I just found an old computer. I carried it over to my home, I checked it and this is what I have found: Pentium III 800MHZ 250 Power Supply 640MB SDRAM PC134 CD Drive Floppy drive 56K Modem Ethernet Port Sound Blaster 5.1 Live Siluro T400 64MB GeForce 2 thats about it.
I dissasembled it (everything, even the case parts and its bezel) cleaned everything/dusted off and gave the case a lil paint job.
Hard Drive is kinda spooky. It has a Windows XP that isnt fully installed (at 49%) and it restarts once it reaches the Windows XP installation. How do I format it and install Windows 98? Ive made a Windows 98 boot disk, what should I do next?
That computer can run Win2K or WinXP just fine and both are much more robust and stable. (I prefer Win2K - less graphical overhead, same underlying operating system kernel.)
GaySatyr, we do not know if Alex owns legal licences for WinXP/Win2K. He may very well only have a licence for Win98.
If anything put some linux on it. and be happy. ;p
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nietzsche Deactivated User
5470 Posts 8/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 3:46AM
I got my XP system about 2 months ago and I've had to reinstall 3 times. I didn't lose any data, but it's a pain in the ass. Does all the shit that runs on XP also run on win2000?
Yes -- Do a clean Win2K install (meaning backup your data & reformat the harddrive) and then download all the updates off the M$ Windows Update site - you'll have full O/S functionality minus the jazzed up graphical interface overhead.
Oh, do NOT download the ".NET" options unless you have software that absolutely requires it -- it is buggy and bloated -- much like every other new & improved M$ product.
~ GaySatyr
Edited by - GaySatyr on 11/12/2003 4:25:30 AM
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nietzsche Deactivated User
5470 Posts 8/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 4:51AM
Great! Now how much is it going to cost me? I wish I could just trade in my copy of XP or at least pay for the difference.
In my experience, there are a few things that won't run on Win2K that will run on XP, mostly games that were designed to run under Win 9x.
GS is right on about Win2K being more stable, though. I insist my clients run it wherever possible, unless they have a brand new laptop that ships with XP and has hardware that lacks good drivers under 2K.
On that PIII, though, Alex would probably be happier with Win2K. Or as ER said, Linux! Or my choice -- FreeBSD.
With the right combination of window manager, media players, browser, email, etc., all available as open source packages (read "free of charge"), there's nothing that 800 won't do short of bleeding edge 3D / game development.
I suggest Mozilla for browser and email (or Ximian Evolution if you like Outlook), and mplayer for avi and mpeg and mp3, and ... this could go on for a while.
If you wanna play games, though, your best best is XP. Don't think you're going to be playing the newest, latest greatest, though. You'll have to soup up the video card and maybe think about a hardware IDE RAID stripe, at which point you're plunking down enough scratch to buy a new machine with a P4 and faster front side bus.
For a firewall, if you have an old machine lying around, anything from a 386 up (I recommend at least a 486, though) and you DON'T EVEN NEED A HARD DRIVE -- try floppyfw - a tiny linux-distro on a floppy with advanced routing capabilities, IPTABLES stateful packet inspection, IP forwarding, IP masquerading (NAT), VPN support, DHCP client, all kinds of good stuff.
You just plug the floppyfw in to your ADSL or cable modem on one NIC and plug the other NIC into your hub or switch and VOILA! It's setup with a simple config file and a "firewall.ini".
If you're interested, check out floppyfw here. If you run Linux, there's a GUI called "firewall builder" that supports creating the config files for floppyfw. You still have to know a few things about iptables, but it's pretty to look at.
Another great firewall that's easy to set up, but much bigger (runs from a read-only CD -- woo-hoo!) and has many more features including a caching proxy server (squid), DNS server, and some other junk I can't remember -- Devil-Linux.
Either of these firewalls supports sharing a single Internet connection with your home or office LAN, no matter what they run. I installed this firewall at my office, and we have Linux servers, Win2K3, and all flavors of Win 9x, 2K and XP all getting out through it.
It's easy to set up block lists and what have you, too, to keep the employees from hitting sites like ADT from work. heh heh
Methinks I have rambled too long. I gotta stay away from Tech Talk or I won't ever talk anywhere else...
Alex, do you have any experience running Linux or UNIX (which FreeBSD would fall under)? Or any desire to?
