Another look at Windows XP

A few articles ago, I presented a preview of Windows XP, mostly based on Microsoft’s advertising. As of now, the Falls Township Senior Center (one of the venues in which I teach) has a new computer with XP and I want to update my previous article with some first hand information.

Initially, there is the question whether to upgrade or get a new computer. As I said, we (at the Senior Center) bought a new one, as we did not have a good enough computer to upgrade. The requirements for Hard Drive space and memory are high for XP. Consult the Microsoft web page for the minimums.

My conclusion is that you must use caution to upgrade but when you are able to get a computer with XP pre installed, you will be impressed how “smart” it is. I installed our printer in just a few seconds and it did not require us to use the CD ROM Disk that we had for it, as XP has loads of drivers installed. XP did not want to install our ISP from the disk that we had. When I called the ISP (Netcarrier), they advised that the disk would not work in XP and guided me through the procedure, which was very quick and easy, and I could probably have done it without help, as the XP can load an ISP quickly without software. You just need to know what numbers you used for the dial-up, something you should copy down before shutting your old system down.

There is an on board guide (tour) on XP’s start menu that you can take to remind you of all the advantages I mentioned in the previous article. It seems to be a given that older and less expensive scanners may not work in XP. The System was quick to point that out, and even made a search by itself for XP approved hardware (referred to as XP Logo). After that, it directed us to our Scanner’s website (Visioneer) where they advised which models worked OK in XP, which ones were still in process and which would not be updated. Unfortunately, our scanner was in that last list. We will use the scanner on a machine with Win 98. The O/S seems much faster than Win 98 to us (as Microsoft claimed), but this may be helped by the faster processor we now have (1.0 GHz).

If you are buying a new computer these days, you will most probably have XP preinstalled. You will get the disk but you cannot use it more than once. Microsoft describes their new controls on their Software as “Reducing Piracy.” I cannot deny that they have a right to do that. The O/S has an icon on the lower right of the screen that, when you point to it, tells you how long it will operate before you must authenticate it. You are allowed 30 days. To authenticate, I went on-line and clicked that same icon, entered the number that appeared on a sticker that was on the computer case and in moments the screen message indicated all was set. Afterwards the icon was no longer on the task bar.

Other software installed about as quickly as I could imagine with no problems. After using XP for a while, I had the feeling the computer was anticipating my every move by providing the right buttons to click in a very visible way. In the start menu, your most recently used application appears on a list when you click Start. The screen, which gives you all those frequently used programs, also has a button called All Programs. This will bring up what you will recognize as the regular start menu.

Another handy feature on the Desktop is the way the icons will always be lined up. In Win 98, you needed to right click the desktop to give the computer that command, but now any new icon you drag onto the screen will find itself automatically lined up.

On another note, I wanted to let my readers know about loading a new piece of USB hardware into XP. It is a good idea to have the new hardware ready to go with the USB cable plugged into the new hardware. Bring you computer’s screen to the desktop and then plug the square end of the USB cable into the Computer. In a few seconds, a message will come up telling you what to do next. With Win 98, it would ask you to load the software disk into the CD-ROM, but with XP, that may not be necessary.

I strongly suggest getting a USB hub if you have more peripherals than you have USB Ports. If you do not have a hub and you are just manually switching the USB cables, you may start running into some problems especially if you try to make the change while the computer is on. This is because the computer may think that you are loading new hardware in that mode while it probably would not if you make the switch with the computer off.

The system restore that you may have with Win ME or XP is very valuable to repair your system in the event of a problem, without losing your data. Otherwise, you might have to reformat your hard drive with no opportunity to back up your data.

Of course, I have not used all the goodies in XP yet; we have only had it a week, but I wanted to report on the status so far. I can say confidently that Windows XP will make you feel more like an eXPert whether or not you are.

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Consultant and Instructor. He can be reached at: mouseclix2@yahoo.com. Previous articles are at http://mouseclix.tripod.com as well as information on where you can take free computer classes with him.