Apps for low resource laptop

[Mark Warner]

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
& Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
In too many instances, they won't load up at all.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.

Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

 

[Lou]

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
& Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
In too many instances, they won't load up at all.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.

Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

32 mb????????????????

Not worth your effort. You can get an old machine with much better specs
for about $100.

Lou

 

[Mark Warner]

32 mb????????????????
Yup

Not worth your effort. You can get an old machine with much better
specs for about $100.

I'm talking laptop. Besides, I'm gonna be giving this away. I'm not
interested in spending any money. This thing will work -- I used it
myself in the past -- I just want to set it up for optimum performance
with a nod toward security.

 

[Craig]

Mark Warner wrote:

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?).
Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage.
Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

32 mb????????????????

Not worth your effort. You can get an old machine with much better specs
for about $100.

Lou

Perhaps;

But, considering the newsgroup, not a bad attempt. Sorry Mark, nothing
to add other than: /Very/ cool. Let us know how it turns out!!!

-Craig

 

[Steve H]

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
& Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
In too many instances, they won't load up at all.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.

Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

I use old lappys like this all the time - pick 'em up from the local
tip for about a tenner. They come in handy for storing mp3s, music
scores etc for use on gigs...where there's a chance some low-life
will nick anything that's not bolted down.

I've found that Firefox, while fine on a 'big' machine, is way too
slow and resource hungry for a low powered lappy. Just stick with IE,
and set the security up high ( or run it via Proxomitron, if you can
be bothered to set it up ).

Email? Pegasus V3.12c is fine, and quite secure. With responsible
browsing and sensible emailing you shouldn't need to worry about
anti-virus - but if you want belt and braces I'd recommend Grisoft
AVG, and turn off resident/email scanning ( you can use a bridging
utility called Virscan to connect Pegasus to your AV solution -
available via Pegasus Add-On sites ).

I'd use Kerio 2.1.5 for a firewall, low on resources, highly
configurable.

For such a low spec'd machine I'd also set a static swap file - I find
300Mb is usually adequate - seems to make such machines nip along a
bit faster.

Regards,

 

[nueoff]

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
& Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
In too many instances, they won't load up at all.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.

Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

I would suggest using Opera instead of Firefox, and using webmail
instead of a software-based email client. The better free email
services such as Gmail and Yahoo include virus screening, so anti-virus
software shouldn't be necessary in this situation. You can also find
free web-based word processing and spreadsheet functions.

 

[Mike Williams]

I suggest you use NO-INSTALL apps or convert the ones you want into
no-install ones.

You will find more info in a little while on the site I am rebuilding,
www.computerboom.com,
I am changing it as we speak.

FF and TB was a mistake... they are plainly too heavy.

Better off using a tabbed shell for IE like maxthon or avantbrowser

dont strip off IE.

7-zip is faster than winzip

602pro is too heavy

You could always try puppy linux

 

[Mike Williams]

If it makes you feel any better I have installed XP on a pentium 133 mhz
with 64 mb ram
and tuned it up so it worked extremely well... no one could believe it, yet
I did it...

Bottom line.. there are ways to do what are attempting.. but it needs
research and some experimentation and trickery... I will share my knowledge
shortly on the site I mentioned in the previous post.

I suggest you use NO-INSTALL apps or convert the ones you want into
no-install ones.

You will find more info in a little while on the site I am rebuilding,
www.computerboom.com,
I am changing it as we speak.

FF and TB was a mistake... they are plainly too heavy.

Better off using a tabbed shell for IE like maxthon or avantbrowser

dont strip off IE.

7-zip is faster than winzip

602pro is too heavy

You could always try puppy linux

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
& Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
In too many instances, they won't load up at all.

I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
[http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.

Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.

Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

 

[Tramp]

|Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

Hi Mark,

You could start with something like Bart's http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
and then customize the boot cd so that it only has the apps that you
want/need. You would still be able to read/write to the hard drive.

Since every little bit helps

you could get rid of ZA 3.7 and go with ZA 2.6
http://www.oldversion.com/

You can get older versions of these
IrfanView
Acrobat Reader

don't know which version of IrfanView you are using but you can get
older ones here www.oldversion.com

You might also want to look at the portable apps websites

http://www.portablefreeware.com/
http://www.tinyapps.org/
http://portableapps.com/
http://standalone.atspace.org/

Off By One (browser)
http://www.offbyone.com/

F-Prot Antivirus for DOS
http://www.f-prot.com/download/home_user/download_fpdos.html

Stinger (anti-virus)
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

Online Virus Scanners
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.pandasoftware.com
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml
http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

Floppy Office.. which contains Spread32
http://www.xtort.net/office/floppyoffice.php

Spread32 is fully compatible with Microsoft Excel! It is essentially a
mini-Excel with all of the basic features that you would expect in a
competent spreadsheet program. Run macros, draw objects, generate
charts, calculate functions and formulas, its all here. And it reads and
writes xls, csv, text, and pxl formats. This version includes the last
freeware version

Concalc (spreadsheet)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tkorrovi

Sharp Tools Spreadsheet
http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/sharptools/

Sphygmic Software Spreadsheet
http://www.ds.unifi.it/~stefanin/AGR_2001/SH/SSSHEET.ZIP

100K_Zipper is a .zip only archiver. You can create, open, extract and
check out .zip files.
http://qzip.cjb.net/

 

[Bjorn Simonsen]

I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps

Email client: Pegasus Mail v. 2.55 should run smoothly (current
version is v 4.31)
<ftp://ftp.usm.maine.edu/pegasus/winpmail/old/w32-255.exe>. Later versions
is more demanding, system wise.

