Windows XP...? In 2019!!!? Ideas?

[Insert_Nickname]

Hi all.

Lets just say I've managed to land myself in a pickle. A rather unusual requirement has cropped up (see title), so I thought to ask on the forum. No, this isn't a joke thread.

Unfortunately, I can't really provide too many specifics due to outside factors. Think old custom program can't run on newer and can't be updated/replaced economically (at least not yet), and you're not far off. At least there is an installer, that works. So that's something.

I need a box that can run XP on as modern a platform as possible. A VM is unfortunately out of the question in this case. The application doesn't need tremendous performance, mostly raw CPU performance. More would be better of course, but within limits. As in small core AMD/Intel CPUs are likely out of the question.

From what I can find out, the AMD A68H chipset still has XP drivers, so I'm thinking along those lines coupled with an Athlon 845 or similar. With that I'm going to need some sort of external GPU for graphics, something like the GT710 / 730 still has XP drivers available from what I can find on NVs website. Kaveri might be an option? Graphics performance is completely unimportant.

It will properbly have to be a custom box, since the requirement includes some reliability. Or at least so I can at least use a high quality PSU replacement.

Does anyone have practical experience with the FM2(+) platform with XP? Or any other ideas?

I should mention it wont be connected at all to any sort of network (more-or-less obviously)...

 

[whm1974]

You may be SoL, but it does sound like the AMD A68H chipset is your best bet.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

You may be SoL, but it does sound like the AMD A68H chipset is your best bet.

I -could- source a new Socket 775 board. Currently it's running a first gen C2D (E6400). But I'd rather be on the safe side, and change the whole system. It's pushing on 13 years old.

 

[whm1974]

I -could- source a new Socket 775 board. Currently it's running a first gen C2D (E6400). But I'd rather be on the safe side, and change the whole system. It's pushing on 13 years old.

Man you are indeed in a pickle. No offense but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now.

 

[C1]

Am I missing something?

Seems there are all kinds of options.

What's wrong with picking up something like this on eBay and throwing in an GT710/730 or even buy an even better older GPU?

ASUS P6X58D Motherboard w Intel i7-950 3.06Ghz processor & 12GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM - $125

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-P6X58...607113?hash=item2ce68db309:g:dP4AAOSwhAJcfcIn

If you go to Asus website then you will find all the drivers for it from DOS, XP 32 and 64 bit right on thru including Windows 10.

Ref:

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P6X58D_Premium/HelpDesk_Download/

 

[Insert_Nickname]

No offense but I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now.

Oh, don't worry. I'm getting paid regardless of end result. Only reason I took this can of worms. I like a challenge from time to time.

Independence has its perks.

And the box in question still runs. Just getting flaky with weird issues, so it's not that acute.

What's wrong with picking up something like this on eBay and throwing in an GT710/730 or even buy an even better older GPU?

ASUS P6X58D Motherboard w Intel i7-950 3.06Ghz processor & 12GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM - $125

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASUS-P6X58...607113?hash=item2ce68db309:g:dP4AAOSwhAJcfcIn

Privately? Nothing at all. Professionally, I'd rather not go second hand. The reasons should be obvious.

 

[whm1974]

Oh, don't worry. I'm getting paid regardless of end result. Only reason I took this can of worms. I like a challenge from time to time.

Independence has its perks.

And the box in question still runs. Just getting flaky with weird issues, so it's not that acute.



Privately? Nothing at all. Professionally, I'd rather not go second hand. The reasons should be obvious.

Yeah, Professionally I will agree with you, but unfortunately you might have to present buying second hand as an option to the people paying you.

 

[whm1974]

@Insert_Nickname Have you given thought to replacing the old system with an Industrial PC? Some of them are still being made with new but older parts, and you may find some that still supports XP.

 

[herm0016]

have you at least tried it on 7?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, Professionally I will agree with you, but unfortunately you might have to present buying second hand as an option to the people paying you.

I've got a BNIB DFI X48 ATX mobo, and a BNIB sealed Intel Q6600. Make it really worth my while, and I might consider selling them.

I also have a 500GB WD PATA HDD, still shrink-wrapped.

 

[whm1974]

I have no idea if these guys are any good, but this could be an option:
https://www.nixsys.com/windows-xp-computers/

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Ok, update. So far I've ordered an Asus A68HM-PLUS (new, and Asus has XP drivers for it), and an Athlon 845 to test out.

If it doesn't work out it's no great loss at those prices.

have you at least tried it on 7?

Of course. Both 32 and 64bit versions. I even tried Vista, just for the heck of it. No dice. Even debug hasn't turned anything useful up. I'm guessing there is some sort of either hidden dependency and/or the program is using some undocumented function somewhere. But I'm reduced to guesswork, since there is (of course) no source code anywhere. Just a nice wrapped up installer.

Originally, at least from what I can gather, it ran on a Win2K box that failed.

I've got a BNIB DFI X48 ATX mobo, and a BNIB sealed Intel Q6600. Make it really worth my while, and I might consider selling them.

I also have a 500GB WD PATA HDD, still shrink-wrapped.

Thank you Larry. I appreciate that.

Yeah, Professionally I will agree with you, but unfortunately you might have to present buying second hand as an option to the people paying you.

Yeah. That was the final option if everything else fails. At least I'm not too much on the hook, I can always walk away. It's just that I'm cheaper then hiring a developer to make a replacement or buying something commercial, so the client thought it was worth a shot.

