What computer/OS are you using?

[C-Chan]

Aa sou,... so my Gateway isn't older than your Compaq,... but just for the sake of being Gateway (and a low profile one at that), it shaves off 3 years from its operational status.

BTW, Redrackham, nice to see you around these neck of the woods.  ^^

[redrackham]

@C-Chan
Well....i've gone MIA for several month because i'm busy with laboratory practicing and several accident....
And now, i'm back.....

[C-Chan]

Several... aCcIdEnTs....?  O__o

Sounds brutal, but at least happy your back.  ^^

[redrackham]

@C-chan
Nah...it not as brutal as you think.
Only one motorcycle accident and one lab accident (the lab accident took me one month to heal my right palm.....)......-__-

Anyway.....i actually a little confused, my laptop seems to be able to play A LOT OF media file type (with the help of codecs ).....but my friend's computer can't play several media file type even with the same codec pack as i have.....

[NejinOniwa]

Just tell'im ta dl VLC and all will be finessu. -w-
Oh and also, labs are dangeroussu ssuyou, kiotsukenasaissune -w-

[Alex Stankevitch]

Im on Windows XP Home on 2 computers now, but my main one used to be Pro untill the upgrade and offical version of Windows :-P
I am also using XP on my laptop which im posting from now in the middle of our town centre (stolen wireless signal).

I also use the Knoppix version of Linux for diagnostics and other stuff with the computer because it is bootable from a CD and reads all sorts of formats like NTFS, FAT32 and even has USB support...

[NejinOniwa]

(stolen wireless signal)

HAH! Now THAT's some kaizoku spirit for you, alex-kun! Gokurou!

[C-Chan]

Wow!  Long time no see!  ^__^

Kudos to your use of Knoppix -- best rescue CD in existence.....  -v-

[NejinOniwa]

Aissu! Just a most temporary thing, but I'm currently using a tiny lil' CE-tan HTC ppc, and connecting straight from my summer villa in the middle of nowhere. Subarashii-ssu, and the beach is like OVERsized with some straight half a mile or something. *brag*
Sore ja! ^_^ *scurry off to beachland*

[C-Chan]

Oooh,... don't forget to take picturessu.  ^___^

(including the CE handheldssu)  -v-

[grant_p]

I have a rather old system (about *gasp!* 4 years...) An E-machines I got for under $300 with a Celeron D processor.  It has had one hard drive crash, which was a bear, but their tech support's good.  I did upgrade the memory to 512 MB, and will do it again to 2 gig soon.  I also added another 80 gig hard drive, identical to the one that came with it.  The master drive loads Ubuntu 7.04 in order to have GRUB take all the dual-boot stuff withotu messing with the Windows bootloader, and the slave drive runs Windows XP, with a lot of freeware (Comodo Firewall, AVG anti-virus, Defender, etc.).  XP, mercifully, has no idea the Linux drive even exists, so she hasn't had a nervous breakdown over my betrayal yet.  If XP-Tan ever finds out her drive has been moved to 'slave' status in favor of an Open-source, I expect anime-tears.

My computer's cheap, and keeps getting more stuff stuck in and on it but it WORKS, and can read just about any file type there is except Mac, so I'm not complaining.  My first computer was a Coleco ADAM.  The one that when you first booted, started in TYPEWRITER mode.  Proprietary tape-type drive that you couldn't find anywhere.  Loudest Daisy Wheel printer ever made.

And I've still got it in the workshop somewhere.

[C-Chan]

4 years old?!!  @o@

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!  ;^V^;
Well if you owned an Adam it can't be youth talking (my first computer was an old Atari 8-bit, btw), so I reckon that's just pure old-fashioned sarcasm directed at people who think "two weeks ago" is ancient history.  ^___^

Currently nursing an 8-year old Gateway back to full health, and Bella-san is doing the same for a 10-year old Compaq.  -v-

And then that's not mentioning the true hardcore computer collectors, like the grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat AmigaBob who still maintains and uses two darling Miggies (aka, "Amiga" computers), bless his heart.  ^___^
Then there's Raffaele-san who maintains roughly 25 computers -- half of which date from the 80's -- plus a kickass Pegasos system running the legendary MorphOS (known as "MOSchan" as endearment).  ^.^

Admin Tsubashi-san still has an old Macintosh somewhere, as well as a 1st generation OS/2 machine (before the Warp years), and Admin Pitkin-san managed to rescue two PAN-chans (aka, Commodore 64's) shortly after I met him, and I believe still has them for nostalgia's sake.

So yes, as far as old computers go, you're very much among friends.  ^___^
(unless it's to get a greener machine, I'm not in any hurry to update to a bleeding edge system, certainly not those pimped to the point you need a liquid cooling mechanism.... -v-;)

Oh, and kudos to your decision to add Ubuntu to your eMachine.  ^___^
Even though eMachines are legendarily cheap, Linux will definitely give your more mileage for the hardware (for instance, EXT 2 filesystems doesn't rip up your hard drive as much as NTFS....  ^^;)

Unless software is installed for that purpose, Windows will never be able to detect Linux drives unless they're installed in FAT systems (obviously not a very good idea), so XP will never realize Ubuntu-san is there (aside from wondering why she has less hard drive space all of a sudden...)

