Win XP

[yellow dust]

I bought a new puter for the kids, with Celeron CPU and lots of RAM etc. But it won't run all their silly games, some say they won't work with Win NT/2000, some complain about the colours, some about the screen size (even though the settings might be the ones they claim to need) and some just give random error messages. But the end result is that only about 30% of their games will work properly. I have contacted the tech support for some of the game builders and their advice so far has not helped. I am thinking of formatting the whole thing and going back to WIN 98. This might be tough; does anyone have any experience of this problem and suggestions?

[flybhx]

Firstly - if the games worked in win98 try going to the .exe file for each game, right click and select properties. One of the tabs gives a compatability option for pre WinXP programs. See if this works.

If all else fails and you want to go back to win98 you will need to see if the hard drive has been formatted using the normal Windows File System in which case no problem. If it has been formatted to NTFS then the matter is a little harder.

[Alberts Growbag]

I too have bought a new 'bells and whistles' desk top running XP. I am on my third windows installation in ten days of ownership thanks to incompatability issues from games that won't run, programs that cause complications, to hardware that crashes XP.

Frankly it seems to me that if your game/hardware was great with Win 95, worked OK with 98/ME then it will be hit and miss with XP. A friend bought nine games with his new 'puter. All of them were 95/98 compatible, only one ran smoothly. One other caused a system crash and the others woudn't install either from the autostart or clicking setup.exe.

WinXp to me is buisiness application that has been turned into a home users system to suit Microshaft. My local Chinese computer shop also sates that XP will allow MS far more access to the contents of your hard drive than older systems thus the great enthusiasm to sell it cheaply to all computer maufacturers.

Frankly, unless your stuck with it don't upgrade for six months yet.

[pilotwolf]

Hi all!

have to buy new cdrw and new scanner after installing XP!

Bah Humbug!

F*** Bill Gates!

[henry crun]

I have a friend who runs XP and he suggests that those of you having problems could find answers at the following sites.

I cannot vouch for them because I'm not using XP but my friend has resolved all his problems.

<a href="http://xp.xyu.ca/screens.htm" target="_blank">http://xp.xyu.ca/screens.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/" target="_blank">http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/</a>
<a href="http://www.aumha.org" target="_blank">http://www.aumha.org</a>
<a href="http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm" target="_blank">http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.winoscentral.com" target="_blank">http://www.winoscentral.com</a>

[ 01 January 2002: Message edited by: henry crun ]</p>

[bblank]

About that "unless your stuck with it don't upgrade for six months yet"

Here is pcworld's assessment:

"What do all these pitfalls add up to? A version of Windows that is starting to look a lot like previous ones, upgradewise. Interface glitches, incompatible applications, missing drivers, shutdown problems, crashing--these classic upgrade snafus have plagued just about every version of Windows that Microsoft has produced.

And just as with previous versions, Microsoft has indicated that a follow-on to Windows XP is in the works. The ETA: no later than 2003."


The full five pages of application incompatibilities, bugs, and glitches are here:
<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,68796,00.asp" target="_blank">http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,68796,00.asp</a>

One place to look for XP answers is in a dedicated newsgroup. Try
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/default.asp" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/default.asp</a>
to find links to several different specific newsgroups. For example, for games look at
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windowsxp.games

Remember that these are user newsgroups. Not all the information will be expert although the newsgroups I hang out in (not Windows groups) pride themselves on getting things right in the end.