OK, this is kind of silly - P1 question

[Trent©]

I live in a house with my 81 year old father. He's still as sharp as
a tack, but set in his ways. One thing is he refuses to get is a new
computer - he even refused a Christmas present of one from my brother.
His is I think a P1. It has only 16 MBs of memory. I don't know the
MHz processing speed, but I am sure it is sub-100 MHz. probably 50
MHz.

He is starting to log onto the Internet once in a while over the phone
line, and gets 28 Kbps with a USR 56 K external that I think was
pre-v90 & thus the 28 Kbps was standard only when the modem was made,
& the extra up to 56 k was a USR special.

Check the settings for the com port.

Anyway, I am going to ask this. If I get a router, is his computer
capable of being home networked,

Yes...as long as you get drivers for the network interface card
(NIC)...same thing as a LAN card...so that his Win95 system recognizes
the NIC.

and capable of appreciating cable
Internet speeds? Or even like a measly 500 Kbps?

You'll see quite an improvement in browsing speed...especially if you
install a pop-up stopper for him. You ARE gonna be limited to the
speed of his system, however...so don't expect BLAZING speeds.

One BIG advantage...you won't get disconnected like you do with a
phone line connection.

Actually I am not interested in connecting our computers, only using
the router so he can access the Interent. Or, maybe I could buy a
modem - I think Comcast might only charge $5 a month for a second
computer.

Go with the router. Actually, even just YOU should be using one
NOW...for the extra firewall protection that it provides.

If so, I guess he'll need a LAN card for the thing, right?

Right...either ISA or PCI. You need to pull the case to see what
slots are not being used.

He uses Windows 95, up to date to the last upgrade in 2000 I think,
He uses Internet Explorer, but an older version.

Sounds like yer all set. If he wouldn't care, you might kick up his
RAM on the machine. It might be a little expensive, however. Some ma
& pa shops in the area might have some 'pulls' they can sell you.

I know it is so cheap to get a 2.6 GHz Celeron right now w/Win XP on
it, but I repeat, he doesn't want a new computer. Maybe if someone
gave him one that they were going to throw away, would he accept a
faster computer.

If you value his health, I wouldn't try to improve his system too
much...so that he becomes addicted to it...unless he's already
bed-ridden or disabled.

We as a society have become too sedentary. Your father needs to
remain active at his age.

There's more to life than these stupid computers! lol


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Trent©]

Thanks for the info. I'll know what to ask for now when I go looking.
I'll get the right "ISA card"

Don't get an ISA card unless you HAVE to. If yer able to use a PCI
card, get that.

If you DO get an ISA card, make sure the external connector on it will
fit the connector of the wire yer gonna be using from the router.

Also, since I'll be running through the router, can I just un-install
my software firewall?

You CAN...but I wouldn't recommend it. Keep using it the way you
always did.

Also, if only I am online through the router, I should get the normal
speed I am getting now, right?

Yes. Even with both of you on simultaneously, you shouldn't notice
any appreciable difference.

I have to ask that, because a friend of mine cannot get his 3 computer
home network with a router (8 ports) to get any kind of decent speed
going at all - he should get 2000 Kbps where he lives if he used a
single computer, but with his router he can only get like 300 Kbps...
and he cannot figure out what is going on.

Did he check the speed WITHOUT the router? 'Should get' and 'does
get' should be checked with BOTH scenarios...without a router...and
with a router.

He has tried many many
setting changes.. I sure hope a cheap 3 port router is just almost
of plug & play type status...

They're pretty simple...and most have 'express set up' instructions.

I wouldn't even dream of touching it unless I had his permission.
he's know.. something would go wrong..

Its interesting how many people have suggested going behind his
back...as if satisfying THEIR idea of what is important in his life is
more important than HIS wishes.

Maybe having a fast running system isn't important to him at ALL.
Hopefully, that's true.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Stacey]

Don't forget about the P60...

Probably is best -to- forget that one!

 

[Noozer]

I live in a house with my 81 year old father. He's still as sharp as
a tack, but set in his ways. One thing is he refuses to get is a new
computer - he even refused a Christmas present of one from my brother.
His is I think a P1. It has only 16 MBs of memory. I don't know the
MHz processing speed, but I am sure it is sub-100 MHz. probably 50
MHz.

You *WILL* want to up his memory to 64meg if at all possible.

