Posted by Patrish (208.32.6.133) on May 21, 2003 at 11:32:55:
In Reply to: site changes posted by lori on May 11, 2003 at 00:51:35:
Good to see you Lori...
On occasion I have something to sell, but I spend most of my time repairing and upgrading now. There are so many systems available at low prices! It seems that more and more people who want inexpensive machines would rather have a new machine than a used machine, and I really can't justify the prices I must get from refurbished systems against the Wal-Mart brands, Emachines, and even Dell's $399 special. With Lindows operating system, you can get a very nice system under $300, and I have to get that much and more from a refurbished sytem, by the time I put Windows on it and add speakers mouse and keyboard.
I do have some new monitors here, though, and the makings for custom machines.
Scanners I don't do... they seem to get damaged in shipment too easily.
USB ports are wonderful, in that you can unplug one item, and plug in the other without even shutting down windows. Another option is to use a USB hub. Plug it into your one USB port and it gives you four up-front connectors.
Upgrading win98? Your system really does not want to upgrade. If it had the power to upgrade, I still do not recommend upgrading, but stripping the machine clean and installing a fresh version. Upgrading without formatting and installing fresh keeps any bugs you already have, plus does not always load updated drivers for the hardware or command files for programs. You often have to search for the updates on your own, and that is if you can identify what is needed.
winME and winXP are the two choices for home users. winME is cheaper (about $90 compared to about $125), but features the restore option and has some other nice features. winXP contains the same plus more, but is less compatible with older machines and programs.
winXP really likes at least 750mhz processor and 256mg RAM to run comfortably. It will chug and sputter at 300mhz and 64mg RAM. winME will run okay, sorta on 64mg RAM and 200mhz, but really likes 400mhz and 128mg RAM much better.
Hope that helps.
Patrish