Helping an old friend with an old PC...

[WebDesignBob]

I have a friend with a pentium 4, windows xp. It's slower than a parked car, but she uses it for email and YouTube only.

Haven't had time to open it up and photograph the ram, but I'd guess there were a few DIMMs in there(?) which could be upgraded to peanuts on eBay (unless 10 year old ram is now vintage/for collectors haha).

What's the best way of proceeding so that I buy her ram which works with her machine? I seem to recall ram is rated in size, MHz and needs to come in pairs?

The computer is ten years old too. That's about all I know. Thanks guys.

 

[ClearviewPropertyCare]

Hi Bob,

Really cannot answer that without knowing the specs of the computer fully. I however do think that you would need to update the ram based on going on 10years ago I would think you would need DDR Ram based on how old the computer is.... Should hopefully have some cheap sellers of this on ebay.

Have a nice evening.

 

[ServWise]

If they are happy to ditch windows XP and run a Linux dist then check out Lubuntu http://lubuntu.net/ which is designed for old or low spec PCs just like this.

It will run Thunderbird and a browser no problem and be a lot faster.

Alternative is to re-install XP so it is clean again but as you probably know it is now unsupported.

 

[delxyyy]

Check eBay, 512 mb DDR for Pentium 4 will cost you around £8

 

[ryedale]

If you go to http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en

They have a scanner that will tell you what's in the machine and what can be added

 

[WebDesignBob]

Thanks fellas. I'll have a look and see. Does the older ram state what it is in print on the ram itself? A newer system isn't an option ServWise, nor a new OS at this stage, but thanks.

 

[ClearviewPropertyCare]

Before you purchase RAM, open the system up and see what is installed it may already have 512mb installed. Etc.

 

[Cromulent]

A newer system isn't an option.

That's a shame because a P4 is going to be horribly power inefficient and use much more power and thus be pretty expensive to run compared to a new system. Often when talking to people who own old computers they don't realise they are literally throwing money away running an old computer where as upgrading to a new one will save money in the long run.

Most non-tech people don't realise just how important power efficiency is when it comes to the overall cost of running a PC.

 

[EddyP]

I agree with ServWise's earlier comment. I would try Lubuntu, it has worked really well for me. At my previous job we always used to use Lubuntu when we had the occasional out of date PC owner.

 

[pcproblems]

You should be able to search for the make and model or, when you do open it up, see if you can find the make and model of the motherboard.

As you may know, XP is no longer officially suported although I still have it on one of my machines.

Lubuntu is very good and possibly puppylinux.. Have a look at distrowatch for a whole raft of linux distros

 

[RobStephen0]

I actually run a dell optiplex 2003 model and with an extra 1GB upgrade from Maplins £10. I have no problems and despite Microsoft saying it doesn't provide support, all the updates were installed this year just by leaving automatic updates on. To take care of faster browsing install Firefox as these machines come with ie 8 or 9 which won't support a lot of todays technological websites and especially macromedia's flash, which is pretty poor I understand whatever your computer spec. To find out the rams specifics open up the machine by taking off the computers side panel and unclipping the memory stick. Look along the side of it and you will see a couple of numbers corresponding to the type, more than likely DDR the size of memory 256mb, 512mb, wouldn't think it would be any higher it should look something like this, DDR PC3200 400Mhz. These are its properties be sure to buy the same kind of ram the numbers say on the side of your friends memory. The only difference will be the change from 256mb to 1GB. Motherboards from this era usually only have the two slots. Ram really only makes the operation of using your computer smoother reducing the need for the extra strain the processor requires to run a program as it is threaded from one to the other. So, as mine is a pentium 4 processor 2.4Mhz It's actually more than enough to run basic programs and surf the net. As for speeding up an internet connection consider downloading and installing comodo antivirus as it can be used as your firewall by serving your internet servers ip from behind their server which means security and more speed.
Having an older chaeper machine (cost me £10 and £20 for upgraded ram) has meant I am more aware of sites that have poor accessibility and thereby develop my own sites around clean code and functionality for others who still 'prefer' a working computer than be drawn into spending hundreds if not more on machines that are overbloated.

 

[nightmare99]

Not being funny but you can pickup a new tower with a supported OS for like £150 at the moment, does your friend have an account with any catalogue companies like Very she could probably pay £5 a week or something. If it is just for email and you tube you can get an ASUS 10" tablet for £90 from Argos. It seems like such a waste of time/effort/money messing around with such an old computer and as others have pointed out the running costs will be higher anyway.

 

[Norman Bailey]

Buy the latest Linux Magazine with the free DVD on it (£5.99). They are shipping elementary OS 32 bit on it (Linux). I stuck it on a Pentium 4 that was running Windows 7 after I had a bad surprise when at the very last moment of the Windows 10 upgrade it said that the CPU was not compatible. The install of Linux was very straightforward and it includes loads of packages for free. So Firefox, email, word processor etc are already there. The computer runs like a dream and faster than Windows 7.

 

[RichardfromOquile]

As others have suggested I would consider buying a new computer rather than patch up one as old as you describe.

Apart from upgrading the old PCs RAM you will also have to give it's software a proper clean. As it is on XP (unsupported) bugs will quickly find their way in so this will slow the PC down again.

You really have to make the judgement between the cost of a new PC (inc software) Vs the time it will take to add hardware to the old one plus the time it will take to clean up.

 

[Talay]

Dump it and spend £100 on a second hand ex corporate one with warranty.

 

[cjd]

Oh dear, if you attempt this, you'll be doing customer support for it until it bursts into flames.