Which OS Would You Advice ?

[Debbie]

From my previos threads you perhaps know that I'm "reviving an old computer. So far every thing is working fine, also using large drives.

BOBO : Spacewalker Shuttle Hot-661V (VIA Cipset)
IDE Cont.: Silicon Image RAID Contoller
RAM: SDRAM 128MB
HDDs: Fujitsu 8.4 GB for OS and software,
Hitchi 82GB for data storage (on RAID).
OS: WinXP Pro.

The machine is running fine exept it takes about 5mins. to do a compleat boot.
Also a little bit too sticky. It takes some time to open an application. Otherwise, running is quite fine for a "grand old lady"

Would more RAM help. What about the OS., Win 2k perhaps?

Debbie

[Kruzin]

Absolutly more RAM would help.
I wouldn't want to run XP on less that 512meg, prefferably a gig of RAM.
With only 128meg, I'd be using 98se...

[az]

98SE.

AZ

[The PIT]

95 with the usb support. Unlikely to get viri that runs on it.

[Dr Mordrid]

VIA chipset?

I'd paint a big, red circle in the middle of it and take it to the target range

Dr. Mordrid

[The PIT]

I wonder if Via chipsets work with 3.11

[Debbie]

Why the hell do you need a big red circle in the middle of it, Doc.??? Its big enough to see.

I allredy have 3 other machines running on P4s and Asus (SIS) MOBOs with a truckfull of RAM.

I just want to see the thing going again. When I'm done with it I'll go for somthing older, hehehehe. I just want somthing else to do beside going fishing and filming.

Debbie

[Mcollector]

What speed CPU you running?
That will also affect what OS you should choose.

From your symptons and abbreviated system description, I suspect:

(a) too little RAM
(b) too slow of CPU
(c) too little free HDD space for temp and swap files for the OS
(d) virii, spyware, and other malware

Unless you have your 8.4G drive loaded to the gills with OS and application s/w (i.e., little or no free space), I suspect (a) and (b) as the most likely culprits. You should have at least 2G of free space on the drive where OS temp and swap (virtual memory) files are; unless you changed it, this will be the C: drive.

If you've been on-line w/o "protection", clicking away left and right, downloading anything, then (d).

From what you describe of your system h/w so far, I'd choose W98SE, NT4, or Linux. If you have a 233 MHz or better CPU, add another 128M of RAM and you could give W2000 Pro a try. Minimum I'd try WXP on is a Piii with *at least* 256M of RAM, but 512M would probably be better.

In re: Micro$oft's minimum recommendations of h/w (CPU and RAM) for a particular OS, they are a complete joke, particularly for RAM. Micro$oft's minimums are the minimums to get a system to boot, but not realistically do anything else. Micro$oft's so-called minimum on RAM needs to be doubled or quadrupled. That would be a more realistic *minimum* to actually do something. Micro$oft's minimum on CPU power should be multiplied by 1.5 to 2. Again, that's a minimum.

The amount of RAM you need depends greatly on what you do with your system, and what application s/w you run, as well as what OS.

Here are my personal minimum RAM amounts for ordinary work (WP, spreadsheets, email, websurfing, programming), plus a little headroom:

DOS/W3.1x -- 16M to 32M
OS/2 -- 16M+
W95 -- 64M
NT4 -- 64M to 128M+
W98, W98Se -- 128M to 256M
WMe -- 256M
W2000 -- 256M+
WXP -- 256M, but 512M+ probably better
Linux -- 64M+ (depends on version/vintage/use)

My personal minimums assume you are using s/w that is not much more than a few years newer than the OS. (Newer s/w and OSes are all resource hogs. Some newer application s/w won't even run under older OSes.)

Those were my minimums. Since RAM is usually cheap, here are my preferences when souping up older workstation machines:

DOS/W3.1x -- 16M to 64M max
OS/2 -- 32M+
W95 -- 64M to 128M (most at 64M due to cache limitations on many mobo chipsets of that era)
NT4 -- 128M+ (256M+ better)
W98, 98se -- 192M to 384M (512M max)
WMe -- 256M to 512M max
W2000 -- 512M+
WXP -- 512M+
Linux -- 128M+ (depending on version/vintage/use)

If you are doing anything that requires more than 512M of RAM for satisfaction, you should *not* use W9x (W95, 98, Me). There are some issues on some systems with over 512M and W9x. I've hardly seen any improvement in W9x going from 384M to 512M anyway. (DOS/W3.1x can't even access over 64M.)

