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Giving on the 98...

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by the maverick phantom wanderer (formerly macoza, nodice, kp, etc.) 2 views

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About two to three years ago, I was given an old computer with Windows 98 on it (to help with school work). However, the computer (which has a 300 mhz processor and now a whopping 160 MB of RAM) runs so much slower than both my old laptop and my current laptop that I no longer see a reason to keep it anymore, other than for testing an alternative OS (i.e. one of those Open-Source OS'es that so many in this community support).

And so, the question: Does anyone have recommendations for a decent Open-Source OS to install on this computer?

16 replies

by ---tk---

http://releases.ubuntu.com/intrepid/

Its a good solid OS, I read a couple threads where they had it running on a P2 so you should be good to go.

added: hm.. min RAM requirements is 256MB, so you might have to go lower... Actually, you would have to go all the way back to 5.10... Ubuntu might not be your distro of choice... but you could always give it a shot... cant hurt

by ---tk---

Your limited RAM is really hindering what OS's you can run... I finally found an OS that you should be able to run MEPIS, not my first 4 choices... but it is a decent Linux distro.
https://www.mepis.org/mirrors

by older mycroft

Otherwise you'll end up being unenthused about the open source OS as well.

Your comparison with your old laptop and current laptop seems indiscriminately unfair, being as how you didn't specify the spec of either.

My memories of running Win98 on a Cyrix P-133 with only 16MB of RAM, are those of a system that didn't 'hang about' (the term - '[b]goes like sh|t off a shiny shovel[/b]' springs to mind). :D

So if you've got a snail-paced system with more than twice the horsepower and ten times the RAM - that is a problem I wouldn't ignore. ;)

by the maverick phantom wanderer (formerly macoza, nodice, kp, etc.)

...as soon as I get back from the lab. Oh, the comparison with the other two laptops was meant to be unfair. I can't actually use the old laptop (at least, as a laptop should be used- the lcd screen has been destroyed) without a monitor, and I'm using the other laptop currently for business. I don't want to get rid of the old Gateway, mostly because it still works, albeit slowly.

Actually, now that I think about it, I did have problems with Windows Media Player yesterday (I tried to play some the music that was on there, and it actually blue-screened). Oh, crap, I think I may have figured out the cause already.

by slayer_

Almost exact same specs as yours, but I have 700+ RAM, and its an absolute dog, 350mhz processor yet, moving windows, opening stuff, everything, slow. It's very painful. With no excuse.

by thumbsup2

... just how slow 95/98 really was compared to today's standards. Back then, we 'thought' it was fast because we compared it to what we had before it. But, in all reality, it was actually slow. Remember when we got that first 486 computer and how fast it was compared to the 386/286? Then, along came the PI, PII, PIII. They flew and it didn't matter what OS you put on it. :p

That, and we have less patience today than we had 10-15 years ago! We all want it to happen NOW and don't want to wait! ;)

by thechas

Well, from my experience, Windows 98 had about a 6 month to 2 year run life before the registry got so large that Windows 98 did not have enough free resources to run well.

While you can get some relief with registry cleaners and registry defragmenters, the best fix was always a clean install of 98.

Yes, you can also get a big improvement if you can find more RAM to install. 384MB works well with 98. (3X 128MB DIMM)

If you have the Windows 98 CD, and all of your drivers, give a clean install a try. You will be amazed on how much faster your system runs.

Chas

by ic-it

Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
then SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENT VERSION (make sure this is highlighted)

the Product ID will be listed beside product key
Or use a program like Belarc advisor, Aida32, or others and it will list the key.

by snuffy09

For some reason i thoought that was the case, but then again when i think about M$ i second guess myself "why would m$ give anything for free!?"

by thechas

Nearly every Microsoft software older than Windows XP and Office XP is no longer supported.

That does not mean it is now public domain or free-ware and that you can install that copy of DOS 4.1 on 50 different computers.

Only after the copyright runs out is there a chance that old software would become public domain.

Further, if you read the terms of the Microsoft EULA closely, even when you first installed the software, you did not purchase the software, you paid for limited use of the software. So, technically, no version of Windows, DOS or Office will ever become "free" because Microsoft never technically published the software.

What will be interesting to see is what happens if Microsoft ever shuts down the license servers for the versions of Windows and Office starting with XP. Once the license server is shut down, you would have no ability to install or re-install Windows XP and have it run for more than 30 days at a time.

Chas

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