Is an ssd pointless for Windows xp?

ExoMale

ExoMale

ExoMale

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Yes yes I said it, for Windows xp ha and yes yes I know ssd makes everything quicker, but despite still wanting the 30gb OCZ Sata 2 ssd I got my eye on for a tenner, I don't need it for my haswell build anymore as I'm in the process of sorting my 500gb storage drive for the win 10 upgrade option.

Rather im thinking of that OCZ or another ssd for my recently acquired optiplex gx620 MT(cost a fiver) which has xp installed on a 80gb drive, but I have a 500gb waiting to go in, but don't want to waste it on the obsolete OS and I want to stick to xp for my old games that won't run into compatibility issues, but obviously still want Windows 7, so as an ssd are is so thin I could squeeze that in somewhere between the DVD drive and hdd or I suppose replace the floppy.


But would I be wasting the time and money on an ssd for an obsolete OS that hardly takes much to run?

System only has 1gb out of 4gb ddr2 currently and shortly I'm going to put my r7 240 2gb in it so that will free up video memory, just whether an ssd make any improvements.
 
I'd be surprised if the standard PSU will run that card, even if it doesn't need separate power I'd check the specs as the PCI-E is very limited. ( I had a 755 to play with once which was similar build)

SSD wouldn't be a waste as stuff will still load faster but it's comparative to the rest of the system, you won't be doing much with all of that RAM.

I'd save my money as it will never be "fast".

**FYI My 755 I upgraded over time to run a Q6600 quad with 8GB RAM and I ran Windows 7 over it as a "server" machine at home. It annoyed the hell out of me it was that slow.
 
Even if you can get decent XP drivers, I honestly don't think its worth the effort.

For me (like Steve) it would be far too frustrating to use day to day for it to be worthwhile
 
ha thanks for replies.

im not expecting lightening speeds even if i up it to 3 or 4gb ram simply because its old and has a P4HT rather than a Pentium D in my last one, i thought at a fiver i could improve it and sell it or given it lays flat i can use it for my old games and it wont be in the way or sell it for a core2duo version, but then i lose full height card option.

500gb will make things quicker, but as i say not going to waste it by installing xp on it lol, i just wondered whether an ssd would make enough impact to warrant the costs.


as the the 240, it shouldnt really be that hard to run surely? i know its no hd2400 i had in my last one, but should still be more efficient being more modern, hell ive ran a gt 210 1gb on a 250w of old basic supply that had a dual core amd in it and had no issues, cant see this amd drawing much power than that :confused:
 
Seriously check your specs. I think if I'm remembering correctly the PSU doesn't have a graphics card output and the PCI-E will only give about 25-35w to power it. That will limit you horrifically or you'll ignore that and damage something.

An AMD 5450 was about the "right" card to run in them I think.
 
If you're going to spend any time actually sitting and using the PC then absolutely get some kind of cheap-as-chips SSD in there.

My experience of using old early 2000s 32bit PCs with their original mechanical HDDs in the present day is that they're so sluggish that it feels like something is broken, and that's just doing basic Windows desktop tasks! Their low-spec mechanical HDDs audibly grind the whole time.

An alternative with Vista (and 7?) is to have a say 8GB USB thumb drive plugged in permanently and use the "ReadyBoost" feature.
 
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Spyhop said:
If you're going to spend any time actually sitting and using the PC then absolutely get some kind of cheap-as-chips SSD in there.
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^ This.

My first SSD was on an SATA-I port in an old 1.8GHz dualcore C2D system with just 2GB of RAM running WinXP, and the difference it made to overall system responsiveness was absolutely amazing. It was a slow SSD by modern standards, but still lightning-fast compared to an HDD.

Don't worry about the pagefile being on there either as it's almost entirely reads anyway. I've just retired that SSD due to a complete system rebuild, but it coped just fine for 28,000 hours of up-time and still has most of its expected lifetime ahead of it according to SMART.

Don't expect miracles, but do expect a much more responsive machine.
 
