minimum RAM/Virtual Memory(VM) settings

I always prefer to max out the machine's RAM (4GB on 32-bit and 8GB on 64-bit) and get as much VM as I can (VM=2..4×RAM approximately) in case anything goes wrong.

I typically run about 20 windows at once (which is all I can fit into memory) on an average day plus a number of background processes like 3 databases, a web server for testing, an FTP server for file sharing.

managed VM tends to run the more disk I/O than it would for a fixed size: resizing itself and allocating and deallocating disk space using the filesystem takes up some amount of time, plus there's all the disk platter file scatter (fragmenting) for this method. you can save a lot of that time by using a fixed VM. However, if you are not comfortable working with VM, you can leave it as System Managed.

however, I have discovered that if windows doesn't have enough RAM, programs will crash or just quit all by themselves for no reason, dialogs won't display properly (buttons and other controls disappear). Some say you should have 512B minimum RAM in 32-bit Windows XP, 1GB minimum RAM for 64-bit, even though the minimum is 128MB. For optimim performance, you should have at least 1GB for 32-bit and 2GB for 64-bit.

If you can set VM to 4GB minimum, do that. With any VM it will run like a dog, but it shouldn't crash.

generally the machine will run somewhat slower the more RAM you put in, but when you put in the max memory:

• you won't have memory hungry apps like Microsoft Outlook crashing
• you can run lots of applications at once without having to close them. The heydays of single-tasking OS's like DOS are long gone (with the exception of embedded systems).
• you can run games

Hibernation/standby issues when RAM over 1GB

Microsoft did not send a patch for this over the wire. you get an error message when you shift-click standby (hibernate). MS KB909095 & patch
I added 3GB RAM to my Dell 4600 and it would no longer go into standby. Even after taking it back down to 1GB.

make XP look like Vista

XP SP2 and firewire/IEEE-1394 drives may not mix

XP runs out of resources before it runs out of memory

Just like in the days of windows 95/98/ME, we have the same problem once again. microsoft thought they had fixed the problem. but somebody hard-coded some low numbers and limited folks with maximum memory in their systems.
Not only is there a per-user-process limit of 10,000 handles (so if this is true, why is SpySweeper able to get 18,000?), something else is running out when I try to run many applications at once (and still have 1.4GB RAM+4GB pagefile free) and not letting me run anything else.
But wait - there's also in winnt.h a #define MAXIMUM_WAIT_OBJECTS 64, which means that you can't allocate more than 64 handles for WAIT objects per process. however, I am told this only prevents abuses.

microsoft OS's [not] limited to 32 processors

also in winnt.h I found #define MAXIMUM_PROCESSORS 32. This explains why microsoft OS's are not used in SMP systems. We now have the i7, a 4-core processor that thinks it's 8 through hyperthreading. There was something special I learned about the number of processors that I can't tell you, but it may be invalid nowadays anyway since code has become more and more multithreaded.

I found out by someone who writes mingw that that is not what this is for.

...the docs for SetThreadIdealProcessor() says:

"On a system with more than 64 processors, this function sets the preferred processor to a logical processor in the processor group to which the calling thread is assigned. Use the SetThreadIdealProcessorEx function to specify a processor group and preferred processor."

AMD Athlon 64 & XP Home 32-bit?

Yes!
not sure if you can do that with an Intel processor though...

dual-core useable on XP Home?

EOL (End-Of-Life) schedule

retail, June 30, 2008. System Builder, January 31, 2009. official microsoft EOL Schedule (not been updated since April '08)
Up-to-date EOL Schedule for support
Everybody says Microsoft Says but they are probably looking at some part of the EOL schedule. The Columbian says something interesting. "PC makers such as Dell and HP...consumers...will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally "downgrade" to XP". I think we are now at the critical stage.
You can't buy XP off the shelf any more except maybe from liquidators and newegg and maybe nextag. Just make sure that if you buy OEM anything, you are building a new system and you intend to provide the support.

MSDOS on x64?

According to a post, MSDOS apps can be run under x64 if you run VMWARE. Otherwise, don't expect to. This article was for Vista I think, but I am pretty sure it applies to XP as well because VMWARE is also available for XP.

book

registry guide

what to do when explorer/computer hangs

1. do a control-alt-del (hold down Ctrl and Alt keys and tap the Delete key).
2. click on the processes tab.
3. click on the Image Name column title (to sort by Image Name if it isn't already).
4. find explorer.exe, right-click on it, and pick End Task.
5. wait for explorer to shut down completely. you can watch the taskbar disappear.
6. From the menu, choose File|New Task (Run...)
7. type in explorer and hit the Enter key. explorer should then start.
8. wait for the explorer to come up completely before you do anything.

XP TechCenter

XP downgrade from Vista

Service Pack 2 (SP2)

SP2 or SP1 is requires before you install SP3. get SP2 here.

Service Packs will prompt you to turn on auto-updates.

Service Pack 3 (SP3)

SP3 requires a minimum of SP1 (can be SP2) to be installed first. it is not comprehensive like SP2.

BEFORE you install SP3, install SP2, then install IE8. you may be required to install an IE8 patch.

