[dan1son]

256 is plenty for win2k or win98se as long as you don't install a new anti-virus application on it. Norton for example has a footprint of 50-100MB when running in the background. The problem with that is having no anti-virus and anti-spyware apps running puts you more at risk especially kids since they're not as experienced on the net to know what might not be safe.

The key to running a machine with that small of memory is running older apps and not very many background apps. Things like AIM, Weatherbug, Microsoft Messenger, pda sync apps, etc. all use memory and the newer versions all use more than the older ones. Once you have enough stuff running that you fill up the memory and start using virtual memory everything will slow down to a halt. The machine will remain quite snappy if you never use swap space.

I'd recommend going on eBay and putting as much memory in that thing as you can get... or ask some friends with old machines and see if you can get some that works in that machine. Older memory costs quite a bit at stores, but should be very cheap in the used world. Don't put more than $20 into the box, but I'd go for 512meg or more if you plan on running anti-virus.

 

[Mrvile]

I wish comps still ran Window 98. It was so simple, easy to use, and easy on the computers. It is by far my favorite Windows OS that I've had experience with.

 

[catachresis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordgtlover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Win98se

Double that -- 98se is a terrific low-cal Win OS. You might be able to put on win2000 as well (if you did, you'd have far fewer problems dealing with driver issues). You could put on Win XP, but besides the bloat, all you get is that lovely colourful GUI (;p).

 

[Mrvile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chadbang /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's really my kids game computer.

I just noticed this. How does your kid play games on a 900mhz computer?

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrvile /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just noticed this. How does your kid play games on a 900mhz computer?

We're talking Winnie the Pooh Fisher Price games, I think they're basically Flash driven. Sounds like W2k is the preferred choice. Thanks, guys!

 

[wanderman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrvile /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just noticed this. How does your kid play games on a 900mhz computer?

reading rabbit and dora the explorer probably don't require sli

 

[chadbang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wanderman /img/forum/go_quote.gif reading rabbit and dora the explorer probably don't require sli

Now there's a man who knows where I'm coming from.

 

[kikkomang]

windows mobile or windows ce

 

[Czilla9000]

I ran Win2000 on a Pentium 3 600 MHz with 128MB of RAM. It worked fine.

 

[DolbyR]

One more vote for Win2K, I ran the pro version several years on a 800mhz/256mb celeron. My brother also runs in in his 850 celeron at the moment. Even on my current computer I switched to XP only due to some driver problem with my MP3 player (stupid Philips, only supports XP).
98, 98SE and ME are all very unstable and wouldnt recomment keeping any of them.

Edit: Sorry for bumping this back up...accidentally hit the back button in my browser and didnt notice I was on the last page of the area.

 

[haibane]

try linux its free.

 

[Chu]

Another vote for 2K. The performance difference between 98SE and 2K isn't that large if you have enough memory for 2k.

The compatibility and future-proofing of your system is much better with 2K though. If it works with XP then it will probably work for 2K, and XP support isn't dropping off any company's radar for quite a while.

 

[krmathis]

x42 (or something...) on MS Windows 2000.

 

[Braver]

I ran XP on a 256mb 800MHz for years and it was fine. Now my girlfriend uses it, but the latest version of F-Secure antivirus, IE7 and the latest Windows Live Messenger slowed it down to a crawl because the 256MB doesn't cut it anymore. Before it was fine though, used to run Photoshop and Illustrator without problems.

So, I guess any OS would be fine, as long as you don't run any really new software on it. Win2K is probably the best bet, but for any abandoned OS, if it's hooked up to the internet, make sure you're patched and protected otherwise you'll be hacked, virused, and part of some botnet within an hour.

 

[Arainach]

Another vote for Win2000 here. Solid OS, same kernel [effectively] as XP without the added bloat, and funs fantastic on lesser hardware. All remaining copies of Windows 9x should be found and destroyed.