Old Compaq and DSL

[mitso]

I'm trying to help the little old lady next door.
Im the little old man this door.

The Compaq model number is 5050.

333 mh processor
94 mb ram
8 gh hard drive - most free

It was loaded with junk and running slower than ****!
I formatted the drive and reinstalled W2000 sp4.
It now runs great
How do Iget into the BIOS ?

Verizon reqmnt for the min DSL are:

233 mh processor
128 mb ram
100 mb free HD space

Will the difference in ram be OK ?
I,m not sure I can trust what verizon would say.

 

[jadinolf]

233 mh processor
128 mb ram
100 mb free HD space


I ran DSL briefly with the specs above except my computer had only 64 mb RAM.

It worked but things like rebooting take a very long time.

 

[Shawn]

Any computer with a ethernet card will work. Just don't install any of the crap they try to give you.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Any computer with a ethernet card will work. Just don't install any of the crap they try to give you.

Yeah, you don't even need to install any drivers as long as the NIC is working.

 

[Lemon law]

To mitso,

You may not NEED more ram to get dsl to work but 96 Mb is marginal---given the low price of ram now, spend the few bucks and upgrade to at least 128 and better yet 256 MB or more. If you think it runs decent now, it will really fly when you get enough ram---and won't bogg down booting up or running when she gets more software.

In terms of getting into the bios, you depress the right keyboard key right after you turn on power---some computers will display the key with a message to get into the bios press
a given key---which will often be F1, F2, esp, or delete----or better yet, go on the net and download a user manual for that computer and motherboard. A 8 gb HD may be marginal
but still should offer enough room to run what she needs---and don't forget to add a software firewall and some security apps so her computer does not get overloaded with junk. And if she does not already have a NIC--on board or add in, she will have to buy a NIC card and add it to the computer at a cost of $15. or so.

 

[mitso]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Would it make sense to replace W2000 with W98.
Since she will never add any new software, and
only uses the computer for email.
W98 would also satisfy Verizon specs.

There are 2 isa slots - no pci - one has an old
modem that's not working. no NIC cards
But if DSL is OK I would use USB.

Does the above make sense.
There is a sense of urgency - she is older than
me - HI HI ( for those who don't know that is
HAM CW talk for laughter)

Thanks again guys

 

[Lemon law]

To mitso,

If she only uses the computer for email, it may be cheaper to replace the dial up 56k modem and find a resonably priced isp.---dsl has great bandwidth wasted on email And you may be able to get away with not needing a NIC either way. In terms of replacing 2000 with win 98, I doubt that you will gain anything by it.

But if you have dsl, another option might be to share your dsl with her by wireless means

 

[Shawn]

Yeah, it might be a good idea to put Win98 on there. It's not as reliable as Win2k but I think the minimum requirements for Win2k is 128MB of ram and I've noticed that it's pretty slow with anything less than 256MB. Win98 should be fine with 32mb of ram or greater. I suppose you could connect the modem using USB. Eithernet is much better though. You can probably find an ISA NIC for cheap. You don't need anything more than 10mbps anyway.

 

[nweaver]

I wouldn't go back to 98, simply because 2k is more stable. An old lady doesn't need speed, she needs stability 😉

 

[mitso]

Thanks again guys - you helped me make the decision
that an old 85er has trouble making. My decision :

1.- since 2k is loaded and usb is there that's frst

2. if too slow i'll replace 2k with 98

3.- look for isa NIC card or external modem.

Thanks loads - you guys are great

 

[Slowlearner]

Having tried this many times, I have learnt my lesson. You can pick a pretty decent pc from newspaper classifieds and craigslist for about $150, instead of trying to locate older components and get them to work. And for decent web browsing etc broadband is a must, and if you have broadband you need a 1 Ghz processor, a minimal video card with some memoy, and at least 256 mb ram, and newer hard drive (beause an older one could fail anytime). You also need anti virus/anti spyware.

I have at least two ISA nics lying around, but the drivers- ?????

If there some spare change available and older Mac could also be an option.

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: mitso
Thanks for the comments guys.

Would it make sense to replace W2000 with W98.
Since she will never add any new software, and
only uses the computer for email.
W98 would also satisfy Verizon specs.

There are 2 isa slots - no pci - one has an old
modem that's not working. no NIC cards
But if DSL is OK I would use USB.

Does the above make sense.
There is a sense of urgency - she is older than
me - HI HI ( for those who don't know that is
HAM CW talk for laughter)

Thanks again guys

I'm W6OHI. 73

 

[mitso]

To jadinolf:

I'm W2GPB an old old timer 73.

To Lemonlaw:

This is the first time i've looked in a
Compaq. The memory is under the
Power supply and the case for the floppy.
They would have to be removed to get at the
memory - at least for this not too nimbled oldie.
I don,t know what memory is used or if it's
still available. The compaq site wasn't very
helpful - they said push F1 for access to bios - NOT !

To all:

She now has AOL - i'm not sure she might not decide
to stay with AOL when I see her this morning even
though she was happy yesterday when I told her I
was sure we could get DSL to work.
Oldies do get persnickety (sp) !