Should I downgrade?

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djimass · #1 Post by **djimass** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 7:36 am

Good morning guys,

I have the A22e model (Celeron 800 mHz, 256mb RAM, 40gb HD) running on Windows XP. I find my laptop slop at times, especially when running multiple applications. Considering I cannot upgrade my RAM (already at max), should I downgrade my OS to Windows ME/2000?

I don't know if it matters much, but I use my laptop strictly for internet browsing and youtube watching.

Thanks for your help.

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:49 am

With your specs, Windows 2000 would be perfect.
DON'T even think about ME, the worst piece of crap that ever came out of Redmond. (Probably Billy Gates' Edsel)

You cannot install W2K over XP, you need to wipe the hard disk first, so start making backups.

Stargate199 · #3 Post by **Stargate199** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:05 am

I would first try to disable as many services that you don't need. Google for XP services and which ones are safe to disable. You should get a much smaller memory footprint for the OS and your apps will run smoother. I installed XP on a 333Mhz PII with 256MB RAM it it ran just fine, no crashes.

djimass · #4 Post by **djimass** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:26 am

I will try to locate a copy of Win2k somewhere and install it on my laptop. I don't have much on it so backing it up will be easy.

thanks!

Marin85 · #5 Post by **Marin85** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:28 am

There are also other options like Linux or nlited XP versions. AFAIK, Windows 2k can be also nlited.

djimass · #6 Post by **djimass** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:29 am

How do you do that?

#7 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:58 am

Start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLite
and here:
http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

#8 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:12 am

I had an A22e and it had more than 256Mb of ram, but I can no longer recall if if was the same model type. It ran Windows 2000 perfectly. Windows 2000 is the only Microsoft OS I know of that works well out of the box with only a half-dozen or fewer tweaks, so I don't think you need to "nlite" it. It ran VMware and multiple machines and that needs at least 512Mb of ram. ... JDH

Melvyn · #9 Post by **Melvyn** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 11:52 am

Your machine can run XP very well. Anyways, It's not the same if you have SP2 installed.

Remember the times when XP came: power machines were (at most) 1ghz and 256mb ram.

By design, your A22 is for XP as a new T61p is for vista.

tylerwylie · #10 Post by **tylerwylie** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 10:43 pm

I think an nLited XP would be the (second) best way to go, you can upgrade to SP3 and have an updated OS, but tweaked and tuned for your hardware.

comptiger5000 · #11 Post by **comptiger5000** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 5:14 am

XP is fine for that machine, just set it to Windows classic. Uses less ram, which helps. Also, upgrading to 512mb of RAM would speed it up a lot. I have run XP on an old Dell Inspiron 7000 PII 400mhz w/ 256mb of ram, and it was tolerable, and barely slower than 98 or 2000.

djimass · #12 Post by **djimass** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:48 pm

Upgrading to 512 mb of RAM was the first thing I wanted to do. Unfortunately, my machine (model 2655-LF2) has a Celeron processor and will not take more than 256 mb. (as per IBM/Lenovo specs).

Temetka · #13 Post by **Temetka** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:15 am

My knowledge of the A22 line is limited so bear with me.

1. Can the A22e only use low density SODIMMS or can it run with a pair of 256MB DIMMS or even 512MB?

2. How about CPU upgrades? Are there any available for his machine?

3. If it's the stock HD is it a 4,200RPM or 5,400RPM drive? Wouldn't a jump to a 7,200RPM drive make more of a difference? Reasoning that a machine with as little RAM as his will be doing a lot of swapping at times, as such a 7,200RPM drive would help not only during those times of peak system usage but also with a speed increase in general.

Run through msconfig and see what startup items you can disable. I understand that sysinternals has an autoruns program which offers more detail and more control over startup process.

Should I downgrade?

Should I downgrade?

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