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#1
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Which windows to run?
My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word
processor. The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192 MB of ram. I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours to be exact. Now that it is installed, it runs horrible, and every single click or action takes forever. The box meets the minimum system requirements, but I still can't get it to run right. Should I buy a copy of Win95 instead? Is it possible that would run better, or is it more likely the box just has a hardware issue? Thanks! |
#2
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Which windows to run?
wrote in message ps.com... My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word processor. The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192 MB of ram. I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours to be exact. 14 hours to install is a problem in itself. I'd remove anything that wasn't necessary to install, like network cards and sound cards, and try the installation again. Be sure to format the drive and not just a "verify" or "quick" format - delete the existing partitions and try again. It might be hard to find Windows 98 drivers these days, but download as many drivers as you can - mainboard chipset, soundcard, video, CPU, etc.... Running withouth them will really bog your system down. Finally, check that cables are good and tight and that the heatsinks and fans are working and clean. And specifically for your case, I'd check the IDE cables. IDE errors will greatly slow a PC down if not corrupt it. I'd suggest a cable for the HDD and a seperate cable for the CD/DVD drive. |
#3
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Which windows to run?
wrote in message ps.com... My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word processor. The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192 MB of ram. I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours to be exact. Now that it is installed, it runs horrible, and every single click or action takes forever. The box meets the minimum system requirements, but I still can't get it to run right. Should I buy a copy of Win95 instead? Is it possible that would run better, or is it more likely the box just has a hardware issue? Thanks! There is a serious problem with the machine... as with those specs win98 should have installed in about 90 minutes or less. check to see if all the RAM is really recognized etc |
#4
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Which windows to run?
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#6
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Which windows to run?
wrote:
My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word processor. The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192 MB of ram. I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours to be exact. Now that it is installed, it runs horrible, and every single click or action takes forever. The box meets the minimum system requirements, but I still can't get it to run right. Should I buy a copy of Win95 instead? Is it possible that would run better, or is it more likely the box just has a hardware issue? Something is definitely wrong because Win98 ran fine on my 200 MHz, 128M system, and it took far less than 14 hours to install. Generally Win95 helps only when the amount of RAM is less than 64M. Not having enough free space, at least 300-500M, on the C: drive can really slow Windows. OTOH |
#7
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Which windows to run?
When she bought the machine, it would not boot. I assume somebody had
picked up a virus somewhere. I ran KillDisk and wiped it clean, and then installed a copy of Win98 I had bought 14 hours later, the install was finished. It runs and everything, but runs with so much lag, I knew something was wrong. Thanks for all the suggestions guys. You confirmed my hunch. According to MS minimum HW requirements, it should run fine, but it runs terrible. Tomorrow I will crack the case open and give it a good cleaning and check all the cables. Thanks again! |
#8
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Which windows to run?
14 hours to be exact.
Did you check the drive for errors? If it gets errors, replace the drive. If no errors, replace the cable. Honestly I would throw the machine away. In my area, you can buy a fairly modern machine for less than $200 and something much better than that old turd for less than a $75. -- Mac Cool |
#9
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Which windows to run?
Mac Cool wrote:
14 hours to be exact. Did you check the drive for errors? If it gets errors, replace the drive. If no errors, replace the cable. Honestly I would throw the machine away. In my area, you can buy a fairly modern machine for less than $200 and something much better than that old turd for less than a $75. A data point for the OP: My local mom and pop pc repair place as a Pentium 4 1.5GHz with Windows XP on consignment for $125, which means they would probably take $100. 17" CRT monitor for $40 (haggle for $25.) |
#10
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Which windows to run?
On Aug 15, 10:47 pm, Grinder wrote:
Mac Cool wrote: 14 hours to be exact. Did you check the drive for errors? If it gets errors, replace the drive. If no errors, replace the cable. Honestly I would throw the machine away. In my area, you can buy a fairly modern machine for less than $200 and something much better than that old turd for less than a $75. A data point for the OP: My local mom and pop pc repair place as a Pentium 4 1.5GHz with Windows XP on consignment for $125, which means they would probably take $100. 17" CRT monitor for $40 (haggle for $25.) That's right on the edge where it COULD be one of those oddball socket 423 p4s. It would explain the price. |
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