Launching in 2001, Windows XP is no spring chicken. Despite its age, however, the old Microsoft operating system is still installed on a great many computers, and why not. If it works, it works, and upgrading to a more demanding OS that pushes a system to its limits could be a poor choice. That said, keeping an XP machine up to date isn’t easy. Now known as an outdated legacy platform, achieving the best functionality on XP can require a little work. As long as you’re looking for low-demand games like those on online casinos, it’s still possible, so let’s get going.
Web Games
Based on HTML, web games will tend to have far lower requirements than able game software. A daily free spin wheel, for example, is easily possible on older machines. As part of a digital casino, this wheel can reward scratch cards, free spins, casino bonuses, and more. Each of these rewards is equally as playable on XP as on newer systems, with the right setup and only three major steps.
Run a Defrag
The first step to getting our XP machine running smoothly will be to defragment the hard drive. XP doesn’t do this automatically, so you’re going to have to run it manually. This is a simple process to complete, as Windows comes with built-in defrag tools. The way defrag works is by sorting data out into sequential blocks, making it faster for hard drives to read. Depending on the amount of data you have on a drive, this could take a few hours to complete. Without a defrag, even less demanding online casinos games can struggle, so don’t miss this step.
“Defrag” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by TeraByte on Flickr – Someone rules in this place..
Update your Drivers
For each component of your computer to act and communicate as efficiently as possible, you’re going to need the most recent drivers. Up-to-date drivers don’t just make a system run faster, and they can also dictate whether certain features are possible. Since we’re using web games that rely on newer tech than XP offers by default, newer drivers are a must. While you can manually search out drivers for your machine’s components, the best approach is to use a driver tool to complete this process for you. Just to uninstall the program afterward.
Install a Compatible Browser
Web games need a web browser, and thanks to how far HTML has come over the years, an older browser isn’t going to do the job. Thankfully, there are special versions of modern browsers like Google Chrome that work on XP. This will ensure online casino games can run without issue, as well as modern websites too.
“windows_xp_desktop” (CC BY 2.0) by Leon Wilson
Before heading out into the world of web games, you should that while 2D titles like casino games will usually run perfectly well, games that require 3D graphics often won’t. Fortunately, this still means you have enormous libraries of thousands of games to play. With a modern browser, backed by the right drivers and a defragged hard drive, you’ll be ready to give an XP machine a new lease on life and maybe find a little nostalgia along the way.