Hi Holly -
I'd like to tell you the jump from XP to Win7 or Win8 won't affect your
programs or devices... but it wouldn't be true. I recently upgraded one
of my own machines and was surprised how many of my old programs
wouldn't run. It's the switch from XP's 32bit architecture to 64bit
that really causes probs in old software and hardware. Now, LOTS of old
programs "will" run. You can usually find out if you google "is
'nameofprogram' compatible with windows 8?" Or if you go to the program
makers website FAQ section. Most of the apps that wouldn't run for me
were old, small utilities. But there were a couple biggies that I had
to find replacements for. Thank goodness MS Office XP still runs!
If there are apps you simply can't do without you could set up a dual
boot so you can use either Win8 or XP. If you still have your XP disks
it's not hard to set up the dual boot. Have your guy create a 2nd
partition on the new HD, or use one of your old hard drives. You won't
be able to simply put your current XP drive in the new PC and boot into
it, unfortunately.
But... when I did my upgrade from XP to Win7 I had to replace quite a
bit of software, and had to throw away a scanner and printer which were
old but perfectly fine for me. Grrrr.
Here's another thought I tell people who are upgrading to Win8. You
know that Win8 is designed for touch. You can certainly use it with
only keyboard and mouse, but it is totally, and excellently created for
touch. I don't know if a monitor is coming with your PC, but if so, be
sure to get a touch capable monitor. Touch is the future, and all the
monitor makers are in the process of converting their factories to build
touch monitors. Soon, I think, you won't be able to buy a non-touch
monitor. Of course, you'll still need a mouse and keyboard, but often
reaching up and touching the screen will become 2nd nature.
The specs of your new build sound great - core i5, Gigabyte mainboard, 1
TB HD. For win8 be sure to have at least 4GB RAM. 4GB is ok, but
anything you can add to that would be great. RAM is very cheap right
now, so maybe get another 2GB or 4GB if possible. If you do a LOT of
video or photo editing the extra RAM is more important - as well as a
separate video card (instead of the one included on the mainboard).
Going from XP to Win8... there is a fairly steep learning curve. It's
quite a bit different - the same stuff is all there but it's in
different places. Lots of people get frustrated and wanna go back.
Don't be that person. Just stick with it a while and you'll soon prefer
it to XP. Would you want to go back from XP to Win98? :-)
So, yeah, leaving XP is a bit of a challenge and hassle. But it's just
something that's gotta be done eventually - by everybody. I think
you'll love your new PC! Feel free to repost with any questions or
problems after you get it.
Don
On 7/23/2013 12:31 AM, Holly wrote:
> I continue to have trouble accessing my "all programs"list and have
> problems with sound. I had planned to add RAM and a new sound card in my 7
> year old computer. The computer guy I spoke with said the sound might be
> on my motherboard and that could be a sign that it's days are numbered.
> I've held onto it this long because I didn't want to upgrade Windows from
> XP. I have so many old programs that I'm not sure will work on Windows 8.
> But the slowness of my computer and these other issues make me realize I
> have to bite the bullet and get going.
>
> I always have my computers built to my needs and have gotten an estimate.
> I remember reading somewhere that you should definitely not get a AMD
> processor and that the best was an Intel something. He has listed Intel
> Core i5 3330 CPU. Also a Gigabyte 1155 Motherboard. The rest seems good,
> a Western Digital hard drive, for example. I'm also getting a cover for
> one of my old hard drives that holds a lot of my art stuff so I can
> selectively access it without loading up my new 1 TB hard drive. Yikes!!!!!
>
> Any other tips you can give me. I'm stalling a bit because it really
> worries me about my programs. I can, however, keep the old one because I
> won't be removing the C: drive. Just my E: drive which was one from my
> former computer.
>
> Holly
>
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