Somone gave me a pc. It is a Dell XzpS B733, about 4 or 5 years old. It originally had Win 98SE on it with P III. He loaded an Xp Home edition into it using a friend's disc, which is no longer obtainable, which, of course, leaves me vulnerable if I need to re-install. So the question is: do I leave it with the pirate XP program, which I just do not want to do, or uninstall the Xp? If I uninstall it is the original 98SE still there under the XP? (dumb question, yeah I know, but a fella can dream, can't he?). Or wipe out the XP and put Me in, which I am comfortable with and like very much on my own Compaq PC? Is Dell of this vintage better with one system or another? According to the sticker on it--it was "Designed for 98SE, NT Workstation 4.0, and Win 2000." Whaddayas think? Thresher

That should read "Dell XPS" Thresher

If it was me, and you have all the original restoration, application, and operating system cds, I'd do a clean install and put the original operating system back in (Win 98SE). My first computer had Win 98. I eventually wanted to add new peripherals. To make a long story short, in my opinion it's best to keep the old operating system, old peripherals, etc, with the old computer. Technology moves so fast. Say you want a great new printer. But you can't run it with the old OS. You get the latest OS, but the processor, ram, etc of the computer won't support it, etc. I just buy a whole new system, and leave the old system and peripherals together. Then donate the whole thing to a church for a tax write off. James.

I'm going to assume that since it's 5 yrs old and originally Win98, its running aproximately a 600/700MHz Pent processor. Probably 120 or 250 MB ram, hopefully more. With that setup XP is going to run slow. Actually, if you take care there should be no problems and no reason to reinstall XP. If something major should happen, including the older harddrive failing, you are up a creek without a paddle. Unless you want to run modern programs and the latest proprietary software, you are better off with Win98. It will run Word, Exel and the internet as fast as XP.

Im going to have to disagree, if at all possible obtain a windows xp cp. Windows XP will offer much more stability than windows 98. And the hardware u have is completely adequate. I have windows xp pro running on a 500mhz P3 with 384 mb of ram. Runs very nicely, also it will usually have drivers for all of ur older hardware.

I have the same setup as Thomas except my p3 is running @ 600mhz. Big deal. But it runs great. A tad slow as I have a lot of gadgets hooked up to it. But you said pirate copy of xp. I would suggest getting an OEM copy of xp. You can get them from system builders and repair shops for under a 100 dollars. Besides you can be assured if anything does go wrong that you have a copy on hand. Check the ram. If 128 or less look in to upgrading to at least 256 to get going. I'm trying to get a dell optiplex going and it's driving me crazy...