SP3 also prevents downgrading from IE7 to IE6 - prevents system instabilities. Also, installing SP3 through Windows Update also installs IE8, but it is often a bungled install and permanently ruins IE (you will have to reinstall XP). You should install IE8 in any case before installing SP3. You may need to install a patch before installing IE8. IE8 requires SP2 I think.

SP3 is available as a 544MB CD ISO image, and a 544MB 317MB executeable on 5/6/2008 and is for x86 only - Don't know if x64 release is scheduled.
Microsoft SP3 whitepaper, Microsoft KB936929 (SP3 Info) .

Service Packs will prompt you to turn on auto-updates.

SP3 has been called a mistake by many (It was pushed out the door too soon). As a result, loss of user accounts can occur (on my machine the user lost the Users group and it and the Administrator account was partially disabled/locked) or you can get stuck in continuous reboots. Because of this, installation of SP3 is not for the amatuer. Have your XP OS or System Restore cd on hand just in case (sorry if you have a newer HP - you didn't get one - you got about 6 HP install cd's for installing from scratch and it can't repair the OS because it is not an XP cd). You can boot from GPARTED liveCD or System Rescue CD and repair from that if you have unix repair knowledge and knowledge of ntfs-3g and mount/umount). You may also need the Offline NT Password and Registry Editor but be aware that any use of this tool in combination with a filesystem that has EFS encypted files on it will result in the loss of the files, same with the other LiveCD utilities.

Staving off SP3: Oh, bother: Microsoft Pushed it down the wire again on Sept 1 2008. This is getting to be a habit, and they haven't even fixed the problems. Looks like we are going to have to install it somehow or get used to the pestering or tell them to quit. You can stop the pestering for at least a long while on this or any other bothersome update if when an update comes, you do this. If you install SP3 successfully, Microsoft won't bother you again.

"My external disks are having trouble starting up, which results in Windows not starting up," complained user Michael Faklis. source

"Among them: A feature called Network Access Protection that's borrowed from the newer Windows Vista operating system. NAP automatically validates a computer's health, ensuring that it's free of bugs and viruses before allowing it access to a network." source. I took a minute and thought about what this does if I did happen to get a virus. no updates for AV package. no downloading fixes off the internet. no researching the problem. at least that is my understanding of it - it cuts you off from the network. all fixes must be through cd or system rebuild. I have been surprised by spyware before from innocuous-looking places. one of the reasons why I use firefox instead of IE now - no chance of activex control infections. But for me this disastrous result has not been the case. I have been able to continue just fine. This may only apply to Enterprise-class networks - I don't know.

SP3 not compatible with Microsoft's point-of-sale software & Microsoft Dynamics RMS.
If you are having rebooting issues, you may need your "System Restore CD" or "XP Operating System CD". If you do not have that, it is possible that your vendor has installed the System Restore XP OS on a hidden partition (HP does that).
Free Microsoft Support for SP3 installation!
Does your AMD-based (HP) computer boot after installing XP SP3? (article+solutions - READ THIS, download the problem detector program)
P.I.N.G. (Partimage Is Not Ghost) (not for the non-UNIX user - I am waiting to evaluate this as a tool to see if it works as advertised)
"STOP: C0000139 GDI32.dll" solution
System Keeps Rebooting after Installing Windows Service Pack 3 (details and research of "does your AMD-based computer boot after installing XP SP3?") - to get into safe mode, try removing all USB devices.
Error message when you try to install Windows XP Service Pack 3: "Access is denied" or “Service Pack installation did not complete” solution article
Microsoft kb: Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update, from Microsoft Update, or by using Automatic Updates after you repair a Windows XP installation solution articles 1, 2
SP3 support hub

installation woes?
I could not install it on my Intel Pentium 4 HT machine (XP Pro SP2 and lots of software) no matter what I did. I even used msconfig to disable all the startup programs and the services which I installed (mcafee, webroot spysweeper, mysql, roxio and the like). I get "Access is denied" about middle of the installation and then SP3 does a rollback. I have tried this 4 times with different methods. until I found the official working Microsoft solution which is a batch file+downloadable subinacl.exe and a long wait to execute, and it works [with some glitches]. After doing Microsoft's recommended solution and installing SP3, my extra user account disappeared and all user accounts "full names" was renamed to its original name. very bad. guest account was also re-enabled (was disabled), which is a security issue.
My extra user asccount that was lost had lost the Users group and it and the Administrator account was partially disabled/locked. Both were inaccessable to windows.
My Macromedia Flash Video Encoder, Corel Paint Shop Pro installation was destroyed and I had to reinstall it from the CD.

Also refer to this article: mentions continuous reboot issues on HP AMD platforms & systems with ATI Catalyst 8.4 drivers, and one of a crash involving an nVidia driver of some kind, but I do not know which one. article about post-SP3 woes survey (incl. IE lockups). refers to IE lockups (I have not had this problem - I am on IE7).

location of Application Data

Location of Desktop

Service Pack Roadmap

TweakUI/PowerToys for Windows XP

XP Pro Resource Kit

book with cd, available at amazon.com, used and new. These books are traditionally very thick.

LCD Monitor & muddy fonts?

get ClearTweak from PC World.

turning on hibernation

powercfg /h on

Take Ownership of Files, xp

How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP