windows xp and windows 8

[evenifigoalone]

So my brother got Windows 8 (don't ask me, it was his idea) and wanted to install it on the desktop computer because it would be better for the gaming he wanted to do. It was fine at first. We were even able to install 8 on a separate drive from XP, and still use XP.
Trouble started when my brother forced a shutdown when 8 was taking too long to shut down. He had to reset everything. Then he couldn't use Minecraft or reinstall java, and it kept freezing on him. And then when I tried to log onto XP it told me it couldn't boot and I'd need to insert the installation CD for repairs. The thing is--that installation CD has been missing for years.
I'm guessing that XP is just gone now and there's no getting it back? (Good thing all my files are backed up online and on a USB drive.)

It was mentioned to my brother that having Windows XP and Windows 8 on the same computer may not be very doable?

 

[Obadiah]

Wow, that's a drag. I don't know about having XP and 8 on the same computer, but I have XP and 7 on mine with no problems. Although I had heard that 8 does something to the computer so that you can't go back to earlier versions after you install it. But it seems like if that's the case, it would have happened right away. Also, mine was custom built with both XP and 7 on it by an expert that's been doing this kind of thing for over 20 years, so he may have pulled some tricks to make it work. He's found tricks to make some other things work even when Microsoft said it couldn't be done.

It's sure a good thing you had your files backed up. Smart move!

 

[evenifigoalone]

Well, my brother fixed the new issues with 8. Turns out an older version of Java was having a field day and bumping the CPU usage up to 90%. So he uninstalled that and updated the drivers, it's all better now.
Still gonna miss XP, though.

We installed 8 on the other drive on the computer, that used to have 64 bit version of XP but was for some reason unable to access the internet anymore. Turns out that that section of the computer is much better for gaming (my dad did set the computer up for gaming, and used the 32 bit part mainly for internet browsing and backup) and has way more RAM, so he's happy.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Well, 3 things. First off, you're probably better off without XP unless it's used as a stand-alone computer since Microsoft is Swiss-cheesed with security issues to begin with, and XP as you probably know is no longer supported making it doubly so. Secondly, for as long as I have known the way Microsoft works it was always poor at being backwards compatible. Older software does not work well, and due to files such as your registry when updated versions are installed messes that up so that older apps don't work right, if at all (such as going onto the Internet). It's that sharing philosophy MS has that I think when more than one program uses the same file, and it's a contradiction, then this happens with crashes and errors and so forth. Microsoft places all its settings for each program into one file called the registry, and Microsoft is the only operating system that has a registry. Lastly, I was reading some tech news about JAVA and they have a poor track record of removing old software junk when its updated. This also may cause some of the issues you were describing about the 90% usage. Uninstalling and reinstalling like your brother did is something I would do, because in doing so often removes the glut, which the installers have the true spirit of Microsoft notorious for letting leftover, fragmented files around for your HD to spin thru and your registry to search making everything slow up and stall out. Microsoft has a terrible filing system philosophy which, unlike other operating systems, is why you often need "registry cleaners", defrag programs, unused file clean-ups and so forth. Think of a teenager using a house for a party, which may be fun, but leaves without cleaning up the mess. Makes it harder for other parties to take place without extensive cleaning first.

 

[th1b.taylor]

QD,
Have your brother search for Win XP Black Edition, it is independently supported and there are several ways to install it and neither is difficult. it can be installed of the other Hdd or it can be in stalled in a separate partition. A third and preferred method would be to download a free Virtual Machine and my preferred there is VirtualBox.

\With VirtualBox you do not even need an Installation CD, just the iso image of XP Black and point the install to the image. If you wish to go another way, Partition or drive, search "dual boot 8 & XP" without the quotes and print the directions out.

 

[Knotical]

Ummm...what sort of processor is the computer he is using working on? Windows 8 is only for 64bit processors, while xp was built on 32bit. This could be a large portion of the problem. You can't, all that successfully, install a 64bit OS on a 32bit processor, even if you can get through that portion of the setup.

 

[th1b.taylor]

Ummm...what sort of processor is the computer he is using working on? Windows 8 is only for 64bit processors, while xp was built on 32bit. This could be a large portion of the problem. You can't, all that successfully, install a 64bit OS on a 32bit processor, even if you can get through that portion of the setup.

Not quite so, Knotical. I haven't built a unit with a 32 bit processor in years and I do have a disk somewhere with a 32 bit Windows 8 and had an iso for a 32 bit version of Windoze 10. All of the machines I built for paying customers that insisted on running XP had 64 bit capable AMD processors in them. Of course there is also the 64 bit XP Pro that also comes in the Black Edition, all of them free but not supported by MS. They are all externally and unofficially supported, leaving MS to wish them away.

But if QD goes with the VirtualBox solution she must load the 32 bit version because that is what the Virtual Machine wants loade.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Oh yeah--virus protection. I had my brother install Avast because that is what we have on all the other computers, but he says there was a virus he had to get rid of. So is Avast not good enough for Windows 8?
Though, I suppose the virus could have been downloaded before Avast was installed again after the reset. I don't know what my brother did in that time, if he used the internet before installing, because I was asleep at the time.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I'm not sure. I know one OS was 64 bit and one was 32 bit, way before we installed Windows 8. My dad had had two OS's on this computer for years.

 

[evenifigoalone]

QD,
Have your brother search for Win XP Black Edition, it is independently supported and there are several ways to install it and neither is difficult. it can be installed of the other Hdd or it can be in stalled in a separate partition. A third and preferred method would be to download a free Virtual Machine and my preferred there is VirtualBox.

\With VirtualBox you do not even need an Installation CD, just the iso image of XP Black and point the install to the image. If you wish to go another way, Partition or drive, search "dual boot 8 & XP" without the quotes and print the directions out.

Can this be installed even if my current XP is broken beyond repair?

 

[th1b.taylor]

Can this be installed even if my current XP is broken beyond repair?

Yes, it definitely can. And you can create a brand new Install Cd from the file by using the burn image feature included on most CD Burner Programs.