Utterly Pathetic Computer

[Kamex]

(Not sure if this is the right forum, my apoligies if it is not)

I'm 17 years old, and homeschooled. Recently, a lady contacted my Mom with questions on homeschooling. My Mom invited her over, and she brought her kids with her. One kid is a 13-year-old named Jon. Jon had a bit of a problem, that is, his personal computer, which he had been given for free by a bank really sucked. Its specs were as follows (we found most of this out later):

Compaq Evo (???)
256mb Ram
(???) 1.7ghz
Video Card: Nvidia Vanta 16mb
Sound Card: SB PCI(WDM)
Ethernet Card: Intel Pro/100 VM
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 1

Poor Jon was rather computer illiterate. He didn't understand that he needed to have an Antivirus and Firewall for his computer. He also had no clue was spyware or adware was, and it became quite apparent from talking with him that his computer was completely packed with gigabytes of the stuff. He complained of toolbars on his windows explorer that had gotten so numerous that his view of files and folders had become very restricted. He recieved so many popups that he could not leave his computer alone, or it would slowly flood with popups until it ran out of memory. I told him about the importance of software to protect his computer, and told him to bring his computer over to my house in a few days so I could take a look at it.

Nothing can describe the horror of seeing how infested the thing was. I tried to fix it, but since I couldn't even install ad-aware because the computer just froze when I double-clicked the EXE, it became clear that it would be easier to reformat the thing. His family had an old Windows 98SE CD key, so we called his Dad and used that to install 98 on it (along with the CD my Mom was using). XP was no available, even though the key sticker was on his computer, as the bank had not given him any software CDs with the computer whatsoever, and we had no professional CD available to us. Windows 98 was probably better for his computer anyway, as it enabled him to play DOS games, as well as older games that don't run on XP.

After reformatting, the computer was perfectly fine. He was quite happy to have it working, and didn't realize how easy it was supposed to be to close windows (and not have to watch the window turn into a white box, then spend 30 seconds shrinking in height until it dissapeared).

I've been giving him lots of open-source programs and old software/games that I no longer need. Most recently, I gave him my WON Half-life installer, and Myst because I already beat that. I feel sorry for the guy because although his family is not poor, his mother has no plans to buy him a new computer. Anyway, Half-life barely ran at all, not surprising of course, and wasn't the only game to run this poorly.

Now my Mom is buying a new computer soon. Her old computer is deing on her, so I can't give that to Jon. What I can do (and have permission), is to give Jon my Mom's old video card, which should hopefully make his computer fast enough to run the stuff I want to give him. Unfortunatly, I am not aware if his computer will be able to handle my Mom's video card (Nvidia GeForce DDR AGP 64mb), or if it will even fit in his horizontal case. I was wondering if someone could tell me what I can do about his situation. Not one penny can be spent unfortunatly.

[cdt1983]

Now my Mom is buying a new computer soon. Her old computer is deing on her, so I can't give that to Jon. What I can do (and have permission), is to give Jon my Mom's old video card, which should hopefully make his computer fast enough to run the stuff I want to give him. Unfortunatly, I am not aware if his computer will be able to handle my Mom's video card (Nvidia GeForce DDR AGP 64mb), or if it will even fit in his horizontal case. I was wondering if someone could tell me what I can do about his situation. Not one penny can be spent unfortunatly.

Does the computer have an AGP slot? If it is an older PC it may have on-board video or a PCI video card. Therefore an AGP card would not work. Here is a picture of an AGP slot, it is brown and off-centered from the white PCI slots.
http://www.videocardupgrade.com/agp_slot.jpg

Just wanted to mention, Windows XP has a compatiblity option that allows you to change how XP runs a certain program. For example, if you had an older game that only works with Windows 95, you could play it on windows xp by emulating that version of windows.

Good luck.

