October 29, 2004

• I would upgrade it to 2000. (I barely know PCs, I'm a Mac Tech, so I feel your pain) But the PC guy at my job highly recommends 2000 over 98. He thinks XP is shit at it's current version, but I can't really say I've worked with it. Also, you want to install virus protection, and spyware removers, we use Spybot Search & Destroy... there's some free anti-virus apps floating around too, but you may want to purchase Norton's Anti-Virus or such, especially if he's going to be using it for porn. but, that's as far as my PC knowledge goes for necessary installs. I sure the other monkeys will be far more helpful, I just couldn't resist putting in my .02
• Upgrade to 2000 if you can, but avoid ME like a rabid dog with mouth herpes. If you do upgrade to XP, go Pro, not Home edition. AVG antivirus works well and has a freeware version. CCleaner is a fantastic freeware app for cleaning up your HD and registry. Install both AdAware and Spybot. You're pretty safe doing any of the recommended security upgrades for Windows. Avoid their updated device drivers, but strictly Windows security upgrades shouldn't hurt anything.
• You really need 250 megs to run XP. I agree 2000 is the way to go. Also install Firefox and Thunderbird. Stay away from IE and Outlook.
• If it boots up, then leave it alone (don't add anything else). Include $50 CompUSA or other store gift card so as he can buy a game or two. Let him customize it and download stuff from the net on his own adventures. Keep Win98se install disk as leverage. When he craps it up or Windows crashed on its own (and believe me, both are a matter of When not If), extort said B-in-L for favors. thats about the extent of Windows usefullness. Sincerely, blogRot Life long windows user becaue *nix kicks my ass everytime.
• Ooh, get him one of them things where the sexy little nekkid gal does a little hoochie-coochie dance on your taskbar. I mean, I assume that there would be such a thing. There are a lot of perverts out there.
• My biggest concern is security issues, namely IE. 1. Don't use Internet Explorer! I am a programmer and even I couldn't fend off spyware/malware installs while working with IE. 2. Install Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Someone here had an excellent tip for speeding up Firefox in about:config (excellent for my slow Pentium III), but that message disappeared into the void of old MoFi posts. Wish I could see that tip again.
• Here it is.
• I would third the comment of going with 2000 namely because 98se will soon be unsupported which means you won't get any windows updates for it. And 2000 just runs smoother. Firefox is a great idea too. You could do what I did with my girlfriend's laptop and replace all the IE shortcuts with paths to Firefox so she barely notices the difference and doesn't really care as long as it works.
• I have a laptop that has much less processing power than that, and I run 2000 with no problems whatsoever. Honestly, though, I would go with XP Pro. I've been using it for a long time on, again, a machine that has significantly less power than that, with no problems whatsoever, even running things like Photoshop, Access, etc.
• Install Linux.
• It sounds like 2000 is the way to go. The middle ground: *Ohhmmmmm* but that would be illegal too so I'll stick with 98se for now and digest the very valuable less-than-OS suggestions given here until I can upgrade when nobody's looking. What about word processing? The Mac has a really diverse TextEdit program but Notepad sucks. Anything in between and free for Windows 98?
• I'll second / third / fourth the recommendation for Win 2000 or XP, in my experience both are great, and much more stable than Win 98. I've even run XP on a skimpy 128MB machine, and it was perfectly usable. I'd also agree on a switch away from IE - Firebird is nice, but I prefer its fatter cousin Mozilla, since I actually use the other parts of the package (mail, composer etc). Speaking of which, steering clear of Microsoft's scripting-happy Outlook and Outlook Express can also help keep your PC safe. In any case, one thing that's really critical is firewall protection, even on a dial-up. Whereas it's possible for a careful net surfer to avoid spyware/malware/viruses on the internet (by being smart about downloads and e-mail) it's just about impossible to protect your machine from worms and other hijackers - attacks that don't require the victim to do anything to get infected. Even on a dialup line, my firewall records several attacks, scans, and probes every hour.
• I can't believe that no one has noted that "friends don't let friends use a PC!".. buy the poor guy a mac....
• What about word processing? The Mac has a really diverse TextEdit program but Notepad sucks. Anything in between and free for Windows 98? I've never used it, but the most obvious candidate would be AbiWord.
• Well, what do you use, Lagged2Death? I'm hoping for first-person experiences here.
• What about word processing? The Mac has a really diverse TextEdit program but Notepad sucks. Anything in between and free for Windows 98? OpenOffice has a great (free and open source) suite similar to MS Office.
• Yes, dh, I'll load Open Office on this machine and we'll give it a whirl. I had a hard time with X11 on my Mac but I am determined not to port my prejudices. Understanding the shared nature of Open Office is there still a good, useful version of OO out there for 98? Where would I find it?
• I guess Google would be a start...
