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Vintage Computers Any vintage computer systems, calculators, video games etc., but with an emphasis on 1980s and earlier equipment.

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Old 16th Jun 2011, 9:52 pm   #21
neon indicator
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

Maybe...

I've not used the one with a modem in it also but it should work with correct drivers.
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Old 16th Jun 2011, 9:54 pm   #22
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

Ask the seller if it is a "5V" card, if it is, yes, if not, no...

The two card models I listed though do not require any external bits and pieces, the sockets are contained within the card, so no need to have any adaptors...
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Old 17th Jun 2011, 7:28 am   #23
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

The ones that use external dongle adaptors are older, thus likely OK.

The seller won't know.
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Old 17th Jun 2011, 3:52 pm   #24
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

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Originally Posted by neon indicator View Post
The seller won't know.
Erm, seller will know, they just have to look on the back of the card for a trapezoid shape with either 5V or 3V in it...
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Old 17th Jun 2011, 4:28 pm   #25
neon indicator
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

I've lots of 5V and 3.3V cards that don't have any indication. If it says "Cardbus" though it's 3.3V or 5V.

None of my cards that I carry around indicate 5V or 3.3V

The 5V only slots often have a slightly different moulding and won't let a 3.3V only card push fully in. There is a difference on the shape of notches at connector end of the cards. Looking at some here the slot notch on LHS looking at socket end of card is the same and the notch ar top edge is deep on 5V only original PCMCIA / PC-Card and shallow on the newer PCMICA / Cardbus card, thus the newer cards will not fit old socket, but both kinds of card fit and work in newer socket (which is 5V and 3.3V to work either voltage of card).

As well as both kinds of laptops, I also have ISA original PCMCIA adaptor that only physically accepts original cards and a PCI (not PCIe) PCMCIA/Cardbus adaptor that works with all cards.

The newer Express card slots are two widths and have two separate buses (but both within the narrow width), USB 2.0 with 3.3V supply instead of 5V and PCIe. Most 3G dongles are not Expresscard at all, but simply using the power and USB in the socket as they are same chipset as the USB versions. Some PCMCIA Cardbus cards are faster than Express bus because the "whatever it is" adaptor is really USB (sometimes USB1.1!) and not PCIe.

Last edited by neon indicator; 17th Jun 2011 at 4:45 pm.
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Old 23rd Jun 2011, 4:28 pm   #26
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

I have an old Panasonic CF 27 laptop. It shipped with windows 98. I beleive this is a higher spec than the CF 41. I have it on line but it is rather slow. The problem seems to be that Windows 95 98 and Me are not suported antivirus wise and these operating systems are well past their sell by date and just not viable for modern use if you go on line. You can't load a lot of pages as they need the latest version browsers which will not work with the old operating systems. This leaves Linux which is what I use. For a low spec Laptop your choices are quite limited and I have spent many many hours experimenting. The one that worked best with my CF 27 was Slitaz 3.0 with Antix second. I use an MSI pcmcia wireless card as Linux seems to like the chipset it uses. Netgear and another I can't recall (DLink?) did not work at all. If you want to know the model nuber of the MSI card please PM me and I will find out. About a fiver on ebay. Web browsing is likely to require patience. Rather a lot of patience.
This may be worth you looking at.
http://mondodesigno.com/linux/cf41.html

Last edited by terrybull; 23rd Jun 2011 at 4:33 pm.
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Old 2nd Jul 2011, 2:19 am   #27
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

Yes, I second your post, Terrybull, although I'm not a Linux person. The real issue with putting old computers online is not connectivity, which is easy provided you have the right drivers for your operating system, but speed, browser and operating system compatibility, and memory. Having said that I managed to successfully operate my old apple powerbook 3400c in basic online mode a couple of years ago with no real problems. It has a built in ethernet port, and obviously used an out-of-date apple-version IE browser, but most sites did not seem to mind. I would however anticipate many issues on the PC side with anything less that IE 6 / Win 2000 sp 4 - and no modern antivirus software will work with anything less. Some sites are objecting to even IE 6 nowadays. From a time and effort perspective, I would not now bother with anything that does not run XP, which can be bought legit for under £20 per seat. All my PCs run XP nowadays, as its so cheap and compatible with everything. Just my opinion.
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Old 2nd Jul 2011, 1:49 pm   #28
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

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The problem will be in finding drivers suitable for your operating system. I was recently trying to bring a 1999 HP Omnibook back to life to do a particular job and I couldn't get drivers for Win 98 for two PCMCIA cards that I have lying around. In the end I installed XP. It would just about run the original XP install and I could then use a USB wireless dongle, but as soon as I allowed XP to update itself to the secure version with masses of new software, the whole thing ground to a halt. The only WINDOWS based answer was to reinstall the XP and prevent it from updating. Needless to say, I have to be especially careful with this, and only allow it to connect to a single site to do the job I wanted it to do and that is all.

