Laptop questions

[James]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Just purchased a Dell Latitude CPI A366(XT or ST?) on EBay and have a few
questions since I don't really know a lot about laptops.

Basically all I want is to go wireless (have DSL) around the house. Will any
of the current 802.11 PCMIA Cards work in this old machine or do I need to
look for something specific. I need a router as well so I was hoping to snag
a "kit" on Ebay.

How would I go about ghosting the drive in this thing (possibly to a drive
in my desktop). The seller claims "Loaded with XP" which I am waiting to see
but even if it is I don't think there will be CDs included so I need a
contingency plan. I have set up a direct connection before between two
desktops on the LPT port - would it work the same with a laptop?

Seller claims the machine is in perfect working order but what are the "soft
spots" I should look for upon receipt. Been around the Dell forums and other
than batteries and dead keys can't find much.

Lastly - what is a Token Ring PC Card (included) and would I have any use at
all for it.

Thank you , james.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

All I can say is, you are very brave buying a high-priced item ur not
familiar with from eBay. Good luck with it.

 

[James]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thank you. I hope it has a built in "Nag" function that works as well as
yours.

"bobb" <None@NoWhere.com> wrote in message
news:l7jr31po69qrl93qrbdiuak0fmuig46non@4ax.com...
> All I can say is, you are very brave buying a high-priced item ur not
> familiar with from eBay. Good luck with it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"James" <howa1151@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:UUf%d.45069$5T6.11501@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 09:36:59 -0500

... Basically all I want is to go wireless (have DSL) around the
house. Will any of the current 802.11 PCMIA Cards work in this old
machine or do I need to look for something specific.

Hi James... there are 802.11b and 802.11g. The "g" offers the higher
54Mbps bandwidth. And for security, make sure it supports WPA. As WEP
can be cracked in 24 hours.

I need a router as well so I was hoping to snag a "kit" on Ebay.

A wireless router with 802.11g. And if the PCMCIA wirelessly is from the
same company as the router, some offer high bandwidth. Like US Robotics
offer 125Mbps between the two. Otherwise a mismatch will only give you
54Mbps tops.

How would I go about ghosting the drive in this thing (possibly to
a drive in my desktop). The seller claims "Loaded with XP" which I
am waiting to see but even if it is I don't think there will be CDs
included so I need a contingency plan.

I'm probably the wrong one to ask. As nowadays I depend on install CDs
for applications and the OS. And I just make backup copies my data. I
used to make backups of everything and/or clone partitions. Although
backups are not always reliable (tape or CDs) and cloning partitions are
okay until you try to make it bootable again.

I have set up a direct connection before between two desktops on
the LPT port - would it work the same with a laptop?

Yes, but way too slow! It would probably take 1000 hours to backup 20GB.
Your planned network is far faster.

Seller claims the machine is in perfect working order but what are
the "soft spots" I should look for upon receipt. Been around the
Dell forums and other than batteries and dead keys can't find much.

I don't know much about Dell's so I'm not much help there.

Lastly - what is a Token Ring PC Card (included) and would I have
any use at all for it.

I wouldn't think so, as that is using 802.5. Heard of anybody networking
under 802.5 lately?


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[James]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Thanks - that answers a few. You are right on the direct connection - if
would take forever. I had forgotten how slow it was.

"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in message
news:Iah%d.22757$hU7.21919@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...

"James" <> wrote in message
news:UUf%d.45069$5T6.11501@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 09:36:59 -0500

... Basically all I want is to go wireless (have DSL) around the
house. Will any of the current 802.11 PCMIA Cards work in this old
machine or do I need to look for something specific.

Hi James... there are 802.11b and 802.11g. The "g" offers the higher
54Mbps bandwidth. And for security, make sure it supports WPA. As WEP
can be cracked in 24 hours.

I need a router as well so I was hoping to snag a "kit" on Ebay.

A wireless router with 802.11g. And if the PCMCIA wirelessly is from the
same company as the router, some offer high bandwidth. Like US Robotics
offer 125Mbps between the two. Otherwise a mismatch will only give you
54Mbps tops.

How would I go about ghosting the drive in this thing (possibly to
a drive in my desktop). The seller claims "Loaded with XP" which I
am waiting to see but even if it is I don't think there will be CDs
included so I need a contingency plan.

I'm probably the wrong one to ask. As nowadays I depend on install CDs
for applications and the OS. And I just make backup copies my data. I
used to make backups of everything and/or clone partitions. Although
backups are not always reliable (tape or CDs) and cloning partitions are
okay until you try to make it bootable again.

I have set up a direct connection before between two desktops on
the LPT port - would it work the same with a laptop?

Yes, but way too slow! It would probably take 1000 hours to backup 20GB.
Your planned network is far faster.

Seller claims the machine is in perfect working order but what are
the "soft spots" I should look for upon receipt. Been around the
Dell forums and other than batteries and dead keys can't find much.

I don't know much about Dell's so I'm not much help there.

Lastly - what is a Token Ring PC Card (included) and would I have
any use at all for it.

I wouldn't think so, as that is using 802.5. Heard of anybody networking
under 802.5 lately?


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

As long as the laptop supports Cardbus, any PC Card wireless network
adapter will work (PCMCIA is inccorrect terminology and should not be
use). There are 3 wireless standards, "A", "B" and "G". For most
people, for most people, "G" is the best choice, but "B" is ok and a
little bit cheaper ("G" is a superset of "B"). "A" is not in widespread
use.

