A recent Tip of the Week mentioned the Google Earth program. I investigated the program, and it appears my setup does not meet the minimum specifications for running Google Earth. I do not have a broadband internet connection (I still only have dial-up), or the required 3D graphics card. Is it possible to install Google Earth on my computer? The computer is running Windows XP.

You should be able to use Google Earth with a dial-up internet account, being aware that many of the graphics and data Google Earth use are quite large. So, you will need to be a patient person while waiting for the graphics to load. Depending on the speed of your dial-up connection, it could be so painfully slow you are unable to properly use the software. That said, it shouldn’t cause any damage to your system, so you could at least give it a try.

While you may be able to get away with using a dial-up connection for Google Earth, you will probably hit a brick-wall trying to run the software without a 3D graphics card. This requirement is pretty essential, since Google Earth needs to use the graphics card to properly display and render the graphic and satellite imagery being displayed. Again, in theory, you could always try since it’s unlikely this would cause any damage to your computer. Even so, you should proceed with caution, as graphics issues occasionally can cause side-effects. If you try to run Google Earth and are presented with error messages about missing files or alike, it is likely this is due to the graphics card in the computer not meeting the minimum specifications. Should this be the case, unfortunately you will be unable to run Google Earth.