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Which windows to run?



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 15th 07, 11:50 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
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Posts: 2
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 12:15 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Noozer
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Posts: 450
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 12:43 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
philo
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Posts: 1,309
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 03:13 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
kony
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Posts: 7,416
Default Which windows to run?

On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:50:26 -0700, wrote:

My grandma has an old computer that she is wanting to use as a word
processor.


Ok, but is this really all she's going to do or is she
assuming the common uses like internet browsing, scanning
pictures of family, email, etc? In subtle ways it might
matter.


The system is a Dell Optiplex, 300 Mhz Pentium 2, with 192
MB of ram.


Win98 or Win2k. The former will leave more memory for
applications but word processing isn't particularly
demanding unless they were incredibly large documents. The
latter will be more stable, better supportive of modern
drivers for any add-on cards you might put in it, and will
have more security updates, patches, etc, in case she
happens to be using it on the internet.


I installed Win98 on there, and it took FOREVER. 14 hours
to be exact.


Definitely something is up, which part seemed to take very
long? Had the system been working properly prior to this?
Why were you installing win98 at this point in time?
Since the system is so old, and you have win98, I would not
advise buying win2k or newer just to word process, as even
though win9x has quite a few drawbacks compared to a newer
NT based OS, it can single task like word processing, fine.


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.


I wonder if your hard drive is dying or has a bad IDE cable.
We don't have any history of the system though, when it's
this old for all we know it could be having massive
processor errors due to a dust-filled heatsink or some other
problem. Start out by giving the system a complete
inspection and cleaning if you hadn't yet, including
inspecting the capacitors for venting and the fans for free
rotation (or spinning when system is turned on).

Boot it to a memtest86+ floppy and let it run for a few
hours to see if there are any memory errors. If you have
any suspicions about the hard drive data cable, try another
cable or shift the position of the present one to see if an
intermittent cable or connector contact improves.

If the slowdown was from a bad optical drive, unplug it.

If memtest86+ shows errors, you will need to get the system
stable first then you should reinstall the OS as it may be
corrupt.




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?



Hardware issue, a Pentium 2/300 system with 192MB memory
isn't going to be smoking fast but it should run win98 fine.

If all else fails try a different hard drive, though I don't
recall what the hard drive capacity limitation was for that
system when new. Dell may have a bios update on their
website that allows, increases supported HDD capacity up to
128GB or maybe even higher. A newer drive would also make
the system feel a lot faster, if this is the original drive
it is pretty slow and due to die of old age already.
  #6  
Old August 16th 07, 04:15 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
MaceFace
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Posts: 2
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 05:20 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
[email protected]
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Posts: 2
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 05:48 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Mac Cool
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Posts: 112
Default 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  
Old August 16th 07, 06:47 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Grinder
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Posts: 1,321
Default 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  
Old August 17th 07, 08:51 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
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Posts: 1,418
Default 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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