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Although not, it's something simply anecdotal, but perhaps many of you can take it into account.
I had been going for a long time where I only assembled the typical latest generation PCs, or simply changed hard drives, or rams, or things like that. It's typical, you just have to assemble, and rarely update the BIOS, just in case and little more...Then I arrived at my small workshop, and I remembered that among my belongings, I still had my old PCs, so to speak, especially my Pentium MMX, since the other two were simply donations, **the Pentium 2, and the Pentium 3 **(I found it that they were going to throw it away, and my surprise was that it worked).
At first, you think what to do with such an old machine at this point? What will you achieve with it? Well, my answer is as follows.
- Before, you had to disassemble the CPU, look well that your device to be introduced was totally compatible, look for the drivers manually, or install them from the floppy disk, you even had to select 1 by 1, or it was more complicated the issue of installation.
That's why I got into that project with which I made the old machines work again, Pentium MMX, Pentium 2, and Pentium 3. Since it was 2016, the operating systems (not to mention Windows XP, are all outdated) and there would be, of course, problems to find the drivers for each system, and also to say that if any of these machines, needed an internet connection; to know that it is clearly impossible to do it with ease... Since years ago, for example 2006 or so without problems they handled the internet with a certain ease.
Here came the choice of operating systems for each machine, and without counting the use of any Linux distribution (which could also be used) the decision was to use Windows, so let's remember:
- Pentium MMX 166: Windows 9x, Win 2000, Win XP (the latter only if we get a minimum of 128mb, being a relatively slow processor). By evidence I doubted between Windows 95 and 98, and I ended up with the latter, for its improvements over the previous one, it was also viable 2000, but I felt like remembering fully how I used it when I was little.
- Pentium 2 350: Windows 9x, Win 2000, Win XP. I chose Windows 2000, as it is similar to XP, but consumes fewer resources and gets more performance.
- Pentium 3 866: In this one I saw it clear, and I installed Windows XP, although sometimes I think that for ease, I should have installed Win2000.
- **AMD Athlon 2600+ **: Here it was clear, for speed, and performance without a doubt Windows XP, since of all of them, it would perform well, even browsing.
After the struggles, especially to install drivers downloaded from the internet on the MMX, to think that with it you have practically no drivers for anything (neither graphics, nor sound, nor anything) and you have to look for them on the internet… but you also don't have the network driver... nor the USB one, ¿What should we do?_ Yes, download the driver and transfer them all to a CD or use 3 ½ floppy disks... Or having at least the correct driver and mass storage for USB, use a Pendrive (but remember format _FAT32 since win9x _does not recognize NTFS).
In Windows 2000 and above, there is not so much problem because it has a more extensive catalog of hardware drivers, and it carries the same USB support, that Windows XP, so the use of a pendrive would be more than remarkable.
By doing this, this small project, and the desire to make them work again, you think about things that you didn't think about before, and that you doubted to remember to do, and the truth helps a lot, and I think that if there is someone reading this, and has an old machine, they will get the itch to revive it.
I started this project for the same reason, I got the itch, and I would like to see what they were capable of, although I go a bit further and try to get in the 4 PCs, as much as possible to have them as expanded as each platform allows me.
Pentium MMX
- Case: BabyAT
- Motherboard: Without identifying manufacturer, but with VIA VXpro chipset
- Processor: Intel Pentium MMX 166Mhz
- Ram Memory: 64Mb SDRAM (although it can reach 256 and 384 by combining it with EDO SIMM of 72 contacts).
- Graphics Card: S3 Trio 64 V2 of 1MB PCI (I would like to replace it with one of 8MB or even 16).
- Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster 128 PCI (initially it came with an SB16 of ISA format, but this one is clearly superior).
- Hard Drive: Seagate of 10Gb IDE.
- Operating System: Windows 98 SE.
Pentium 2
- Case: Normal ATX
- Motherboard: ECS P6BXT-A Rev. 2.1C
- Processor: Intel Pentium 2 350Mhz
- Ram Memory: 192Mb SDRAM I think it reaches 768Mb.
- Graphics Card: S3 Trio 3D/2x of 8mb (putting one GF 4 would not be crazy).
- Sound Card: For the moment I use the integrated one, but maybe I'll put another 128 PCI
- Hard Drive: Seagate of 40Gb IDE limited to 32Gb, since the motherboard does not support it, if not the BIOS is updated and I could be left with a paperweight.
- Operating System: Windows 2000 Pro SP4.
Pentium 3
- Case: Normal ATX
- Motherboard: Asus CUV4X-DE
- Processor: Intel Pentium 3 866Mhz
- Ram Memory: 1024Mb SDRAM PC133.
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 5 FX5200 128MB 64bits.
- Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster 128 PCI
- Hard Drive: Seagate of 40Gb IDE.
- Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP3.
AMD Athlon XP
- Case: Normal ATX
- Motherboard: Asus A7V8X-X
- Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton)
- Ram Memory: 1536Mb DDR400.
- Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 256Mb (maybe it would be good to look for a GeForce series 6 or 7 AGP).
- Sound Card: For the moment I use the integrated one.
- Hard Drive: Seagate of 80Gb IDE.
- Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP3.
Once distributed, and assembled in addition to tested I will do as much as possible various tests on them, in addition to putting the basic programs pertinent to each generation, to work as it was done in that era.
I am open to suggestions, and various proposals.
Thanks to all!
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A great post hAyO!
As you already know, I also love tinkering with old glories, and there may be several reasons for this. The main one, which encompasses others, is nostalgia, since in our beginnings we used these machines and, as we were younger, they marked us a lot, with them we learned. It is wanting to go a little against the grain (although retro has become fashionable) and move from the latest of the latest to getting the most out of obsolete machines.
Moreover, the further back we go, the more sense of control we have over things, everything is less automated. For example, in current boards you mount the micro and that's it, while in the Pentium era and earlier you had to read the manual to see how to place the jumpers for the configuration of the bus, multiplier, and voltage.
Finally, and more personally, less is more. Unlike the setup, the software itself was simpler. We compare the latest FIFA that uses all the buttons of a pad and uses combinations for other movements with Sensible Soccer and a single fire button. The latest FPS guided with a half-hour tutorial and again complex controls with Doom or Duke Nukem 3D. And so also with productive software with lots of options that we will never use.
As I have said, some are personal opinions, I love technology and enjoy both the modern and the old, because current PCs have almost infinite possibilities and each of us can use them at our convenience or taste. And this includes reviving old feelings in modern environments, thanks to emulation, virtualization, indie games, homebrew..
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It would be interesting to see if W10 can be installed on the P3, maybe, by increasing the RAM to the maximum, even on the P2 (with your permission).
