Upgrading to Windows XP - please help! Thanks.

You're going to throw your computer out the window when you load up XP on that machine. You really need a new computer. I can't believe you have put up with a 300mhz processor for that long!

I would recommend a new computer. You can get a very nice AMD (AMD is the processor, an intel processor is more expensive and isn't really better) system from HP or Compaq for about 500 bucks. That will suit your needs for quite a while.

If you try to install XP your computer will do one of 3 things...
1) Melt
2) Explode
3) Run out of the room screaming

Go for new! Get wired.
Wireless anything will cost an arm, leg and your first born.

I totally agree - toss that thing out... or get a media center box and make yourself a neat little DVD player out of it.

Windows XP is a resource hog, it needs a much faster processor and plenty of RAM to be satisfied with your system.

Your current computer must simply being used for the Internet. But I would still upgrade 'cause you are behind a millenium. I agree with teammatt3, AMD has some very good chips that are coming down in price since their dual processor release recently. You can pick up a new Athlon 3000 system for under $800 at MonarchComputer.com:

Price: $775.00
Basic Configuration:

Case: Antec SLK1650B Black Mini Tower w/350W PS
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Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI NForce4 SLI Audio/GB-LAN/USB/PCI-E/SATA/DDR/ATX 64 939
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Processors: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Venice (939)
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Heat Sink: AMD Certified Heat Sink Fan
Memory: 512 MB (2 pcs 256 MB) DDR (400) PC-3200 Patriot Signature (PSD256400)
Hard Drives: Western Digital 80GB SATA 8MB Cache 7200 RPM (WD800JD)
CD-RW/DVD-ROM: Lite-On SOHC-5236K 52x32x52x16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Black
Video Card: 1 x XFX GeForce 6600 256 MB DDR/PCI-E/HDTV-Out/Dual-DVI

The Athlon64 3000 is a powerful increase from what you have now and this system set up gives you a lot of forward looking support. The SLI motherboard allows the system to be made into a powerful gaming computer if you choose later. The 939 chipset allows you to upgrade to the latest processors anytime. 512MB of memory will run XP with all it's bells and whistles turned on.

I have run XP on a system that was a P3-450Mhz w/256M RAM. It ran okay but slow. As a general rule, running XP on less than about a 800Mhz system is a waste of time.

Heres an Idea, Buy a new BOX then be happy with it for about 5 years until it gets obsolete again, but use the old BOX to serve as your music station, store some music in the HDD and use that system to play dedicatedly just music, youll have a better use for it now than being a doorstop...

Or just put Win2k on there, that should run ok.

I would buy a new computer for XP. Don;t let the old one go to waste though.. Linux would probably run ok on it.

I run XP pro on a 266mhz for my wifes computer! go ahead and runner ..

I work at a tech bench and have done many things ... the least of which I like to do is put XP on an old box. XP WILL run on as slow as 300 MHZ with 128 mb of RAM ... Scary slow and is susceptible to BSD (Blue Screen of Death). That is the neatest trick to pull on XP since it is designed to recover from that before it happens. I would have to agree with most of the posts that you are better off upgrading. Even an Emachine with the Celeron D is a huge benefit to upgrade to (Usually you can get them for as little as 300 bucks for the tower alone).

XP is most comfortable in a 512 mb Ram, 80gb (or higher) Hard Drive, and atleast an 800mhz processor or higher. If you really do not have the funds to upgrade the hardware then invest in Windows Millenium. As much as I hate the software it will support what you are asking of it and can get by for under the Hundred dollar range.

Good Luck