How old is your XP computer?

As the title says, how old is your Windows XP computer?

I have had my XP laptop, an IBM Thinkpad R52, since 2005. This was, I believe, the first Lenovo made Thinkpad after IBM sold the trademark and business to Lenovo. Despite being technically a "Lenovo Thinkpad", the laptop still bears IBM branding rather than Lenovo.

I've been using this same laptop since. It still runs strong after daily use.

40GB HDD, 512MB RAM, XP Pro SP3 with ALL updates (Win Update finds no more updates). It was actually bittersweet when I downloaded the final update, as now I am greeted by Update with an empty screen saying "0 updates found".

Ah... XP.

 

'03 or '04 Toshiba laptop, 30 gig hdd, 256 meg ram, XP home. Added (to) 512 ram, added wireless card, now at 160 gig hdd. Replaced bios battery. I actually prefer the 4x3 screen over w/s's.
This one just keeps working, , , ,
Even still have the XP install dvd for it, + xp home sp2 u/g,


-c-

(newest comp is a two year old mobo desktop unit) (older case, natch')

 

Running two oldies here. A 2004/5 Compaq Presario desktop PC (SR1619UK); originally single-core Athlon64, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB IDE/PATA HDD, onboard ATI Radeon graphics. Now running dual-core Athlon64 X2, 4 GB RAM, 500GB SATA HDD and a 32GB IDE/PATA SSD. Still the onboard graphics.....they just keep on working (very well, I might add.) Running XP 'Black Edition' (based on XP Pro), and Puppy Linux.

And a 2002/3 Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop; originally 2.2 GHz Celeron, 128 MB RAM, and a 20 GB HDD. Now running a 2.6 GHz P4, 1 GB RAM (maxed!), and a 64 GB SSD. Added a NetGear wireless PCMCIA card, as the original specs didn't include one as standard.....unlike its 'big' brother, the 5100, which did. Running XP & 'Puppy' Linux. And at nearly 14 yrs old, it's built like a tank, and if anything is actually running better now than she did when we bought her.....


Mike.

 

My old Thinkpad R50e was bought in 2006, and it still works.
I had an Acer Aspire One ZG5 from 2008, that got smashed, forgotten how.

My VM was created yesterday, and the system running on was bought in November 2015, I believe.

XP carries through every generations for me!!

 

Various desktops & laptops ranging from circa 2003 - 2013. IMO the ones from 2007 onwards are just as good XP-wise as the newer machines. PC's became end-game when they made multi-core CPUs. Upgrading was a good idea during the 8086-586 (aka Pentium) PC era. But, nobody needs to buy a new machine anymore after their first multi-core system...

 

when AMD brought out their 64 fx; guess it must have been circa 2004/5.

(I almost always run machines that I have assembled myself:it costs more, but I get more satisfaction from doing so.)

So, when 64 bit became an option, got one of those mobos the long lost Abit manufactured for enthusiasts, and big black Lian Li case which I had been coveting. I put XP on (32 bit), although it got little use, as machine was primarily to run 64 bit Open SuSE.

It is not now my main machine, but is regularly used as dedicated computer in my music room, running XP,and AV Linux: the former as best solution I have found for playing MIDI files to an external instrument, and the latter. because special low-latency kernel saves me from needing a Real Time OS.


Until a couple of weeks ago though, I was also running XP on a machine that was over 20 years old! Not a homebrew, this one, but a Medion, built for W95! I got it 2nd hand in 1999, when it had been 'modded' to run W98SE.

When I maxed out the processor to a 233Mhz Pentium, and the memory also, I realised it was within the XP requirements: just.

OK, so it did not run XP very well, but I kept it as a test bed: ie try out mods first of all on that machine, as I was not going to be concerned if they knocked it over.

It is still running XP, but last week, I replaced most of the innards, so now, only the case is original. Mind, the case itself is a fine piece of German Engineering: every corner and edge inside is radiused. Not a sharp edge to be found. Well, I could not bring myself to throw that away!

 

My spare/extra Windows XP modern (Ivy Bridge) PC that I'm building myself is almost ready... Components already acquired:

-> System board
-> CPU + heatsink/fan
-> Micro-ATX case
-> RAM
-> DVD drive
-> Keyboard/mouse combo

All that's left is a power supply unit and I'll be rocking XP for years to come yet. My threat to abandon Windows 10 and beyond is for real. I'm set to survive another two decades w/o buying a new PC... I see no value left in Microsoft after all the unethical things they've done to their latest OS.


(If I should ever feel the urge to splurge on new tech, it will be a very nifty tablet possibly w/o even Intel in it...)

 

Found reciept for this (desktop) one, bought mobo in 2008, , , couple of hdds have passed on, replaced vid card once. Even has a floppie a:\ drive still

 

I still have a floppy drive: not in a machine, I will add, but attached to a length of FDD Data and power cables. Lot of old machines designed to have their BIOS updated from floppy, and this is easiest way: does not need to be fixed into chassis, as only in use for a few minutes.

Even when machine can use USB floppy drive, I find my contraption more reliable.

However, I have noticed that over the twenty years or so, stuff that I have on floppies has become unreadable. (Fortunately nothing of value) Also, most (not all) of the disks will now not format.

Come to think about it, I also still have 5.25 inch FDD which was still working when I removed it in 2007. They are fetching more on Ebay than what they cost new!

The only thing I have on 5.25 disks is some thing called 'Harvard Graphics'. I guess if material on the 3.5 inch disks now inaccessible, the 5.25 stuff dating back to 1986 is likely to have suffered a similar fate.

 

^^^ Also for F6 install (RAID/AHCI) with XP

 

My XP machine is an old Dell Dimension 4500 from around 2002/2003. I'm not entirely sure which year it was purchased in, as I was about 7 or 8 at the time. It had belonged to my grandfather as his first PC.

He has since upgraded to a newer Dell, and is surprisingly getting along with Windows 10 ok (though he was a bit upset by the "forced" upgrade from 7). Because of the upgrade, I wound up taking it off his hands around 2 years ago.

I have fond memories of when my grandfather let me use this computer when I was a child (I'm 23 years old now), and never would have guessed that I'd put it to use today.

It runs Windows XP Pro SP3 (using the POSReady2009 update hack), and is sitting in my living room. I am using it now as I type this as I find it far more convenient than grabbing up my laptop.

I've upgraded the CPU from a Pentium 4 2GHz to a 3.06GHz, updated the bios, gave it 1GB of ram, and upgraded the graphics card from an ATI Rage 128 Ultra 16MB to an Nvidia GeForce 5200 FX. I've gotten it to play Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and Silent Hill 2 so far.

Whoever says that XP no longer serves a purpose is dead wrong. I find it to be one of the best operating systems to run on these aging machines (even better than Linux thus far). In fact, just like 98 and 2000, I think that XP is going to have a following for ages to come.

 

i have 2 computers that run xp
first computer and olds that run xp mainboard asus p4p800 deluxe p4 3.2ghz 3gb of ram and agp hd 4670
second computer has p5e mainboard 3.0ghz quad core 4gb ddr2 ram and hd6870
it run dual boot xp win 7.

 

I have a old Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop with Xp Pro on it which I really don't use as it's very slow, I even did a clean install on it the other day and it's so so slow, it only has 1GB Ram and the processor is a AMD single core, I might try and put a Linux distro on it.

 

I've got an elderly Inspiron 1100 laptop, the 'baby' brother to yours. It originally came with XP Home 14 yrs ago. For the past couple of years, it's been quad-booting 4 different Puppy Linux distros. This is designed to run on elderly hardware, since it runs entirely in RAM.....which is the fastest component of any computer by far.

Mine came with a 2.2 GHz Celeron single-core, 128 MB RAM, and a miniscule 20 GB Hitachi Travelstar. It now runs a 2.6 GHz P4, 1 GB RAM.....and a 64 GB SSD, running on the IDE/PATA interface. This has made a huge difference to bootup times, etc, and proves that modern accessories and upgrades will still keep elderly machines viable.

I'd recommend giving 'Puppy' Linux a try. It'll make your old Inspiron seem modern again.

http://puppylinux.com/

Tahrpup 6.05 should run nicely on it. I'd tried a few 'Pups' before Tahrpup, but they all had problems with the awful Intel graphics adapter Dell had seen fit to saddle it with. If I'm not mistaken, yours should have come with one of the Mobility Radeon chips, which were pretty good for their time.

I'll advise one thing, though. Update the BIOS. Seriously. And you won't need to go through all that DOS-based floppy boot schtick, neither.

There's a site called 'bay-wolf.com', who provide Dell notebook and laptop BIOS upgrades in the form of mini-ISO files.

http://www.bay-wolf.com/flashbios.htm

Download the one you need, then burn the ISO file to a CD. Boot from the CD, follow the on-screen instructions, and the whole job is done in less than 5 minutes. You can't go wrong, as the BIOS update CD does one thing, and one thing only; upgrade the BIOS. That's it. That's all it does.

You can then allocate the maximum amount of shared system RAM to your graphics adapter, which will enable Puppy to run with no problems at all.

If you need any help at all, try the Puppy Linux Forums a try. We're a very friendly, easy-going bunch on there, who will bend over backwards to help newbies out with any queries.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/index.php

EDIT:- Correction; yours is way better specced than mine ever was. Yours apparently came with a dual-core AMD processor (the X2 Turion). Puppy should simply fly on that thing.....!!


Mike.

 

Thanks for all the info, I had already updated the bios, I don't think it's a dual core processor, it's a AMD mobile sempron. I'll give puppy linux a try.

 

It is only a suggestion, of course; but Puppy has a well-deserved history of keeping elderly hardware productive & useful, simply because it is so lightweight, and economical with resources.

That, and the fact that the Puppy Forums are the friendliest, and most helpful bunch of lads 'n' lasses it's been my pleasure to encounter for many years..!

I don't think you'll regret it. If you want to look me up, my username is the same on the Puppy Forum.


Mike.

 

Thanks Mike.

 

2004 Dell Dimension 3000. Mid 2007 Dell OptiPlex 755 MT.

 

on backup hdd but out of use now win 7 no threshold for now

 

I still use Precise Puppy on my Dell D610 notebook, but now another great Windows XP replacement is out there. Check out Q4OS (especially with the XPQ4 add-on. It really works and feels like XP.