Posted on 08/05/2016 5:09:32 PM PDT by djf
After you suck off her bank account, medical account, social security, will, Life and health insurance information, social media passwords, voting record, and Pet’s Grandms’s Nickname.
Just being helpful.
Mint is perfect for network engineers, not newbies.
For AverageJoe, Linux Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is what you want, most widely used distribution, if problems questions there are max resources forums etc to quickly get you up and running. These old compaq computers run beautifully on linux. For crazy faster performance (since you are probably on intel core 2 duo chip) invest in a cheap solid state hard drive (Micron is best USA made out of Idaho), crucial.com. GL.
Lubuntu Linux would run very well on that machine, especially if you upgrade the memory to 2GB. I’m guessing it is DDR2 and 2 x 1GB sticks are pretty cheap on ebay.
Lubuntu is the lighter version of Ubuntu and I use it on older machines and it really wakes them up. The desktop environment is very similar to XP. Lubuntu comes in 32bit and 64bit versions. Use 64bit if your processor supports it. If not, if that is an Intel 775 CPU socket, you might be able to find a Pentium 4 or Core 2 Duo that will support 64bit. The Intel 775 CPU socket processors are now pretty cheap too.
You can still get Firefox web browser. If it is a 64 bit system, you can use Google Chrome as well. Linux OS’s now have many good free programs that rival some of the Windows programs. Best of all, most Linux OS’s are free.
CGato
To apply the hack, create a text file with a .reg extension and the contents below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\WPA\PosReady]
“Installed”=dword:00000001
Run it by double-clicking in Windows Explorer.
Lol!
And I was actually around when the original beeber got stuned!
Computer technology moves so fast these days that the sys you’re trying to save may not be worth all the trouble and money. That’s what I’m saying, nothing more. GL
Should be able to restore it, with a little reliable info. I Would avoid using it online, or be careful if you do. XP with some decent CPU and RAM makes a good game machine, as long as you stick to games it will handle. I rebuilt a Compaq a few years ago and used it as a stand alone, never online machine for several years, but I had a restore CD. I’ve built and repaired computers since around 1998, and have collected a few operating system CDs.
I also set up and ran a Linux machine, using Linux right now in fact, Slacko on CD. Just boot to the CD, it’s running Linux, works perfect. Reboot and pull the CD out, I’m back in Windows untouched. Plenty options there, Slacko is a Puppy variation, there’s others as well. I’ve used Damn Small, Feather, Knoppix, Ubuntu, Mandrake (full install) and an atronomy related CD called Cloudy Skies.
IF you want to restore Windows, here are the instructions from the HP website.
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07145
I don’t know what F key starts the restore operation, I didn’t look at the specifics, usually Campaq uses the F10 key to get into BIOS if you need to change anything or set the date and time and boot sequence. Boot sequence is one consideration if you want to use a bootable CD of any kind, Linux or otherwise, BIOS has to be set so that the CD is first in the boot sequence.
If it were me, I would try and get XP back in order, and keep a Linux live CD on hand to use to learn Linux, consider a full install later on after you know your way around with it. My favorites are Knoppix and Puppy, or the recent Slacko version of Puppy. I’m running Slacko 5.7.0 right now, it runs like a charm on a 2.3GHz CPU with 3GB RAM. I like it pretty well, had no trouble getting the wireless online at all, even got a few arcade style games installed and running with little trouble. If I want tpo go back to Windows, I simply reboot, pull the CD out and it boots back into Windows completely unaffected.
It creates a small swap file for temporary memory, and you can set it to use a small save file, you set the file size, so it will also save your personal settings from one boot to the next. Mine is 512MB right now, thinking about changing it to 1GB. I have plenty space.
Here’s the best place to start
http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm
That site also has links to the fownload pages, and I think it has instructions on how to burn a usable CD. I’d check for an older version, I just tried the newest one and got 2 bad CDs, not sure if I got a bad download or what, but version 5.7.0 is running perfect right now. Newer 6.3 is supposed to be in good shape, but I can’t verify that. It fits on one CD, (not DVD), earlier versions would fit on a mini CD, usually under 100MB. I’ve used several of those, still have a couple. Check your hardware though, if it’s 32 bit, get the 32 bit version. If you’re not sure, 32 bit will run on a 64 bit system. Once you get it running, it has a good system info application that will tell you exact CPU speeds and just about anything else you want to know about the system.
