# Windows XP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2001, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887 "2001-10-27T00:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Greathouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greathouse/32/2992_2.png) [@Greathouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greathouse)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/41 "2001-10-28T16:04:12Z")
> [@](#): > > One thing I’ve heard about XP is that it has better game compatibility. Is this true? I would like to replay some older 95, 98, and DOS games, but I currently have Win2k. While it’s nice and stable for working, it won’t let me play Pod Racer. I haven’t played many old games on XP. The only game I know of that has problems is Dark Ages of Camelot. Everytime you quit the game it generates a blue screen with a Stop:0x20. After a reboot it works fine. This is a problem with the game though and not the OS. The makers specifically state on their site that they know about it and don’t plan on patching it. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/42 "2001-10-28T18:41:02Z")
I know Operation Flashpoint and halflife run just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/43 "2001-10-28T19:32:53Z")
I’ve gotten games as far back as Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers to work on XP, but when you go that far back, you’ll start finding more games that are incompatible. It really depends then on how the game was programmed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Harvey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@Max\_Harvey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Harvey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/44 "2001-10-28T19:49:53Z")
Some questions for those of you with XP: 1. Does it handle memory leaks and resources better than 98SE? I use a lot of graphics apps and even with 384MB RAM and MemMax I have to reboot every hour or so. 2. Is there a lot of “happy crap” such as “My” Computer, “My” Documents, that flying “Click Here To Begin” taskbar arrow, the paper clip (I know that one’s in Office, just using it as an example)? If so is it possible to turn them off? 3. Is the DOS shell gone? That’s still the best for pinging and trace routes IMO. 4. How customizable is the interface? Any built-in “skinning” capability? I really hate those Fisher-Price menus and buttons. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/45 "2001-10-28T20:10:18Z")
I spend a couple hours doing a Me network but then I remembered that I have to have NetBeui on to get them to network. Well, I did that & it works fine. Thing is, XP, does NOT support this protocol. sigh ---
**Author:** ![VenusGirlTrap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/58956e/32.png) [@VenusGirlTrap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VenusGirlTrap)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/46 "2001-10-28T20:16:01Z")
I have a few questions and statements. I really don’t want to clean install because of the price. I also don’t want to upgrade to pro, again because of the price. One thing I need help with is how to get excel cheap. My school wants to charge me $219 for all this shit I don’t even want, I just want excel. It is really driving me crazy, any suggestions? PS- I’m a starving and cheap college student. ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/47 "2001-10-28T20:18:20Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Max Harvey \* \*\*Some questions for those of you with XP: 1. Does it handle memory leaks and resources better than 98SE? I use a lot of graphics apps and even with 384MB RAM and MemMax I have to reboot every hour or so. [\quote][\b]Time will tell, but if you have to reboot every hour or so, theres another problem. My machine, even when I ran win98se, stayed up for weeks at a time. [quote] \*\* 1. Is there a lot of “happy crap” such as “My” Computer, “My” Documents, that flying “Click Here To Begin” taskbar arrow, the paper clip (I know that one’s in Office, just using it as an example)? If so is it possible to turn them off? [\quote][\b]yes, and I havent really looked into it. [quote] \*\* 3. Is the DOS shell gone? That’s still the best for pinging and trace routes IMO. [\quote][\b]DOS is still there. > [@](#): > > \*\* > > 1. How customizable is the interface? Any built-in “skinning” capability? I really hate those Fisher-Price menus and buttons. \*\* [\quote][\b]you can go back to the old style look easy enough. I kinda like the new look…Something differant [quote] \*\* ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/48 "2001-10-28T20:19:49Z")
oops… ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/49 "2001-10-28T20:22:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*I spend a couple hours doing a Me network but then I remembered that I have to have NetBeui on to get them to network. Well, I did that & it works fine. Thing is, XP, does NOT support this protocol. sigh \*\* Nor should it. That protocol is dead as a hammer. Use TCPIP instead. ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/50 "2001-10-28T20:25:43Z")
DOS is gone. XP uses Command Prompt instead. ---
**Author:** ![John487](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@John487](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John487)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/51 "2001-10-28T21:16:22Z")
talking with a friend from evil Microsoft who has seen the XP source code, there’s no spyware. you know if there was spyware, MS’d be setting themselves up for a good reaming, right? 😉 fyi, there are already cracked-out versions of XP, minus the registration floating about, believe it or not (i’ve seen one myself). looks like the vast outflow of MS products can’t avoid being pirated. anyway, i have XP-Pro and i can’t complain. refined, stable-so-far, and fluid. anyone else notice the boot time optimization? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/52 "2001-10-28T21:52:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Monster104 \* > \*\*DOS is gone. XP uses Command Prompt instead. \*\* If you hit run and type command, you get a window that says windows DOS, but there is no boot to command prompt ---
**Author:** ![bdgr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@bdgr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bdgr)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/53 "2001-10-28T21:58:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John487 \* > \*\*talking with a friend from evil Microsoft who has seen the XP source code, there’s no spyware. \*\* Do you have any concept on how big the source code for something like XP is???Good lord, you friend could look throught it for a lifetime and never finish it…Assuming of course that anyone could ever get access to ALL the source, which I doubt there are many who do. The programmers are gonna get relevant parts of the source, not the whole thing…thats just basic security. You dont put the whole thing in one place. > [@](#): > > \*\* > > you know if there was spyware, MS’d be setting themselves up for a good reaming, right? 😉 \*\*When has that ever stopped them. > [@](#): > > \*\* > > fyi, there are already cracked-out versions of XP, minus the registration floating about, believe it or not (i’ve seen one myself). looks like the vast outflow of MS products can’t avoid being pirated. \*\* yep > [@](#): > > \*\* > anyway, i have XP-Pro and i can’t complain. > > refined, stable-so-far, and fluid. > > anyone else notice the boot time optimization? 🆒 \*\* ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2001, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887/54 "2001-10-28T23:07:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by VenusGirlTrap \* > \*\*I have a few questions and statements. I really don’t want to clean install because of the price. \*\* Why would a clean install cost more? You can buy the upgrade version even if you are going to format your C: drive and start fresh. The XP installation will at some point ask you to pop in the CD for the previous version to verify that you qualify for the upgrade. Now, if your computer came with Windows installed and you don’t have a CD, that might be a problem. XP would **probably** accept a system restore disk as verification, but I wouldn’t risk it unless I knew for sure. Do you have Norton Ghost or Drive Image? Sorry, I can’t help with Excel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-xp/89887.md?page=2)