Computer Trouble

Rowski · Mar 17, 2002

A question/opinion for the computer gurus. I have a 5 year old computer with the following specs 233MMX, 5G hard drive 3/4 full, 256k RAM, 100MB zip, floppy drive, 24X cd rom (not a burner or DVD), running Window 95b, DSL internet connection. I don't want to spend a lot of money to upgrade computers, I wouldn't mind spending at the most $100 bucks on my current computer to upgrade it. I would like to have USB port (needs to be a card). Do I need to upgrade past W95 to have USB? Should I get W98, W2000, Wxp? My current hardware seems to work ok. Regardless of my upgrade I will need to start with a clean slate on the hard drive. It lock pretty frequently. My registry must be chucked full and I have many, many programs that got uninstalled that still have some files floating around.

I may also be having computer blues/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif. My father just got a 2Ghz, 40g hard drive, DVD, CD burner, 250 zip, pressure sensitive writing tablet, Windows xp, with a 17"flat screeen monitor /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif.

Anybody got any other ideas?

Many thanks!

RanchMan · Mar 17, 2002

Hmmm. I was in a similar boat until January when I upgraded (I has a 233 like you).

For $100, you are kindof limited. The way I see it, here's your choices:

1) memory - $45 & up - Memory will usually help in a very real way to increase your speed since you don't have to rely on disk cache as much, but with 256 already, you won't get near the gain as someone who had, say, 32 MB.

2) OS - $90 & up - you could upgrade your OS. That will get you the USB capability, but not real sure about true performance gains. The later versions of OS's tend to want more processor power instead of less.

3) Bigger HD - $60 & up - At least you could store a lot more and it's access time will be a lot less than your current drive. It will help, but once the processor has it, you'll be in the slow lane agin

4) graphics card - $35 & up - Depending on what you have, this could get you a pretty big performance increase on graphics related stuff (don't count on "Word" spell checker going any faster though)

5) Higher speed CD/DVD drive - $30 & up -Again, access time will decrease. If your CPU is constantly "waiting" on the drive, then you might notice a pretty big performance increase. Of course this won't impact anything you're accessing off the hard drive

I had the "bright" idea of upgrading my motherboard & processor of my 233 MMX. By the time everything was said & done, I basically wound up building a new computer so that everything would work together.

PS: You might try CNET.COM and look under "downloads". They have lots of utilities that might help clean up your drive and improve other areas as well.

Good luck!

EdKing · Mar 17, 2002

While 95 will support USB, I would recomend 98. It is much more hardware friendly than 95. Other than that I see no problems with a USB card. My sister has a simular machine with 98 a USB card installed with no problems. As far as wiping the harddrive, I do that about every 6 months. I have 2 harddrives, and keep all my important files on the second one. That way I just format the c: drive and reinstall the operating system. To make it easier I copy the win98 directory from the cd to my d: drive and install windows from there

Ed King

RanchMan · Mar 18, 2002

Just to echo Ed's comments, 95 will support USB, but you have to have > OSR 2.0 with USB Supplemental Support. (check to see that your version of windows ends in a "b" or "c"). I always had issues with 95 USB compatibility (now running ME, no problems)...

Here's a couple of links that might be helpful if you decide to keep 95 and try to install USB support.

http://www.computerhope.com/download/window95.htm

Rowski · Mar 18, 2002

After reading your post I did some rethinking on what I am trying to achieve.

1) Try to get my computer running smoother with less or no hang ups and lock ups. Seems like it runs a bit slower than when it was new, not just booting up but running programs. I did notice a difference when upgrading from my 64k RAM to 256K RAM. I did use a registry cleaner and it did seem to help a slight bit.

2) USB capability. I would like to get (not right now but later on) a media card reader for my digital camera. The serial port is way to slow. I also would like to get a pressure sensitive writing tablet (pointing device).

3) Lastly and least important a new OS. I guess a newer OS would allow for more features, bells and whistles, which brings me to another question.

What will I gain, other than USB, in upgrading OS?

