• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Win XP Home OR Win XP MCE 2005?

stuman74

stuman74

Senior member
I just got a new Dell laptop for my wife to replace her old one, but even though the hardware on this thing should smoke the old laptop, it seems slower and I think it's due to the Vista Home Premium OS that came on it. I read various forums and sites for tweaks, but it still seems slower and the hard drive is always running in the background.

I'm planning on buying either Win XP Home or Win XP MCE 2005. Which one would you recommend? I have MCE 2005 on my own PC and it's been great for 3 years. Just curious if it matters for the laptop. I think I once read that MCE is more like XP Professional and Home isn't as good.

Thanks!
 
MCE is based on Professional.

This Microsoft page sums up the missing features in Home.

This goes into more detail.

You could probably live without MCE, depending on your wife's requirements.
 
One thing I see is that Home supports only single processors and Pro supports multi processors. If the processor is a dual-core, is that an issue with Home? Sorry if it's a dumb question.
 
Originally posted by: stuman74
One thing I see is that Home supports only single processors and Pro supports multi processors. If the processor is a dual-core, is that an issue with Home? Sorry if it's a dumb question.
Click to expand...

It's not a stupid question. XP Home only supports one processor, but the processor can be dual-core.

 
Originally posted by: stuman74
I just got a new Dell laptop for my wife to replace her old one, but even though the hardware on this thing should smoke the old laptop, it seems slower and I think it's due to the Vista Home Premium OS that came on it...

I'm planning on buying either Win XP Home or Win XP MCE 2005. Which one would you recommend?
Click to expand...

Two part answer... 🙂


Part 1:

I would recommend staying with Vista HP!

Your Vista HP 'problem' is likely three-fold - her lappy is packed with Trialware - she doesn't have enough RAM - and SP1 hasn't been installed.

If you address these three things, I guarantee you will have a totally different impression of Vista. 😉


Part 2:

Having said that, Vista HP is the equivalent of XP MCE.

The only difference between Vista HP and XP MCE is - Vista HP works like it's supposed to... :thumbsup:

Personally, I'm running Vista HP in my Toshiba A215 - with 4GB RAM - no Trialware - and SP1 Refresh 2 - and this thing flies!!!

I wouldn't go downgrade to XP if you put a gun in my mouth and beat me with a rubber hose... 😀
 
Originally posted by: MmmSkyscraper
You could probably live without MCE, depending on your wife's requirements.
Click to expand...

If she's a typical women... I doubt it! 😉

MCE stands for "Media Center Edition".

Windows Home Premium Edition => Windows XP Media Center Edition

Both were designed with important features required for normal Home Entertainment PCs, i.e. Multimedia, e.g. watching movies, collecting digital photos, playing games, et cetera.

Windows HP comes with Aero UI, scheduled back up feature, premium games, yada, yada, yada.

Thus, if you're addicted to XP MCE, Vista HP is the only way to fly... 😉
 
That HDD activity you noted may seem like good old fashioned thrashing at first. That is until you understand what is actually happening behind the scenes.

Unlike previous Windows releases, Vista intelligently optimizes its filesystem durring periods of hard drive inactivity.

Basically, Vista is periodically de-fragging itself when the HDD is not being otherwise utilized so you won't have to do it later.

At least that's what I've read... Someone correct me here if I'm wrong.
 
Originally posted by: JoLLyRoGer
That HDD activity you noted may seem like good old fashioned thrashing at first. That is until you understand what is actually happening behind the scenes.

Unlike previous Windows releases, Vista intelligently optimizes its filesystem durring periods of hard drive inactivity.

Basically, Vista is periodically de-fragging itself when the HDD is not being otherwise utilized so you won't have to do it later.

At least that's what I've read... Someone correct me here if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...

Vista does do that. After about a week or so it settles down to very little extra disk activity once it has self tuned. Honestly, I think most reports of vista being slow is based on the first day or two of use vs the OS once it has done its thing.

 
Originally posted by: JoLLyRoGer
That HDD activity you noted may seem like good old fashioned thrashing at first. That is until you understand what is actually happening behind the scenes...
Click to expand...