• I just installed the most recent release (1.1.3, I think) on a roommate's computer (she's using win98), and it seems to be working fine (loads quickly, doesn't drag, etc), but . . . it's only been a few days, and she's not a "power user." The only other thing to be aware of, is that during installation, if you don't have the java runtime environment installed, you'll be warned that not all functions will be accessible. I believe this only affects the database app(?), and haven't yet run into any problems with the word processor or spreadsheet apps. Or, you could just go ahead and install JRE.
• If he's up for learnin', TeX.
• I just got rid of my last 4300 here at work last week; we had 67 of them. They'll handle W2K no problem if you can swing it but I'd bump the RAM to 256 or 512. Note that there are only two slots in the the laptop for ram which limits your upgrade path. 98SE will work ok too but if he ever gets broad band he'll want to hide the laptop behind a router/firewall. Install Firefox and set as default browser. Or Moz but with a speed/memory limited machine like this I prefer seperate programs. And as a newbie it lets him find what he may like easier. Install your mail package of choice (Thunderbird or Pegasus are both good) and set as default. Remove all icons pointing at Outlook Express. Download and copy all the drivers from Toshiba.ca (US toshiba drivers are often different) to the local hard drive. It's only 12MB and it'll save you from having to search for a driver at the worst possible time. Lecture him at length about the need for data backups. The factory IBM drives in these units are flakeier than a good apple pie. At the first sign (hear?) of a clicking noise in use start preparing for the meltdown. The W2K audio drivers for this model blow. Some laptops have no problem others it sounds like the sound is coming thru a paper cone speaker from 1950. There is no solution to this problem The built in DVD-ROM can read movie disks with the right software but the LT doesn't have enough proccessing cycles to play a movie well. I'd recommend using a USB mouse. With extensive use the PS/2 port gets hot enough on this model to semi melt a connector which causes the ring on the connector to fall out. Email me if you have any stumbling block I may have stumbled over that block already.
• It's worth a try if I can't find anything in between, dh, and thank you. JRE is too much. We're just looking for a simple solution to windows here. (Is that so funny?) I still think there should be a PC application like: TexEdit. Unfortuntaley, middleclasstool, he doesn't have time to learn anything. I have to aim him like a low calibre rifle at the internet. He's the shop steward in a 24/7 paper mill working weirds shifts and making time for family. This whole computer effort has to happen like soft butter for him, and so far so good. :-) On preview: Mitheral, I'm reading your post.
• Mitheral, thank you! At least I've got the mouse sorted out. Thanks for making this easier and a lot more fun for him. I have your mail and may well use it before this transition is done. Very cool. Priceless. :-)
• See? Now that's what I like about the monkeys over the blue. 99% of the posts would have insulted you for even thinking about windows and the remainder would have been infighting between the various swells @ mefi. Well done all! And good luck Jerry.
• If your going to go with windows 2000 you'll need to add some more RAM, I agree with Mitheral that 64MB isn't enough I run win2k on my business machine and can attest to needing the higher amount. Minimum he'll need to run win2k is 128MB, 256MB would be nice. Security wise I'm with the others on adding Spybot S&D, firefox and thunderbird. Might want to consider a few of Mike Lin's security programs that monitor programs that that run at start up. Get him a firewall, either Sygate or ZoneAlarm (both have free versions) regardless of how he is going to connected to the interent he'll need one. If your going to add media players for him (to play .mov and .ram) Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative are just as good as the 'real deal' without the worry of spyware. If I think of anything else I'll post it up.
• Just add two + to notepad. I prefer Textpad, but it's shareware.
• Or Notetab, which has a 100% free version.
• If you do install 2000 or XP, don't forget to visit Black Viper's site so you know which services to shut off... that way, your step brother won't be wasting precious memory, cpu cycles & battery power on stuff he doesn't need...
• One other thought if you stick with 98SE: Go to Microsoft's Win98 site and download and install all the recommended security patches. If your installing W2K go to Windows Update and install all recommended patches. You need to be running IE for the last. It's a good idea to update to the latest version of IE as well even if your not using it because some of the malware out there uses expliots in the unpatched IE code (like the latest jpeg thing) even if you aren't using IE as your web browser. You'll want to download the patches over a fast link. The full sp4 for W2K is 129MB (MS's dynamic installer means you don't need to download the whole thing but you'll still need big pieces.) If he's just writing simple letters and correspondance wordpad included with W2K may do the job. I use Textpad for a simple yet powerful editor but it's not free. Also the harddrive may just up and die; don't count on getting any "clicking" warning.
• Thanks again for all the excellent advice, folks. It will certainly help him to have a much more enjoyable time joining the, er, 20th century. :-)
• Just an update to say that I've successfully installed the additional RAM (bringing it to 192) and actually WinXP seems to be working fine. Thanks to all you monkeys for helping me get started on the upgrade. I'll make sure my step-brother signs up to MoFi and post some good links. :-)
• Jerry, I meant to mention LyX as a possible text editor. Does good page layout, but not nearly as difficult to learn to use as TeX.