Which is better W98, W98se, w2000, Wme, Wxp?

Eventually I will get a new computer, maybe in a few years. I would still like to keep this one going even if I have a new one. Maybe keep it as a internet surfer, or a kids computer.

I also like the idea by Edking about having two hard drives. How do you know if your motherboard and BIOS support another hard drive?

Inspector507 · Mar 18, 2002

Derek,
Keep an eye out on Compusa auctions. I bought a Compaq 5008 US, refurbished, with Celeron 800, 56K Modem, CD-ROM, CD-RW, keyboard and mouse for $352US. It was returned because the modem didn't work. Guess what? It still didn't when I got it. $39us and it works fine. So I got a new 'puter for $400 or so.

scruffy · Mar 18, 2002

The m/b and bios will support up to four IDE devices.
Forget the WXP, it would not run on your system...its too old.
Of the other choices, I would suggest the W98SE. WME is a very flakey OS....even though my wife runs it with NO problems at all...don't understand that, but then I don't understand her half the time anyway. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
Any way you look at it,you are going to have a hard time finding a copy of W98SE...as M$ has pulled all copies of anything except WXP...BUT, they are out there.
GAIN? M$ no longer supports 95 in any way...at least 98 is still supported....for now...at least until the latter part of the year.
Best recommendation that I could make is to bite the bullet and buy a new machine. They are available for $600 and up.
heck, for 150 - 200 bucks Computer Renesance (sic?) will sell a 450 or so...but they are used machines.
New ones offer the most for the least at this time.

RoyJackson · Mar 18, 2002

Any way you look at it,you are going to have a hard time finding a copy of W98SE

Try eBay for the setup CD-ROM.

Except for games, I've bought all my software off eBay

RanchMan · Mar 18, 2002

At the risk of starting a holy war (CPU geeks are almost as opinionated as tractor owners and usually more obnoxious /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif), here's my .02....

1) Fewer lockups - Although the newer OS's generally like more processor power, they tend to be more stable. Additional memory will help delay some lockups. Notice I didn't say prevent - but delay. The reason is that some applications in combination with an OS have something known as a "memory leak." In the simplest terms, as the application runs, your computer forgets to "recycle" memory. After your memory fills up, you’ll get a lockup due to the CPU being "out of memory.” The more memory, the longer it takes to fill up.

2) USB - Upgrading your OS will be the easiest way to avoid the USB compatibility gauntlet.

3) OS features - I liken it to a lot of people with their stereo equipment. For the folks "into it", yea, you will use the "whistles & bells" - but a lot of people with a stereo just want to turn it on and listen to music without messing with EQ's, bypass buttons, etc. Just depends on your “geek factor” I suppose /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

4) 98, 98se, Me, 2000, XP - Well, I'm sure to start a fight with someone on this one! /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif Some people love XP, some people hate it. Me had a "bad reputation" for stability with some, however I find it extremely stable on 2 of my systems. (2000 P on #3 & 95 on #4) 2000? How focused on business applications are you?

Basically a couple of things to keep in mind. The older the OS, the sooner it will fall into the "officially unsupported" realm. Additionally, the developers will focus their time on the newer stuff (because it has more bugs & because that's what they'll be getting the most complaints about).

My personal opinion is that I would use either ME or XP. When I "upgraded" my CPU, XP was brand new - too bleeding edge for my taste, but now that it's been out for a little while, you are probably safe if you go that route.

Oh, one other thing to think about - XP has built in "spyware" where Microsoft keeps track in their database as to the computer you have it installed on and it will stop working about a month after you install it unless you get an access code from Microsoft. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif It isn't a "check for the latest OS updates" thing like on Me, but is intended to stop people from buying one copy of XP and installing it on multiple computers.

5) Hard Drive support - I’ve personally yet to see a cpu that couldn’t support multiple hard drives. When you first turn on your PC (before it gets to the Windows boot screen), the computer should tell you to “Press DEL to enter SETUP” or some such thing. Just do that and you can look at your BIOS and see what your hard drive options are.