What To Do? Xp

[Blue Duck]

Got given a Sony vaio media centre pc it's old but decent the only problem is its xp.

I tried to upgrade to win 8 but it wouldn't let me as it's not available in my region, besides win 8 is a POS.

So where to go? It's got a built in TV tuner and some other nifty things I would like to keep going ? Is this possible with Linux?

 

[Sidewinder]

Can you burn a restore disk so that you can put it back to XP, then try one or two versions of Linux?

Can you still get a version of 7?

Not sure what the real issue is with XP TBH, I still have a few machines running it, and they will not be upgraded.

 

[steptoe]

yer, the TV tuner may be a pain depending on the card with Linux,

best to try a LIVE CD first

 

[ProDave]

What exactly is the "problem"?

Xp beyond end of life? not supported? the world is going to implode?

It's a dedicated PC for a dedicated task. It works with XP, it will continue to work with XP, nothing is going to stop. Nothing needs to be upgraded so no issues with it being an "old" OS.

Just enjoy it and stop worrying.

 

[OnOff]

This might help if you go the Linux route:

http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_USB_Devices

 

[steptoe]

What exactly is the "problem"?

Xp beyond end of life? not supported? the world is going to implode?

It's a dedicated PC for a dedicated task. It works with XP, it will continue to work with XP, nothing is going to stop. Nothing needs to be upgraded so no issues with it being an "old" OS.

Just enjoy it and stop worrying.

I have an 'old' dell laptop, about 2001, no keys [the lad removed them as a toddler,!!!! ] I have a usb keyboard that gets plugged in when its needed,

in fact, Ive been using it last night,

its on multiboot with 2 different Linux flavours [ that work spot on] and XP, with NO service packs, and hardly any drivers, [the sound card doesnt even work on XP.]

the XP bit does what I need it to [usually], when I really need a sperate windoze PC and dont want to VM on my other machine.

 

[Blue Duck]

I appreciate that there is no real "problem" with xp other than its old.

But when microsoft finally give up on the only half decent OS they ever made I fear that it may become like a phone box all covered in other peoples piss and full of picture of naked ladies. Just wanted to try get the most out of it as its like a 20" tv with a pc built in also I have a knack of making old pc's live well beyond their sell by date.

When I tried to upgrade to 8 it kept sending me to a page that said "Now is a great time to buy a new computer" and that annoyed me ;   

Think I have a hooky copy of 7 somewhere? I got bumped on ebay but got my money back!

Wouldn't mind giving linux a punt but want to keep some of the functionality

Edit: thanks for the link onoff

Did I mention it only has 1 usb port! :slap

 

[steptoe]

deffo run a live CD first and check everything you need works,

do you know the chipsets of GFX etc ?

 

[Blue Duck]

think it was core duo & nvidia gfx but no doubt its all on board. I have to open it up on monday as its at the office the Mrs will be like " not another F***ing computer" ( I have 4 desktops and 2 laptops in the loft )I 'll have to explain the benefits first

 

[steptoe]

run a ubuntu live disc and it will tell you all the chipsets and stuff without opening it,

ram max and ram installed will sometimes come up too.

nvidia is generally good to go, thats what I have in my desktops

 

[ProDave]

While this sounds like a great bit of kit, pc and tv all in one box, it has it's limitations.

I installed a tv aerial for someone once, and this was their only tv in the bedroom.  Great in theory for what it does, but they don't warn you on the box that if you just want to turn it on and watch the telly, it takes 5 minutes to boot up and get there before you can watch a live tv channel.

 

[OnOff]

Try Zorin OS from a Live DVD. It has an XP like skin option. I run it on my desktop and laptop now both with XBMC and Navi-x on.

http://zorin-os.com/

 

[Blue Duck]

While this sounds like a great bit of kit, pc and tv all in one box, it has it's limitations.

I installed a tv aerial for someone once, and this was their only tv in the bedroom. Great in theory for what it does, but they don't warn you on the box that if you just want to turn it on and watch the telly, it takes 5 minutes to boot up and get there before you can watch a live tv channel.

Yeah its limited in that respect and at the moment it crashes when updating the channel list Dont think all the drivers are up to date..

Maybe Linux will help the boot times so I'll give it a try.

It works well in the office as it doesn't take up much room and the office bods can watch the tennis

It has dlna so was thinking of using it as a media slave As my other TV's, Blue ray player and DVR all have this dlna thing which I've never tried :|

Thanks for the help

 

[OnOff]

Chuck a cheap SSD at it to speed it booting up. You can get 256GB for under £100. Given my old desktop a new lease of life with Linux on.

EDIT: .................120GB for less than £50. But thinking about it would it take SATA drives?

 

[Blue Duck]

run a ubuntu live disc and it will tell you all the chipsets and stuff without opening it,

ram max and ram installed will sometimes come up too.

nvidia is generally good to go, thats what I have in my desktops

Is it possible to download, burn or copy this from a Macbook to a dvd or usb then run it on win xp? would try it at work but we have a miserable internet connection around 3mbps from 2 ADSL lines :slap   I get 37mbps+ at home  

Gonna try to give it a go tomorrow if I get the time  ray

Had a huge Nivdia card in my old dell It took up 2 slots and had its on supply from the PSU with a bit a of overclocking it was a beast!

 

[Marvo]

Yes, you should be able to download the Ubuntu image from their website using your Crapple notebook and burn it to a disk as a bootable image or even run it directly from a flashdrive. Which option you use to boot from would largely depend on the BIOS of the PC you're going to use it in, some older PC's don't like booting from flashdrives because sometimes the older BIOS can't recognise an external device above a certain size. If the BIOS can do either option then it will probably run considerably quicker and smoother from a flashdrive so rather go that route. 

 

[Blue Duck]

I'm downloading ubuntu desktop Is this the right one?

Sorry for dumb questions I'm new to ubuntu :Blushing

Oh and....I have had this APPLE MAC BOOK PRO for 3 years now and not had a single problem.

Not a fanboy either!

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Are you sure its a digital tuner & not for the old analog  tv

 

[Blue Duck]

Are you sure its a digital tuner & not for the old analog tv

Our office used to be a bar and there's a tv point on the wall

 

[steptoe]

I'm downloading ubuntu desktop Is this the right one?

Sorry for dumb questions I'm new to ubuntu :Blushing

Oh and....I have had this APPLE MAC BOOK PRO for 3 years now and not had a single problem.

Not a fanboy either!

yes,

just make sure you are downloading the right one

32 bit or 64bit