It's NOT too late to buy NEW XP computer in 2023!

Unless you're OK with USED CPUs and some USED parts, it's almost impossible to build and brand new XP-certified computer in 2023. There are generic Ivy Bridge system boards available on eBay. Those are new/never used, but then you would need to buy the used parts like CPUs and possibly RAM.

BUT, I found an even better source of brand new XP-certified computers. By XP-certified, I don't mean those machines you need to use hacks/custom drivers to get working. I mean a REAL XP machine that works with original drivers from Intel/Microsoft, etc.

So, my SECRET SOURCE of brand new XP-certified computers in 2023:

Aliexpress sells mini-ITX Intel i5-3317u boards. They come with built-in CPU and built-in CPU cooling fan, so no need to look for these parts. There are lots of vendors selling this machine on Aliexpress! Also, low voltage DDR3 RAM for these machines, you can also find NEW on Aliexpress. The only thing you will need is a mini-ITX PC case to house the system board, which is plentiful available everywhere!

The downside is, you're not able to use a desktop computer discreet graphics card with these machines. BUT if you can live with integrated Intel HD4000 graphics, then you're all set!

P.S: I forgot one important note. It's nearly impossible to install Windows XP on these machines natively because you can't connect a DVD drive to them. The work around way I found to have worked was I installed Windows XP from a laptop with DVD drive, then took out the HDD and plugged it into this machine. It will work 100% so long as you set the SATA disk controller to generic drivers (not board-specific drivers) in Device Manager. This method should also work for any desktop computer with DVD drive, use it to install XP then take out the HDD and use with this machine.

 

Great write up! By the way, just boot a USB flash drive. Easy2Boot website: easy2boot.xyz
Freeware, and it thing can boot Windows, Dos, Linux, Hiren's BootCD, just about any ISO (CD Image) you can think of right from your USB flash drive. Most images will boot by simply copying the ISO file straight to your flash drive that has Easy2Boot installed on it. I love it!

(Setup CDs I've installed with E2B USB: Win10ameliorated, Win7 x86 and x64, WinXP x86 and x64, WinME, Win98se, DOS 6.22, Hiren's BootCD, Zorin (Ubuntu), and MXLinux (Debian).)


Also you can simply buy a $5 eBay USB > IDE/SATA adapter, plug it into a CD/DVD drive, and any BIOS since 2000 is able to boot from it. (They used to be $0.99 lol I have 6 of them)

(Alternatively, there's universal SATA drivers from website driverpack.io that you can slipstream into your WinXP CD so that it'll detect your hard drive and CD drive during Windows Setup)