Gulp! Upgrade from XP to Windows 8!??

[stigzler]

HI folks - advice from pros needed!!

So, I'm rolling with my system setup. However, as time has gone on, I've upgraded my graphics card (to 1GB) and recently my mobo. I'm looking at running the higher end emulators (nulldc + pcsx2) + now running into stuff about them preferring dx10 and above. XP only goes up to dx9 . Also predicting I may want to add higher gen consoles in the future, and my setup has some life in it yet - sure can only go up to 4Gb, but still got scope in my CPU

Downloaded the Windows 8 upgrade some time ago (for another XP machine)- ended up not using the license as bought the 64 bit edition for custom build in the end.

So.... do I install Windows 8 on my emulator machine over XP? If so, I understand that it would have to be either a clean install, or one that only preserves my documents?? Few q's as a result:

1. Spent ages getting GameEx setup - is there anyway to save my setup so I would just have to re-install GE and re-instate the folder structures + files as was (can easy b/u to second HD in machine). Copying .ini files? Simple as that??

2. Any known compatibility issues for emulators or GE with Windows 8. Would be going for the 32 bit edition.

3. Just any thoughts in general!

Thanks chaps

Steve

[thurmansevolution]

Depending on the age (or generation) of the computer you are upgrading...some older types won't take Windows 8...not 100% sure on that though. However, I do know (first hand lol) that there are plenty of newer PCs that are not able to have XP installed on them.

I've kinda been in your spot though, in a way. I downgraded windows from 7 to XP, and this is the way that saved me a lot of work in doing that, as I had to perform a clean install.

1. There is a program by 2BrightSparks called "SyncBack" ...if you have an external hard drive large enough, you can use this nice little program to back up all your files. Make sure to backup all files in your GameEx folder, as well as all other folders ya wanna backup. One bonus to SyncBack - you can schedule backups...very handy tool

2. Once you've upgraded (also assuming windows doesn't include any files you wanted to keep in windows.old folder), download and install GameEx normally, and then replace all the GameEx config files with the GameEx config files you have backed up. Also, replace the "GameEx.exe" file with the one you have backed up.

3. Place all your "arcade"(?) files (Mame, etc) that you have backed up in the same "path" you have previously used. - If you used a different drive letter ...e.g. "H:/", make sure that you have partitioned a separate space in your hard drive and name it that letter. ...The idea on this is that you basically want to keep all the paths the same, that way all the config files in GameEx will be pointing in the right direction.

I hope this helps, and it's really easier than it sounds ...feel free to ask me any questions if ya get stuck.

LC

[DazzleHP]

My thoughts:

1) Yes it is that simple! Make a backup of GameEx.ini and any advanced configs you have created, and it should be as simple as installing GE, then over-writing said files with your backups

2) I'm still on XP and to be honest all emulators run absolutely fine! I have been running both nullDC and PCSX2 for a while now with no problems. The "prefer DX10/11" is down to lighting mainly, but remember these emulated systems never had this anyway, so you won't really see much gain from it.

3) All in all, if you upgrade to W8 for your emu rig then that precious 4GB of ram is going to start struggling, not only does W8 use quite a bit more RAM natively, so does DX10+.

/My2cents

[thurmansevolution]

Oh...and the second question ya had (lol sorry about the last post - I got a little carried away)

There shouldn't be any issues really that I've seen with GameEx on Windows 8. I'm using 8 for my driving cab, and GameEx as the front end. It works well. The only bit of a downside though, would have to be instant sheller with Windows 8, but I'm sure that Tom will have that fixed up in the future . It seems that Tom is passionate about his work, and it shows in all the cool features in the software he builds.

[stigzler]

Thanks for your responses, chaps.

In truth, I'd rather stick with XP. Just feels a lot more stable and also 'slimmer.'

PCSX2 + NullDC are the main motivators! Haven't tried running PSXC yet, but no matter how much I faff with NullDC, I can't get the sound right in fullscreen. Stuttery and glitchy. I'm wondering whether it's my specs:

Mainboard : ASRock 4Core1600-GLAN
Chipset : Intel G31/G33/G35
Processor : Intel Pentium XE 935 @ 3200 MHz (2 Core)
Memory : 2048 MB (2 x 1024 DDR2-SDRAM )
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Hard Disk : MAXTOR STM3320820A (320GB)
Hard Disk : Western Digital WD2500KS-00MJB0 (250GB)
CD-Rom Drive : DTSOFT Virtual CdRom Device
Monitor Type : BenQ BenQ 241W - 24 inches
Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RTL8168/8111 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3 (32-bit)
DirectX : Version 9.0c (May 2010)

Any tips, Dazzle? Be great if I could get all sorted without clean re-install!!

Thanks again

Steve

[stigzler]

Solved the nullDC issue. Found this purely by chance:

http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151606

an optimised build of nulldc. Worked straight out the box!! NO idea how long I've been faffing around with official builds and legacy ones just to try + get this working! Some guy's done it for us!

I'll post separate topic to help save future users any hassle!

Yay!!! How good are dreamcast games - it's gonna look the mutt's nuts in my cab

[stigzler]

Changed my mind. Just new mobo, i7 and lots of ram - gonna rebuild system so can accommodate PCSX2 and beyond! So - Windows 8 clean install here I come. Wish me luck - 3 months getting emus set up on XP + now starting again >.<

It'll be worth it in the long run, right? Right? :s

[stigzler]

Right?? (Having spent all day re-setting up emulators!!)

[Raitsa]

Right.

Go for 8 and Classic Shell.

Just like i did and boy my cabinet is good now.

[stigzler]

Yerp. Done.