I got a usb wifi dongle from ebay at under a tenner delivered, but you will need to ensure the drivers are available for your operating system whatever that may be.
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Old 2nd Jul 2011, 7:40 pm   #29
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

Win2K is quite good on memory vis a vis old machines. You can easily use it to browse the internet with 256K or less installed, and Win2K drivers are often but not always the same as WinXP drivers. There is no authentication required. The main issues with Win2K are (1) it can only run IE6 maximum, but you can also run Firefox 3.6 etc, and (2) it is a pain to install, as you have to install sp4, then a further rolled up update, and then about 100 additional security updates downloaded from Microsoft, which also include the latest USB 2.0 functionality. Although AntiVir still supports it, you can't get Quicktime for Win2K, and some modern smaller apps no longer support it, such as sundry security apps. Well worth considering though if you want to upgrade from Win98 but you don't have much memory.

Last edited by Station X; 3rd Jul 2011 at 11:49 am. Reason: FRC
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Old 8th Jul 2011, 4:09 pm   #30
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

The latest "ubuntu" goes better on my 2000ish Dell PIII 450MHz Laptop than Win2K. I have Win98, Win3.11 and Win2K on the same laptop too (Multiboot). I did have NT4.0 which runs also better than win2K, but I didn't need it for testing anymore so wiped that for space.
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Old 26th Jun 2013, 8:50 pm   #31
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

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Originally Posted by neon indicator View Post
Though I do have win3.11, Win98 and Win2K You may be able to use Linux live CD to boot it. Linux supports a wide range of old hardware.
I was thinking about getting/making a Linux live CD. Is Linux the way to go or should I look for anything else. I'm thinking of using this to get data out of my old hard drives. My problem is that W7 won't let me access my old files.

I also have a couple of old laptops with duff drives which might get useful if I can connect them to the net.
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Old 27th Jun 2013, 8:24 am   #32
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

I have puppy linux on an old laptop. Runs very well. Sony PCGFX201 700MHz. There are various 'light' Linux versions - you may have to try one or two to get something that recognizes everything. Compilers have a tendency to take drivers off later versions so sometimes earlier issues install when the latest won't. Also there are often glitches with Linux - it's all open source and not intensively trialed - so a certain amount of fiddling is inevitable. But a lot of help online. Overall I love it.
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Old 27th Jun 2013, 8:34 am   #33
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

Linux Puppy is a nice little op for old laptops and has I beleive two versions depending on how old and cantankerous the laptop is.

However if you would like to stay with Windows- then Windows 2000 is the one to have, it was supported and patched right up to 2010 IIRC

Runs nicely on 500mb and flies on 1gb of ram.

Windows 2000 is supplied with IE6 which is not secure these days(if it ever was) however Win 2000 will quite happily host any browser you like,Chrome ,Firefox etc..

If you put Win 2000 through a program called N.Lite, you can make up your own disc with all the updates and patches and switch off all the out of date junk MS supplied with it. This makes installation much easier. It's quite legal to do this and MS approve.

http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html
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Old 27th Jun 2013, 1:16 pm   #34
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

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Its quite legal to do this and MS approve.
Your big problem is going to be getting a legal license for Windows 2000 though!
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Old 27th Jun 2013, 1:32 pm   #35
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

The main problem with using really old hardware online isn't the OS, it's the applications, particularly the browser. Many modern websites use lots of Javascript and animation, and this really impacts when the processor is pre-PIII. It's possible to turn this off but the sites are often unusable as a result.

The oldest machine I use for real work has an 800MHz PII and that still gives an unpleasant experience with many websites.
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Old 28th Jun 2013, 8:14 pm   #36
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

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Your big problem is going to be getting a legal license for Windows 2000 though!
Windows 2000 doesn't have online activation (that started with XP) so any second hand Windows 2000 package with the licence key will install and work OK - and pass as "Genuine". To be legal on your PC it must be a retail version not OEM (although OEM will work).

You will have problems finding anti-virus software for Windows 2000 now, and as the operating system is long out of support it will probably have a number of security issues that will never get fixed (thus increasing the need for anti-virus...).

I think a lightweight Linux distro would be the better option, because it will be up to date and vastly more secure than a 13 year old version of Windows. Increase the RAM in the PC as much as possible (second hand RAM is generally cheap on eBay).
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Old 2nd Jul 2013, 10:15 am   #37
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Default Re: How can I put an old laptop online?

My Samsung VM8000 series laptop running WIN2000 pro has Avast.

Couldn't tell you if it's the latest version though, it's rarely used these days.
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