"Are you XPerienced?" by Troy H. Cheek on Feb 25, 2008
Well, this week's article was supposed to be about my computer's new TV tuner. Instead, it's going to be about my computer's new operating system. Yes, after years and years of resistance, I finally allowed myself to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century of operating systems.
For many, many years, I've stuck hard and fast to my heavily modified Windows 2000 Professional (Service Pack 4) install. Microsoft officially dropping support didn't bother me in the least, as I had my system running exactly the way I wanted and wasn't planning on adding any new hardware or software for the next several years.
Then hardware failure struck. My motherboard and/or CPU suddenly dropped dead. The replacement didn't like my PCI-based TV tuner, so I bought a new one. The "new" one was a few years old and on closeout because it wasn't supported under Windows Vista, so I figured it would run fine under Windows 2000. It did, but to get it to work better, I experimented with new drivers. Some of these drivers were for XP, not 2000. I didn't think this would be a problem.
As I understand it, in the beginning were Windows 1, 2, and 3. These were basically DOS-based 16 bit systems. Then came the 32 bit consumer systems like Windows 95, 98, 98SE, and ME. I used 95 and then skipped to ME, which at the time was rumored to combine the ease of use of 95 with the stability of the NT series. It didn't. Said NT series was the 32 bit business Windows. It includes NT 1, 2, 3, and 4, followed closely by 2000 (NT 5.0) and XP (NT 5.1). It was 2000 or XP, depending on who you asked, which actually combined the east of 95 with the stability of NT. Windows Vista is the first "real" 64 bit operating system.
My point being is that XP is in many ways simply the tarted up sister of 2000. What will work with one will work with the other, hardware or software, unless it uses something perculiar to a particular version or if it's specifically coded to fail. Why would someone intentionally code something to fail for a particular operating system? Well, Microsoft was very upset when they realized that everyone in the civilized world wasn't planning to run out and buy Vista the second it became available. A large percentage of both businesses and private computing enthusiasts were quite happy to stick with XP or even 2000. They put out the word that it would be much easier to get a "Vista Certified" sticker if you quietly killed your 2000 support and just as quietly downgraded XP performance.
Or that's just the paranoid ramblings of a fringe computer hacker.
Regardless, as I was installing drivers, I came across one which did not officially support 2000 but did install and apparently worked quite well. Unfortunately, when it came time to reboot, the computer STOPped with a blue screen about the time Windows started loading. I'm told that STOPs are supposedly reserved for hardware errors, but I've determined that often it's the hardware drivers that are actually to blame. Repairing or re-installing Windows usually fixes the hardware errors, and a fresh install of 2000 got the faulty hardware working again. I had just reached the point in my recovery process when I was debating on which driver to install (perhaps the earlier STOP had been a fluke and I could still use the driver?) when I realized that jumping through hoops wasn't as much fun as it used to be. Perhaps it was time to buy a new operating system.
If I remember correctly, I last shopped for operating systems back about the time XP came out. I took one look at it and ran away screaming. Well, I didn't react quite that badly. I did decide that my hardware of the time probably wouldn't run it well, plus after 95 and ME I've developed quite the aversion to version x.0 software. At about that same time, 2000 had just gained Service Pack 3 and Microsoft promised at least one more pack and a few years of support, so I figured I couldn't go wrong there.
This time while shopping for an operating system, I found that Vista occupied most of the shelves but seemed to snicker quietly at my hardware when I described it. XP was still around, however, well debugged with SP2 in the can and SP3 on the way, again with that promise of at least one more SP and years of support. I decided to give Windows XP Professional a try.
After carefully removing my carefully restored Windows 2000 harddrive and storing it safely in my sock drawer, I hooked up a newer and larger harddrive which I hadn't been using lately because of a scarcity of IDE connectors on my new motherboard. Installing Windows XP was very similar to installing 2000. I practically sleptwalked through it.
As for Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), Windows Product Activation (WPA), and other Windows Annoying Acronyms (WAA), I didn't have any trouble, meaning that the big box retailer didn't sell me a cheap Chinese ripoff of Windows XP. Of course, some reviews seem to indicate that everything will work just fine until 30 days from now when my computer stops working without warning, or everything will work just fine until the first time I install a service pack, or everything will work just fine until I add another harddrive... Well, I'm sure I'll remember to write down all the details if anything goes wrong at that time.
Thanks to my good friend Charles Black Viper Sparks, I had a pretty good idea of what the XP installation process entailed and an excellent idea of how to trim all the fat out of XP, much as I had done to 2000 years before. The only thing I can't remember how to do is create a custom, streamlined installation CD, but it wasn't Charles who helped me with that and I can't remember who did.
In what seemed like no time at all, I had all my motherboard and video card drivers installed, all my vital programs installed, and even those XP drivers which caused this change to begin with. The really annoying thing is that later I discovered other drivers which work even better and would have happily coexisted with 2000. Grumble frumble mumble.
Oh, sure, I had to reboot about a million time while getting all the drivers and other software installed, but XP reboots faster than any version of Windows I've ever used. At least, it did once I turned off or uninstalled about half of it. Pretty soon, I had the desktop looking just like my Windows 2000 desktop, which actually didn't look so much like 2000 default as it did my ME desktop, which looked a lot like my 95 desktop...
About the only real problem I did have was with the sound card drivers. Technically, I don't have a sound card. I have some onboard audio hardware on the motherboard. I followed the installation instructions to the letter, downloaded and installed the newest drivers, emailed Microsoft support to get access to experimental drivers, and I still had no sound. It was only after I ignored the installation instructions and simply told Windows to update the drivers using the source I was pointing to that the sound suddenly started working. And at several decibels louder than the previous onboard audio. I might have to ditch my amplified subwoofer and go back to using the monitors' wimpy little tinny speakers.
I shouldn't have sleptwalked through the installation process, though. I somehow gave Windows XP the impression that I lived in Uruguay and my primary language was the English they speak in Zimbabwe. It took two days to figure out why XP kept changing my system clock ahead a few hours every time I connected to the Internet.
Now that I have a working system again, next week I'll talk about my new TV capture device.
