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First post, by ncmark

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Just thinking here. I have a copy of Windows XP running on an A7v400 (or was it the 600?) It sat in the closet for a long time; then for the longest time I wiped and reinstalled every 30 days rather than activate it - I didn't want to "commit" that copy of windows XP to that hardware.

I would like to keep XP but I keep thinking about better hardware. I would want intel for sure, something more modern, like with real SATA ports so I an use a newer hard drive. Also, something where I could use a fanless heatpipe cooler would be a huge plus. If I could get something like that for socket A I would but it doesn't seem like it exists.

That was actually the last system I built; am not at all up on the latest boards. (I know, I wouldn't be getting a "latest" board but I could get something newer). I have browsed ebay for a long time, gravitated towards something like p5k or p5ql.

Any suggestions? Or just forget it / not worth it?

Reply 1 of 60, by Caluser2000

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This 3.2Ghz P4 has sata connectors....

So does my Core2Duo.

Both have legacy Ide ports as well...

Last edited by Caluser2000 on 2021-06-14, 12:35. Edited 1 time in total.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 2 of 60, by mothergoose729

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You can install XP on very nearly any hardware. Pick whatever era is your favorite. If you want the most performance possible it's basically a modern machine with an older video card.

EDIT: Fanless stuff is pretty hard to find. You can buy a big hunky heatsink that is rated for passive cooling and pair it with a 35 watt processor if you want. There are fanless mini PCs based mostly around dual and quad core atom based designs but they are often overpriced and don't support any expansion cards which makes them IMO rather unappealing. Any low wattage CPU with a 4 pin header and the stock intel cooler will be pretty quite and way cheaper.

Reply 3 of 60, by Caluser2000

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mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-06-11, 20:53:

You can install XP on very nearly any hardware. Pick whatever era is your favorite. If you want the most performance possible it's basically a modern machine with an older video card.

EDIT: Fanless stuff is pretty hard to find. You can buy a big hunky heatsink that is rated for passive cooling and pair it with a 35 watt processor if you want. There are fanless mini PCs based mostly around dual and quad core atom based designs but they are often overpriced and don't support any expansion cards which makes them IMO rather unappealing. Any low wattage CPU with a 4 pin header and the stock intel cooler will be pretty quite and way cheaper.

That is interesting. Thanks. Most folk tell you otherwise.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 4 of 60, by mothergoose729

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Caluser2000 wrote on 2021-06-11, 21:22:
mothergoose729 wrote on 2021-06-11, 20:53:

You can install XP on very nearly any hardware. Pick whatever era is your favorite. If you want the most performance possible it's basically a modern machine with an older video card.

EDIT: Fanless stuff is pretty hard to find. You can buy a big hunky heatsink that is rated for passive cooling and pair it with a 35 watt processor if you want. There are fanless mini PCs based mostly around dual and quad core atom based designs but they are often overpriced and don't support any expansion cards which makes them IMO rather unappealing. Any low wattage CPU with a 4 pin header and the stock intel cooler will be pretty quite and way cheaper.

That is interesting. Thanks. Most folk tell you otherwise.

The information will disseminate eventually 😀. If your board doesn't support IDE emulation then you have to slipstream AHCI drivers into your image. That takes about twenty minutes. 15 minutes to download the tools and read the instructions, and 5 minutes to create your image.

https://www.win-raid.com/t22f45-Guide-Integra … W-k-W-k-CD.html

https://www.win-raid.com/t3024f45-Guide-Integ … nXP-W-k-CD.html

Reply 6 of 60, by mothergoose729

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ncmark wrote on 2021-06-11, 21:34:

In the office I have (not mine, belongs to the school) and older t3500 with a Xeon processor that has one of those fanless heatpipe coolers....

There are a ton of those on ebay. The only reason I would steer away from that is dell was known to use proprietary power supplies in their computers back then which is a huge pain to deal with.

Reply 8 of 60, by Caluser2000

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Is XP PE still being updated or has it stopped now?

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 9 of 60, by ncmark

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I just realized something browsing motherboards. Anything I would get would NOT have AGP so I'd be looking at getting a new video card too (or just using PCI)
Hmm....new board, new cpu, new RAM...once upon a time you could recycle at least SOME components! 😀 😀

Reply 10 of 60, by cyclone3d

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ncmark wrote on 2021-06-11, 21:34:

In the office I have (not mine, belongs to the school) an older t3500 with a Xeon processor that has one of those fanless heatpipe coolers....

