Best Setup for Old PC (Tecra 8100)

I'm new to this board, and new to helping poor friends with less know-how than me make their old PCs last another few years. If I had money myself I would just buy them new ones ;-) but, alas, I am re-installing their OSes and maybe finding a RAM chip for 30 bucks that makes a big dif, getting rid of pre-installed junk and tweaking what's left... and have had success getting XP to run faster and smoother and people cruising the net and accessing their email happily.

The one in question here is a Toshiba Tecra 8100. It has 320MB (a 256 and an 64) RAM right now (and another 256 module on the way, so it will be 512MB soon), I've gotten it a cardbus for ethernet and a couple USB 2 ports (it came with just one USB 1 port and a serial port that doesn't work). I am posting from it now. It is a worthy little machine, I think, of some help. My friends want it for running software that is 98/2000/XP compatible. It has but a 20 gig harddrive, but as long as they don't store pics and music on it, that should be ok


It came with 98SE and an upgrade to XP Pro, but (of course) it didn't have the XP disk...I found the Product Key with 'Magic Jellybean' (which contains some adware, so deleted after one use), and burned an ISO of a torrent called BetasXP (XP Pro SP1) that, with my key, passes WGA. (And all that--torrents-ISOs, etc-- was new to me a week ago...I am old and still recovering, thankyouverymuch.)

It ran soooo quickly (better than newer laptops with triple the RAM), interfaced with ethernet and USB devices with no drivers from their CDs needed after clean install (NTFS, no partitions) of XP SP1; then audio problems started after SP2, got better with SP3 and driver updates, and then after the Netframework installs everything got really noticeably slower on bootup, and RAM useage, and I can't get audio CDs to have their files recognized (WMP and WinAmp lite play any music files I add on a USB thumb drive--it's just the CD bay)

So I have 2 main queries for this machine:

1) What's the best configuration (OS, browser, software) for an older PC with 512 RAM or less and a 20 gig HD ?
(that is friendly to people that have only ever interfaced with WIN98 and XP) --can I delete the updates and still have people view a YouTube video here and there and get their gmail?

2) WTF happened to my cd audio interface/file recognition?
This machine has a Yamaha DSXG chipset (I think you call it) and I have the latest (2002) driver for it for XP...there are no yellow markers under the hardware device manager tabs, though the media device control hass but one file in it, and I know it had about 5 the first time I looked in there.

I have read this board for hours and hours and done everything I could extrapolate--now I need some spoon feeding, I'm afraid. I installed Everest, in case someone asks me for specs--I'm not sure what to post. I'm not stoopid, but this is all quite new to me, so type slowly and loudly.

 

In the meantime I have read Tecra links/posts that came up...have tried the reg edit fixes in http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=145532 to no avail (CD/DVD drive still reading info but not playing audio cds.)

 

here's a full everest report for this Tecra 8100 running WinXP Pro

 

Given that this laptop has a 512MB limit for RAM and it's running a very slow 4,200rpm disk, I would have seriously considered leaving it at SP2 and not installing any .NET or Java. Not upgrading to SP3, of course, would leave potential security loopholes unplugged and would not be suited to a carefree 'net user or as an always-connected PC.

I'd use K-Meleon 1.6 as the default browser, Pidgin for messenger comms., Foxit for reading pdf's, Avast! (or Avira) for antivirus and probably PCTools firewall or Privatefirewall. Most of these can be accessed from the 'top freeware picks' page.

I'm really not at all clued up on why you can't play CD audio

 

It's the CPU usage that is suffering since .NET and SP2 and 3...sound went away completely after SP2, and returned (except for ability to read audio/video files from CD) after SP3 (I've read elsewhere SP2 made things buggy.)

I'd have left it all at SP1 except you can't get WinMediaPlayer or IE8 or MS Security Essentials, and my *original* thought was to have it all Microsoft so the inexperienced--more than me--owner wouldn't have to think about compatability and updates--they'd all come from one place.

QUESTION: But if using other programs for everything, what is it SPs and .NETs really provide for someone cruising the net occasionally and checking email and facebook? Could I just go back to SP1?