I did have one time where XP stole my boot load-up, but believe it or not that was PCLOS' fault for adding the "makedefault" tab or something like that to the Windows bootloader section in GRUB.  That essentially transferred the boot flag to the Windows partition, making XP boot and bypassing GRUB altogether (cause XP doesn't like sharing... ^___^')
Without the ability to read Ext2 drives from Windows, the Puppy-chan LiveCD had to come to the rescue to fix this mess....  -v-;

[grant_p]

That's why I got the spare hard drive.  I didn't actually want XP to change at all, it DOES work for what I want it for.  This way, if I ever just want it back how it was, I swap one cable and move a jumper down one.  No change, since the master drive boots first, I could get away with leaving the XP untouched.  And the spare hard drive is always a boost.  I heard about RAD arrays where a file's in multiple spots for backup.  I do the same thing, on my two drives. File swamps between them is done with a thumb drive, which makes it VERY easy!

I personally LOVE e-machines, because it does what I need.  To be honest, aside from the lack of a dual-core, there's almost no difference between my old system and the new ones, so once I upgrade my memory, I'll still be fine for a while to come.  Nothing I do is a processor hog, just a memory hog.  Though I did avoid loading Norton's 2007.  My mom's computer is just about identical except for the lack of a linux-drive.  Norton's REALLY slows her's down.  I moved to AVG and Comodo from Norton's 2006 when it expired, and I'm happy with it so far.

You're right, by the way, Linux-mode is MUCH faster on my hardware, even after stripping out Norton's.  I was amazed.  It was like getting a brand-new computer for the price of the spare drive.  And you have to admire an OS where 'copy as many times as you want and give them away to friends' is not piracy, it's considered a legal distribution channel.

[C-Chan]

Now that you mention it, I have been meaning to get a small cheap extra hard drive form my AMD64.  Not really for media storage, but rather more to store my virtual desktops (it's recommended that the VM images not be in the same device as the master OS).  Otherwise, I'm okay with chopping up my HD into partitions, especially since I really want to start weening off the old hard disk model.

I do declare that solid-state storage is the future,.....! ^____^

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/4452

(admittedly, it will be a long while before 300GB flash drives become feasible.... ^^:)

You're not missing much by not having a dual-core.  True, Linux does make a little more use of it, but if the software doesn't take advantage of the extra processing power, it might end up being more hinderance than a help.  *recalls bad memories with Windows MCE and certain games*  -v-

And good call on Norton.  I myself once fell victim to their shinanigans, but fortunately saw the light before I was coerced to renew my license.  ^__^

Initially I transitioned to a cheaper but better subscription antivirus and ZoneAlarm (before they were sold off to shady people).  Some freeware experiments later, I coincedentally ended up with AVG and Comodo as well.  ^___^

Course now it's Firestarter and KlamAV, but that's another story.  -v-

I keep holding onto the suspicion that once the major PAID antivirus companies are out of the picture, we'll see a mysterious drop in virus prevalence....  Call it "vested interest" if you will.....  Â¬___¬'

You're right, by the way, Linux-mode is MUCH faster on my hardware, even after stripping out Norton's. I was amazed. It was like getting a brand-new computer for the price of the spare drive. And you have to admire an OS where 'copy as many times as you want and give them away to friends' is not piracy, it's considered a legal distribution channel.

Deshou... fufu.... ^___^
And THAT's just with nice ol' heavy Ubuntu + Gnome Desktop.  ^v^
Try a lighter or more optimized distros still, and that thing will act like a quad-processor!  @o@

Linux writers generally have no vested interest in hardware manufacturers, so there's no reason for them to bloat their software in order to require more and more hardware requirements.  Ubuntu can give you a Vista-quality experience with the same hardware that was good enough for Windows XP vanilla.  It's all a matter of programming efficiency.  ^__^

(that's also the reason why XP, when stripped of all its internal "unnecessaries", occupies less than a GB of hard disk space and boots up in like 5 seconds.... ^.^)

And yes, the free distribution is a thing to be admired.  Even if one isn't planning to use it seriously, credit should at least be given to Canonical for not only allowing the distribution to be dispersed freely, but also for offering to MAIL free copies of the CD to those that don't have internet.  (and lest we forget that cute thing with the Freedom Toasters....  http://www.freedomtoaster.org/ )

At the very least, those LiveCDs are always handy to help troubleshoot a defunct Windows installation (although there are other LiveCDs better suited to that kind of troubleshooting).

[Bella]

I have a rather old system (about *gasp!* 4 years...) An E-machines I got for under $300 with a Celeron D processor. It has had one hard drive crash, which was a bear, but their tech support's good.

Hey! A brother-in-eMachines

I personally LOVE e-machines, because it does what I need.

My thoughts about eMachines exactly! My laptop, K8, runs great. She's had lots of hardware problems though, but the (100-some-dollar) warranty has covered it ALL. The software/OS has been nothing short of amazingly stable.

(that's also the reason why XP, when stripped of all its internal "unnecessaries", occupies less than a GB of hard disk space and boots up in like 5 seconds.... ^.^)

My computer's used HD space is a (kinda) whopping 23 GB and it still boots up in a good 20 or so seconds...