Having just left a prop. firm, I need to upgrade my home computer to become my "trading" computer". I currently have a Dell Dimension 800 mhz, 128 memory, win 98, with one 19'' monitor. I want to upgrade to XP Pro, add 128 memory, and get a second monitor (along with a dual monitor video card). Is this a job I can easily accomplish without the help of a professional? Also, does anyone have any recommendations for where and which kind of video card and memory to buy? Thanks for any suggestions.
If you add 128mb ram and a dual-video card your hardware should be just fine for most purposes. As for upgrading to XP Pro, that version is only necessary when upgrading WinNT and Win2000. In your case, since you are upgrading from Win98, you can use the XP Home edition which will save you a fair chunk of change. And it's features, kernel, stability, etc. are pretty much the exact same as the Pro.
I have three machines I use. In one I use every day, I just added a cheap pci video card (I think it was $8 used). It works great with XP, and worked great with w98. I really think it is all you need if you're just using charts, but I could be wrong. You do have to get a card with the correct chip though, or it will not work with w98 - check "help" for the proper chips. A dual monitor card might be better, but they are a lot more expensive. Good luck.
See crucial.com. Best prices around. They'll walk you through the memory upgrade process so that even a non-techie can do it.
Don't bother with the dual video card , win 98 and above supports 2 video cards. Get an AGP and a pci vid card . I use ATI stuff. My new system that I just upgraded: P4 - 1.8 gig 512 cashe asus ps4333 - motherboard ATI Radeon 32 meg AGP All in wonder pro vid card ATI Expert 16 meg PCI Card 2 Quantum scsi hard drives western digital 40 meg 7200 rpm ide drive dma 100 samsung and mag 19 inch monitors 512 K pc 2700 ram my old system : P3 - 667 Asus p34vx motherboard 2 Quantum scsi hard drives ATI Radeon 32 meg AGP All in wonder pro vid card ATI Expert 16 meg PCI Card 20 meg westerndigital hard drive 7200 rpm - dma - 66 samsung and mag 19 inch monitors 640 megs 133 MZ ram. The old system worked great with no problems. Now it is a backup system that replaced my older backup :-] Use WIN 2000, it is very stable and allocates ram a lot better then win 98. An 800 MZ system is plenty , I would use more then 256 megs of ram , ram is cheap get 512 K. Make sure you 19 inch monitor and video card can support 1600 X 1200 resolution , most do. As for my internet connection I have a fiber optic cable line that is only available in certain parts of the US , I am lucky to have it here. It is faster then regular cable and is very stable. I have a DSl connection as a backup.
llljjj, If you just want to run a charting and execution platform like RealTick or IB, your system is fine just like it is. Just add a vid card or maybe two or a dualhead card to run multiple monitors and you should be fine. Make sure you have a wideband connection though.
In my opinion - I'm sure you will get others, Win 2000 is the best OS to use right now. I say this because it is more efficient that XP and because no one to date has given me a good argument and supporting statements that proves that XP is better. Win98 is definitely not fit for running trading apps. Searh the board and you will see others that posted that they were having all sorts of problems with Win98 that went away when they changed to Win 2000. Make sure that the second video card is in the hardware compatability list on the OS install disk under the additional adapter section. Not all cards that work with 98 work with 2000. Mike