Post #24,996
1/21/02 11:32:24 AM
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Windows XP and Everquest
My brother is thinking of trying Windows XP Pro for Everquest. He already has Windows 98 SE, but it is buggy. Will the Upgrade allow him to still run Windows 98, or will it all be XP?
Anyone run Virtual PC 4.2 for Windows with Windows XP? Any gotchas there?
How does the Windows XP activation work? Is it Spyware, or just another registration that doesn't send data back to Microsoft?
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #25,011
1/21/02 1:57:58 PM
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Re: Windows XP and Everquest
I'm running Everquest under XP. There are a couple of querks that I'm not entirely sure have to do with XP (for instance, on the "small" view screen there's an extra mouse cursor), but that's fixed by moving to one of the larger views.
Product activation seems to be a one-time thing, but XP then continues to nag you to try to get you to register for Passport. Passport, and "automatic" system updates, are two of the naggish things that I detest about XP.
As far as reliability goes, I never had much problem with 98 - I can't really give a good comparison between 98, XP, or other versions of Windows. I had a video card problem which kept bringing it down, but actual hardware problems isn't going to be something any operating system would really handle gracefully.
"Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it."
-- Donald Knuth
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Post #25,012
1/21/02 2:17:02 PM
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Virtual PC
You'll want lots of RAM. 256MB is not enough. 768MB (with a 256Mb VirtualPC) seems to work OK. You aren't going to want to run games on it though (though I haven't tried). Video just isn't that fast, and the virtual video card is an s3 Trio; not suited for 3D games.
On the other points.
You'd need to dual boot to run 98 and XP.
[link|http://arstechnica.com/wankerdesk/01q1/wpa-1.html|Here] is a description of how Activation is supposed to work, but details may have changed since this article was written. I think there is an updated description somewhere on their site.
It isn't supposed to be spyware, but you could call for your activation ID via a payphone if it worries you. I'd be more worried about what it does after its activated and running myself. You might start with turning off the autoinstall part of the autoupdate feature.
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Chris Altmann
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Post #25,026
1/21/02 6:50:16 PM
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My brother's PC
he has tons of RAM, either 512M or 1024M, shouldn't be a problem. He is getting a Geforce 64M AGP video card soon. But I guess the one that is emulated is not that good, eh? Won't run Everquest, will it?
Does XP need to be installed in its own partition, or like NT/2000, can it be installed on the old OS drive and then dual boot to the old OS? If so, then this might work for him.
I'm still looking for the OS/2 and Linux solutions running Everquest via ODIN, WINE, WINEX, etc.
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #25,073
1/22/02 3:59:51 AM
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Re: My brother's PC
Yeah, the emulated video card is a 4MB S3 Trio 32/64. Good for basic 2D and not much else. I don't think VMWare emulates 3D either.
The XP install was very similar to the W2K install in terms of choosing partition/file system so I imagine one could dual boot in the same manner as with W2K. I haven't done a dual boot setup since NT 3.51 so others here may know more about any current gotchas.
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Chris Altmann
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Post #25,079
1/22/02 5:23:17 AM
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Why do you think those two are opposites?
Norm: Does XP need to be installed in its own partition, or like NT/2000, can it be installed on the old OS drive and then dual boot to the old OS? Well, if it's anything like Windows NT or 2000, both: Install it to its own partition, AND dual-boot. In fact, wouldn't it be EASIER to achieve a dual-boot setup, if you kept each OS in its own partition (in stead of having them step all over each other's configurations)? Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
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Post #25,083
1/22/02 5:33:23 AM
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It would be easier, yes.
Unfortunately, Microsoft OS's have a bad habit of expecting to control the first active primary partition on the first HDD. I seem to remember NT v3 was actually rather lenient in that area, but newer versions are less so.
Wade.
"All around me are nothing but fakes
Come with me on the biggest fake of all!"
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Post #25,084
1/22/02 5:38:35 AM
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W2K seems pretty cool with being on both C: and F:
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Post #25,174
1/22/02 5:18:58 PM
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Yes but
my brother's hard drive is one big 30Gig partition. It would be easier if it installed on the same partition and dual booted. Or else I have to RRR, or get a partition shrinker program. I lost my Partition Magic disk when my other brother borrowed it and never returned it.
"Will code Visual BASIC for cash."
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Post #25,180
1/22/02 5:38:01 PM
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fips
Get fips. Comes with Mandrake, worked on my system flawlessly. Get it [link|http://www.igd.fhg.de/~aschaefe/fips/|here], or get a Mandrake install CD and run it to the point of partitioning the drive.
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Steve
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