Anyway, I am going to ask this. If I get a router, is his computer
capable of being home networked, and capable of appreciating cable
Internet speeds? Or even like a measly 500 Kbps?

My old Win95 Compaq 486, using an 8 bit ISA ethernet card was capable of
75kBYTES/second. I thought it was amazing, coming from a 28.8 dialup
connection.

Actually I am not interested in connecting our computers, only using
the router so he can access the Interent. Or, maybe I could buy a
modem - I think Comcast might only charge $5 a month for a second
computer.

With a router, Comcast will only ever see one "computer"... the router.
Anything behind the router will not be seen by Comcast.
<snip>

 

[Onideus Mad Hatter]

You *WILL* want to up his memory to 64meg if at all possible.

Um...what on earth for? It most likely wouldn't have any effect at all.

 

[Big Mac]

protect the 95 machine. It might be a good idea to restrict LAN access
between the computers because the 95 machine might be more susceptible to
virus.
Michael Culley

Michael, or anyone. Is there some freeware anti-virus software that
will work with Win 95? I don't think he'll want to pay for it. He'll
just not access the Internet anymore.

 

[Pen]

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Free version should work on 95.

 

[Noozer]

Um...what on earth for? It most likely wouldn't have any effect at all.

Because if grandpa is surfing on a broadband connection he'll probably want
Flash and Qtime installed, and he'll need a decent AV program running
constantly in the background. (The router should do a decent job of
firewall.)

Too much memory is rarely a bad thing. Too little is ALWAYS a pain in the
arse!

 

[Onideus Mad Hatter]

Because if grandpa is surfing on a broadband connection he'll probably want
Flash and Qtime installed, and he'll need a decent AV program running
constantly in the background. (The router should do a decent job of
firewall.)

Too much memory is rarely a bad thing. Too little is ALWAYS a pain in the
arse!

You don't have any clue as to what you're even babbling about, I just want you to know that.

You cannot drive a McLaren F1 in a school zone, Child. It doesn't matter HOW MUCH memory he sticks
in that 'ol clunker, it ain't gonna run any better. Hell 16mb probably IS it's max. Further, what
on earth do Flash and Quicktime have to do with antivirus programs? That doesn't make ANY sense at
all. You can't get viruses through flash files or video files, Child. And a broadband connection
doesn't leave you any more or less likely to get infected by viruses (of any variety, including
spyware and adware).

 

[VWWall]

Noozer wrote:

My old Win95 Compaq 486, using an 8 bit ISA ethernet card was capable of
75kBYTES/second. I thought it was amazing, coming from a 28.8 dialup
connection.

Hey, if it can do that--don't touch a thing! The Smithsonian might want
it. ;-)

Virg Wall

 

[kony]

You don't have any clue as to what you're even babbling about, I just want you to know that.

You cannot drive a McLaren F1 in a school zone, Child. It doesn't matter HOW MUCH memory he sticks
in that 'ol clunker, it ain't gonna run any better. Hell 16mb probably IS it's max. Further, what
on earth do Flash and Quicktime have to do with antivirus programs? That doesn't make ANY sense at
all. You can't get viruses through flash files or video files, Child. And a broadband connection
doesn't leave you any more or less likely to get infected by viruses (of any variety, including
spyware and adware).

Running Win95 it may not necessarily "need" 64MB, but there should be a
significent performance increase from 16MB to at least 32-48MB. Since the
system doesn't even support UDMA, paging as virtual memory will have an
even more devastating effect on such a slow system. Definitely that first
additional 16MB will make the most difference, but these days with simms
lying around or being thrown away it might as well be upgraded with as
much as the board supports and can cache.

 

[Noozer]

You don't have any clue as to what you're even babbling about, I just want

you to know that.

Funny... I was just thinking the same about you.

You cannot drive a McLaren F1 in a school zone, Child.

Why not? Just keep it under the speed limit.

It doesn't matter HOW MUCH memory he sticks
in that 'ol clunker, it ain't gonna run any better. Hell 16mb probably IS

it's max.

Have you ever owned a P1? My 486 here runs MUCH better with 64meg than 16meg
so it obviously makes a difference. If my 486 will do 64meg, why wouldn't a
pentium class machine? (And no, the 468 isn't my main PC, it's a hunk of
junk that just doesn't die - and why toss something that works?)

