Microsoft Windows XP Home: Approach with Due Care; Problems, Solutions & Conclusions...
Written: Dec 24 '01 (Updated Dec 26 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Rich vibrant interface; networking is more intuitive; ICS actually works!
Cons: Backwards compatibility even with Windows 2000 software packages cannot be guaranteed.
The Bottom Line: Windows XP Home Edition is worth the upgrade from previous versions of Windows; just make sure you approach the upgrade with eyes wide open!
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| vemartin's Full Review: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (N09-00048) For ... |
Authors Note: I decided because of length to split this review into three parts; one covering the software package overall, one detailing the installation process and first impressions, and one detailing my trials and tribulations (there were many) with the beast . So I give you Part 3 Problems, Solutions, and Conclusions.
Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), I encountered quite a few problems after the installation of Windows XP Home Edition was complete and over a three week period I have compiled them below. Initially I did an upgrade over and excising copy of Windows Me, because I did not want to have re-install all of my software and loose my settings, etc, etc.. This approach turned out to be a major disaster—as you will read about below and I ended up performing a scratch installation of the Windows XP Home Edition, because the solution to one problem seemed to give rise to other more vexing problems. After the scratch install was complete the OS stabilized until I installed software that was allegedly written for Windows XP, but cause major instability in the OS. Here now is my list, problems 1 -7 were problems resulting from the upgrade, while problems 8-9 came to light after the scratch install:
Problem 1: Several of the services and options on Norton Antivirus 2002 (designed for Windows XP) would not function properly and caused the application to crash continually.
Solution: I had to uninstall, and then completely re-install the application.
Problem 2: Microsoft Office XP Professional failed to work properly. This was especially galling since Office XP is a Microsoft application and I expected better operational interface with Windows XP,. The biggest headache was with Outlook and Word, the two applications I use the most. Both applications crashed on a continual basis, and Outlook would not send mail without crashing first, then restarting itself after asking if I wanted to send a problem report to Microsoft.
Solution: I had to uninstall, and then completely re-install Office XP Professional. I tried to repair the application in place first, but that procedure failed to fix all of the problems I was experiencing. So I completely un-installed Office XP and then re-installed from scratch. This seemed to fix the majority of problems, but Outlook still crashed on occasion when I send out email. Note: After the scratch install of Windows XP Home Edition and a re-install of Office XP I have not experienced any more problems with Outlook.
Problem 3: The BIOS on my motherboard (ABit KT-7A RAID) needed to be updated. The old BIOS (circa 2000) was causing some system instability (IRQ & DMA conflicts, memory mis-matches, etc.).
Solution: I downloaded a newer BIOS version from ABit.com Once the new BIOS was loaded however, Windows XP, refused to load normally until I de-installed the HP 9900ci, and then allowed it to be re-detected in normal mode; go figure.
Problem 4: Overall system performance degradation. Because there was so little space on the C: drive after the install (500 MB), I noticed a very measurable performance hit; the mouse would stick as I dragged it across the screen; sounds would not play without interruption; programs took longer then expected to open; the icons in control panel did not display instantly, but phased in one by one; and minimizing and maximizing programs took longer then expected.
Solution: I noted that Windows Pagefile size on drive C: was between 192 – 390 MB which gave it little room to grow, so I moved it to another drive. Via the System applet in Control Panel, I moved the Pagefile from C: drive to E: drive where there is currently 3.6 GB of free space. Result: the performance issues largely cleared up.
Problem 5: Microsoft’ HP 9900ci drivers caused OS instability. During the installation process Windows XP, installed generic drivers for the HP 9900ci, which cased the system to hang.
Solution: I downloaded and installed the HP drivers and software (HP RecordNow, HP Simple Backup both from Veritas, upgrades to the full program are available) for the 9900ci and those problems went away, or so I thought, read on friends, read on…
Problem 6: the CD-ROM performance when playing music CD’s is disappointing. This problem first cropped up before I moved the Pagefile and I thought it would go away once the pagefile was moved, but it didn’t. Before I installed Windows XP, I could play a music CD and use other programs without noticeable degradation in CD sound quality.
Solution: I disabled the digital playback via control panel/device manager and the problem went away.
