30 Days with Windows XP

30 Days with Windows XP
By: Scott Hendison � Originally Published: November 2001

Windows XP, the latest OS (Operating System) was released to consumers on October 25th. I decided to install it as soon as it arrived in our store in early October.

I�m now nearing the end of my �free� time period with Windows XP. From the day you upgrade, you have 30 days to �activate� Windows or it will shut down. I�m going to keep it, but I�ve had some trouble with it at home. Yes, at home. You didn�t think I�d risk my business computers did you?

It all started immediately upon attempting installation. I got a Microsoft Log Window with a long list of warnings about what software and hardware might not work anymore, but I decided to do it anyway. After all, how bad could it be since my �computer hot rod� was all under 6 months old?

The first thing I saw after upgrading was that my Norton Antivirus 2001 didn�t work. True, I was warned by that Microsoft log file, but still, I was surprised. I got it working with a fix from the Norton website, but I still couldn�t run the �Live Update� so I had to buy Norton 2002. It�s now fine.

Then I noticed that inside my �device manager� (see the October 1999 article titled �The Control Panel and then some� at our website) that I had a �USB host device� that had a yellow exclamation point and a warning message that it wasn�t properly installed.

Well, I know darn well it was fine before the upgrade. All my USB stuff still wasn�t plugged in now though, since I had unplugged it before my upgrade in anticipation of trouble. So, rather than fight with those devices individually, I had to fix it. I went to my motherboard manufacturers website and downloaded and installed new motherboard USB drivers. Simple, right? Well, it�s no small feat for a new user, but quite painless for an experienced glutton for punishment like myself.

Then my sound card, although still working, was not giving me good quality sound from the rear speakers. (Don�t you have rear speakers?). I attempted to open my speaker and sound software for my NEW Creative Labs sound card, and it wouldn�t open! I went to the Creative website, and dug my way to the �drivers� section, where I found out that the Windows XP drivers and software weren�t yet available. Then I rechecked the website two days later, and there it was.

My sound now works fine, but to this day, I have hiss in my speakers that does not go away unless I check the �mute� box under my CD Audio. If I were someone who listened to music CD�s on my computer I would be extremely annoyed. Now though, when I�m extremely annoyed, I can just UNcheck the mute box, and listen to the soothing sounds of the ocean.

Of course the BRAND NEW software that I got with my BRAND NEW CD Re-Writeable drive didn�t work under Windows XP, but the manufacturer (Adaptec) had a �patch� up on their website within the first week of Windows XP�s release, and all is now fine there too. In all fairness, I was warned by �the log� about this problem too, and Windows XP has �native� support of CDRW drives (meaning it worked without My Adaptec software) so I guess it�s hard to complain too much.

Not being satisfied with this amount of self-inflicted punishment I did the Windows XP upgrade to our �family� computer too. On that system, everything appeared to go pretty smoothly with just two exceptions, (three with the Norton 2001 problem).

Our USB flash memory drive, which is a USB device for looking at digital photos from a digital camera, showed my �film� disk as empty rather than full, like I knew it to be. I could see the pictures while the disk was in the camera, but not on the computer under Windows XP!

I never did get the thing working right, because the next day I took it to work and laid it on a computer on the sales floor where I was going to try it. It got stolen, along with pictures of my kids in the pumpkin patch. Just as well, I suppose. I didn�t want to fight with it anyway.

The second thing though, really ticked me off because it wasn�t in the �warning log�. Our Microsoft Money 99 software would not go online and update our financial information. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it, but it would not work without an error telling me that I needed to reinstall it. No problem there.(aaarrggghh) I just upgraded to Money 2001 and all is well.

With all this trouble, you might wonder why I�m going to keep Windows XP on my home machines. Well, even with all the headaches, it�s still less prone to crashing than Windows 98, and it does all kinds of cool new things that I�m excited to learn. It really is better than Win98 in too many ways to list. Besides, after all that work I did fixing everything, I�d have to be crazy to start all over again!

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