Tuesday, October 26, 2004
| Upgrade a five-year-old Windows 98 computer?
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| Q. HELP! I have a five-year-old computer with Windows 98. Sometimes it freezes up on me. Can I get it upgraded or get more memory onto it? I would really like to get it upgraded to Windows XP. But the warranty expired four years ago. What can I do?
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| A. I get an awful lot of messages like this. I suspect that many people are ready to throw in the towel on Windows 98 and Windows ME. Unfortunately, upgrade options are not good.
You don't have to take the computer back to where you bought it for an upgrade. You can have hardware and software installed at nearly any computer store. This is not a warranty repair. However, the honest guys are going to tell you not to bother. They're right. A five-year-old computer may be past its useful life. It could be freezing up because of the accumulated junk in Windows 98. Or it could have a hardware problem. Either way, the labor to get it fixed is going to be expensive. You might be able to install Windows XP on the computer, assuming your microprocessor meets Microsoft's minimum specifications. You would probably need more memory. And you might need a larger hard drive. With labor, this probably would be an expensive overhaul. Do not install an XP upgrade. They just don't work very well. Your hard drive needs to be wiped clean for the XP installation. Then all of your programs and personal files would have to be reinstalled. If you upgrade a computer with minimum specifications, what will you have? A big investment and a slow computer. Plus, the old components in the computer could fail at any time. You're better off with a new machine. Even economy computers are far more powerful than your old one. Here's my advice to owners of 98 and ME computers: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is troublesome, and you feel confident in your abilities, format the hard drive and reinstall everything. But do not pour money into an old computer. If you want Windows XP, buy new. |