Is this thread a joke?

The only use in still using XP is if you have mission critical software that relies upon winxp. Some hospital equipment relies upon it for example.

For everyone else, Windows 10 is superior in every way, though it requires one or two brain cells to disable unwanted privacy options.
 
I have two pc's one old one with win xp, like yourself for old games etc, and one with win 10. Win xp on ssd flies and infact I tend to use the xp machine more than my win 10 one.;)

For me win 10 has no soul. win xp is fine you just need an ssd and some upto date software to keep it going. I've had no issues with xp machine and I use it a lot, infact I am using my xp machine right now.

Get a cheap ssd and go for it.
 
Personally OP, I would just go with Windows 7 (if you have a copy) or 10, but if you have your heart set on remaining with XP, it will fly with an SSD.

Just make sure you follow this guide to help lengthen then lifespan of your SSD with XP:

https://ckirbach.wordpress.com/2012...indows-xp-for-ssd-solid-state-disk-operation/

I would also recommend getting a decent sized SSD (128GB+) as well. It will be more expensive than the 30GB, but you can always reuse in a newer PC later.

The usual security advice still stands as well. Make sure that you have an antivirus and make good use of programs such as Malwarebytes, CCleaner and updated browser software (well, as updated as you can with XP).
 
Dave2150 said:
Is this thread a joke?

The only use in still using XP is if you have mission critical software that relies upon winxp. Some hospital equipment relies upon it for example.

For everyone else, Windows 10 is superior in every way, though it requires one or two brain cells to disable unwanted privacy options.
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In a similar manner, I have my scans and xrays from my solicitor that we have had from the hospital, of my body, and the software ONLY works in Windows 7.

If I try to run it in 8, 8.1 or 10, it crashes.

I also have lots of software that I love playing and that will work just fine in XP, but fails in some way or another when I use anything newer than XP.

One such game that I love to play, it Need For Speed Underground 2

The game itself plays just fine, but I have NEVER been able to get it to remember the keyboard mapping? I have to renew it every time I try to play.
Small but annoying issue.

There are a few more, but that one it one that really irritates me.

As for Windows 10, for me, I have an issue with my sound card, and keyboard in that it keeps going silent and hanging the audio every so often, for no reason, and if I try to change the volume with the keyboard, teh scree ngoes blank, the audio cuts out and anything that I am running will go weird for a few seconds... Games are a nightmare.
Windows 10 is well known for having issues with Audio devices and in my case the bloody keyboard too! - windows 8.1 and below are fine, but not 10.

So no. Windows 10 may very well work for you, but it is by no means the best solution for everyone.

I myself have been seviously debating going back to Windows 7, I m that fed up with the silly little "features" that I get.
 
XP works great on an SSD. XP doesn't support the TRIM command so it may slow down with time depending on the drive, you should also make sure the partition is aligned.

BTW if you're having problems with software under 7+ try installing to a location other than Program Files (e.g. create the folder C:\Legacy Programs). That works for a lot of games.
 
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puppetworx said:
BTW if you're having problems with software under 7+ try installing to a location other than Program Files (e.g. create the folder C:\Legacy Programs). That works for a lot of games.
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All my games are installed in D:\Games\
And my Steam folder is D:\Games\Steam\

I install nothing in the default folders, other than system apps like AntiVirus and such.
 
Thanks for replies.


I am using a 500gb Sata 2 hdd I salvaged from a computer, the ssd despite being 30gb had sold by the time I is the spare tenner lol.

As for xp, I stated my reasons for it which is old games, I have had many compatibility issues with some older games on my main computer which is 8.1 and Windows 7 isn't all that great in that mode either and as for Windows 10, I have that on my main also via separate drive so I didn't lose out on the free upgrade whether I like it or not and that computer will run forza horizon 3 at a decent level when I get hold of it.


I am installing Windows 7 pro 32bit on it currently and going to partition the drive so I can upgrade to win 10 and have a small amount for xp.
 
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