386's

[neveryona]

I know it is not really worth bothering with, but do 386's support windows 95? And if not, what sort of operating system do they require?

[Reid]

In my opinion, DOS 6.22 is the last Microsoft operating system that is appropriate for a 386. This source (http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/tech/98/06/26/help.html) has some reasonable recommedations (quoted in part):

"Microsoft is infamous for understating the requirements for its operating systems. Windows 95, for example, supposedly will run with four megabytes of memory on a 386 system. But anyone who's tried that knows the result is more pain than gain.

In fact, Windows 95's practical minimum is a 486 PC with at least 16 megabytes of memory -- and that is indeed a minimum. As an operating system, Windows 95 doesn't start to feel snappy until you're using a 486 running at 66 megahertz or better, with 32 megabytes of RAM. And you can't say it's a "fast" operating system until you move to a Pentium.

Windows 98's official minimum specifications called for a 486-66 PC with 16 megabytes of memory, and anywhere from 200 to nearly 400 megabytes of memory free on the hard drive. Given that the browser-as-desktop interface is resource-intensive and can slow down older Pentium systems, I wouldn't recommend it for a 486 PC. I've seen Windows 98 running on a Pentium 90 with 32 megabytes of memory, and it's not pretty."



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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[Paleo Pete]

I pretty much agree. Win95 shouuld run on a 386, but you'll still be waiting for the desktop to load day after tomorrow...win3.11 will run fairly well on a 386, I have one I'm about to format and reinstall soon, and win3.11 is what it gets. It runs decent, but it's nothing to write home about. I ran Win95 on a 486-66 for 2 years, and wasn't dissatisfied...until I upgraded to a P-166...No comparison.

If it were me, I'd get a copy of win 3.11 for the 386, or DOS 6.22 and make it a game machine. Plenty older games are available if you look a bit that will run on a DOS or win3.x 386 and perform fairly well. Wolfenstein, Doom, the early versions of Leisure Suit Larry, several nice pinball games are available, and if you check out some of the shareware sites, resale shops and garage sales no telling what you might find..I have enough around here I don't think the 270MB drive that's in my 386 will be large enough, I've already put a bigger one (420MB) in my P-60 running win3.11...word processors, games, graphics programs and more...

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[BigBlue66]

My Two Cents. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

I ran WIN95 on a 486SX, 50Mhz, 32mb RAM. It was slow to say the least. The only thing that really helped was to install a 7200rpm harddrive.

I concur with the above. For a 386, stick to WIN 3.11 or DOS.

Good luck.

Big Blue 66


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Woe is me.

[neveryona]

I took a look at the computer for the first time today, it isn't mine, just a little friend I know. It has the dos 6.2version in it, which I really don't know how to run all that well. When you turn it on, the light displays 88...does that mean it is running at 88mhz? I plan to take a look inside tomorrow and see what's all there...motherboard ect. I guess I will just take a gander and chalk it up as learning experience. I have a few dos games that would probably do weell. No cd-rom, can I add one in?

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

Yes, more than likely it's running at 88Mhz, or close to it. The older cases had an LED to show the speed that the processor was running at. I assume that this is what you're referring to.

Yep, go for it. I personally love to look inside computers to see what's there. Kind of like looking under the hood, ya know?

Cheers, and Have Fun,

BB 66


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Woe is me.

[Reid]

I think the fastest 386 was the Intel 386DX-33 (33 MHz). Most displays just have jumpers to set the displayed speed, rather than actually measuring it. Some diagnostics program will show the actual speed.

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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[mjc]

Could just be that the LCD is messed up...sometimes happens.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Gun Control...hitting what you aim at!

[Paleo Pete]

No such thing as an 88MHz 386, 33MHz is as fast as they got, I think too. The case LED's are not reliable, they can say almost anything depending on how they are jumpered, and some are preset to a certain number. Mine says 113 no matter what CPU I put in it. No way to change it either.

Check the second boot screen, it should have a large rectangle with system info. Use the [Pause] key to stop it so you can read it. Any other key (I use [Spacebar]) will resume booting. That should show CPU speed, memory amount and type, serial and parallel ports, and other info.

MS DOS Help and Commands (http://www.computerhope.com/msdos.htm)

DOS Help Pages (http://www.dlcwest.com/~jberkan/msdos/)

Check around, resale shops and used bookstores often have DOS books too.

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[BigBlue66]

Whoops. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Must have had my head up my ... when I answered that one. hehe But seriously, I thought it was all magic! Didn't know you could just set the stupid thing with a jumper. Cripes.

Cheers,

BB66


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Woe is me.

[neveryona]

As it turns out, it is a 386dx, 128 cache memory, 40mhz cpu clock. Now I used to have a 486dx with windows 95, what do you think the possiblity of running that in a 386dx would be? My other question is, this computer does not have a cd-rom. I was planning on copying win95 on to the harddrive with my other computer. The situation with the other computer is I have two harddrives in it. The master that has windows on it and a slave.(The slave is the one I am planning on putting in the 386.) I was going to copy it on to the slave from the cd-rom, only I realized right away that that could not be done. I tried copying windows directly from the master to the slave, but it wouldn't let me because of shared file error. Is there another way to do it without having to make the slave the master?

[Paleo Pete]

OK, if you really, really want to...the way to do it would be to copy the cab files to the slave drive, then put it in the other computer and install from the folder (directory in DOS) that the cab files were copied to. They are located in the win95 directory on the CD. Do that in DOS, it's quicker.

A CD ROM can be added to the machine, if you have an open IDE channel for it. Or a Sony/Panasonic interface CD ROM that can be connected through a controller on a sound card. Those are usually 2X, and will work fine with a 386 as long as the sound card will work with it.

Seriously, I wouldn't try win95 on a 386 at all. A 486 is slow enough, the only reason I would try it on a 386 would be to find out if it could really be done, and since I already know it should work, I see no reason too. I strongly advise you to consider going with DOS/win3.11 on the 386, win95 will be too slow to actually do anything with.

Also, your question is a bit confusing. If you're asking if the 486 will work in the 386...no way. The CPU socket is a totally different size. It's physically impossible to plug it in.

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Support the right to keep and arm bears.
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[neveryona]

K, I give, I will save myself the trouble, and just download lots of stuff for her from the internet. Actually found lot's of links with some neat stuff for win3.1. Thanks for the advice...better than taking an aspirin. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[neveryona]

Yes, I am still at it...it is a learning experience....where do I find out on a 386 running win3.1 specific information about the video card. I am trying to install a browser specifically for dos6.0, but I ran into a snag with the type of monitor it is. All I know for sure is that it is a vga/pga/ega cl-gd540x/542x. I need to know how much memory it has, and what it could be configured too, as far as 256, 800x600 etc. When I installed the program, it read the vidoe card adapter automatically as a Trident, then it gives options of different pixels and colors...none of them seem to work. Just keeps saying unable to initialize video mode.

[BigBlue66]

Hi,

Hmmm, on a 386, it's more than likely that it is indeed a Trident vid card, with possibly 256mb or even 512mb of memory.

When you boot the computer, you will get a screen that shows it counting up the memory. Hit the Pause key so you can read the screen. At the very top of the screen, there should be a line or two that refer to the installed video card. Write down all that information and then do a search on the net to find that card and its features.

Good luck.

Big Blue 66


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Yes Sir, Occifer!