Mostly the Tecra would be used for offline activity, and would not be left running between use, as the owner is on solar power only and leaves nothing running unnecessarily. But it could be used for going to an online game like Lexulous (scrabble)--wouldn't Java be needed for that?

I have installed K-Meleon and Pidgin and Foxit on my own laptop, and am enjoying them--thanks! I didn't know they existed. Foxit, especially, is a HUGE difference in bloat compared to Adobe Reader9.

QUESTION: Do AVAST and AVIRA have automatic or manual updates? And how large are those updates?

I ask because it's not easy to add an AV program to see how it works...MS Security Essentials *looked* like a smaller footprint at 45MB to AVG Free's 95, but when updating the virus signature files for AVG are about 200K at most and MSSE are always over 55MB; AVG replaces a small portion of itself at update, while MSSE adds on another half and then replaces half the freaking program each time (takes a LOOOONG time to install updates on MSSE).

QUESTION: Why another firewall? Doesn't the one that comes with Windows work? would that one be turned off, or run in addition to?

 

I'll try not to miss anything, prod me again if I do

.NET adds immediate bloat and will need updates to keep it reasonably secure, unless there's a real need to install it, don't.

IE8 is often slow and clunky, even on W7. VLC can replace WMP. MSE is being reported as being quite buggy with XP, especially since the last major update.

Higher SP's will give better stability, features, fixes and bloat!

Java would probably be needed for most browser-based games.

Avast! and Avira both have auto-updaters, I'm most familiar with the current version of Avast!, which provides several small updates per day.

The XP firewall is only 1-way, providing some protection from outside attacks. Most (all?) 3rd party firewalls provide much more protection but can be tricky to setup in a short period - look for the 'training' mode.

 

Thank you for your time and answers, Satrow.

Could you give an example of what a "real need" for .NET might look like? And for what was unstable in XP SP1 that became better with 2 or 3? All I can tell is that I have crackling sound and no CD audio file recognition in any program (WinMediaPlayer or WinAmp lite) since updates.

Is Java a windows thing that can be (easily) updated independently of service packs? or do you get third party java? like SunJava console (I see that on my own laptop, and it asks to be updated from time to time.)

Why would an 'attack' be coming from inside (2 way)? The training mode, is I am guessing, where you go to all your programs and websites and it blocks everything the first time until you tell it to allow each new thing?

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Do I need to reinstall WIN XP Pro OS and add updates for SP1, and update BIOS and drivers and such, or can I just uninstall the Service Packs and .NET? There isn't much on this Tecra other than the OS and updates, so I suppose it wouldn't be a huge loss...and do I reinstall 98SE and then upgrade to XP or do a second upgrade (which is a downgrade, at this point?)

 

A real need for .NET only comes when you must use a piece of software that needs it Paint.NET is one, there are many others. It's normally quite easy to find a small alternative to most softwares that need .NET.

I don't recall all the fixes from the XP SP's, sorry. I do remember the extra 'weight' of SP3 was a killer blow for many older PC's that had been quite useable up until then.

Java's not easy to update on a slow connection; it requires you to download and install about 90MB currently, security issues mean that you have to manually check/disable any older versions and look for updates frequently.

A good firewall will allow you to block anything outbound from your PC; most attacks are from visiting hacked websites or sites that contain a malicious payload. These often try to trigger certain internal insecure or old apps (like older versions of Flash or Java) in the PC to bypass normal security, thus enabling the malware payload to be downloaded and used.

For instance, a PC with an old version of Adobe Reader could be 'fed' a bad pdf file which would be allowed to run scripts in Windows, thus potentially allowing the PC to be remotely accessed or controlled, data being 'harvested' and exported, etc. If you check the settings in Foxit, by default, Java and scripting (like 'live URL's) are turned off. You have to copy and paste a link to be able to use it - much safer - because you are forced to look at the link, if it's not the same link when it's pasted - it's usually bad!

Training mode allows your normal programs to work but will alert you if something odd is happening behind the scenes. When the training period (3-7 days, usually) is over, anything new happening will be flagged/blocked.

If you're currently running SP3, I think you can only uninstall the last SP, reverting to SP2; uninstall any .NET first (if you decide to be rid of it).

We'll look in greater detail at your audio problem(s) once you've decided which SP to settle with