95 interface in XP?

[kevinthenerd]

The explorer that came with 95 was wicked fast and quite capable for everyday tasks. Is it possible to replace the explorer in XP (Home) with that one to speed up my file workflow?

(I've seen it done in 98.)

This Celeron 340 with 512MB RAM doesn't seem the same now that I have a dual-core machine at work with 3.25GB.

 

[themisfit610]

Probably not, but you can sure disable a lot of graphical stuff. Put windows in classic mode, and then go to your visual effects (right click my computer -> properties -> advanced -> performance -> settings) and disable all visual options. Disable other unnecessary services (wireless, printing, etc... if you dont need them), remove all unnecessary software, defrag etc...

XP should be perfectly fine on a Celeron 340 (1.5 GHz IIRC). Cut down on RAM usage and you should be good to go.

Add some RAM if you can. It's stupid cheap!

~MiSfit

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: kevinthenerd
The explorer that came with 95 was wicked fast and quite capable for everyday tasks. Is it possible to replace the explorer in XP (Home) with that one to speed up my file workflow?

(I've seen it done in 98.)

This Celeron 340 with 512MB RAM doesn't seem the same now that I have a dual-core machine at work with 3.25GB.

I'm pretty sure you'd have decent luck searching for a more advanced 3rd party explorer from around that time. I forget the name of the one I used to use, but it took windows 10 years to catch up to it, and it was very fast.

 

[BD2003]

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006...compared-and-reviewed/

 

[daveybrat]

Ram is dirt cheap. Drop a 1GB stick in there and you'll see a huge difference.

 

[kevinthenerd]

Originally posted by: daveybrat
Ram is dirt cheap. Drop a 1GB stick in there and you'll see a huge difference.

It's been so long since I bought RAM that I barely know the standards any more. It's embarrassing. The only way that I know what I have is that I went to the eMachines website, put in my model number, and copied down the spec.

So, I have DDR PC 2700, and something has obviously happened to the industry since I last bought RAM. The days of buying RAM by the latency and bus speed seem over since I obviously don't have a 2.7 GHz bus. Wikipedia had to fill me on on the fact that this refers to the peak transfer rate of 2700 MB/s and that my bus is a more reasonable 166 MHz, which is closer to what I was expecting from this generation of computer. That makes for a hell of a processor multiple... over 17. Back when I was really hard-core into computers, my 486 DX had a multiple of 2. Damn, I feel old and out of touch. Computers are obviously more of a tool and less of a hobby to me these days.

I disabled a TON of crap today, including the visual effects you mentioned. I had been meaning to change over from the default XP interface ever since I got this thing, but I never got around to it until now. It made a world of difference. I can't believe the resources smooth screen fonts and visual effects were eating up. (I have a CRT, so who cares about smooth fonts anyway.) I also enjoy how "solid" the interface seems. It feels less like a toy, and the theme now reminds me more of Windows 2000, which I frankly miss.