Pretty sure the fan is in the front of the case and the shroud that goes back to the CPU cooler uses the front intake fan to cool the CPU cooler.

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Reply 11 of 60, by chinny22

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LGA775 is the sweet spot of XP IMHO. Games requiring more CPU power will most likely have dropped XP support anyway.
I've "only" got a x3320 2.50Ghz in mine and haven't had any CPU related issues. Its not fanless but do have a a big heatsink Noctua NH-U14S to be exact and is pretty quiet.

For graphics I've got a pair of GTX590's not the XP even supports SLI I can run every game with all the driver enhancements maxed out with no performance issues so except you could drop 1 or 2 levels back.
My next "newest" cards are a pair of HD4890's which do start to struggle.

Sound I went with latest and greatest EAX card that supports XP namely the X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Champion. I do recommend the X-Fi as in my ears it does improve over the Audigy 2 ZS in another rig. but I am also very happy with the Audigy if price or availably is a issue.

I happen to be running the T3500's bigger brother the T5500. Good solid machine.
Mine requires a Dell PSU for the 2nd CPU but if only using 1 CPU or a single socket machine like yours a generic PSU is fine and good base for a XP build indeed.
A good page for upgrades is here.
https://www.greenpcgamers.com/uncategorized/m … aming-computer/

Edit

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-06-12, 04:23:
ncmark wrote on 2021-06-11, 21:34:

In the office I have (not mine, belongs to the school) an older t3500 with a Xeon processor that has one of those fanless heatpipe coolers....

Pretty sure the fan is in the front of the case and the shroud that goes back to the CPU cooler uses the front intake fan to cool the CPU cooler.

Yes this is correct, I'm still using the original but quick google seems to suggest its just a standard 4 pin PWM connection if you did want to replace them

Reply 12 of 60, by ncmark

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It just seems as if the athlon xp has not aged as well.
The cpu lacks sse2 support (chrome refused to install back when I was using it for an internet box).....
The motherboard lacks sata connectors (effectively prohibiting the use of a new hard drive)...
The choice of coolers is MUCH more limited for socket A than LGA775......
The board still uses the old-style capacitors.....

Reply 13 of 60, by Caluser2000

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ncmark wrote on 2021-06-14, 11:53:
It just seems as if the athlon xp has not aged as well. The cpu lacks sse2 support (chrome refused to install back when I was […]
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It just seems as if the athlon xp has not aged as well.
The cpu lacks sse2 support (chrome refused to install back when I was using it for an internet box).....
The motherboard lacks sata connectors (effectively prohibiting the use of a new hard drive)...
The choice of coolers is MUCH more limited for socket A than LGA775......
The board still uses the old-style capacitors.....

That's what we call retro man.....

Some people just don't get 😉

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 15 of 60, by Caluser2000

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Speaking of retro. The Shuttle XPC I just got has the ol XP attempt to load and reboot problem. I think the was why I finally switch over to using Linux as my personal desk top operating system.

There's a glitch in the matrix.
A founding member of the 286 appreciation society.
Apparently 32-bit is dead and nobody likes P4s.
Of course, as always, I'm open to correction...😉

Reply 17 of 60, by chrismeyer6

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ncmark wrote on 2021-07-25, 21:51:

Well - from what I have been reading, micro$oft has shut down the XP activation severs, so I guess it's all a moot point!

You can still call and activate a XP install.

Reply 19 of 60, by Jo22

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Is it confirmed that internet activation has been shut down?

I'm sorry, I don't know, I just heard rumors of it, too..

Anyway, the telephone activation should still work. Just give it a try.
And in case that fails at some point, older XP CDs compatible with the legendary FCK.. stuff should still be working and not requiring any activation.

Alternatively, someone can use activation utilities in safe mode.
They work up to ~SP2, I heard. In order to update to SP3, someone could just save the repaired winlogin.exe prior updating.
Once SP3 is installed, a Linux Live System can be used to write it back to the NTFS partition.

Because, at least until now, Linux doesn't obey NTFS permissions.
This may change in the future, if that Paragon (?) driver finds its way into Linux, not sure.

Anyway, this is just a theoretical scenario in case the normal activation procedure ceases to function in the future.
I hope that's compatible with the rules, thus.
I won't give an instructions were to find these things, whatsoever.

Merely mention that here (vaguely) so people don't have to worry
about loosing good old XP forever and because it's an open secret, so to say.

Also, always make sure you've got an original media and that COA sticker in the drawer.
Use whatever you want in the end, but play fair and get an original. 😀

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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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