Windows 98 help XD

[ShortCut]

Hey, so I was given a windows 98 for free... And I want to put windows XP on it. I'll list what I would like to eventually have it do after I list what harware it has that I know of:

Right now:
512MB of RAM
450MHz Processor
40GB Hard Drive

Thats all I know it has... Not sure what else. So I would like to be able to run Touhou ( Extremely hard game, simple graphics) Maybe a version of flash ( Like to animate things) and MS Word... Not sure what I will need to put in it Any suggestions??

Man, I can't get over how old this thing is XD

[Paul Komski]

XP or XD :confused:

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Flash will need to be the latest version to forgo vulnerabilities and other problems but instead of MS Office you may want to use 'Open Office' and more specifically, one of the older ones designed for slower processors and OS'es such as Open Office for Windows 95 or one of the portable ones for flash drives.

Paul,
XD = :D

[Paul Komski]

Thanks FTT - we live and, hopefully, learn.

So :D = XD

WinXP will probably be quite reasonable to use on that older machine with that amount of RAM as long as you don't try to have too many processes or programs running at the same time or in the background and try not to use bloated programs along the lines that FTT has already intimated.

If it were me I would not install a firewall, other than enable the windows firewall, and use a small footprint antivirus as examples of what I mean.

[Sylvander]

1. Give TEENpup 2008 (http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/Operating-Systems/Linux-Distributions/TeenPup-31563.shtml) a try and see what you think.
(a) It's specifically made minimalist so it's good for older hardware, and MUCH FASTER THAN WINDOWS, because it runs totally in RAM.
[If there's enough RAM (256 to 512 MB or more)]
(b) You can initially run it just from the CD [and (because all is loaded into RAM) remove the CD and use the drive for other things]...
And save [to a file, at shut-down] changes made during each session [configurations or installs say], to any accessible/suitable partition [the Flash Drive?]
(c) But then you might install it to a [FAT partition ideally on a] 1 or 2 GB Flash Drive [really easy to do], and you can take that anywhere you go, and boot it on any handy PC/Laptop.
If you intend to install to the Flash Drive, don't save a session until after you've installed and restarted, and then save it at shut-down; that way you can choose to allocate all of the remaining space to the saved pup_save.2fs file [it offers choices right up to the maximum].
(d) If the PC's BIOS cannot boot USB, you can when in TEENpup make a WakePup2 bootable floppy and boot that at startup to load the TEENpup OS from the Flash Drive.
(e) Or you can install to a FAT partition on any other storage location internal or external.
You can install to an NTFS partition, but it is not preferred and is somewhat more tricky.
(f) If you want to do a proper full install, you must make a Linux partition and Linux Swap partition, preferably on the internal HDD.

2. TEENpup looks very nice, and has LOTS of programs [audio-visual and more] of particular interest to teens, but appreciated by all ages.
Personally, I prefer to use the basic and latest Puppy 4.1.1 (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Puppy-Linux-4-1-1-Released-96981.shtml)
It's easy to customise Puppy, as many have done and made the resulting Puplets available on the web.
So far I've added the X File Explorer [Xfe], as in this screenshot with its folder tree and dual panes (http://roland65.free.fr/xfe/images/screenshot-s5.png).
My copy looks nicer than this because I reconfigured the Puppy visual scheme to black borders and menus, and made the folders gold as in Windows, and the background cream and the edgings pale.
Get the idea how flexible puppy is?
Play around with it; it's easy. :D :cool:

[saphalline]

On hardware that old, a dedicated vid card will have a tremendous impact on performance. So if it has onboard video, give it the axe and buy yourself a PCI vid card (used even!).