Question Regarding an upcoming X31

[Remo1988]

Hello all

First, I am glad I have found these forums; people seems really friendly here (from what I've read around).
I have an x60 laptop...But he has a serious overheating issue so I am going to use my wife's old X31. I know that basically the x31 is weaker than the x60 but at least it's stable and doesn't crash due to temperature issues..

My question is, what OS works best with the X31? I know it suppose to run XP but my wife installed win 7 on it...and with on 1gig of ram I dunno really what to do.

My main usage are office utilities, internet, skype calls and etc...I am no gamer(maybe few dos games aka ultima 1 lol)

So..long story short, what should I do? replace OS? or this piece is so old that I'd rather stay with a overheated x60?

Thanks

[BillMorrow]

first, if the x31 is running well with win7 then leave it and see how it works out for you..

as to the X60 have you thought about applying a top thermal paste to the gpu and cpu..?
and check the fan for dust clogs..?

welcome to the forum..

[Remo1988]

the fans are clean..As for taking apart the x60 and apply thermal paste, I don't really know how to do it..And since the laptop isn't mine I am not going to mess with it and take it apart, I never did it before and I am afraid to do damage.. I tried speaking to a computer lab, but they want around 90$ for the work of applying the thermal paste (even though I already have an arctic silver paste)..

[BillMorrow]

applying new and better thermal paste is not hard..
perhaps the owner can fix it..? it really should not run so hot as to cause trouble..

i have an x60 and the gpu runs very warm but its been that way for years, sometimes running 24/7 for weeks doing some downloads..

as for the X31, again, i would see how it works for you with the current OS..
then decide if to load an older version of windows..

[jronald]

Bill knows far more about these machines than I......
The 31 will run XP all day long just fine, on 7 it probably does not like the GPU, but that is sort of a crap shoot. I have seen 7 play very well with older GPUs, however my Z60t, it was more problems than it was worth. uBuntu will run fine on the 31, and Macbuntu also runs very well, and looks great.

Ron

[WarMachine]

Hello Remo, and welcome to the forum,

I don't come here as often as I would like, it's a very nice forum. But I'm here, so, I will try to help.

The X31 is not made for Windows 7. However, I've tried to install it. And it runs, but that's not very nice. Aero does not work, because of the graphics card. I had problems with Wireless too.

Those problems are not too annoying, but what I don't like myself is the XGA resolution. Windows 7 is not made for such a resolution.

I'd suggest to reinstall XP on your buddy. Mine runs with this OS, and it's really nice.

W.

[dr_st]

You will probably never get the video card to fully work with Win7. Not all power-related features will be supported, multiple displays / presentation director may not work or work poorly. At least this has been my experience with an X32, which has the same Mobility Radeon. But other than that, the machine runs Win7 fine and is perfectly usable.

[fschwep]

I agree with WarMachine and others: get rid of the Win 7 and reinstall Windows XP on that X31. Given what you want to do with it, most software from the same era as XP Pro (say written around 2003 - 2005) is perfectly adequate and runs well on a Pentium M-machine with 1 GB of RAM and some disk space.

[ParatoOptimal]

I've run Linux, W7 and XP on the X31 and they all worked fine.
I've run them on a 1.3GHz and a 1.7GHz X31 both with 1GB RAM and later with 1.5GB RAM.

Aero wont work but that's no big deal.
I haven't seen Aero work on any CPU that's not at least a dual core.

I think mine worked well enough with the W7 installed video driver but I installed some Crystal 9000 or some such driver that I read about in this forum.

Stick with W7 unless you want to go with Linux.
Max your RAM to 1.5GB. You can use PC2100 up to some PC3200 sticks of RAM.
You can mix and match between those speeds. If you mix, faster will adjust down to the slower installed RAM.
You can install 1x1GB and 1x512MB sticks of RAM.
You can install 2x1GB sticks of RAM but only 1.5GB will be recognized.
The X31's hardware wont recognize more than 1.5GB RAM.

[misfit]

The X31's hardware wont recognize more than 1.5GB RAM.

Ummm, what makes you think that? I've got a bunch of X31s and most of them are running 2GB of RAM just fine. It shows up in BIOS and the OS (XP and 7) and..... Well, I think you must have a crook X31 if it's only showing 1.5GB.

[tom lightbody]

comparing win_7 with XP, I find sometimes 7 connects to wifi routers XP
can't (same hardware), but otherwise I prefer the older and simpler OS.
(But mainly debian linux.)

as for max ram in these machines, I agree with misfit--my x31 2672-N7U
has 2 1 gb sticks (a 2100 and a 2700): BIOS, linux and win_7 all report
2 gb ram.