Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (
More info?)
Palindr?me wrote:
> Many thanks to David, Nozzer, misfit, steve,dublevay, immuno and anyone
> I have missed (it wasn't intentional) for all your very helpful and
> useful suggestions!
>
> There are some M$oft licence stickers on them which are, IIRC, 98SE so I
> am going to use that.
>
> Are those stickers the licences and hence, as they are fixed to the
> machines, can I assume that they are tied to the machines and I am free
> to use them on those machines?
There's more than one type of license and I'm not sure of the details of
each but, in general, a typical license is for 'a single machine' but not
tied TO the machine. I.E. If one upgraded they can move the software to the
new machine but not use it on both, without buying another license.
The issue would be in transferring a license from one person to another but
if you have the license sticker, AND the associated CD key to that specific
license, then I'd think you have sufficient proof of a license.
> I will try adjusting the multiplier on the Pentium ii but I doubt it
> will be economic to add a faster processor, unless I can get something
> really cheap. Is there such a thing as a convertor that will allow me to
> put a Celeron processor in a Pentium ii Slot 1 mobo? I do have a spare
> 433 Celeron.
Yes, a slotket, and celeron, should work in that mobo (which can't be said
for Intel mobos) and, if you're lucky, you could probably put up to a
766MHz celeron in it (I am assuming it's limited to 66MHz FSB). Which isn't
as bad as you may think because a 766 can be had for 24 bucks off pricewatch.
> I did think long and hard about going to Linux but any suggestions about
> what to try? My Linux experience is the square root of not a lot but I
> really would rather not keep paying Bill as a way of life.
If it's going into an 'office' that's acclimated to Windows then Linux
would be inappropriate as they'd spend more time trying to figure it out
than getting anything done, not to mention that the latest, 'modern',
popular Linux distros are just as resource intensive, if not more so, than
Windows XP.
Having said that, the generic version are free so you could download one
and see for yourself and, in that vein, I'd suggest Knoppix as it has
excellent hardware detection (not a sterling 'feature' of all
distributions) and isn't loaded up with 3 CDs worth of apps you'll have no
idea what to do with (although it has plenty in and of itself). You can get
the whole thing in one CD which has the amusing feature of being able to
run from the CD alone so you can try it without wiping out what you already
have installed. It includes the rather common, and popular, KDE desktop
(similar to windows) including KDE Office and Open Office, so it would have
the common office applications included (again, for 'free').
http://www.knoppix.org/
It CAN be installed to the hard drive as well.
http://www.freenet.org.nz/misc/knoppix-install.html
There are LOTs of Linux distributions, each with their own idea of what
'features' are nice to have. You can find a listing here:
http://www.linux.org/dist/index.html
Search by the 'type' of system you think you'd like, as in
"Mainstream/general public" or "minimalist", etc..
Versions the 'general public' see most often, as in Best Buy stores, are
Redhat and Mandrake. There are also 'generic' versions of those which are
'free' and downloadable.
Debian is an excellent distribution and is what Knoppix is based on. Some,
like Debian, maintain an online software repository that you can download
apps from and know they will work (as they are revision and requisite
controlled).
Some distributions are NOT 'free', most notably Lindows (notable as it
tries to 'look like' Windows, run Windows software, and they've been
pushing the O.S. in retail outlets so people may have seen it).
You can also buy 'generic' Linux distributions from cheapbytes.com for a
song and a dance, which translates to the 3 to 10 buck range (plus the ever
present shipping cost, of course), if you have a modem connection and don't
want to spend days downloading one.
As a side note, there are some interesting super small distros, such as
Feather Linux and Damn Small Linux, that fit in under 60 Meg of CD space
(damn small will fit on a business card CD) and might be fun to look at
since the download is a tenth of a normal CD, but they don't use the
'windows looking' style of GUI (I.E. no KDE), for obvious space reasons,
and instead have a skinnied down GUI (black box variants). Not many apps
either but you can install to disk and add more (I happen to like Feather
for old machines and it's hardware detection seems better than the original
Knoppix it's derived from). They're skinnied down versions of Knoppix,
which, as I mentioned, is a skinnied down Debain, so they can use the
Debain install routines. (They are both 'beta' releases and so occasionally
have things that need a bit of 'manual adjustment' to get exactly right)
By now you may have guessed one of the advantages as well as a DISadvantage
to Linux. They do not all work the same way, nor have the same GUI, nor
install apps the same way, and there are a million 'options'/'flavors',
which means there's a million questions and a million potential decisions
to make. It can be daunting to someone who just wants "something that
works, and is easy."
> I did consider Win2000 and XP as I can pick up licences for them on
> Ebay and these licences would, presumably, out last these machines and
> would transfer to whatever replacement machines I can scrounge or we get
> donated. But I think 98SE would run significantly faster.
You could disable extraneous services in Win2K/XP, and turn off the fancy
bells and whistles, to speed them up but the bigger hit is the memory
requirements as 128Meg is fine for Win98 but marginal for Win2K/XP
> A lot of places are scrapping machines at the moment - they are getting
> scared by some European Directive on Recycling and are changing now
> before they get a 100GBP surcharge on new machines to pay for recycling.
>
> Again, many thanks for your help.
>
> Just to give you a laugh - the boss there already has insisted that he
> gets the Pentium ii box to replace his (a much faster Athlon). He
> fancies the look of the very swish box and is convinced that it is going
> to be faster than his standard low profile desktop machine. He couldn't
> possibly have anyone having what looks like a better machine. It won't
> matter much, he gets his secretary to print his emails and hand writes
> replies for her to type in and send.. I will give her the Athlon..
I'd love to see a picture of this boffo case that has him so buffaloed. Or
is he just stuck on the 'size matters' illusion?
>
>
> Sue
)
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