I have no idea if these guys are any good, but this could be an option:
https://www.nixsys.com/windows-xp-computers/

If they're willing to sell and ship over here, that might indeed be just the ticket. Thank you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

So far I've ordered an Asus A68HM-PLUS (new, and Asus has XP drivers for it)[/B]

Honestly, that's pretty amazing.
I would have also suggested a Gigabyte 78LMT-USB 6.0 mobo, and an FX-8320E 8-core CPU. I know my friend running an AM2+ 780G mobo from ASRock, used to have an XP SP3 / Win7 64-bit dual-boot rig with that chipset, so I know it's XP-compatible.

 

[whm1974]

Yeah. That was the final option if everything else fails. At least I'm not too much on the hook, I can always walk away. It's just that I'm cheaper then hiring a developer to make a replacement or buying something commercial, so the client thought it was worth a shot.



If they're willing to sell and ship over here, that might indeed be just the ticket. Thank you.

You are welcome, and while I'm not trying to prevent you from making money, I wonder if it would be cheaper in the long run for those who hired you to pay a developer to replace the program. The big advantage of doing that, is that they would own the source code.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

You are welcome, and while I'm not trying to prevent you from making money, I wonder if it would be cheaper in the long run for those who hired you to pay a developer to replace the program. The big advantage of doing that, is that they would own the source code.

They are planning to do just that. Eventually. This is a quick'n'dirty "interim" solution.

Lets just say somebody learned the perils of relying too much on old, unmaintained custom software.

 

[mxnerd]

Seems socket 1155 Z77, B75 chipsets still support XP.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

With everything delivered, I'm happy to report everything worked out. Client was a step below ecstatic.

I'll leave a few observations for any googlers who stumble on this thread.

I can obviously confirm you can run XP on the FM2+/A68H platform itself. There is even full chipset USB3 support. But any onboard 3rd party chips should be checked individually for support. Luckily, Asus had everything needed on their mainboard support page. Somewhat to my surprise, Excavator seems remarkably well behaved running an ancient 32bit OS.

Only a single minor issue. There is no XP driver for the PSP co processor in the Carizzo based Athlon I'm using. But no great loss there, since there is no need for it.

 

[whm1974]

With everything delivered, I'm happy to report everything worked out. Client was a step below ecstatic.

I'll leave a few observations for any googlers who stumble on this thread.

I can obviously confirm you can run XP on the FM2+/A68H platform itself. There is even full chipset USB3 support. But any onboard 3rd party chips should be checked individually for support. Luckily, Asus had everything needed on their mainboard support page. Somewhat to my surprise, Excavator seems remarkably well behaved running an ancient 32bit OS.

Only a single minor issue. There is no XP driver for the PSP co processor in the Carizzo based Athlon I'm using. But no great loss there, since there is no need for it.

I'm glad you were able to solve your problem.

 

[PingSpike]

What was the reason you couldn't run this in a VM again?

 

[Markfw]

I picked up a dual socket (I think X58) motherboard for $44, and 2 X5675 for $20 each. It runs XP, no external drivers required, I just installed it. It has like 12 gig of ram, but XP only sees 4, but it runs my old games just fine. (ones that will only run 16 bit, not even 32) These will not run in a VM under win 10, something to do with the CD drive, required for gameplay. But for less than $100, I have 24 threads.

 

[whm1974]

I picked up a dual socket (I think X58) motherboard for $44, and 2 X5675 for $20 each. It runs XP, no external drivers required, I just installed it. It has like 12 gig of ram, but XP only sees 4, but it runs my old games just fine. (ones that will only run 16 bit, not even 32) These will not run in a VM under win 10, something to do with the CD drive, required for gameplay. But for less than $100, I have 24 threads.

If I recall right, WinXP can handle up to what, 32 threads?

 

[Markfw]

Not sure on the max, but here is the box doing 24 threads at about 80-100% load.

 

[Flayed]

But does it play Crysis?

 

[Markfw]

But does it play Crysis?

I have no idea, since I don't have the game. Its running a 660ti, pretty old, but so is XP !

Edit, yes it will ! I just looked up the requirements:

Crysis Warhead System Requirements Revealed

• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz (3.2 GHz for Vista), Intel Core 2.0 GHz (2.2 GHz for Vista), AMD Athlon 2800+ (3200+ for Vista) or better.
• RAM: 1GB (1.5GB on Windows Vista)
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Radeon X800 Pro for Vista) or better.
• VRAM: 256MB of Graphics Memory.
• Storage: 15GB.

 

[mikehati]

With everything delivered, I'm happy to report everything worked out. Client was a step below ecstatic.

I'll leave a few observations for any googlers who stumble on this thread.

I can obviously confirm you can run XP on the FM2+/A68H platform itself. There is even full chipset USB3 support. But any onboard 3rd party chips should be checked individually for support. Luckily, Asus had everything needed on their mainboard support page. Somewhat to my surprise, Excavator seems remarkably well behaved running an ancient 32bit OS.

Only a single minor issue. There is no XP driver for the PSP co processor in the Carizzo based Athlon I'm using. But no great loss there, since there is no need for it.

Was this win xp 32 bit?
I have no luck with Asus A68hm-k and amd a6-7480. I "feel" the problem is the cpu. And notice Gigabyte recommends the Kaveri cpu for their A68hm chip set if using xp-32.
But you used a Godaveri cpu. Thanks