There is a learning curve, but it’s not real steep, I’d say any 8 year old can learn to use Linux without problems, at least the bootable CD version. I had very little trouble installing Mandrake years ago with absolutely no knowledge of Linux at all.
Start with restoring Windows, download and burn a Linux Live CD, that’s the best way to learn it. Don’t try a full Linux install until you know your way around with Linux. It’s an excellent OS, kind of like switching from one smart phone to another one with a different OS. iPhone and Galaxy are not the same, going from Windows to Linux is similar. Different, but not hard to get the hang of it.
Well, so far I got a whole 6 bucks into this one.
And when you think about it, how long do you think it will be before a computer won’t even boot without being connected to the internet?
Trust me on this one. Not long at all!
Because all the software vendors are finding out that IBM had it right all along. And you WILL PAY a monthly maintenance/upgrade fee OR YOUR MACHINE SIMPLY WON’T START!
I’ve been working on desktops/laptops since about 1990.
I have Linux live, a Knoppix version, and Red Hat if I feel like it.
Sorry. Linux just don’t rock my boat!
In fact I am an old mainframe sys engineer, 30+ years, so the PC craze is just a craze for me... but I like to keep up, and was interested in finding out if this particular problem was just a power supply or not. Turned out it was.
I’d make it a Linux box too
Lubuntu Linux work be great
Linux
I would install Linux on it.
If Ubuntu or Mate runs too slow or needs more drive space, try Debian. It’s easy to install.
I probably have 3 or 4 entire computer systems sitting around my house in storage. I need to get rid of them too. It’s on my to do list. I know how expensive and troublesome keeping an older sys up and running can be. That’s why I have learned to just bite the bullet and buy a newer sys with the latest upgrades when they become outdated.
I also like to use my sys to play games so I have to keep up with the latest processors, graphics cards etc. I find I’m better off to stay new instead of trying to keep older systems current.
>> And you WILL PAY a monthly maintenance/upgrade fee OR YOUR MACHINE SIMPLY WON’T START!<<
I agree totally. I have two WINXP Pro’s that I haven’t updated in three or four years. I never have virus or trojan problems. Why? I don’t really know because I go all over the Internet. Every night before I shut them down I run CCleaner and MRU-Blaster which gets rid of all the cookies and other tags.
I am not a geek but my opinion of updating is that the websites want you to update so they can deposit more data grabbers on your PC. That way they know if and when you visit them. MRU-Blaster cleans all the grabbers out of your system. How do I know? The websites that have a popup telling you that you have used all of their free visits for this website are completely clear the next morning.
I use Firefox 22 for a browser. A few places ask me to update my browser but don’t forbid me if I don’t. I never open unknown (to me) emails. I don’t use a virus protection system. Once or twice a month I run Malwarebytes. Also I don’t do my banking on the PC.
Good luck whatever your decision.
F11 should be the key to hit at startup to start the factory restore. I would do that first and see what you get. You really can’t surf with XP because you can’t install a late enough browser to be safe.
You’ll have to find out how much ram it can handle. You might be able to put win7 pro on it which is pretty decent. The last decent win as far as I’m concerned.
For linux, there’s tons of flavors you can use BUT all of them will require a little learning curve as you will inevitably have to use the terminal and type in commands at some point. It’s getting better all the time though.
For light linux versions there’s xubuntu, lubuntu, peppermint and a few more. They all run better/worse depending on the machine but it’s real easy to over write any version with another. I’ve had the best luck with xubuntu myself and we’re running it on four oldish laptops here. Running as a dual boot system with win7 on the other side for those times when you need a program that’s only available on win. We surf with linux/xubuntu though. Nice to be free from all those bugs and malware that affect windows.
Linux mint looks nice but we didn’t have much luck with it. Always seemed to run slower. My laptop has the fastest processor at 2.8 gHz so you’re right there as far as that goes so RAM is what you’ll need but that goes for any operating system. 512 is barely XP worthy.
I do have XP on another laptop but it’s a single use thing with a program that will actually run on 95. It never sees the internet.
OK cool. A lot of people don’t know it’s a good idea to clean the dust out now and then. It acts as a blanket and holds heat in. Not that hard to troubleshoot though, fortunately.
I’m the opposite, always liked Linux, tried it at first out of curiosity. I keep Windows as my main machine, but usually have a couple of bootable Live CD versions around too.
Be a good neighbor and copy those photos to a stick or burn them to a CD and then give them to her. There may be some things on there she thinks are lost forever.
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