Slow PC !

[Tui]

I got from a friend a HP 6318, he has had it using
MS WIN95 and MS WIN98 and it is as slow slow slow --

I have now increased the RAM to 128 Mb, but the CPU speed
is a 300 Mhz ! - real slow by todays standard.

So I though I could blow away the MS product and install a PUPPY.

The h/d is a 20Gb one and the speed is 5400 rpm what improvement
if I put a 40Gb which runs at 7200 a 50% increase that should improve
the situation -- I hope.

So my question what version of PUPPY should I use to feel some speed increase?

He wants it for some basic uses, surf web, emails, word processing,
and something to say that it is faster than before.


Help please.

Tui

[Barkin]

... what improvement if I put a 40Gb which runs at 7200 a 50% increase ...
He wants it for some basic uses, surf web, emails, word processing,
and something to say that it is faster than before.

For tasks with very modest memory requirements, like word-processing and surfing the web, e.g. reading emails, then I don't think you'll notice any difference in performance by changing the HDD from 5400 to 7200rpm.

Maybe there would be an noticeable improvement with resource-hungry tasks like editing video.

[Monsie]

Tui,

I would try Wary first of all since it is designed for older PCs. However, you will need to set a swap partition of at least 128 mb to meet its minimum ram requirements... otherwise you will have noticeable performance issues of one sort or another.

You might also consider trying Akita Linux for this old PC because Akita is a puplet,and, as such is a lighter version of Puppy that might run better with a low ram PC. You can get the details on this puplet over here.

Hope this helps... I'm sure others will have some good suggestions as well.

Monsie

[jobo]

ive just been through this process with a similar spec machine, abet a slightly faster processor, see this thread
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=77865



do you have the capability of burning an ISO and the machine the function of running booting from CD ? if so then its really a case of burning 3 or 4 and seeing what works best, if you cant run a cd its a lot more hasel,and it probably wont boot from USB either

so far ive run a version 2, which had really impressive speed and more function than you require, wery which is like treacle, and classic 214 which wont recognize the modem in my machine but other wise looks great

there is also this, http://www.freeveda.org/linux/puppy/PupWin98.htm

which is a version 1 designed to run from with in windows 98, which ive also installed( no cd you see ) and its very fast, has your required functions, but doesnt have support for other packages, but if you just want to do what you said, it may be for you, you can also use the grub and menu to launch other versions again if youve no cd[/url]

[RetroTechGuy]

I got from a friend a HP 6318, he has had it using
MS WIN95 and MS WIN98 and it is as slow slow slow --

I have now increased the RAM to 128 Mb, but the CPU speed
is a 300 Mhz ! - real slow by todays standard.

So I though I could blow away the MS product and install a PUPPY.

The h/d is a 20Gb one and the speed is 5400 rpm what improvement
if I put a 40Gb which runs at 7200 a 50% increase that should improve
the situation -- I hope.

So my question what version of PUPPY should I use to feel some speed increase?

He wants it for some basic uses, surf web, emails, word processing,
and something to say that it is faster than before.


Help please.

Tui

It appears that this is a tower, with 2 memory slots. Can you get a pair of 128MB sticks (I'm guessing they are standard PC100 memory)? 256MB is vastly better than 128MB. And you'll still want a swap file, or swap partition (since you have the space, I'd add a 512MB or so swap...). Do you have any techie friends, who might be willing to give you some old RAM? (note, it's possible this might also support 256MB sticks -- but almost certainly will NOT support any 512MB sticks)

I wouldn't sweat the HDD speed. The RAM is going to be your real issue.

Some suggest a full install is less memory intensive than a frugal install. As others have suggested, Classic 2.14 and Wary are designed for older machines. However, I am running 5.25 Retro on my 333MHz laptop, with 256MB RAM (this is also designed for older machines).

[Uten]

If you can install more memory. You could say memory is king...always

My experience is that a full install on the HD is a lot better than a frugal installation when it comes to old HW with limited memory and CPU. ( my reference is a lifebook with 64MB and one with 192MB both CPU's at 400MHz ). If you want to surfe with it you should also run from a full installation as you will want as much memory as possible for your browser.

Best of luck
Uten

[Dewbie]

Monsie wrote:

I would try Wary first of all since it is designed for older PCs. However, you will need to set a swap partition of at least 128 mb to meet its minimum ram requirements

That would only total 256MB.
With Wary, my PII / 350 uses slightly less than 320MB.
(When I check running processes.)

Follow this simple formula:
(RAM) or (RAM+swap) = 512MB

Classic Pup 2.14x uses about half the RAM of Wary, on the same machine.
(However, it strangles the processor when I go online--a situation that might be unique to that machine).

[Tui]

Great tips guys keep them rolling in.

I will try and get some more higher value mem sticks.

Any advantage using OPERA over Seamonkey / Firefox ?
I have been told that the OPERA IS FASTER !

Once again

Thanks

[Dewbie]

Any advantage using OPERA over Seamonkey / Firefox ?
I have been told that the OPERA IS FASTER !

Have a look at this thread.

Opera is fast, but not consistently so.
And it really eats up my save file.
I recover most of it after deleting cache / cookies / history, etc.
(With a full installation, this doesn't matter.)

I prefer SeaMonkey when I need it.*
It's relatively fast and reliable.
But on a machine like yours, the 2.x version might be a bit heavy.
(Wary 5.1.4.1 is the most recent version with 1.x SeaMonkey pre-installed.)

Just try Opera and SeaMonkey, then go with your favorite.
You can always change your mind later.

* Otherwise, Dillo.
(pre-installed in Classic Pup 2.14x)
It blows 'em all away!

[mini-jaguar]

You might also consider trying Akita Linux for this old PC because Akita is a puplet,and, as such is a lighter version of Puppy that might run better with a low ram PC. You can get the details on this puplet over here.

The above link is not working, but there are some Akita .iso files on here:
http://akita.scottjarvis.com/