2D drawing or CAD work often requires 256M to 512M+ RAM. DCC and 3D s/w (animation, 3D modeling, et al) often requires 512M minimum, which really means 1G+. The standard among modern, higher end gamers seems to be WXP and 512M minimum, but 1G better for regular gaming use.

Here are my personal *minimum* preferences for OS/CPU combinations:

DOS/W3.1x -- anything below a 486DX4 (anything above is a waste)
OS/2 Warp 3 -- 486+
W95 -- 486DX4-100 and above (Pentium 100+ perferred)
NT4 -- Pentium 100+ (Pentium Pro or above preferred)
W98, 98SE -- Pentium 166+ (233 mmx or above preferred)
WMe -- Pentium II+
W2000 -- Pentium II+ (Pentium 233 (P55C) marginally OK)
WXP -- Pentium iii 450+
Linux w/o GUI -- 486DX2-66+
Linux w/ GUI -- Pentium 100 to 233 minimum, Pentium Pro or above preferred (depends on Linux version/vintage/use)

(Note that modern 3D games, modeling and animation s/w may require 3 GHz CPUs to run satisfactorily.)

Again, all of the above are my personal preferences/recommendations, based on my experience, observations, usages, and what I'm willing to tolerate.

[Debbie]

Thanks Mcollector & Co.,

BTW, its a PIII, 500MHz, Slot 1 processor. SDRAM is getting hard to come by but I have another 128 strip coming on monday.

As I said in a previous thread, I just want the thing to run 24 hours a day just for downloading. When it gets infected like hell, I'll just re-install a ghost image.

Debbie

[Mcollector]

Yes, unfortunately, PC100 and PC133 SDRAM DIMMs are getting not only hard to find, but expensive, particularly 256M or larger SDRAM DIMMs. You can often find 64M or 128M PC100 DIMMs surplus for reasonable cost, but new stuff is pricey 'cuz they only do small runs of it now. It's the one memory group that runs counter to the cheap memory trend, until more SDRAM-using systems get scrapped for parts. I've been scrounging a lot of 128M PC100 CL2 DIMMs of late. 128M is the minimum PC100/133 DIMM worth getting, IMHO, and they are often available cheap as surplus. I prefer 2-sided, 256M PC133 CL2 DIMMs, but those ain't surplus and ain't cheap.

btw, for a 500 MHz Piii and 256M, I'd recommend W98SE, NT4, W2000, or Linux. But before you wipe and reload, give WXP a try with 256M to see if you get a substantial improvement. I'm curious. (128M is hardly adequate for W2000, let alone WXP.) WXP might be acceptable at 256M, but I'd probably go more.

[leech]

If you want it going 24 hours and to just download stuff, run linux. Probably Debian Stable. It's kind of a grunt to install, but once it's installed, it'll run forever. Not to mention you wouldn't even need a monitor or anything connected to it, ssh and vnc just rock for remote administration.

Leech

[az]

SDRAM was very cheap on ebay last time I checked.

AZ

[Mcollector]

Originally posted by az
SDRAM was very cheap on ebay last time I checked.

Depends on the size and RAM technology of the DIMM. Used, no-name brand DIMMs are of course cheaper, and acceptable deals can be had on used, name brand 128M or 64M PC100/133 DIMMs (usually), but getting 2-sided, 16 or 18 chip 256M+ SDRAM PC100/133 DIMMs cheap is not all that easy, particularly if you want name brand. New SDRAM DIMMs are way more expensive per MB than DDR. They've gone from as little as $18 for 256M SDRAM DIMMs 3 years ago to $80+ now. That's way more expensive per MB than DDR. Registered SDRAM DIMMs are even worse.

[Jammrock]

Keep OS, add RAM. Even an extra 128 MB will do wonders. Or slap in an extra 256 MB for a little more leeway.

[Mcollector]

Just FYI for anyone still reading this thread, W95 is a bad choice for a system running 24/7. W95, even the OSR 2.1 variant (the one with USB support), has a memory leak. A W95 system will slow to a crawl after several days of running 24 hrs per day. A reboot brings it back, but it will gradually degrade again until the next reboot.

I've run a dozen W98 systems 24/7 continuously for a month or more, even in a business environment, with no or very few problems (not directly linked continuously to the web, btw). Linux and W2000 are better, as probably is NT4 and WXP. (I've not run NT4 or WXP long enough to judge.)