[If it doesn't support Cardbus, it's a REALLY old machine .... and it
wouldn't be capable of running XP]

You will need a router (technically, a router AND and a switch), and
also an access point. However, for most people, the "right" product is
a "wireless router", which is an access point, router and switch all in
one single unit. Match the "B" or "G" standard to the card that you get.

Don't use a parallel port to connect the two machines, use the network,
either wired or wireless. If the machine doesn't have a built-in
Ethernet port, get a WIRED Ethernet PC Card as well (you can get these
for under $10 on E-Bay). You will have occasion to use it. You can use
that to ghost the machine. Or you can use a USB hard drive.

I have no idea what he means by "soft spots", that is his own personal
terminology.

Token ring is an obsolete non-Etherent networking technology for which
you will not likely have any use whatsoever.


James wrote:

> Just purchased a Dell Latitude CPI A366(XT or ST?) on EBay and have a few
> questions since I don't really know a lot about laptops.
>
> Basically all I want is to go wireless (have DSL) around the house. Will any
> of the current 802.11 PCMIA Cards work in this old machine or do I need to
> look for something specific. I need a router as well so I was hoping to snag
> a "kit" on Ebay.
>
> How would I go about ghosting the drive in this thing (possibly to a drive
> in my desktop). The seller claims "Loaded with XP" which I am waiting to see
> but even if it is I don't think there will be CDs included so I need a
> contingency plan. I have set up a direct connection before between two
> desktops on the LPT port - would it work the same with a laptop?
>
> Seller claims the machine is in perfect working order but what are the "soft
> spots" I should look for upon receipt. Been around the Dell forums and other
> than batteries and dead keys can't find much.
>
> Lastly - what is a Token Ring PC Card (included) and would I have any use at
> all for it.
>
> Thank you , james.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"James" <howa1151@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:xVk%d.37707$6g7.13275@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:23:13 -0500

Thanks - that answers a few. You are right on the direct connection
- if would take forever. I had forgotten how slow it was.

Hi James... Another thing think about is do you really need wireless
networking? Don't get me wrong and I love mine but... Many routers now
support HomePNA (Home Phoneline Networking Alliance) 2.0. This gives you
10Mbps over your telephone wires (POTS).

It doesn't affect a single line that already has a phone and DSL. As it
uses frequencies way above both. And none of those DSL filters either.
All that is needed is the hardware and a phone jack by the computers on
the network.

While wireless and direct Ethernet has advantages. Although running an
Ethernet cable from one end of the house to the other is a royal pain
(sometimes seemingly impossible). But using the existing phone line is a
piece of cake in many cases.

Wireless is great except for the security issues. Maybe hacking into
your own computer isn't a big issue. But they can also use your Internet
connection to do what they want. Like illegal activities like spamming,
downloading child porn, etc. And when the FBI checks, it's you that gets
blamed!

So no wireless security is maybe a bad idea. So you use WEP instead.
That will lower your bandwidth down a lot. I don't have any numbers
since I didn't run it more than a few hours. But I do run WPA which is a
lot harder to break into. And your 54Mbps only has throughput about 1/4
of that. So we are looking at a real throughput at about 13.5Mbps.

Now HomePNA isn't looking so bad, now is it?


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Samurai]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

James:
I've partitioned my drive and installed the OS on both partitions(C
and D), one for just backup with Internet access(D), one for everyday
use(C). Then I made a backup using WINRAR of my everyday use drive,
after I install all drivers and update XP. If I need to restore my
primary boot drive, I start into my backup partition(D), and just use
WinRAR to restore everything back onto the C: drive. Works great.
Now I've copied it to my USB drive, and can restore the C drive with
all the latest updates in 1/2 hour, another hour installing software
that I use. A bit of preplanning will save you TONS of time
later...when you really need it.

Or you could purchase Norton Ghost, it works great, even from XP with
only one partition. I would backup to an external drive.

You could also take the 2.5 drive out of the laptop, with a 3.5 ->
2.5" adapter, plug the drive directly into your desktop and
backup/restore it from your desktop. Much faster.

With the router and wireless, just use the router to network the two
computers. Set the same WORKGROUP on both machines, be sure to give
different names to the laptop and desktop. You should get a 100Mbit
connection, much faster than the LPT port.

samurai

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 09:36:59 -0500, "James" <howa1151@bellsouth.net>
wrote:

>Just purchased a Dell Latitude CPI A366(XT or ST?) on EBay and have a few
>questions since I don't really know a lot about laptops.
>
>Basically all I want is to go wireless (have DSL) around the house. Will any
>of the current 802.11 PCMIA Cards work in this old machine or do I need to
>look for something specific. I need a router as well so I was hoping to snag
>a "kit" on Ebay.
>
>How would I go about ghosting the drive in this thing (possibly to a drive
>in my desktop). The seller claims "Loaded with XP" which I am waiting to see
>but even if it is I don't think there will be CDs included so I need a
>contingency plan. I have set up a direct connection before between two
>desktops on the LPT port - would it work the same with a laptop?
>
>Seller claims the machine is in perfect working order but what are the "soft
>spots" I should look for upon receipt. Been around the Dell forums and other
>than batteries and dead keys can't find much.
>
>Lastly - what is a Token Ring PC Card (included) and would I have any use at
>all for it.
>
>Thank you , james.
>