[Kamex]

Does the computer have an AGP slot? If it is an older PC it may have on-board video or a PCI video card. Therefore an AGP card would not work. Here is a picture of an AGP slot, it is brown and off-centered from the white PCI slots.
http://www.videocardupgrade.com/agp_slot.jpg

Just wanted to mention, Windows XP has a compatiblity option that allows you to change how XP runs a certain program. For example, if you had an older game that only works with Windows 95, you could play it on windows xp by emulating that version of windows.

Good luck.

Actually, I tried for 2-3 years to get my programs to work on XP. In the end, I had to set up an XP/98 dual-boot. Compatibility mode is totally worthless. Out of all the games that did not start on XP, crashed frequently, were slow and choppy, or had buttons appearing in the wrong place, only one was improved by compatibility mode, and it was still unplayable. XP simply doesn't run old stuff.

Didn't even think of the AGP, thank you for that. :) I will have to see if the motherboard has an AGP slot.

[Thong_Ispector]

Be careful.

AGP Confusion: There has been a lot of confusion about AGP Cards and compatible motherboards. Here is the best explanation I have to offer.

There are two AGP standards Version 1.0 and 2.0
Version 1.0 uses 3.3 volts and version 2.0 uses 1.5 volts

There are multiple supported SPEEDS of AGP cards
1x, 2x, 4x, 8x

This is where the confusion comes in.
AGP 2.0 is not the same as AGP 2x

The AGP 1.0 standard calls for a notch in the bus in one location
The AGP 2.0 standard calls for a notch in another.

To further confuse the issue some AGP cards have both notches and are jumper selectable from 1.5 to 3.3 volts.

All new motherboards support the AGP 2.0 standard but if you are like me you collect old equipment that may support AGP 1.0

If you put an AGP 1.0 (3.3volt) video card with universal notches into a motherboard that supports AGP 2.0 (1.5 volt) it will not damage anything it just will not boot up.

An AGP 2.0 ONLY video card will not fit in a AGP 1.0 slot

The only time you can blow up a piece of hardware (Video Card) is if it has both the AGP 1.0 and AGP 2.0 slots and is jumpered for AGP 2.0 (1.5 volts) then inserted into a motherboard that supports AGP 1.0 (3.3 volts)

The AGP 1.0 notch is in the 1/3 of the bus closest to the back of the case and the AGP 2.0 notch is in the 1/3 of the bus farthest from the back of the case

AGP 1.0 AGP 2.0

[Coconut Monkey]

Don't forget AGP 3.0 ;)

http://www.ertyu.org/~steven_nikkel/agpcompatibility.html

[Catweazle]

Actually, I tried for 2-3 years to get my programs to work on XP. In the end, I had to set up an XP/98 dual-boot. Compatibility mode is totally worthless. Out of all the games that did not start on XP, crashed frequently, were slow and choppy, or had buttons appearing in the wrong place, only one was improved by compatibility mode, and it was still unplayable. XP simply doesn't run old stuff.

Didn't even think of the AGP, thank you for that. :) I will have to see if the motherboard has an AGP slot.

Beg to differ about the games compatibility. I've only ever found a small number of games which can't be made to work under XP.

Use goodle and search for gamename xp to see if there's an official (or unofficial) patch to fix compatibility, or another workaround mentioned on a messageboard somewhere. For older, DOS games, see this article.

[Thong_Ispector]

Cat..
The key phrase for me is... MADE to work with XP... Patched... Fixed....

With a dual boot, easy enough to do, you can have your games.

I am NOT a fan of XP anyhow...

I PREFER 98se without the Internet Exploder...

Aside from games in 98 I use Mepis Linux...
(I wont Patch or fix them to work in Linux either)

[Catweazle]

Then please be careful with your wording when mentioning the situation on public message boards, because other, less experienced people may be reading and get the wrong impression.

One way or another, just about any PC game, ever, has needed patches or updates to correct 'bugs' or hardware compatibility issues. Windows XP compatibility for older games should really be looked at no differently, but if it's your choice not to do so then that's fine for you.

Fact is, just about any game can be run under Windows XP.