Good point! 😉

'Disk Grinding', so called, can be stopped by running a ReadyBoost drive in Vista.

Since Vista HP was installed on her lappy, I assume it's a multimedia notebook with a 5-in-1 digital card reader included, or some such thing.

All the OP needs to do is buy a 2GB media flash card, throw it in the reader, and tell Vista to use it for a ReadyBoost drive.

Then, when Vista first boots (with ReadyBoost installed) the HD will 'thrash' for about 5 minutes (loading up the ReadyBoost card) - after which, the HD will basically go dormant.

End of problem! 😀

BTW, ReadyBoost is a component of SuperFetch.

No reason to turn this into a SuperFetch/ReadyBoost/ReadyDrive thread.

Suffice to say, the more you use a Vista machine, the faster it will get - unlike XP... 🙂
 
I guess I can wait it out another week and see if it improves. It's a Dell with a Turion Dual Core 1.9 GHz, 160 GB HDD and 2 GB RAM. Hopefully that would be pretty decent to run Vista Home Premium. The old laptop with XP Home as a P4 2.8 GHz with 30 GB HDD and 512 MB RAM. XP Home on this new Dell I would assume would fly though!
 
XP would be like greased lightning on that. Weird that Vista is running so bad.

Warning; when downgrading (upgrading in my book) to XP, make sure you have all the XP drivers before leaping!
 
Originally posted by: stuman74
I guess I can wait it out another week and see if it improves...
Click to expand...

Heh!

Smart move...

If you bork your wife's new lappy, you'll be waiting it out (sleeping) on the sofa for a week! 😀

While you're being assimilated, stick a ReadyBoost drive in it - no harm, no foul!

ReadyBoost makes a big difference in a lappy - and in a lot of ways you wouldn't expect.

Vista will run faster, the drive will stop 'grinding', her lappy will run cooler, and the battery will last longer between charges...

BTW, you DO realize that installing XP will void the warranty, right? Dell will NOT support your wife's lappy, once they find out it doesn't contain the OS it was shipped with - they'll give you 10 seconds, tell you that, and go to the next caller... 😉
 
Readyboost isn't really a miracle maker as VinDSL claims. It might help a system that's memory strapped, but at 2GB and beyond, the performance impact is actually quite minimal. It might reduce a slight amount of superfetch related disk activity, but it doesn't magically eliminate disk activity associated with the indexer, automatic defragmentation, volume shadow copying, etc. I was using a 4 GB readyboost stick with my 2GB laptop and found it to provide virtually no performance boost at all and decided to stop using it since I grew tired of having a USB stick jutting from the side of my machine for virtually no performance increase.

And the best way to increase battery life is to dim the monitor a few notches and turn off WIFI if you're not accessing the internet. A couple seconds of disk activity every 5 minutes isn't going to shave off more than a minute or two in the 3-4 hours of battery life I'm getting on my laptop.
 
Originally posted by: nerp
Readyboost isn't really a miracle maker as VinDSL claims.
Click to expand...

Heh! Here we go...

Maybe bsobel will back me up on this! 😀

SuperFetch/ReadyBoost/ReadyDrive is like a three-legged chair.

SuperFetch is the major part of it, but without the other two legs (ReadyBoost/ReadyDrive), you're balancing yourself on top of the HD, like a drunken sailor on Friday night.

That's what all the 'trashing and grinding' is about WHILE YOU'RE USING YOUR MACHINE.

When you're away from your machine - and yes, Vista is smart enough to know when you're NOT sitting there - who cares what it's doing?

Anyway, let's NOT hijack this guy's thread, okay? 😉

He's just trying to save his marriage...
 
Originally posted by: VinDSL


BTW, you DO realize that installing XP will void the warranty, right? Dell will NOT support your wife's lappy, once they find out it doesn't contain the OS it was shipped with - they'll give you 10 seconds, tell you that, and go to the next caller... 😉
Click to expand...

I did read that if I wipe the pre-installed OS from the system it would void the warranty, but if I add a second OS and can dual boot to either (thus, keeping Vista on there whether I use it or not), that shouldn't void the warranty, right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top