Retail vs OEM/recovery...~?

> My gripe about preselected user name/account on the pre-

> installed OEM version of XPpro might be a little trivial. Could

> I have just started fresh by running the recovery disk and

> giving more precise installation directives for users~?

Most OEM installations give the user few choices.  The advantage of OEM is that it will support all hardware in the computer whereas, as you've discovered, a generic retail package might not cover everything -- particularly if you have hardware designed after the install disk was generated. (Case in point: Retail Windows XP is a real pain to install if you have a SATA hard drive).

The only Windows XP usernames that can't (or at least shouldn't) be deleted are the built-in "Administrator" and "Guest".  Apart from that, you can create, delete, or disable any user that you want simply by

   Right-clicking "My Computer" ->  Manage -> Local Users and Groups -> Users

and going from there.  You may not be able to delete the user you're currently logged in as, but otherwise you can do what you want with your user list.

> This is an older CPU, I think. But it says 64-bit ready. Can I

> actually upgrade to the 64-bit OS~?

Go here:

  < http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions >

and click on the link "How do I tell if my computer can run 64-bit Windows" link.

Personally, I would avoid 64-bit Windows XP as it was not around for long and there's not the big 64-bit driver support for XP as compared to Vista or Windows 7. Also,  I don't believe you can even purchase XP at this point in time.  Vista & Windows 7 might be a consideration depending on how much RAM your computer will support.  However, if you find yourself purchasing additional RAM, you might find that for a few extra bucks you can buy a complete new computer.

> Any ideas about over-clocking on this type CPU. I used to run a

> .950GHz AMD Celeron at over-clocked 266MHz.

IMHO, I'm not a big overclocking fan.  Typically you only gain a 5 - 10% improvement (barely discernible) and you increase dramatically the problems of heat dissipation and memory access time margins -- basically eating away at reliability (which I consider more important).

HTH,

  JW

Thanks JW~!

Sorry for the slow processing. I'm sharing my workbench with several projects, including an Ubuntu/Linux build, with duel 1.4GHz CPUs, that I don't even have a big enough case for.

Anyway, I'm looking into HP support. Thanks again.

Perhaps you could coach me on a few other points.

My gripe about preselected user name/account on the pre-installed OEM version of XPpro might be a little trivial. Could I have just started fresh by running the recovery disk and giving more precise installation directives for users~?

I'm still unsure which OS package I will choose. So far, obviously the recovery disk isn't hiding the Audio Legacy package and the Broadcom onboard NIC, like my Retail version seems to be.

But here is the second question:

I've run Belarc Advisor to verify my hardware stats.

{ Hewlett-Packard HP dx5150 MT

Board: 09AC

Bus Clock: 199 megahertz

BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 1.13 02/24/2006

2.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64

256 kilobyte primary memory cache

1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache

64-bit ready

Not hyper-threaded}

This is an older CPU, I think. But it says 64-bit ready. Can I actually upgrade to the 64-bit OS~?

Any ideas about over-clocking on this type CPU. I used to run a .950GHz AMD Celeron at over-clocked 266MHz.

HP has a fairly good support website.  Go to www.hp.com,  click on "Support and Drivers" at the top, then "Drivers and Software".  Enter your model number and on the next screen, the version of Windows you are using.  You will then go to a page with drivers.  In the left column, you should see a link to Manuals.  Follow the Manuals link.  One of the manuals will detail how to reinstall Windows on your computer.  If you try to create a recovery disk and it thinks you already have created one, it will let you know that.

If all else fails, you should be able to order a recovery disk from HP.

HTH,

  JW

I have just gotten this HP used. How can I tell if recovery disks were made~? I guess spending on iso capabilities is worth it in the long run.

You don't mention the manufacturer of your computer.  My experience is with HP.  Every HP I've had that does not come with Recovery DVDs/CDs has had a recovery partition on the hard drive that can be used to reinstall Windows on that hard drive.  The very first time that you boot up one of these computers, it asks you to create a backup set of recovery DVDs as part of the initial configuration procedure for the eventuality that a hard drive takes a fatal nose-dive.  You can skip this step if you want to and create the DVDs later, but it will only allow you to do this once.  Once you have these recovery DVDs, you can use them to recover your system to a larger or different drive (less your personal files, of course).  Every manufacturer provides a procedure to reload Windows on their computer.  I suggest that you go to your manufacturer's website and download all manuals for your computer.  One of them will describe how to create a set of Recovery DVDs for just this eventuality.

If your system is currently operational, you may also find that Hard Drive Manufacturers have programs that will transfer your Windows system from a smaller drive to a new larger drive purchased from that drive manufacturer.  Check your new disk drive manufacturer's website.

Yet another solution to this problem is to create an Image-style backup of your system with a program like Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost and later restore this image to a larger or different hard drive.

HTH,

  JW