Re: OT: Lean and mean XP for a 256K machine

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

--- Si Wright  wrote:

> In my eternal quest for the affordable ultraportable
> to replace my beloved but USB-deprived Toshiba
> Libretto 70CT, I picked up a used Fujitsu P1120 on
> Ebay.

> 800 Mhz and 256K RAM (not, alas, upgradeable). It
> comes with Win XP Pro, which claims only 128K RAM
> for its system requirements. Yeah, right.

Jon,

That sounds like you're really pushing what's
possible, but it sounds plausible. I picked up a
spare A21 on Ebay because it was pretty cheap and I
wanted to cannibalize some parts for the one I already
had. The 2nd. one has W2K Pro on it with just 128M of
RAM installed, although the maximum it will accept is
512. However, I can't tell you how well it runs or
doesn't, because this laptop was sold as is, BIOS
Password locked . . . which is why it was so cheap.
Otherwise it's in very good condition, and this would
have no effect on using it for parts.  There are
apparently three types of password lock that can exist
on these things. The first type has a workaround
described in the service manual, which I intend to try
very soon.

The memory requirements of W2K are probably similar to
XP, but I'm not sure. If I get it working, I'll let
you know.

> My guess is that it's that low amount of memory. Can
> any of the computer geniuses here suggest things
> that are taking up RAM and ways to prevent them from
> loading, or other ways to make web browsing more
> efficient? (Please don't suggest not loading
> images--I thought of that already, but many sites I
> use depend on images for navigation.)
>
> I would guess there are things loaded into memory
> like fonts (which I am stripping to the minimum), as
> well as services that don't need to be running.
> (I've already taken everything I can out of Startup
> with msconfig.) But I'd appreciate advice from those
> who know more.

There are many sites on the Web that will dispense
free tech advice, mostly relating to Windows. Some
have probably been mentioned here, such as Wilders
Security, which has its own particular focus. At one
point I was going to compile a list of them and make
an article out of it, but, like a lot of other things,
that got shoved onto a very back burner. I believe
the info you are looking for must exist somewhere
online. I find Google to often be a blunderbuss
approach to finding such info, because there will be a
gigantic number of hits and it takes more than a
little skill (and sometimes sheer luck) to narrow
things down effectively. You might do better looking
through the tech section at Yahoo Groups
(groups.yahoo.com). These are sort of like
semi-private newsgroups -- because, as with a Mail
List, you need to join, though it's free -- minus all
the flame-wars, the Spam, and the noise.

> Another idea is to do a dual-boot with Windows 98SE,
> a better XY4 environment, if I can find drivers for
> the Fujitsu hardware. But that's a different can of
> worms. I'd rather tweak XP if possible.
>
> Jon Pareles

One attraction of the older TP model to me was that it
was more than adequate and in some ways (driver
availability being one) better suited for running OS/2
| eCS than a lot of fancier, contemporary models. It
may be a similar match-up for you, combining an older
Fujitsu model with W98 ? I wouldn't want to use that
for internet, but it could be a "Plan B", if
necessary.


 Jordan