What should/can I do with this computer?

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-06-08 08:10pm

Compaq Presario
Pentium 200mhz
16 megs of pc66(?) ram
Some kind of graphics with 1 meg video ram
3 gig HD

No one else wants it apparently. I don't want to throw it away.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-06-08 08:19pm

Put linux on it, use it as a server of some sort.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2004-06-08 08:26pm

It'd be hard to make much of a server with only 16MB of RAM, and since it's an old Compaq, expanding it will be a bitch, as their compatibility with RAM was bollocks.

You could keep it to play old DOS games that don't like XP.

Laird · Post by **Laird** » 2004-06-08 09:01pm

Make it a fire wall/proxy?

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-06-08 09:17pm

Use it as a component in a car stero, there was a thread about that a while back but i can't be arsed to find it.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-06-08 09:30pm

I've debated making it a server... but WTF for? Filesharing? Not with that HD. Router/firewall? I'd need a 2 plug NIC or more than one normal NIC. That might be something I can do if I can grab a job to get the required money

...

Well, NICs can be had for under 20 bucks I think. I could buy that right now if I wanted to.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2004-06-08 09:34pm

Upgrade RAM, install Linux, use it as a web server?

Or upgrade the hard drive and make it a large file server?

Or mine the RAM for gold?

Perhaps tear out the components, and sell them individually on ebay?

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-06-08 09:42pm

Fuck MY ASS this is a horrible case. I'd need to rip half the metal out to get to anything. There's two ISA slots, one PCI which is taken by the NIC. The mobo is as lengthy as the case is tall.

Post by **Dalton** » 2004-06-08 09:46pm

I *H*A*T*E* Presarios. I've gutted and rebuilt my old case at least twice, and it's currently serving as my brother's computer, albeit a little different from its original design spec. It was always a bitch to work with the hardware in that cramped thing. *pats Xoxide case lovingly*

As for yours, you should keep it handy for old games.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-06-08 09:52pm

The only old game I have is Doom, so...

Sounds like it's good for a Doom-exclusive machine or a little money.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-06-09 12:04am

I had a 133 mhz compaq running RedHat, until the power supply died it worked great. Though I'll admit it had 40megs of ram and either 2 or 4 megs of ram devoted to video. I'm sure you can pick up extra memory for that sucker on ebay. Mine had 4 ram slots, I haven't seen an OEM motherboard with 4 slots since (mabye those fancy new gaming machines have them?).

And on a side note, that little compaq was the *best* compaq I ever owned, you should see it's bios, it's acutally useful, and from the looks, was built for 3.1.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2004-06-09 12:12am

Make it thy DOS Box, and dig up as many old games are you can for good old DOS

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-06-09 12:14am

Ohh, you could load up Sam & Max, get sound and cuss Lucas Arts for not finishing the second, AGAIN.
Oh and I suppose you could play all those other great old games. . .

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2004-06-09 12:51am

Hamel wrote:The only old game I have is Doom, so...

Sounds like it's good for a Doom-exclusive machine or a little money.

But doom runs well under non-dos OSes, so there's no point in having a dedicated machine for it.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2004-06-09 01:08am

...hurl it at someone you hate?

No seriously, if you have the room for it keep it around; there's lots of classic games that Windows throws hissy fits with and runs at 50x normal speed. People who are good with computers find ways around this, but people like me just wish we had an old computer around to run them on.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-06-09 01:36am

Hamel wrote:The only old game I have is Doom, so...

Sounds like it's good for a Doom-exclusive machine or a little money.

Aparently you are not familiar with The Underdogs (mods, is it okay to link to Abandonware?).

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2004-06-09 02:13am

Aparently you are not familiar with The Underdogs (mods, is it okay to link to Abandonware?).

Till somone sues someone over it

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2004-06-09 04:02am

Huh, I was under the impression Underdogs was taboo for open discussion here.

Post by **Lagmonster** » 2004-06-09 08:03am

I have found that Underdogs carries freeware and shareware programs (I first found Soldat through a Google link to Underdogs, for example, before I located the official site) as well as their some quasi-legal and questionable stuff, so it's really up to you to know what is and what isn't legal. Use your judgement, folks.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-06-09 08:19am

Hamel wrote:Compaq Presario
Pentium 200mhz
16 megs of pc66(?) ram
Some kind of graphics with 1 meg video ram
3 gig HD

No one else wants it apparently. I don't want to throw it away.

Serve it on toast.

Give it to a charity, like a church, they will most of the time give it to a needy family with children, so they can have access to the internet.

(Say what you will, studies show that children who spend an aappropriate amount of time on their computer are more prepared when they enter school.)

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2004-06-09 09:04am

There are a lot of great old games which are only compatible with old hardware like that, especially the soundcard. If you want to play a very fun game that I doubt anyone here has ever played, go for Nomad. However, I think in my travels I've only seen one or two sites on the net that even make reference to it. It's really a FANTASTIC game, and would be worth the time required to clean up that old 200 you've got. It'll even run w/ sound on Win95 (which is the OS your machine had, I'd assume).

It's hard to explain what nomad is. Your in a spaceship, you do fight peolpe, you do trade, you do go on missions (your choice of course), you do interact with a multitude of characters, but there is so much more, and all on a game that takes up, perhaps, 5 megs.

StarDestroyer.Net BBS

What should/can I do with this computer?

What should/can I do with this computer?

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