Slowing DOWN a PC

P

Paul D.Smith

Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).

So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?

Thanks for suggestions,
Paul DS.
 
T

Tom Lake

Paul D.Smith said:
Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).

So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?

Try here:

http://www.geocities.com/kulhain/

Tom Lake
 
J

Joe Pfeiffer

Paul D.Smith said:
Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).

So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?

Don't know if these would meet your needs, but it is possible to buy
computers with pretty much the capabilities of an old PC very
cheaply -- start by looking in the ads in the back of Circuit Cellar
magazine.
 
J

johannes

Paul D.Smith said:
Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).

So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?

Thanks for suggestions,
Paul DS.

Reduce the buss frequency in BIOS. I can also change priority of
processes in the process manager.
 
A

Arno Wagner

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc Paul D.Smith said:
Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.
I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).
So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?
Thanks for suggestions,
Paul DS.

Look at vendors of industrial PCs. You might be able to get new
hardware that performs exactly as you need it to without any need
to slow it down. You are not the only ones that need to replace
older PC hardware with similar hardware. There is a market for it.

Arno
 
T

Trent

Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

I ask because I've been discussing some hardware issues with a group that
uses PCs to drive knitting and sewing machines and the old programs these
use do nasty timing related loops etc. that fail completely on modern PCs.
Some programs also access hardware in ways that don't work with WinXP etc
(i.e. cannot handle ANY delays caused whilst WinXP is busy multi-tasking).

So, is it possible to make modern PCs run VERY slowly?

Turn off all the caches and shadowing in the BIOS setup. Underclock as
much as possible.
 
J

Juarez

Anyone know how to slow down a modern PC so that it runs as like "ye olde
PC" as possible? The modern PC also needs to be running straight forward
DOS so the common Windows utilities would be of no use.

You could run your Dos programs using the Dos emulator DosBox. Because it
is an emulator it runs quite a bit slower than real dos and it also has
options to slow down or speed up the rate the dos game/app runs at.
 

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