RE: Win2k, passport, and millennium?

["Darin Schnetzler" <darins@xxxxxxxxxx>]

We started using Win2k on many of our PCs somewhere around 2 years ago
and if memory serves me right we were aware of a potential problem with
Passport.  From what I've just now read on the web it appears that the
problem is related to passport using all the processor's power but I'm
unable find any info on how slow the processor has to be before this
becomes an issue.  

The lowest end PCs that our employees are using is a 450MHz, 256MB RAM
PC with a 6GB hard drive.  I'm not aware of anyone having problems with
passport slowing down their PCs but it seems to me that things were a
lot slower for the low end PCs back when we had only 128MB of RAM.  I
mentioned the size of the hard drive because it is important that you
have plenty of room to increase the size of swap file to the size Win2k
recommends.  We ran into problems with 4GB hard drives running out of
space since Win2k, the swap file and Office 2k all by themselves were
pushing 3Gb. And believe me - it doesn't take that many other apps and
user files to use the remaining 1Gb.

At this time most of our PCs are 866MHz with none less than 256MB of RAM
and we have only one user who is really having any problems with
Passport.  Passport keeps locking up on him and since he is an advanced
user who makes many macros it's very hard to say if the problems he is
experiencing is really related to the Win2k or just bugs in Passport.
The version of Passport we are using is 1.11.03 so you probably want to
make sure you have at least that.

Now, having said all of that, I would like to give you a reason or two
NOT to go to Win2k.  

First, you are most likely going to only have a little more difficulty
switching to XP Pro over Win2k so as long as the cost of the product
isn't a factor it would probably be a mistake to switch to a product
that is on its way out.  

Second, XP Pro has many feature built into it that Win2k doesn't.   XP
Pro has a DVD decoder built into it so if you need to view the DVD to
catalog it all you need is Windows Media player (and a DVD drive of
course) to play it.  XP has remote control and viewing features that let
you work remotely on a PC that 2k doesn't have.  XP appears to do an
even better job of identifying hardware and properly using it (Less work
for you!).  New software will soon start showing up that uses new
features in XP that will improve the speed and functionality of the
software.

Third, why upgrade to Win2k now only to upgrade to XP in 2 or 3 years?
Why not do XP now and keep using XP for the next 5 or 6 years?

Forth, XP, supposedly from what I've read, is more stable than 2k.  The
time you can safely leave a PC on without rebooting it depends on the
OS.  It's been some time since I've read the details but if memory
severs me right NT was measured in days, 2k in weeks to even months but
XP is measured in months to even years.  This still doesn't compare to
Linux that almost never needs a reboot but it's still a noticeable
improvement. 

Hopefully you will find something in this note of value.



-- 
Darin Schnetzler          --  Computer Technology Specialist
Pickler Memorial Library  --  Truman State University
100 E. Normal St.         --  Kirksville, MO 63501-4221
Phone: 660 785-7410       --  Fax: 660 785-4538
 

-----Original Message-----
From: innopac-admin@xxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:innopac-admin@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Belvadi, Melissa
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 10:38 AM
To: innopac@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Win2k, passport, and millennium?

Hello. We are about to upgrade some staff computers from WinNT and
trying to decide between Windows 2000 and XP Pro. Those stations use
Millennium, GUICat, and OCLC Passport. I was learning towards 2K, but I
understand from OCLC that there is a potential problem with running
Passport on Win2K with other programs.

Can anyone share experiences, positive or negative, with running OCLC
Passport simultaneously with Millennium and Guicat on a Windows 2000
workstation? If you are doing it happily, how much RAM do you have?
Likewise for XP?

Thanks very much!

---------------
Melissa Belvadi
Systems and Services Librarian
Maryville University Library
13550 Conway Rd., St. Louis, MO 63141
mbelvadi@xxxxxxxxxx
314-529-9531
Fax: 314-529-9941


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