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nizo (81281)

nizo
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Journal of nizo (81281)

Wow, Windows 2000 really flies on my "old" 2ghz machine

[ #186947 ]
Monday November 05 2007, @10:33AM
AMD

I finally bit the bullet and put Windows back on one of my machines; I can survive under vmware, but there are a few programs (lightwave most specifically) that I believe will run better under Microsoft Windows directly (since it can then take advantage of the 3d graphics). Since 2000 is all I really am willing to install, I was quite pleased and amazed to see just how snappy it is on my 2ghz machine with 1.5GB of ram. Sweet. Now all I have to do is avoid the temptation to install diablo 2 on it (though I suspect that will also run faster than I have ever seen it run before if I do install it).


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Wow, Windows 2000 really flies on my "old" 2ghz machine 20 Comments More | Login /

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  • Guide to Useless Services (Windows XP SP2):
    http://www.techtree.com/techtree/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=70112&cat_id=584 [techtree.com]

    Windows XP: List of Services to Disable to Increase Speed:
    http://www.tech-recipes.com/windows_tips1036.html [tech-recipes.com]

    Do you have it secured with AV, firewall, rootkit detection software, anti-spyware and anti-adware software? Windows is about as secure as a cat in a dog house without them.
    • Actually it is protected in the only safe way possible; it isn't connected to the net at all. Eventually I will probably allow some kind of limited access behind a really strict linux firewall (I gotta be able to transfer animation related files to and from it), but I certainly won't be surfing with it thats for sure. Oh and once I get it all setup nice and happy, I will keep a pristine image somewhere; its the only way to work in Windowsland.

      • "I gotta be able to transfer animation related files to and from it"

        Why not use sneakernet? Just throw the files on a usb key or flash card.

        • Why not use sneakernet?

          He probably doesn't trust the host;-)

        • Well, eventually I would like to set things up so that things copy automagically (say, on bootup) for backup purposes. I could copy things manually, but the lazy bastard that I am, I won't (at least not as often as I should).
      • I ran deep freeze on mine once upon a time. A reboot retores the image. So every time you boot the computer it's nice a clean.

  • I wouldn't call any machine in the 2GHz range with 1.5Gig RAM "old". In that case, all my machines are old. Heck, they probably are.... My wifes machine is presumably from 2003, had originally 512Meg RAM and is a P-IV HT 2.6GHz. By now I upgraded the RAM to the maximum 2Gig, but it doesn't make that much of a difference. In normal usage, we never pass 800Meg used... and that's *heavy* usage.

    My dad still uses his 733MHz P-III with 512Meg RAM and while it doesn't fly, XP is quite snappy on it.

    I get my

    • Yeah, Vista is the best thing ever to happen to non-Windows people; I can't wait for the glut of perfectly good hardware to start pouring into the used computer market. I have an "old" 900mhz P4 that makes a spiffy little twiki server for example. And my old 800mhz pentium machine is headed to my mom's soon to replace the PII craptop that she currently has; she only uses it for surfing, so it should work fine with ubuntu on it. And then there is my old 1ghz desktop that makes quite the spiffy little enterta

      • In my stock, I've got at least three 1GHz++ motherboards. A whole range of 500MHz to 900MHz machines, and I think some under 500MHz too but I think I've already thrown away many of those. It simply isn't worth keeping if you have 500MHz++ monsters lying around.

        The only sad thing is that I don't have enough cases. Oh, and that often you can get a new computer for 500€ including LCD screen... Makes one wonder why invest the time in refurbishing old hardware. I still can't bring it over my heart to

        • "You can have my 486 when you pry it from my cold dead hands ..."

          Sorry, someone had to say it ...

          Its true, though, that older hardware past a certain stage just isn't worth the time. Still, I have an older duron (950mhz, a "+1400"), that I bumped up to a gig of ddr, and a better video card (ati 256 meg), and it really made a difference. It almost makes me want to use it instead of my current machine, just for the "because I can" factor.

          Those older machines make great diskless workstations. Boot them

          • My primary laptop was a P-III 600MHz with 512Meg RAM up until the beginning of this year. It was snappy enough and I could do everything I needed. Running several applications at once was no problem at all. Video playback was fluid and all.... I didn't want to replace it, but it started to fall apart physically... So, I had no choice than to replace it.

            Older machines can be used for very long times. It's just the availability of "old-but-good-stuff" made me picky. Sure, I'd love to have another 1GHz

            • "Sure, I'd love to have another 1GHz P-III and I know I could recycle it for some poor sod with no money. The problem is: I don't know where those poor sods are"

              Why not try the local job self-help center, or homeless shelter, or ask a teacher (they know who the poorer kids are, the ones who need a winter coat, etc).

              Just amke it a "loaner", or it could end up being resold ...

              • Well, I live in a country with people that have more money than brains. That's one of the reasons, it's easy to get good computers from the dumpsters. I tried finding local charities to give away the computers, but the closest one is in Brussels. I am not going to drive 200km (one way) to drop off a computer. The gas alone would cost me over 70€ The local charities do not take computers. I do not know why.

                I have been a teacher myself. I do not want to have to do anything with those people... ev

      • Flash Games sucks down a massive amount of CPU cycles. My dear old Grandmother had to get a new computer to play online casual games.

        Not just used for annoying banner ads! :)
    • I had an older machine running Win 98SE-- and found out later that it wasn't using most of the extra RAM I'd gotten for it. It had a mobo that was supposed to max out (theoretically) at 2 gigs, only that's pointless unless I'm running something besides '98. I imagine anything short of XP (i.e., not 98 or 2000) isn't worth upgrading past 512k.

      Of course, the machine I put Ubuntu on is just flying.

      It's worth mentioning that 64-bit processors are completely wasted running any Windows O/S (including Vista I be

      • I run OpenBSD/amd64.... Of course that stuff isn't for desktop usage ;-) I also run Ubuntu/amd64 on a Turion X2 laptop.

        Of course, both AMD64 and EM64T aren't used to their full potential on 32-bit operating systems. That's evident. However, both the Vista 64 and XP 64 builds should use the 64-bit goodness of the CPUs. They do however have the same problems as Linux: lacking driver support. Evidently you cannot use a 32-bit driver on a 64-bit operating system. Stuff like Flash not existing for 64-bit

  • You must have been out of the Windows world a while if you were surprised by that. I still use a 666 <evil_laugh> MHz PII with 768 MB RAM, for *everything* I do, surfing, compiling, debugging, etc., with Win2K on it, and it feels as fast as my 3 GHz 2 GB RAM P4 at work. So I'm still a long ways from feeling I need to replace it with something new, and would be even longer if I had your "old" machine. These older versions of Windows aren't what needs mucho resources, it's video games that needs 'em. I
    • No I support bloated Microsoft all the time, though it is mostly XP on up; my only experience with 2000 lately has been inside vmware. It was interesting to see the older OS on newer hardware (all totally supported; everyone is still making drivers for 2000). I think it is a travesty that Microsoft is trying to ram Vista down everyone's throats, when the consumer* would be better served if they just added fixes/updates to their 7+ year old OS instead. But hey what do I know.

      *Yeah I know that quite a bit of
      • What they need to do is rewrite their OS. Maybe something on top of BSD like Apple did, would be nice. You can't just graft on security later, as I hope they're finding out, to something that was designed expressly for ease-of-use, on non-public networks. I've read that they're trying to come up with a whole new OS to take advantage of what will be massively parallel desktops in the not-so-distant future. Good. Meantime, Vista is just a placeholder, to keep the Windows name alive (and propel .NET Framework

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