Standaone spreadsheet, not tried the folliwng my self, but given the
size.....
Sphygmic Software Spreadsheet
"Why waste money and over 180MB of disk space to get |
feature-bloated Excel? With the Sphygmic Software spreadsheet you
get all the functions you need in less than 4MB! And all this for
free!"
http://www.ds.unifi.it/~stefanin/AGR_2001/SH/sssheet.htm

Or, a somewhat larger (I don't know if this will run smoothly with
only 32mb ram - but you might give it a try)

Gnumeric - The Gnome Office Spreadsheet
Free, Fast, Accurate
http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/

All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen


All the best,
Bjorn Simonsen

 

[Mark Warner]

Standaone spreadsheet, not tried the folliwng my self, but given the
size.....
Sphygmic Software Spreadsheet
"Why waste money and over 180MB of disk space to get |
feature-bloated Excel? With the Sphygmic Software spreadsheet you
get all the functions you need in less than 4MB! And all this for
free!"
http://www.ds.unifi.it/~stefanin/AGR_2001/SH/sssheet.htm

I'd forgotten about this one. Good suggestion.

Or, a somewhat larger (I don't know if this will run smoothly with
only 32mb ram - but you might give it a try)

Gnumeric - The Gnome Office Spreadsheet
Free, Fast, Accurate
http://www.gnome.org/projects/gnumeric/

This one I had checked on earlier. Unfortunately, the Win32 port of
Gnumeric does not work on Win9x.

 

[Ben]

I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.

Slightly OT, but do you think the user could be educated on how to use
DamnSmallLinux? I'm not normally a vocal Linux advocate but when it
comes to hardware like this, the difference between using Windows (even
a stripped down version) and a Linux distro designed to run well on
older hardware is very noticeable.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

Ben

 

[Zaphod]

K-melon web browser
possibly if he can put up just using wordpad.
is web based email possible ?.
spreadsheet ??? how demanding is he on the spreadsheets ... I have a
simple spreadsheet program called uuuum .. i don't have it here but
will find it .. virus scanner ... you would be hard prssed to get one
on 98 if you were careful, so why not use f-prot for dos and possibly
even make a boot diskette for "just in case" and regular checks, kerio
firewall and for fun .. download a free version of gorilla that has
been rewritten not to need Qbasic

 

[Zaphod]

one other idea, I have a p200 no mmx extensions 36 meg ram 1.1 gig hdd
that I still use with a printer that draws it's power from the cardbus
.... the printer won't work on later versions of windows that 9X .. I
run 95a upgrade version from 3.11 and it's absolutely a cracker for
general use etc ..mainly because the OS is so light.. 95a upgrade from
3.11 used many 3.11 subsys files that were far faster than any other 9x
version

 

[Zaphod]

A PE disk needs at least 128 meg and I have not yet managed to boot
anything slower than celeron 400 yet.. so if that works I'd really like
to know

 

[John Jay Smith]

if he uses 98 lite, it can be as fast as win95 but more solid...
and more compatable (for example usb connectivity)

 

[Daniel Mandic]

one other idea, I have a p200 no mmx extensions 36 meg ram 1.1 gig hdd
that I still use with a printer that draws it's power from the cardbus
... the printer won't work on later versions of windows that 9X .. I
run 95a upgrade version from 3.11 and it's absolutely a cracker for
general use etc ..mainly because the OS is so light.. 95a upgrade from
3.11 used many 3.11 subsys files that were far faster than any other
9x version

Win95 is faster.

But 98/ME can run more apps, as it has a new kernel not compatible to
Win95 ;-Y

And AGP "seems" to work with 98SE and higher...




Best Regards,

Daniel Mandic

 

[Daniel Mandic]

if he uses 98 lite, it can be as fast as win95 but more solid...
and more compatable (for example usb connectivity)

Well. But if the Notebook have no USB or AGP, I see no use for win98!

I would rather install win95. The A 95A version, too. (Should be even
faster)

Stable. Well, I think 98 with its cranky caching-mechanisms is more
susceptible to faults. Better go with a serial-system (greet your
harddisks) as Win95.





Best Regards,

Daniel Mandic

 

[Tramp]

|A PE disk needs at least 128 meg and I have not yet managed to boot
|anything slower than celeron 400 yet.. so if that works I'd really like
|to know

Looks like people had mixed results when they used Ultimate Boot CD for
Windows which uses Bart's

<http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5688&hl=minimum+ram>
<http://www.911cd.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=1021&hl=minimum+system>

Then there is this

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/changes/

v3.1.10

Boot BartPE on a system with 64MB Did you ever try to boot BartPE on a
system with only 64MB of memory? I used to keep a separate CD (nickname
"SmallPE") for this. This CD did not have a ramdrive and some other
plugins, so that it would boot on those old 64MB systems. Not anymore!
Thanks to an updated nu2menu and a little ramdisk parameter tuning, you
can use the same BartPE CD also for 64MB system. Of course this does not
include huge and hungry plugins like xpe and so

 

[Mark Warner]

Slightly OT, but do you think the user could be educated on how to use
DamnSmallLinux? I'm not normally a vocal Linux advocate but when it
comes to hardware like this, the difference between using Windows (even
a stripped down version) and a Linux distro designed to run well on
older hardware is very noticeable.

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

That was my first choice. Install was flawless, machine was quick.
Unfortunately, I could not get the pcmcia network card configured to
save my neck. I'm no Linux guru, but I had a real live Debian beta
tester walking me through all the compiling and installing and module
making and all that kind of stuff that's foreign to me. We fought it for
a week. No go.