It's a slog, but getting the newer systems installed is making me grin

[headkaze]

Microsoft Says It Will Bring Back the 'Start' Button for Windows

[KRC]

I'm already using the Windows 8 Start Menu provided on the Spesoft home page.

http://www.spesoft.com/free-windows-8-start-menu.aspx

[headkaze]

Microsoft Says It Will Bring Back the 'Start' Button for Windows

Actually I just read over that article and they're not actually implementing the start menu at all. Grrr. Oh well 3rd party solutions it is then!

[celly]

And I remember reading this article a while back. It lists the "best" ways of installing a start menu.

[KRC]

Yerp. Done.

It's a slog, but getting the newer systems installed is making me grin

How's the setup going buddy?

[stigzler]

Hmmm.. ookkaaayyy.... thanks for asking KRC

Heh - I really should have decided what I wanted before started this project. 2 mother boards, 2 cpus and 2 gpus later, I'm hoping finally got my system up to spec to run what I need!!

Now on:

Intel Core i7 920 - 4GHz (OC'd)
Gigabyte EX58-DS4
Corsair 1333 DDR3 - 6GB (@570MHz - 6 Multiplier)
KFA Nvidia GTX-660 EX OC 2G DDR5
Corsair 500W PSU

+ got 4 mobo/ram/gpu/cpu sets to set up in new cab builds!!

For the love of god, please don't tell me I have to upgrade any more!

The windows 8 bit wasn't too bad tbh + glad I did for the directx10/11. Nice thing was - found out you can register a Windows 8 Pro OEM install with Windows 8 update keys (all purchased before anyone has a heart attack!)

I know yer a graphics man, KRC. Can't wait till I finish setting up the emulators and get the cab built so can finally start adding polish and messing about with some pixels!

[nullPointer]

Hmmm.. ookkaaayyy.... thanks for asking KRC

Heh - I really should have decided what I wanted before started this project. 2 mother boards, 2 cpus and 2 gpus later, I'm hoping finally got my system up to spec to run what I need!!

Now on:

Intel Core i7 920 - 4GHz (OC'd)

Gigabyte EX58-DS4

Corsair 1333 DDR3 - 6GB (@570MHz - 6 Multiplier)

KFA Nvidia GTX-660 EX OC 2G DDR5

Corsair 500W PSU

+ got 4 mobo/ram/gpu/cpu sets to set up in new cab builds!!

For the love of god, please don't tell me I have to upgrade any more!

I think you're probably good ... but if I were to pick one aspect of this system to watch out for it would be your PSU.

It sounds like I had a somewhat similar experience to yours during my last build in that I upgraded several different parts as I was going along.

I upgraded the CPU, GPU, and added an SSD boot drive along the way. My setup is somewhat similar setup to yours (albeit with older components)

i5 650 OC'd at 4GHz

GTX 460

8GB RAM

and a 600W OCZ PSU (to start with)

My only issue was during the first few months of operation I would have random system crashes. No blue screen, or anything. It would go from operation to reboot just like that. The error dump was less than helpful, and eventually I pinned it down to hardware issues - so I started replacing things starting with the two components that seemed to be the most likely candidates, the RAM and PSU.

So I went with a more reputable RAM manufacturer (Crucial) and I bumped up the PSU wattage to 700W (a Corsair). And that solved my issue. I'm still not sure which component was in the wrong (I did MemTest the crap out of the original memory with nary a an issue to be seen).

I do have a theory though. During my OC I left Turbo Boost enabled (I still run in this fashion). So I've hypothesized that perhaps my system would run fine until the turbo boost kicked in on the CPU and push the processor well beyond 4GHz (I think a calculated the effect of the turbo boost to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4.2GHz). Any how I suspect that turbo boost may have pushed the power demand of the system beyond what the PSU was able to supply at the time. I don't have an solid evidence of this, so it's just a hunch.

At any rate, it's likely you won't run into issues like this. I just figured I'd share the experience in the event that you run into anything strange along the way.

Looking forward to hearing about your progress!

[stigzler]

Cheers Null. This all started out as a simple "put an old PC into a wooden box with joysticks on it... how hard can it be!"

Now into Overclocking; vector art; esoteric router bits; subwoofer port length calculations and guess the weight of will and kate's bloody baby.

That is handy to know - as I have learned, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing; a little more could save you a pound or two.

[KRC]

Nice to hear that the new setup is going great.

I recently acquired an I7 3770 3.4ghz (3.9Turbo) Quad HT,32gb Ram, SSD (x2) and HDD (x6) (Internal/External), (12.32tb of storage to be precise).

There's enough storage to house a moon, I have however no gripes whatsoever with the HD4000 integrated graphics, They work a treat and don't deserve the bashing they get. But eventually I will get a decent graphic's card, perhaps somewhere in the GTX 6**-7** range, but I'm not worried about that at the moment. You name it-This setup will play it, But what make's it extra special is how it copes with multi tasking especially when I'm designing graphics etc., Using Adobe Flash, Photoshop, Gimp. I have this all running through my 42" LG LCD TV and thing's have never been better.

I'm also looking forward to what you come up with in the Graphics/Artwork department

[stigzler]

Whoa - that sounds like a setup, KRC - next gen arcade boards here you come! I take it you use as a desktop + emulator machine and not cab builds? Gotta admit - it's starting to feel "should I really put this machine in a wooden box with joysticks on"!

As for graphics - I'll put my novice attempts up soon - designed a theme for my cab + just a few more bits to do + then (reasonably) finished - just gotta figure how to upload themes + how to give credit (using one chap's layout and just changed all/most of the graphical elements - did have a quick look at the theme editor - but just couldn't figure how to use it so had to use someone else's as a start point).