I originally had XP on my computer. I also had wimpy RAM--only 1 GB. And a wimpy hard drive--only 200 GB. So, come mid February 2012, I had a fake hard drive crash--the month prior, I had a fake power supply problem. This was just so I could do my own computer repair and get practice before any real issues came. I replaced my RAM with 4 GB in November 2011. The power supply was replaced with a beefier one, and when the hard drive's turn to "crash" came, I put in 1 TB. As I could not fully extract the old hard drive from the chassis, I simply stuffed the new one in and disconnected the old one, hooking up the new one using that connection. I had to install Windows 7 32 bit edition on the new drive, so I am not affected by the XP situation.
Next time something goes out of date, I will need to replace the whole computer because 4 GB is the max my motherboard will support. Then I will have my existing one to practice installing motherboards and components with, while watching YouTube videos and DVD courses on my new system. I expect that sometime in 2017 or 2018, barring being forced back into jokehovianism, hyperinflation where these things become totally unaffordable or unavailable, or Internet II. If Internet II comes, 4 GB RAM with 1 TB hard drive and DVD burning software will be enough, since I will have to transfer videos to DVD players and external devices so I will at least have something to watch while others are watching what will effectively be a hyped up version of cable TV. Otherwise, it will probably be Windows 9.