Further, what
on earth do Flash and Quicktime have to do with antivirus programs? That doesn't make ANY sense at
all. You can't get viruses through flash files or video files, Child. And a broadband connection
doesn't leave you any more or less likely to get infected by viruses (of any variety, including
spyware and adware).

Where did I say he'd get viruses from QTime or Flash? I said he should be
running AV and might want to use QTime and Flash. They all have to fit in
memory, so more memory is better.

BTW, broadband DOES make it more likely that you might get attacked... If
the computer is on, your vulnerable, even if you are just playing Quake or
typing out a Word document. With dialup, you have to CONNECT before you can
get attacked and once connected your connection is pretty slow, so getting
something coming in is less likely. Finally, with broadband you can download
a heck of a lot more spyware (ala Kazaa, etc.) than you can with dialup, so
it's more likely to happen than not. Anyone on the internet should be
protected; being on broadband just makes it more imperative.

I definately don't think they should waste a lot of money on memory, but it
would be a definate improvement if the RAM was available.

 

[~misfit~]

ADSL is the method the phone company uses to bring in the broadband
signal over the phone line.

And is an acronym for Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line, a form of
'broadband'. It uses a regular phone-line and the download speed is faster
than the upload speed, hence the "Asynchronous" part of the acronym.

 

[~misfit~]

http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Free version should work on 95.

That's AVG right? Excellent free AV software. I use it on XP and 98 so it
should work with 95.

 

[~misfit~]

"NIC" ? That is a ?? LAN card w/ connector ?

NIC = Network Interface Card, or LAN card, network card etc.

 

[~misfit~]

Check the Intel timeline. Pentium 60 was the slowest
http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/quickreffam.htm and
ftp://download.intel.com/intel/intelis/museum/research/arc_collect/timeline/
TimelineChron.pdf
for a time line of products.
http://developer.intel.com/design/pentium/manuals/ has links to the
developers manuals. The Pentium 60/66 was a relatively short lived
processor with a different socket (socket4 if I remember correctly)
than the later processors.

And they also ran at something like 5v, very hot and nowhere to go from
there without cooking. Socket 5 I believe.

 

[~misfit~]

Probably is best -to- forget that one!

I disagree. I've been trying to get a P60 and a P66 for my collection of
older CPUs for ages. I have all the 486's, P1's and P-Pro's except those
two.

 

[~misfit~]

Check the settings for the com port.

LOL, I forgot about slow UARTs, that could be a problem, it was about that
era that UARTs became the bottle-neck for external modems on some machines.

We as a society have become too sedentary. Your father needs to
remain active at his age.

And if he had a faster computer he wouldn't have to waste so much time
sitting on his arse waiting for stuff to happen. More time for triathlons
etc.

 

[~misfit~]

Funny... I was just thinking the same about you.

Woohooo! You hooked a live one Hatter.

Why not? Just keep it under the speed limit.

LOL. a man who knows nothing about cars. McLaren F1's do in excess of 80mph
in first gear, to drive it in a school zone you'd have to be idling and
riding the clutch. *Very* bad for the clutch, engine and cooling system.
It'd die within a couple of minutes, millions of dollars down the tubes. The
only way to keep a McLaren under the speed limit in a school zone would be
to push it, not drive it.

 

[Trent©]

Michael, or anyone. Is there some freeware anti-virus software that
will work with Win 95? I don't think he'll want to pay for it. He'll
just not access the Internet anymore.

Besides the good answers you get on your inquiry, here's another
thought...

Its really not necessary that he have an anti-virus program on his
machine...nor necessary that he have any kind of real-time protection.
As a matter of fact, installing such protection may slow down his
machine considerably...depending on how you configure that software.

Virii aren't really that big of a problem. The real key is to make
sure you ISOLATE the virus...get rid of it if you have it...and then
move on. This would include a viable clone of his drive...which you
could easily save to your drive over the network.

What I'd suggest...

Set up your computer with the proper security and/or virus
protection...so that anything that he gets on his machine can't get to
your machine over the network. This may well include real-time
protection on your machine, port blocking, etc.

Then, on a regular schedule, simply check his machine...over the
network...for virii, spyware, etc. You can even do a defrag and
integrity check for him over the network.

BTW...setting up a LanTalk program on both machines might be a lot of
fun for him...especially when he gets the first pop-up from you!

Good luck.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!