Problem 7: Generic Wireless NIC driver caused severe OS instability. This was a nightmare to troubleshoot. After the installation, the system experienced the Blue Screen of Death on an almost hourly basis, and it became extremely hard to work. The spouse finally gave up and went back to dial-up AOL sessions again, because my system could not be counted on to remain on-line. Although I could access the Linksys WPC11 wireless card and changed its parameters to match those in the rest of my wireless network, I could only connect at 2 megabyte per second, which was my first clue that something was not right with the driver set.
Solution: I had to live with this problem for five torturous days, until Linksys finally released a Windows XP, driver on December 12th. After I installed the driver, the OS had stabilized considerably, though problems still remained to be ironed out and an occasional Blue screen will appear and ruin my sunny disposition.
Problem 8: Hewlett Packard’s Record Now (designed for Windows XP,), caused the system to Blue screen. After I finished the scratch install of the OS, I reinstalled the three software packages HP has release thus far to work with my HP 9900ci CD-ROM/RW/DVD: Record Now, Simple Backup, and Power DVD. I installed all three in quick secession thinking it would be okay. The system worked for an hour then system crashes became a problem once more.
Solution: I uninstalled all three applications, then tested the system for a 24 hour period to ensure it remained stable, it did. I then reinstalled each software package one at a time and tested it before going to the next. My findings: HP Record Now, again designed for Windows XP, was causing the problem, why and how I don’t know...
Problem 9: Because I could not use Record Now (written for HP by Veritas), to burn CD’s I downloaded and installed Roxio’ Easy CD Creator 5.1 evaluation, also written for Windows XP. After the installation I found to my chagrin that I could not access the other CD-ROM on my system, nor could I burn a CD via Easy CD Creator or Windows XP, built in burner software; i.e. Easy CD Creator claimed there was not enough disk space on a virgin CD-R, and I was only trying to burn 50MB worth of data. Finally, Windows XP, would not recognize a blank CD-R in the drive!
Solution: I had no choice but to remove Easy CD Creator. I removed the software tested the two CD-ROM’s for functionality, and lo and behold they both worked once more. I then re-installed Easy CD Creator 5.1 for Windows XP, and the problem re-established itself.
Conclusions:
Given the right set of circumstance; i.e. clean (scratch) install, very few, or no pre-Windows XP, applications, installation, configuration, and operating Windows XP Home Edition can be an enjoyable experience. Failing that, the OS can be difficult animal to tame and could quite possibly tax the limits of your self-control; I know it did mine, as my knuckle prints on my monitor screen will surely attest!
From the commercials on television, the Internet, and print, Microsoft gives the impression that computing under the Windows XP, banner will be an enjoyable, fun-filled experience—and again given the right set of variables it can be. But the average user of Windows XP Home Edition with a smattering of hardware from the last half decade and megabytes of software applications from past Windows versions festooning their computers may have a less then enjoyable experience getting the OS to perform as advertised.
Even with my years of experience dealing with the Windows platform did not adequately prepare me for the three week ordeal I endured installing Windows XP Home Edition. Though in the end I managed to trouble-shoot all of the problems, it too me nearly three weeks and endless hours of frustration to do it. The upgrade is not sometime to be taken lightly, or approached with an air of ignorant expectation. Homework must be undertaken, and I implore you gentle reader to consult the Microsoft Hardware compatibility list, BEFORE you undertake the upgrade to Windows XP Home Edition, or even if you are doing a scratch install.
That being said, I have since cleared up all of my problems with the OS and it has been running like a champ for the last three days. I downloaded several hot fixes from Microsoft which go a long way in addressing some of the software compatibility issues, including Norton Antivirus 2000, PcAnywhere 10.0, Easy CD Creator 4.02, and Quicken 2000; read Microsoft Knowledge Base articles Q309321, Q311889, and Q313484 for complete details, before you spend your money on third party software upgrades.
Do I like the OS over-all? I would have to say yes. I love the look and feel of Windows XP Home Edition, and I like the level of control it gives me over the hardware, thought allowing me to change the IRQ settings and DMA channels would be nice. When all is said and done, Windows XP Home Edition is a culmination of Microsoft’s years of experience with Windows NT, Windows 95-98, and Windows 2000, so the OS is appropriately named. And now that my problems seem to be a thing of past nightmares, I can finally start enjoying the experience…
Please read Part 1 and Part 2 of my Windows XP Home Ed. trilogy at the following locations:
Part 1, Installation: http://www.epinions.com/content_49831579268
Part 2, First Impressions: http://www.epinions.com/content_50255924868
Recommended:
Yes
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vemartin
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Member: Vincent
Location: Aurora, IL
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