Hi, I've been having some software issues the I'm told can only be resolved by doing a fresh install of win XP sp3.
I have never done a reload in the 6 years or so that I've had this machine so I guess I'm due.
I've been backing up everything I can think of to my external drive but very nearvous about being down for an extended time. any advise is apriciated

Personally I'd upgrade to Win 7, it's a great OS and I was an XP fan.

If you're doing a fresh install anyway why not do one that's going to serve you for a considerable period of time? As Windows 8 becomes more prominent program support for XP will fall more than it already is. X2a won't run on XP and there'll be more than that to follow I'm sure.

Upgrades to Windows 8 are cheap from the Microsoft store. You have till the end of the month before the prices go up, buy a copy now before Microsoft server crashes due to overload. Check your hardware is compatible. Don't bother with Windows 7 far cheaper to upgrade to 8 and it's more or less the same.

Then again maybe you should consider a new machine (up to you), PC's are cheaper nowadays. Microsoft supplies a compatibility assistant which will help you at the store. Also consider going 64 bit.

Good advice here.  I would say that at minimum you should upgrade to Win 7, and if your hardware will support it then upgrade to Win 8.  If you go the Win 8 route make sure there are drivers for all your hardware, as some companies are a little slow in getting Win 8 drivers out there.

+1 , get Win 7 or Win 8 in place of win XP. X2 doesn't even support XP

mikec137


Hi, I've been having some software issues the I'm told can only be resolved by doing a fresh install of win XP sp3.
I have never done a reload in the 6 years or so that I've had this machine so I guess I'm due.
I've been backing up everything I can think of to my external drive but very nearvous about being down for an extended time. any advise is apriciated

some things do need sp3 minimum.


have you ran ccleaner /registry tab over your pc.. you might find it finds a lot of junk that can be fixed.. re-run it till you get zero or 1 error..and reboot ..see if that improves matters


http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/


try it if you don't want to upgrade at this time

Yeh, Go for 8. I've got a Q660 too. If you go for it choose "Clean disc then Install Windows 8" It's slower but the end result I found to be much more satisfactory. Microsoft will install the crucial drivers to get your PC running. You can then load soundcards etc with win 7 or win 8 drivers if they're available.

Microsoft will no longer support XP 2nd quarter of 2014

mikec137:

"Hi, I've been having some software issues the I'm told can only be resolved by doing a fresh install of win XP sp3. "

I have no idea what state your system is in, but I find that complete reinstallation of the OS is too often suggested as a fix to a problem. My XP machine has been running daily for 10+ years and it's still on it's original OS installation (one of its hard disks has been going daily for 14 years).

Do you think that your problem might be solvable with a bit of further inverstigation ?

Of course if you have very little installed on your xp machine then by all means go ahead and reinstall the OS and as others have said, might as well upgrade. Microsoft offers a free virtual XP machine that you can download and run under windows 7 which works great for programs. I haven't yet tried with external equipment going through usb ports so that would require looking into.

If you have a lot of old equipment, chances are you won't find drivers for them for Win 7 or 8.

You have until January 31st to upgrade to Windows 8 Professional for $40. After that it goes up by 3 or 4 times that amount.