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Which OS to choose
thewasp31 - Sep 23, 2004
  thewasp31 Sep 23, 2004
Right, my grandfather now uses my old Cyrix computer, but it just seems to be getting painfully slow. The specs are:

Cyrix MII 300Mhz Processor

128 MB Ram

30GB 7200RPM Maxtor HD

16MB RivaTNT Graphics Card

(Connected to broadband, added a 3in1 PCI card for this, so it now has ethernet, USB 2.0 and Firewire)

It is currently running WindowsME

All it really gets used for a 3D mahjonng and solitare game, printing and downloading music.

But after updating WinME, adding a virus scanner (Norton) and a firewall (Sygate) and adding in my gramps software, the comp seems to be terribly slow and i don't know why.

Frankly i just think it's todays software demanding to much from my old Cyrix machine.

I was wondering if there is any OS that runs well on such a spec machine? Perhaps even a Linux OS? My only fears with linux is if it will support the ethernet cause it's not onboard, tis on a PCI card, and if there is any easy use music sharing progs on Linux.

Looking around today, specs of WinMe and above, and the latest Linux OS would not run well on this machine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again,

 racketboy Sep 23, 2004
win98 stripped down wouldn't be bad

 ExCyber Sep 23, 2004

  
	
	

		
		

			But after updating WinME, adding a virus scanner (Norton) and a firewall (Sygate) and adding in my gramps software, the comp seems to be terribly slow and i don't know why.


Norton. Symantec is only a couple stops short of having an entire mini-OS underneath their latest products, and I've seen it bog down much greater machines. You also don't mention what filesharing software is being used. Some of it (*cough*Kazaa*cough*) is loaded with gobs of redundant bloat. On a low-spec machine I'd lean toward somewhat leaner stuff like WinMX and eMule.


  
	
	

		
		

			win98 stripped down wouldn't be bad


I'd consider Win98 if it wasn't basically one big gaping security hole in the context of today's Internet. Maybe if you really pared down XP - switch to a plain theme and classic view, disable all unused services, disable the FindFast BS and other resource-munching office candy, use a light/fast web browser like Opera or Firefox, etc., it would work pretty nicely.


  
	
	

		
		

			Perhaps even a Linux OS? My only fears with linux is if it will support the ethernet cause it's not onboard, tis on a PCI card


Ethernet chipset support is pretty good on Linux except for really esoteric stuff. I don't have statistics, but it seems like most cheap PCI cards are either Realtek 8139, an NE2000 clone, or a Tulip clone, all of which are supported just fine. As for which OS to use, I've been hearing good things about Yoper... lately, though that requires a 686-level CPU, and that Cyrix chip might only be a 586 clone.

 thewasp31 Sep 23, 2004
the p2p prog is Shareaza

I would consider win98, but like ExCyber, I worry about the security, and again norton and sygate would probably kill it. Also the slight little fact that I only own liecences for Win95,ME & XP.

I have thought and tried XP even tried 2KPro, but it simply won't successfully install on the Cyrix machine. It crashed in installtion almost from the start. Plus @ Uni I use WinXP machines with Pentium 550's and they are soooo painfull

I'm tempted in trying a Linux OS, currently considering Libranet. I know linux can work with very low specs, thats usually without a GUI, I would need a GUI as the main user is my grandfather aged 72. The good thing about this is a change should not really be noticeable as long as it has: Mahjonng, Solitare, a decent p2p music thingy, E-mail and is simple to turn off and on :lol:

The main thing is speed

 thewasp31 Sep 23, 2004
I just took a look at the Yoper. It supports my Cyrix. I appologise for not being so clear, it is a Cyrix MII 300Mhz, which on the Yoper FAQ page says is supported. I may give it a look after libranet. I'm not in a rush, just may lose patients if i install and compare more than 4 OS's

 fonzievoltonov Sep 23, 2004
"I'd consider Win98 if it wasn't basically one big gaping security hole in the context of today's Internet"

I have W98 for many years and with a constant unlimited internet connection and with "zone alarm" + "NAV" or "NIS" + "NAV" I never had any problem.

BUT, when you firewall crash (may appen 1time per year) and if your NAV is disactivated you MUST reboot or else you'll die in 10 minutes, lol.

W98 is fine, on a 3ghz, its the paradise!

++

Fonzie

 Alexvrb Sep 23, 2004

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by ExCyber@Sep 23, 2004 @ 03:51 PM



 Norton. Symantec is only a couple stops short of having an entire mini-OS underneath their latest products, and I've seen it bog down much greater machines. You also don't mention what filesharing software is being used. Some of it (*cough*Kazaa*cough*) is loaded with gobs of redundant bloat. On a low-spec machine I'd lean toward somewhat leaner stuff like WinMX and eMule.