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 12:27PM
No, I have no experience running linux or unix. And yes, if i can access internet on a linux or unix then i have a desire for it. My email is AlexPanzer@verizon.net
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 7:45PM
Hey GS, Ive tried to remove the partitions, it seemed like the hard drive was divided into 2 partitions. 1st partition is 20GB and the 2nd partition is 57GB. I removed the 2nd partition (57GB) and now I cant remove the 1st one (20GB). Ive tried everything and no luck. What do I do?
Ive totaly overhauled the computer. The processor fanwas a total mess, It had about as much dust as a vacuum. Then I cleaned it and washed off the heatsink, then I fully coated the processor in the Arctic Silver. Here and there and bam! Ive even made my own "rouinded" IDE cables from the regular IDE cables, nylon cable ties, and the colored electric tape. All cool except the formatting the hard drive.
Well, Alex, it sounds like you may have gotten off into the old NTFS partition fdisk nightmare under Win98.
"Delete extended partitions -- you must delete logical drives first -- there are no logical drives to delete."
*SIGH*
I know of a few ways you can get around this, but none of them are simple one or two sentence answers. HELP, GUYS!!I'm afraid I'll have to get back to you! The oven just beeped to let me know dinner is ready.
Saved by the bell?
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 8:13PM
Seems like yeah, the NTFS, thats what it says. Yeah, it tells me delete logical drives first but there are no logical drives to delete. I just finished my dinner.
I've never tried the demo, Alex! Usually, I boot to a Red Hat boot CD with "disk druid" on it. But you don't want to download an entire version of Linux just to wipe this hard drive! That is an option, however, and you could just go ahead and install it.
But with what's going on with Red Hat, changing to a license model like Windows, and the Fedora project, and SuSE being acquired by Novell, and the SCO weirdness, I can't steer you that way in good conscience. And FreeBSD is a little intimidating to a novice.
Try that demo of Partition Magic, unless anyone else has any ideas! Otherwise...well, let's just see what happens with Partition Magic and let me know.
Good luck!
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 12 2003 : 8:39PM
I can only access the DOS mode, will it work in DOS? Because Windows doesnt starts, it reboots.
I don't know of any freeware partition utilities for DOS/Windows, except for FreeDOS. It has a free version of the "fdisk" utility with it -- but I don't know if it will overcome the problem you're having! I haven't tested it. It might be worth a try, though.
Did you try that demo? It will probably create a floppy you can boot from. But again, I have not tested that, either! Let us know.
The demo cant do anything. It just proves that program works. As soon as you choose what you want to delete and then press ENTER, it tells me to buy the full version.
That's not going to help unless the OS in the new computer can handle the messed up partition. I haven't fooled around with Win98, so I don't know if NT or W2K or XP can resolve this problem.
Of course, you could just run a big ol' magnet over it Alex, that would destroy the partition information. Then you'd have to do a complete low-level format and repartition.
You can remove an NTSF partition by plugging the drive into any machine running Win2K or WinXP Pro (I don't know about WinXP Home - it has a lot of limitations that IT people refuse to live with).
Isn't there a linux utility for handling partition data? That should be free and should be fairly easy to use.
~ GaySatyr
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 13 2003 : 7:29PM
I have Windows XP Pro on my current/main computer. What do I do next?
disconnect the drive with the problem from its computer (2 connections, 1 for power, the other a ribbon data cable)
on the back edge of the drive, there will be a setting (a tiny jumper connection) for master/slave operation
change the setting from master to slave (you may have to go online to the drive manufacturer's website if there is not a sticker on the drive showing settings)
shut down your XP machine completely
open its case and locate an extra power connection and the ribbon data cable leading to its hard drive
attach your old problem drive to those cables
turn your XP machine back on - it should find new hardware and recognize the new (old) hard drive - let it do its thing
BTW, I think there is still a free upgrade from Win98 to Win98SE on one of M$'s update sites - there used to be one - not very practical for dial-up but if you have broadband, it should work fine.
If you can find a copy of Partition Magic and install it, it can create what are called the "Partition Magic Rescue Disks". It installs on two floppy disks, one to boot up off of and the other to run the program. Its basically a scaled down version of Partition Magic and its what I use whenever I get a new hard drive or want to wipe out an old one, it will see and create virtually any type of partition out there, even for linux.
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AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Nov 16 2003 : 2:56PM
Hey GS, thanks a lot for the help. The hard drive works now, I hooked it up to my current system and deleted all partitions thru thru the Windows XP, then I hooked the drive back to the found computer, formated it and installed Win 98. All works, even the internet, so thanks :)
