XP you are out of my computer! (1 Viewer)

[Thom B]

Jon T,

What are your HW specs? A few more details, proc speed, ram, types of games and other apps you run, etc. would help. XP's the way to go if you have the right HW, but it can be a slug w/o enough ram and a reasonable proc. My mp3 server is a Celeron 333 w/512mb, and runs reasonably well for its intended use. I'd hesitate to run some of the more recent games tho. If you've got '98, I dunno if I'd purchase ME. If you've got ME, go with the upgrade. It's not a huge improvement over '98, but enough so that it's worth throwing on. And be sure to hit windowsupdate right away. Lots of security fixes etc. for 98 and ME are available.

Scooter,

What're you upgrading from? I'm not immediately familiar with any upgrade programs, but I have a few resources I can poke through if I know more about what you're looking for.

T

 

[Patrick_S]

I'll apologize in advance since I only skimmed this thread.

(Darn those customer calls for interrupting my reading)

Could it be that the dial out problem is simply a matter of having the "Dial whenever a network connection is not present" option selected in IE?

 

[Dave F]

I've never heard of a free upgrade to XP Pro, and it would make no sense to offer one. The XP Pro upgrade costs $199, so that'd be quite a discount. There are a few tweaks that can be made to XP Home that enable some of Pro's features - could that be the upgrade you heard about?
-Dave

 

[Scooter]

I saw it here on the HTF a while back. I would be upgrading from XP home to Pro.
Getting back to why I got in this thread to begin with, I was able for the longest time to simply burn MP3's to standard .wav CD with WMP and then all of a sudden it started turning out discs that could only be played on certain players here. Something to me seems afoot...and I know someone is out to get me!!!!!

 

[Todd Stout]

Thom B: ...have you hit the Windows Update site?

Yeah, I've run the Windows updater after both XP installs and a few times in addition to that. The XP burner problem patch is installed as of now (I think I have both of them actually) and I'm still having issues with burnning audio CD-R discs. I am using the most current version of Nero now and totally dumped Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum.

The CD's I burn are skipping/jumping forward in 1-2 second increments and never usually the same place on the same CD twice. The skipping usually starts occuring after the CD has been playing in the CD player for awhile but it has occurred as early as track 1 before (but that disc had played fine through that track before). Every CD that I have burned since upgrading to XP Home from ME has done this. They seem to play fine in my PC but can duplicate the skipping in my truck (which is where I listen to my CD-R dics the most), an old Fisher CD changer, my PC at work, and in my aunt's (newer model) PC. Strangely, I have given 10-12 of my skipping CD's to a friend of mine and they play just fine in his $129 WalMart special Pioneer car stereo. I haven't tried in any other players yet.

It seems to me that the CD players I am using are having a hard time tracking these discs. They never had trouble with any of the discs I burned on the same drive with Easy CD Creator 5.02d Platinum while my PC was running Windows ME.

Maybe the drive is going bad and it was just bad timing with the XP upgrade? The drive is a LG 8080B that came with a Dell Dimension 8100 PC.

UPDATE:

I just got off the phone with Dell. They are sending someone out next week to replace the drive. Hopefully that fixes the problem.

 

[Thom B]

Scooter,
Couldn't come up with any "free" upgrade offers, tho I did come across this rebate.
Todd,
That's kinda wacky. If they were skipping all over that'd be one thing, but...hmmm. On the stuff to try list, perhaps a different brand of CDR's, be sure to finalize the discs(or try not finalizing if you have been), kill as many background processes as possible when burning, yadda yadda.
I've been through a couple of in-dash cd mp3 players, 1 aiwa and 1 kenwood, and they were miles apart in their ability to properly track. The aiwa was particularly sensitive, while the kenwood is pretty solid as long as the disc's been finalized. It doesn't like one of my Beatles discs, which plays fine in my S.O.'s kenwood (different model). We've got a little discman style player as well, which plays pretty much anything without fail, as long as it wasn't burned on the external hp burner, as opposed to the internal one. Nothing specific in the MS knowledge base on your make/model of burner. Sorry I can't be of more help.
T

 

[Todd Stout]

Thom... thanks for the suggestions. Until this is fixed, I can use all the suggestions I can get.

I have tried different brands of media (Memorex, TDK, Sony, PNY) and they all do the same thing. The only one I have burned lately that doesn't seem to skip was on a 74 minute Maxell that I had left over (all of the others are 80 minute). I've played that 74 minute disc several times all the way through and it seems fine.

It's hard to explain the skipping that these discs are doing. They just start cutting out/jumping ahead/skipping while playing. The next time I play it, it'll start doing in in a different place on the disc. The source WAV files I am using are all fine.

 

[Jon Teddlie]

Thom B, thanks for the reply I'm running:

Athlon 2000+ XP

Epox 8K3a+ MB

256 MB 2100 crucial ddr ram

Leadtek Ti4600 Geforce4

WD 40 gb hd

SB Live soundcard

DSL connection

With Win 98 all the games run pretty smooth so far with my setup, but I have been wanting to try XP to see if I get any improvements. I play JK2,M.O.H.,Dungeon Siege and a few more.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

That's it, Todd. It's the '80's (bad decade)! No, really, others have reported problems with them. Some players have reader heads that don't do the other 6 minutes, resulting in skips. I guess you're just going to have to put up with losing 6 minutes.

Glenn

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Microsoft did indeed have it listed on thier web site that

users who purchased XP Home can upgrade to XP Pro for FREE.

I saw it with my own eyes. Yet when I tried to find a link

to download or send in a request for Pro.. I found nothing.

Not like I want Pro anyway.. This is a home use machine and

the benefits of Pro are null to me.

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

I don't know what else is wrong with XP Home but one thing I do know is it can't log into an NT domain. Microsoft intentionally made XP Home unable to connect with an NT-based office LAN. You can't just buy a new PC off the shelf for the office, because unless you make sure to pay extra for XP Professional you're going to get XP Home. Can you even get a new PC with XP Professional installed at Office Depot or Best Buy?

 

[Todd Stout]

Glenn Overholt: Some players have reader heads that don't do the other 6 minutes, resulting in skips.

That's an interesting theory but... all of the 80 minute CD-R discs that I burned while running Windows ME play just fine in those same CD players. Maybe XP doesn't like the 80 minute discs?

 

[Grant B]

Has anyone got Nero to work on XP home?

Seems like everyone who says it works great has XP Pro

Still trying to make xp home work but it looks like a losing cause

 

[Thom B]

Jon T,

I'd definitely make the jump. XP'll be smooth as silk on that box.

T

 

[Dave F]

Grant - Nero works just fine on XP Home. The major differences between Home and Pro are in networking capabilities.

-Dave

 

[Brett DiMichele]

My version of Nero is on XP Home, works terrificly.

I don't beleive XP has anything directly to do with some of

the Burning problems that Todd is having. The OS really has

nothing to do with the burning process. As long as the OS

allows the program to execute, it's working..

I personaly wouldn't use anything other than Nero for burning

anyway. I have used both Roxio(adaptec) and Nero and there

is just NO comparison. Nero can be idiot friendly or it can

be in depth. Roxio is just always idiot friendly (looking)

but not as well implemented nor as powerful in it's burning

capeabilities. IMHO