Yeah, Norton on that thing... bleh. You could use AVG instead. If you're considering using Win98, just stick with WinME. Disable system restore and a little other work and it's practically the same thing, only still supported by MS. That is unless you put Linux on it. In either case, more memory would always help, and the MII isn't exactly a powerhouse. But I take it that this computer isn't going to see any new hardware.

 thewasp31 Sep 24, 2004
No, the system won't get new hardware, hopefully it will be replaced soon. But will keep it, may come in handy for something.

Currently I have Yoper installed. All seems well, slowish to start up, generally quite fast when u get in. May keep it. Thanks for the suggestion ExCyber.

The only annoying thing is i can't seem to get the damn sound card to work. It's onboard and very old, a sound blaster 16bit clone i think (though don't quote me on that). No problem yet, hopefully i will get the machine replaced in a month, so i'll use this primarily to test if my grandfather wants to stay with linux, or go back to windows.

If anyone knows a quicker OS then please let me know, otherwise thanks guys for all your help. Much appreciated :thumbs-up:

 Curtis Sep 24, 2004
How about the ageing BeOS.... It should do most of what you want...

 ExCyber Sep 24, 2004

  
	
	

		
		

			The only annoying thing is i can't seem to get the damn sound card to work. It's onboard and very old, a sound blaster 16bit clone i think (though don't quote me on that).


Can you paste the output of lspci (assuming lspci is installed)?


  
	
	

		
		

			If anyone knows a quicker OS then please let me know


BeOS is a solid contender that I hadn't considered before, although:

1) IIRC it's a mild pain to install the Personal edition (it's not designed to be installed to its own partition)

2) I don't know what filesharing apps are available on it. If it occurs to me later I'll poke around BeBits et. al. and see what I can find out.

 it290 Sep 24, 2004
Sound card - make sure you have the correct kernel modules compiled in or loaded as modules.

Faster OS - Well, QNX is a nice little OS, but there's not much in the way of app support for the 386 platform AFAIK. Keep in mind that some filesharing apps are quite crossplatform (bittorrent comes to mind... for music there is pysoulseek, works very well IMHO).

 thewasp31 Oct 3, 2004
Err, my linux knowledge is really really limited. Anywaz, thanks guys for your help. I can handle that comp with linux without sound, as it will be replaced within the month. If my grandfather has chooses Linux and I have probs with the sound there, then I'll be forced to learn and ask you guys for help

 it290 Oct 3, 2004
It's really quite simple. Open up a terminal and do the following (this is the procedure for newer kernels):

su

(type root password)

cd /usr/src/linux

make xconfig or make menuconfig

go to device drivers -> sound

now you have a choice, you can use either the OSS sound system or the ALSA sound system. Depending on what card you have, drivers may only be available for one or the other.

Choose to compile either OSS or ALSA, and then find the specific module for your sound card and turn it on as well.

Exit the program, and choose to save configuration changes.

Type 'make && make modules && make modules_install' (depending on what you did, you might be able to just type make... actually I think they changed the makefile in newer versions so that modules are built automatically, though you still have to do the install part I think)

Find the file /usr/src/linux/arch/i386/boot/bzImage and copy it to whereever it lives on your boot partition.. you may have to mount it first by typing ie. 'mount /boot'

After that, unmount the boot partition ('umount /boot'), and restart the machine. You should now have sound.

 Alexvrb Oct 3, 2004
...and this is why Linux has not taken over the desktop market.

 mal Oct 4, 2004
That's reason enough for me to leave Linux alone. :/

 thewasp31 Oct 4, 2004
Normal I would let this pass, bought I'll give it a shot.

If you hear about someone going on a killing spree in Scotland, It's probably because of me getting annoyed with Linux

It's a pity really, cause Linux looks so nice and runs so well. It's a pity I've found it so hard to migrate from Windows. This was also an attempt for me to see what it would having Linux on a machine full time. But the probs with config and instaling progs has put me off going full time to it soon.

I've set a deadline, I will move to Linux full time when Longhorn is released. Thanks to M$ thats getting further and further

 it290 Oct 4, 2004
The thing about Linux on the desktop is, those types of things can all be compiled as kernel modules and loaded as necessary. Generally, distros that have a preconfigured kernel also have a hardware detection program that will find your stuff and load up the appropriate modules for you. I agree that things can be tricky to reconfigure until you know where all the necessary files are, but that generally only applies to the 'admin' type stuff.. not things your average 'desktop' user would want to mess with. But then again, I'm biased. The complaint I do have against Linux (and all Unix-based OSes) is that the filesystem is just too loaded with files. I miss the days when I knew the purpose of each and every file on my machine, but alas, they're probably gone forever.

 Alexvrb Oct 4, 2004

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by it290@Oct 4, 2004 @ 10:30 AM



I miss the days when I knew the purpose of each and every file on my machine, but alas, they're probably gone forever.




[post=120408]Quoted post[/post]

"Probably" indeed, my friend. If you try to keep track, you will drown in a sea of madness. Also some salt water. But mostly madness.