These old drives are just not worth it

[Football Nut]

New computers with giant hard drives are so comparitively inexpensive
these days that I feel I would be wasting my time nursing old
hard-drives and dealing with their compatibility problems. Even if you
do get an old system working what do you end up with? - an old system,
and for how long?

I know there are 'nuts' who achieve satisfaction nursing these old
systems and I know that the process can be educational but in economic
terms they are just not worth it.

I used to be one of these 'nuts' but when I consider the amount of time
I spent nursing old systems I really wish I had put the time to better
use.

 

[Todd]

New computers with giant hard drives are so comparitively inexpensive
these days that I feel I would be wasting my time nursing old
hard-drives and dealing with their compatibility problems. Even if you
do get an old system working what do you end up with? - an old system,
and for how long?

I know there are 'nuts' who achieve satisfaction nursing these old
systems and I know that the process can be educational but in economic
terms they are just not worth it.

I used to be one of these 'nuts' but when I consider the amount of time
I spent nursing old systems I really wish I had put the time to better
use.

Such as watching Football?

 

[Al Dykes]

New computers with giant hard drives are so comparitively inexpensive
these days that I feel I would be wasting my time nursing old
hard-drives and dealing with their compatibility problems. Even if you
do get an old system working what do you end up with? - an old system,
and for how long?

I know there are 'nuts' who achieve satisfaction nursing these old
systems and I know that the process can be educational but in economic
terms they are just not worth it.

I used to be one of these 'nuts' but when I consider the amount of time
I spent nursing old systems I really wish I had put the time to better
use.

a 2GB disk is enough for a win/98 setup and non-profit groups
can always use spares.

 

[Rod Speed]

a 2GB disk is enough for a win/98 setup and non-profit groups
can always use spares.

More fool them. Makes a lot more sense for them to use modern PCs.

 

[Al Dykes]

More fool them. Makes a lot more sense for them to use modern PCs.

IME It's hard enough to get P-III-500 or better donations and these
organizations have ZERO money for systems. Occasionally I'll ask them
to buy a video card of a NIC if it will give them one more good
machine. Ebay's great for this kind of stuff.

A cleanly setup w/98 machine is find for what these people need. In some
circles I'd put in Linux on older hardware, but for legit reasons
these people are a windows shop.

 

[Derek Baker]

IME It's hard enough to get P-III-500 or better donations and these
organizations have ZERO money for systems. Occasionally I'll ask them
to buy a video card of a NIC if it will give them one more good
machine. Ebay's great for this kind of stuff.

A cleanly setup w/98 machine is find for what these people need. In some
circles I'd put in Linux on older hardware, but for legit reasons
these people are a windows shop.

'legit reasons'?

 

[Chuck U. Farley]

More fool them. Makes a lot more sense for them to use modern PCs.

IME It's hard enough to get P-III-500 or better donations and these
organizations have ZERO money for systems. Occasionally I'll ask them
to buy a video card of a NIC if it will give them one more good
machine. Ebay's great for this kind of stuff.

A cleanly setup w/98 machine is find for what these people need. In some
circles I'd put in Linux on older hardware, but for legit reasons
these people are a windows shop.

For the applications that most of organizations are using, a P3 system
running 98 is more than adequate. It's not like they're doing video
rendering or massive spreadsheet recalcs. What a waste of money for
non-profits to go out and spend $500-1000 for a new box just to do word
processing, email, web surfing, etc.

 

[Al Dykes]

'legit reasons'?

Walk-in user community is folks in a job hunting assistance situation.
These people are in no mood for something new, and they may be with us
for months but it's not like they plan to put down roots and adapt our
culture.They are focused on employer requirements which are frequently
package-specific. I do have Ooo and FF on all the machines, and teach
about not sending resumes out on .DOC format, to use PDF, etc. We
sometimes teach Excel or MS-specific packages like ACT. I live by
example and have no MS software on my laptop.

Since you asked, I'm as big a Linux/OpenSource fan as it gets and have
been bringing software that could be called "open source" into big
companies since 1979, sometimes with huge wins, but I've learned that
I have to pick my fights and understand the client's motivations and
requirements.

 

[Rod Speed]

IME It's hard enough to get P-III-500 or better donations
and these organizations have ZERO money for systems.

Thats where they are acting stupidly.

Occasionally I'll ask them to buy a video card
of a NIC if it will give them one more good
machine. Ebay's great for this kind of stuff.

A cleanly setup w/98 machine is find for what these people need.

Wrong. Too much maintenance like that required.

In some circles I'd put in Linux on older hardware,
but for legit reasons these people are a windows shop.

Then they should be running Win on other than complete dinosaurs.

 

[Rod Speed]

For the applications that most of organizations are using, a P3 system
running 98 is more than adequate. It's not like they're doing video
rendering or massive spreadsheet recalcs. What a waste of money for
non-profits to go out and spend $500-1000 for a new box just to do word
processing, email, web surfing, etc.

