My computer should last FOREVER!

[Hibble]

If it falls over I doubt I'd be able to get their dumb terminals working again (good luck finding a multi-port serial card for PCI slot), but everything else should be reasonably simple to get going.

you mean like the ones made by startech.

http://www.startech.com/item/PCI4S55...-PCI-Card.aspx

That plus a dos virtual machine should be all thats needed to keep them going.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I still use WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS as my word processor when I write stuff that's going to get printed and mailed. And the PC it runs on is configured with Windows 3.0.

I know they're both old and outdated as hell, but if they're good enough for Shakespeare, they're good enough for me.

And I have an HP laserjet printer from 1993 that still works perfectly.

Speaking of printers, I have an Epson ActionLaser 1100 that still works great. Hard part was trying to find a driver to use with WindowsMe, but I managed to scrounge around online and download one that would work with it.

I mean, if I can still use it and find a driver for it, why not?

[Chromatix]

The oldest computer that I run continuously is a PowerBook G3, 2000 model. It's my firewall, with an extra Ethernet port sticking out of the PCMCIA slot.

[Mara-chan]

That's not true. She could have gotten a USB card for the computer. I doubt the driver would work under 95, though. But then again, she could upgrade to Linux and even the printer would probably work.

Let's see...

USB card: $20-40
Windows XP upgrade $100
Upgrade to 512 - 1gb memory - $40-150 depending
Hard drive upgrade (if required) - $75
Upgrade to DVD (if required) $75

So the 'upgrade' for her computer to more 'current' standards could range from $160 - $440. And that's assuming her processor was fast enough.

Cost of a new basic end machine with 3gb of memory, Vista, DVD, 340gb HD $390.


As for old people + Linux.... HA! If they can't install a self-installing program in windows, how are they gonna handle linux?

And I don't see why people diss Vista so much. I've been running it as an upgrade since launch (and in Beta before launch) and I've had less problems than I did on any previous version of windows. And I have run Linux... and had more problems with that than I did with windows ME!

[Shironu-Akaineko]

I have an XP desktop and a Vista Laptop.

My important art programs are the only programs that refused to work on Vista, while my games worked fine. Priorities, Windows.

My XP machine is starting to get slow and sluggish, it's gonna be a riot trying to get a new tower with XP on it...

Also, I have a working Commodore 64 in my closet with TONS of games. It was my grandpa's. I grew up on that thing!

[persephone]

My XP machine is starting to get slow and sluggish, it's gonna be a riot trying to get a new tower with XP on it...

Are you sure? I was in Best Buy before Christmas, looking at a new washer and dryer (we were going to replace ours, now with moving -- not so much) and I took a look over to the computers. They had a number of machines with XP as the default OS instead of Vista.

But maybe that was just our store?

And I know in "building" a laptop on HP a few months ago to see what it would take to replace Hubby's there was an option for XP. Maybe not anymore, but with the number of people that complain(ed) about Vista, I can't imagine there not being ANY XP machines...

[Gravekeeper]

I have a TRS-80 "laptop" in my closet that still works. 4 kb's of memory. 900 baud modem. Weighs like 12 lbs. You could kill a man with it and it'd still work afterwards. -.-

I use the term laptop loosely as I'm pretty sure if you had it in your lap for a while it'd start to cut off circulation to your legs.

My XP machine is starting to get slow and sluggish, it's gonna be a riot trying to get a new tower with XP on it...

...why shell out for another copy of XP? Just keep using your current one. Or if you must, get a Vista tower and reformat it to XP with your current key.

[Hon'ya-chan]

I think I still have one of those Iomega ZipDisk External Drives somewhere in my junk. No, I don't think it ever suffered the "click of death."

[KabeRinnaul]

My oldest is a Compaq Presario running WinME in a closet somewhere. That dates to late 1999. Used to have one nobody else had ever heard of - a Zeos Pantera. It ran Windows 3.11, but it was given away a few years ago when I got my current one - a 5-year-old eMachines T2682 that I've been upgrading and repairing as time's gone on. The Compaq is still in a closet, but I occasionally consider pulling it out and playing with it.

It should be noted that the only parts in the eMachine that it originally came with at this point are the DVD drive and the dial-up modem. I've replaced or upgraded everything else, even the motherboard, hard disk, and power supply.

Edit: Oh, and the age of the Windows 3.11 computer - I'm not certain, but I'd guess somewhere around 93-94.

[Gravekeeper]

I think I still have one of those Iomega ZipDisk External Drives somewhere in my junk. No, I don't think it ever suffered the "click of death."

Mine click of deathed. I had to snag an old one off eBay to recover the disks. -.-

[Rapscallion]

For those interested (both of you), I download the access logs for CS every Sunday.

Two Sundays ago:

Windows 3.x 116 5 0.01%

Windows 95 307 22 0.04%

First number is number of hits, second is visitors, third is percentage of overall visitors.

The ones I downloaded today?

Windows 3.x 175 7 0.01%

Windows 95 1,721 45 0.07%

OS/2 1 1 0.00%

Rapscallion

[TWOLF]

You just reminded me of something I did to someone as a joke. The mrs worked with a guy that did tech support for a computer company. One day we were talking and I said"Yeah I need to check the experation date on my computer(sorry for spelling I'm tired)."He said there is no such thing and I told him he had to open the case and if he looked inside there is a date for when the computer will go out of service and he will need to buy a new one. he actually beleived this and went home that night to look.

[Shironu-Akaineko]

...why shell out for another copy of XP? Just keep using your current one. Or if you must, get a Vista tower and reformat it to XP with your current key.

It's not really about buying another copy of XP, once when I brought my old Win98 machine to get fixed, they swapped it for WinME by force. So I'm kinda worried they might do the same to Digital Taco and force him into Vista behind my back.

As for current key, I wish. Got none of that. "To prevent theft" they said.

[protege]

I still have an Iomega external zip drive...plus an internal one that I removed from one of the junkers at work. At the time, the thing was used to back up our data. That was when we were just backing up our database. Said DB was only about 60 megs or so. Now, because we back up everything, there's no way in hell 1.38 gigs of data will fit on a zip floppy Anyway, the drives still work, but I rarely, if ever, use them. It's simply easier and faster to back things up to a DVD.

Because I do tech support at work, it's rare that I actually buy new parts for my own use--I simply wait until a machine gets "retired" at the office. When that happens, it's usually because the cost of repair parts are more than a new computer. In that case, I'll bring it home, and fix it with used parts. What's good about that, is I also get any software discs from those machines

[Gravekeeper]

As for current key, I wish. Got none of that. "To prevent theft" they said.

If you bought it that key is legally yours. They have utterly no right to refuse to give it to you. Windows Activation already prevents theft ( Well, in general ). That said, there are plenty of small tools and apps on the web that will retrieve the currently installed key out of the dat files for you. Just go a quick Google search on recovering your XP key. Than you can just copy it down somewhere so you
can reinstall it.

I doubt anyone would force Vista on you though. Its pretty maligned. Plus its expensive so no one's just going to throw it on there for a lark.