| Subject | : | Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | stormbind |
| Date | : | 22 Jul, 2004 on 20:00 |
| Hi all. I have an old IBM compatible (built in 1990) which has gathered dust for years, but as far as I know it is in working order. Notalgia has got the better of me and I would like to press it back into service. Current hardware specs: Available OS: Which of those operating systems would you use and why? How difficult is OS/2 to get working? Where can I get drivers for the above hardware? Thanks for reading! |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 23 Jul, 2004 on 03:00 |
| I have used OS/2 Warp ver 3 on a similar computer (an older IBM Thinkpad with similar components) and it worked. There is also a free dos called FreeDOS at http://www.freedos.org that can work on older computers. One can also find memory upgrades for older computers at http://www.ebay.com or http://www.3klix.com which has something for a huge number of notebook or laptop computers (plus desktops and printers).
--- BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2 Warp-ed/eComStation-ed to the very end. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | stormbind |
| Date | : | 23 Jul, 2004 on 06:51 |
| I would much rather have a GUI, and I don't think FreeDOS has much to offer in that respect. OS/2 2.1 has a GUI, right? 2.1 is the only version of OS/2 I have, sadly. I do not know it's requirements -- can someone fill me in on the basics? NT 3.1 has a GUI, and is stable (requires 386/4Mb). Trouble is, it is a 32-bit system that will not run 16-bit applications, and it has the old Microsoft GUI (which supports fewer functions) and will not run 32-bit applications intended for Win95/NT4 or newer. The result is a sparse selection of software. ==== I tried upgrading the memory several years ago. It has 8x 1Mb 30-pin SIMMs. 2Mb SIMMs theoretically exist, but nobody has any! So I think upgading is a no go. Besides, with the low cost of 2nd hand Pentiums... |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 23 Jul, 2004 on 15:09 |
| FreeDOS does not have a GUI but there are GUI's made for DOS. I prefer Warp ver 3 (which one can obtain copies of at http://www.ebay.com where I had won a copy of Warp ver 3). IIRC - OS/2 2 has a gui (one could even find OS/2 at eBay.com - IIRC).
--- BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2 Warp-ed/eComStation-ed to the very end. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 23 Jul, 2004 on 15:11 |
| If your interested in WinNT, there is a free clone of it at http://www.reactos.com but I am not sure if it has a GUI. It is still in the beta stages and one can download it from http://sourceforge.net/projects/reactos . There is a forum at http://www.reactos.com and mailing lists. The whole OS can fit onto a mini-cdr (I tried and it fits).
--- BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2 Warp-ed/eComStation-ed to the very end. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | oli |
| Date | : | 23 Jul, 2004 on 19:40 |
it a fairly low spec for 2.1 but will work nicely except for the browsers where you will have to run Internet Explorer 5 under winos2 since Moz requires unicode support. (introduced in Warp 3 fixpack 34 or something like that) I use it every now and then albeit on a slightly more powerful computer, remarkibly useful all things considered BTW there where 4, 8 , 16 and even 64 mb chips available in 30 configurations but not all chipsets support all sizes, but almost all support 4mb and they can be had easily on ebay |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | oli |
| Date | : | 24 Jul, 2004 on 12:55 |
Yeah, but it runs almost not software, actually less so than NT31 so not really all that interesting or useful |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 26 Jul, 2004 on 16:27 |
| ReactOS is still in development stage. There is one called 'FreeDows' (?) http://www.freedows.net http://tomleem.homestead.com/pcos.html |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 29 Jul, 2004 on 19:43 |
| WinDOS - GUI for DOS - an os for older computers? http://www.geocities.com/hitech_laboratories/windos.html http://www.student.unimelb.edu.au/~denisa/hitech.htm --- BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2 Warp-ed/eComStation-ed to the very end. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | RadarCat |
| Date | : | 07 Apr, 2005 on 10:30 |