The problem aint the cpu, its the maintenance that dinosaurs require.

 

[Al Dykes]

The problem aint the cpu, its the maintenance that dinosaurs require.

Win/98SE with all the patches and a HW firewall is OK from a
maintenance standpoint. Fresh installs are a big plus. I don't repair
a screwed up OS.

 

[Rod Speed]

Win/98SE with all the patches and a HW
firewall is OK from a maintenance standpoint.

I meant the hardware, not the OS.

Fresh installs are a big plus. I don't repair a screwed up OS.

Sure.

 

[BRG]

Thats where they are acting stupidly.

The logic of your point escapes me; please explain?

 

[Rod Speed]

The logic of your point escapes me; please explain?

Its stupid to be crippling along on dinosaur crap.

They should be using PCs that arent dinosaur crap.

 

[J. Clarke]

Win/98SE with all the patches and a HW firewall is OK from a
maintenance standpoint. Fresh installs are a big plus. I don't repair
a screwed up OS.

Al, just a comment here--if I'm telling you something you already know, then
ignore me.

If you're not aware of <http://www.techsoup.com> you might want to check it
out--they have links to all sorts of resources for nonprofits. Relevant
specifically to this discussion they provide access to a Microsoft program
by which a nonprofit (subject to certain restrictions that they spell out)
can obtain up to 50 licenses for Windows 2K for $15 each, or upgrade
licenses for $8 each, plus $25 for one copy of the CD for the OS. There
are many other Microsoft products available on very good terms--2K3 Server
Standard for example is $40 plus $6 each for Terminal Services CALs--this
can be a very good solution if the nonprofit can afford one good powerful
machine--it doesn't take much to be a Terminal Services client--you can do
that with Windows 98 or with fairly minimal Linux boxen, and for many tasks
a single Terminal Services box can support a surprising number of users.
Office 2K3 is 20 bucks a seat.

If you routinely set up donated boxen for nonprofits and do more than 50 a
year there's another program that is aimed specifically at your situation,
but you might have to jump through some hoops to prove eligibility.

They provide access to similar programs from other vendors--for example your
nonprofits can get 25 seats of Symantec Systemworks for 100 bucks and the
renewal license is 32 bucks a year thereafter. The server-side products
are also available.

They also have Cisco hardware available.

Note that all the dollar figures above are "administrative fees", not prices
per se.

 

[BRG]

Its stupid to be crippling along on dinosaur crap.

They should be using PCs that arent dinosaur crap.

Taking into account the point about "ZERO money for systems", how
do you recommend the avoidance of having to use "dinosaur crap" ?

 

[Rod Speed]

Taking into account the point about "ZERO money for systems",

THATS the stupidity, trying to do it that way.

how do you recommend the avoidance of having to use "dinosaur crap" ?

Stop being so stupid about ZERO money for systems.

 

[Al Dykes]

Al, just a comment here--if I'm telling you something you already know, then
ignore me.

If you're not aware of <http://www.techsoup.com> you might want to check it
out--they have links to all sorts of resources for nonprofits. Relevant
specifically to this discussion they provide access to a Microsoft program
by which a nonprofit (subject to certain restrictions that they spell out)
can obtain up to 50 licenses for Windows 2K for $15 each, or upgrade
licenses for $8 each, plus $25 for one copy of the CD for the OS. There
are many other Microsoft products available on very good terms--2K3 Server
Standard for example is $40 plus $6 each for Terminal Services CALs--this
can be a very good solution if the nonprofit can afford one good powerful
machine--it doesn't take much to be a Terminal Services client--you can do
that with Windows 98 or with fairly minimal Linux boxen, and for many tasks
a single Terminal Services box can support a surprising number of users.
Office 2K3 is 20 bucks a seat.

If you routinely set up donated boxen for nonprofits and do more than 50 a
year there's another program that is aimed specifically at your situation,
but you might have to jump through some hoops to prove eligibility.

They provide access to similar programs from other vendors--for example your
nonprofits can get 25 seats of Symantec Systemworks for 100 bucks and the
renewal license is 32 bucks a year thereafter. The server-side products
are also available.

They also have Cisco hardware available.

Note that all the dollar figures above are "administrative fees", not prices
per se.

Thanks, I've looked at them from time to time but never did a deal. I
didn't look at the other programs. I'll take another look.

 

[chrisv]

Win/98SE with all the patches and a HW firewall is OK from a
maintenance standpoint. Fresh installs are a big plus. I don't repair
a screwed up OS.

I have a nice machine that fits that description that I don't use any
more. Celeron "450A", 256M PC100, 60G HD, clean Win98 install. Who
do you suggest I call?

 

[BRG]

THATS the stupidity, trying to do it that way.


Stop being so stupid about ZERO money for systems.

Just repeating "it's stupid" doesn't clarify your point - if you
have one worth making.