--]

I tend to point specific OS versions at computers of a specific size, on an old box, run win2000, its stable, reliable and still does most things OK. If the box is not all that old, run XP SP3 as its very robust and still runs most 32 bit software. It will work with under 1 gig of memory but works a lot better with 4 gig. 2 gig is a good compromise.

If you have a late i7 with 8 gig or more and you don't mind the cheezy glass interface, run Win7 64 bit, it will run the newer 64 bit apps and can run most of the older 32 bit apps, even if you have to run them in XP mode. I would not recomment XP 64 as it was an orphan, if you want 64 bit operations, use Win7 64.

xandaz,

Is that your youngster in your logo ?