Hi, stormbind, It seems to me that a floppy-based version of OS/2 Warp 3 should load up okay on this configuration. After all, Warp was developed on these types of machines. Or you could add an inexpensive CD-Rom drive to install a CD version of Warp 3. Various versions of Warp 3 are are available at: Best, RadarCat
|
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | Fahrvenugen |
| Date | : | 07 Apr, 2005 on 19:02 |
Hi, This system sounds very similar to a system I used back in the early 90's... Those old SIMS came in a few memory configurations. Generally the best way to find out how much memory is on the board is by powering it up. and seeing what the POST says. The general rule of thumb was to match all your simms on the system with the same size and type (usually parity versus non-parity), but not everyone did this. Having said that, you could get 30 pin SIMMS in the following configuration: 256 KB I think I also read that you could get 128 KB SIMMS, but I am not 100% on that. If they are all 4 MB SIMMS, you could have as much as 32 MB! But it is more likely they are the 1 MB Simms for a total of 8. As for operating systems, my suggestion would be to pick up a copy of OS/2 Warp 3 - you can usually find a copy on e-bay for under $10. Then once it is installed add Fixpak 40 - and then you'll be able to fire up Mozilla or Firefox, Java, etc. Your copy of OS/2 2.1 should definitely run on that system - but Warp 3 actually had lower system requirements (they both called for a "base" of a 386 sx16 with 4 megs - but Warp 3 had better optimization, and ran smoother on systems with low memory) OS/2 2.1 does indeed have a GUI - it comes with Presentation Manager and the Workplace Shell (WPS was introduced in OS/2 2.0). But, a lot of fixes and updates and enhancements were made for Warp 3 - so you're probably better off with that. If you get an early copy of Warp 3 - an old "non-connect" and floppy disk version - you'll likely have to update your boot disks. The original release of Warp 3 (non-connect, red-spine, November 1994 or something like that) had serious problems installing on anything without updated boot disks. |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | BigWarpGuy |
| Date | : | 08 Apr, 2005 on 18:07 |
| Have you tried a 30 pin simm adapter? It allows more than one 30 pin simm to be used in a single 30 pin slot. http://www.homestead-products.com/simtree.htm Here is one site that has one ('SimTree Model 110'). I used '30 pin simm adapter' and http://www.google.com (there were other listings). --- BigWarpGuy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OS/2 Warp-ed/eComStation-ed to the very end. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
| Subject | : | Re:Antiquated computer seeks Operating System |
| Author | : | cyberspittle cyberspittle@yahoo.com |
| Date | : | 09 Apr, 2005 on 19:54 |
| Hey, Motherboards.org has motherboard ID tools. I have an old EISA with 486 (Kingston 133Mhz Overdrive CPU). One thing to note about EISA, as opposed to ISA, is that it is 32-bit slot and not a 16-bit slot. EISA motherboards need to run an ECU (EISA Configuration Utility) for the EISA chipset. This is a software method as opposed to setting jumpers on an ISA card. ISA cards can work in EISA slots and the ECU usually has a way to ensure that the ISA resources are accounted for. Mine had one VLB slot, with the rest being EISA. You can also put ISA cards in a VLB slot. I would install OS/2 2.1, as it will install without difficulty (VGA, IDE, etc.). Windows NT 3.1 is real hard to find any drivers/support for. Windows NT 3.5 would be easier, while NT 4.0 would choke. If you are going to go with OS/2 2.1, MS-DOS can sit along side it in a multiboot option or in the same FAT partition in a dualboot configuration (not recommended). Winos2 can use Trumpet for Winsock and internet, along with Mosaic or Netscape. You can also access a CD-ROM from a DOS Virtual Machine (VDM) if you can not find OS/2 2.1 support for an IDE CD-ROM. As to the 30-pin SIMMs, mine has 16-slots and can have 256MBs RAM (no shit). Desktop versions usually only had 8 slots (2 banks) for SIMMs. Documentation would help you know if you can use 4 4MB SIMMs in a bank, or a lowely 4 1MB SIMMs in a bank. SIMMs can be bought at: http://www.coastmemory.com/ You will probably need 70ns Parity 30-pin SIMMs. I'm using 60ns Parity as my motherboard supports it. Maybe put in a plexi window and cold cathode lights to show case your old system? Better yet get a clear PC case. That way you can teach the younger generation about the late 1980s/early 1990s. It would be cool if you could get audio working, then you can play music to fit the age of the system |