Computer Gurus, need help

[Wis Redz of Silvanost]

Hi there,

I'll get straight to the point. I have an old laptop (PIII, 128MB RAM) that runs XP Home, but it cannot quite handle it. So I was thinking I would install Win98 or perhaps Ubuntu but the problem is that the built-in CD driver does not work properly. Actually it works when it wants to work. Sometimes it reads the CD sometimes it doesn't. So I thought I would use my external hard drive for booting the computer and then install the OS (whichever it may be).

The problem is that I don't know how to do this. Heck, I don't know if it's possible. So any help on the matter is greatly appreciated. I will use the computer only for powertab and vacations (storing photos etc). I'd rather use Ubuntu but I don't know if I can get the powertab program to run on it. There is something called Wine but would it work with powertab? (André, this was to you )

Anyways, thanks in advance for your time and help.

Cheers!

[jemsite]

if powertab runs on it install windows2000. works great on old systems and rock solid. external usb drive would help, but you should be able to install from hdd if you google around... glen

[elcid]

You should get a mac, they come in different colors.

[crevis]

Get some more ram, my old PIII ran xp pro fine with 512 until it died. (completely unrelated im sure)

[nightfiend14]

yeah you need more ram for sure, XP requires at LEAST 256 to run decent, 512 is even better and probably the max for a older laptop.

[microdmitry]

Don't bother with Linux on that one, or on laptops period. It may even fail to install due to insufficient RAM.

My recommendation is to get as much RAM as you can from eb@y or elsewhere and don't bother upgrading/downgrading to anything software wise. W2000 is not significantly less demanding in terms of memory, everything else is either more demanding or unsafe to use.

You also need to realize that this laptop is on its way out. Start looking for deals.

[fettouhi]

Originally Posted by jemsite

if powertab runs on it install windows2000. works great on old systems and rock solid. external usb drive would help, but you should be able to install from hdd if you google around... glen

Good suggestion .

Regards

André

[JESTER700]

I'd stick with XP too, and definitely get more RAM. You can make XP run a bit leaner (about win2k level) by stopping unneeded services from running at startup. Google for XP and SERVICES and you should get some geeky pages describing safe ones to kill and how to go about it.