Best upgrade for Pentium 4?

[t-ray]

A pc at my wife's office is in desperate need of attention. It's an HP desktop, with a Northwood 2.4ghz P4. 512mb of ram, running Windows XP, and a 75gb hd.

They have some legacy software that they are not confident will run on anything newer than XP, and they want to spend as little as possible - they would prefer to not buy a new pc.

I haven't opened this thing up yet, so I have no idea what type of ram it takes, or if it even has any free slots. I also assume it's just a standard ide drive.

So what are my options, realistically? Find a PCI sata card and run an ssd? More ram?

I am trying to convince them to spend a couple hundred bucks on a new box.

 

[mikeymikec]

Does the legacy software need to access any legacy hardware (ie. hardware designed by some niche manufacturer)? If not, any old new PC with a virtual machine installed running XP should work as a backup option if the software in question does not run on a newer version of Windows.

The only scenarios I can think of where I coudn't get an old software version running on a newer version of Windows are:

1 - a piece of software with a 16-bit install program (I got around this by copying the program files from the old machine to the new one).

2 - MS Office 97 (IIRC) onto a Windows 8 64-bit PC.

Everything else I've found a way for, but I listed scenario 1 because for whatever reason there might not be a PC with the software already installed on to copy from. Another option there I guess would be to set up a WinXP virtual machine, install the program in there, then copy the program files back to the host's native file system/OS.

Put the P4 out to pasture ASAP. Any upgrade options for it that don't involve a platform upgrade (ie. replace CPU and motherboard) are minor upgrades at best, and it's an ancient machine. Sod's law says you'll spend a load of money doing upgrades on it which will make a little difference, then something else in the machine will die, putting you at a greater disadvantage than if you had decided while it was still working to replace it.

 

[sm625]

I have 16 bit DOS code that runs on windows 7-32. I was worried that it wouldnt work, so I bought a machine, set it up, and it worked! So I ordered 6 more boxes for $100 apiece. My old 16 bit Microsoft C compiler from 1990 even runs on windows 7. I recommend agaisnt even attempting to upgrade that box. Not when you can get at least a Core 2 E8600 box with OS for $100.

 

[mvbighead]

I have 16 bit DOS code that runs on windows 7-32. I was worried that it wouldnt work, so I bought a machine, set it up, and it worked! So I ordered 6 more boxes for $100 apiece. My old 16 bit Microsoft C compiler from 1990 even runs on windows 7. I recommend agaisnt even attempting to upgrade that box. Not when you can get at least a Core 2 E8600 box with OS for $100.

Something to the tune of this. There are some options that actually run XP, but they are pricier and limited.

Just take a look at newegg refurbs, there are all sorts of deals you can get there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883158616

3.0GHz Core2Duo and 4GB of RAM, all sorts of other options. If you really must have XP, you can try those options, but I would try to push them in the right direction towards a platform that can actually be supported.

 

[C1]

A possibility that should work (as it works for me) is to just repartition the old machine's HDD and install Win 7 on the second newly created partition. (The first partition is the original system; ie, OS, but on the shrunk partition.)Thru control panel you can set up dual boot option to run XP when you need to for the legacy software. In any event, you will be able to set which OS is to be default for boot. If you need to, just buy a larger HDD for this and image over the old system on to it. It should all work super. No need to buy any new systems. (Win 7 should be good for the next five years, plus most of XP software will work with it and so you just need to use the XP option for the legacies which are found to not run with "7".)

In computer management, be sure to hide the OSes from each other for safety/security/good practice. If you want them to have a common data access, then create a D drive for data (third primary partition) and make it common to both OSes or use an external drive.

 

[Ken g6]

A possibility that should work (as it works for me) is to just repartition the old machine's HDD and install Win 7 on the second newly created partition.

75gb hd

I rather doubt the HDD has space for this. If it doesn't, it could be imaged to a USB drive temporarily, but that would take a long time with USB 2.0. (1.0? )

If you need to, just buy a larger HDD for this

I think PATA HDDs are hard to find these days.

I recommend agaisnt even attempting to upgrade that box. Not when you can get at least a Core 2 E8600 box with OS for $100.

:thumbsup: This. If you can get one with Win7 Pro, it should do an XP virtualization mode as well.

 

[C1]

Just put in a second HDD and install Win 7 to it as WINNT can be on another drive. (That's actually even simpler than repatitioning.)

There's all kinds of places to buy IDE HDDs from Craigslist, Newegg, places like Disctech (http://disctech.com ) to even the Ewaste collection sites (eg, at local "Use-the-waste" drop off site they have bushels of old HDDs of all kinds including hardware from memory to motherboards IDE DvDCD RWs, power supplies, etc. etc. etc. - all for a song. You could buy a nice 80Gb IDE HDD for $5.). Typical : http://www.sandiegoewaste.org/electronics-re-sale-store/

A new machine brings new problems to solve & plus going that way you have to probably install & configure the old OS and related software. You'll most likely encounter all kinds of "quirks" and you better have all the installation disks for the old stuff.

Dont make a mountain out of a mole hill.

 

[Torn Mind]

Knowing the "what?" would help generate a specific solution.
What on the old PC is in need of attention? Stability? Speed? Hard drive dying?
What are the softwares that could be problematic on a Win7 32-bit machine? Specific programs? Printer drivers?

Upgrading to Core 2 should be not a problem. PCI, IDE, etc are all there and much more bang for you buck. Better performance and less power consumption.

Do not buy more than 4 GBs of RAM for a 32-bit system. The system would see more than 3.x of RAM.

That P4 system is probably guzzling down 150 watts at least. The power costs will eventually add up to the cost of a refurb Core 2.

 

[mikeymikec]

IMO don't do anything significant to the old PC, because if it has any 'failing with age' issues, doing something significant with it (such as a second Windows install), could result in even larger problems.

Even Core 2 Duos are getting on a bit these days. In terms of long-term work and expense required, what's the point in spending time upgrading from a ~10 year old P4 to an ~8 year old C2D? Logically, you'll be obligated to do the same thing again in a couple of years' time again. The only difference will be that you'll be less worried about the complications of upgrading.

Once you've tested the software on a newer PC (start with a 64-bit system, failing that try a 32-bit one, but TBH I'd go for a VM on a 64-bit system rather than limit myself in future with a 32-bit one), present options to the company for various bits of kit and recommend the new one so the song and dance of an upgrade cycle (expected, or otherwise - ie. hardware failure), and let them decide. If they want to be idiotic and go for an almost equally ancient system in order to "save money", then you can't say you didn't warn them or give a sufficient number of options to choose from.

The only reason I can think of to go from a ~10 year old PC to an ~8 year one would be a temporary cashflow issue, and as long as they realise that it is a waste of money but they have to do it like that anyway, then fine.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

:thumbsup: This. If you can get one with Win7 Pro, it should do an XP virtualization mode as well.

I'm surprised no one else hasn't mentioned virtualisation. This system would be an obvious candidate for "packing up" and running in a WM on new(er) hardware.

There is the cost issue of course, but running XP in a WM shouldn't be that demanding. A Bay Trail/Braswell box should do it easily.

 

[t-ray]

Sorry I was away from the forum for the weekend.

I told my wife that my official recommendation was to just retire the machine, and that is what she recommended to the office manager. This office is very cash-poor and lacks any technical sophistication. She thinks they may be able to swing a few hundred for a more modern replacement though.

Hell, I've got a 4.5 old i5 sandybridge desktop that's pretty much collecting dust. I considered just donating it to them. That may still be an option.

And it turns out that they don't actually have any legacy software. I misunderstood what I was told.