[extropy-chat] when will computers improve?

[David Lubkin]

At 09:25 PM 12/19/2003 -0600, Kevin Freels wrote:

>A 200 mhz machine? I didn;t know any of those were still running!

I'm writing this on a 200 MHz P-2 machine and am happy.  I have a faster 
laptop, too, but I only find it helpful when I'm editing 1200 dpi 
images.  This box is running Win 2K Professional, with 128 MB memory, a 22" 
screen, and 500 GB of disk.  I routinely have a few dozen windows open, and 
it has no problem running SQL Server, Visual Studio, Office, and a few 
other products simultaneously.

So your problem is not obsolete hardware....

Two things I did do to improve the system -- I'd had thousands of fonts 
installed; it's down to a few hundred now.  And I got rid of a lot of the 
processes I don't want that were lurking in the background.  See 
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm.

>I am all ready to buy Win 2k just to see if it helps. It looks like I can
>get the full version on ebay for about $100. I'd rather have the full
>version than the upgrade because my Win98 disk has about had it. (remember
>when cds first came out and they talked of how rugged they were?...HA!) If
>it is a drastic improvement, I'll take it. Here's some questions:

The upgrade does not require your Win98 disk.

>1.) Will it run all software designed for Win98?

No!  It's mostly games and educational software that won't work.  I keep a 
clunker around for that, or use VMware, which is excellent for running 
multiple operating systems simultaneously.  I used to use System Commander 
to switch between multiple OS's at boot time, but it's a messier solution.

>2.) Do I have to call, login, or send any information to Microsoft to
>register it, or is it like Win98...just punch in the key code and go?

No.  It's only XP that does that.  One of many reasons I won't upgrade to it.

>3.) Are the service packs free, or do I have to pay for SP4? (Just making
>sure, I don;t have to get SP1, 2, 3, and 4 do I? I wouldn;t think so, but
>you never know with Microsoft!)

AFAIK, all service packs are free for download from Microsoft, but they are 
often over 100 MB, so annoying without a high-speed connection.  You can 
also have them send you a CD for a modest sum.  But when I'm ready to 
upgrade, I want to do it today, not wait for a disk.

I've found it pays to be very conservative in installing MS service 
packs.  I generally only do so when I want to install a product that 
insists on it.  Problem is that Microsoft often breaks things in their 
service packs.  They may be approaching the equilibrium point IBM 
established with IBM 360/370 -- where each new release introduced as many 
bugs as it fixed.

>4.) Can I use NTFS partitions? I always wanted to. If so, is it trouble
>converting FAT32 partitions to NTFS without losing data?

You can use NTFS.  You can also use FAT or FAT32 on other partitions.  For 
converting, I'd rely on a third-party tool, from Symantec or equiv.

>5.) Am I shopping for Win2k pro?

Yes.

>I am having this trouble with a Machspeed motherboard with a 266 FSB, 512 MB
>PC2100 DDR 266 mhz memory, an XP Athlon 2200+ processor and 8x AGP video
>card with 128MB memory. I thought the problem was the basic build behind the
>computer design. If Win2k will help, I'll try it.

I doubt that your problem has anything to do with how powerful your system 
is but 2000 is better than 98 in virtually all respects.


-- David Lubkin.