So after years and years of having this machine, that was a beast in its day, I've completely wiped it clean, backed up all old files, and its running like it just came out of the box. A couple things though, first of all, the machine hasn't had its own screen since mid 2002. I've been running it like a desktop computer with XP SP2 installed for the last few years. The thing just lagged like crazy, it didn't have the right drivers for video playback, and mainly, it was a glorified external harddrive to my other machines. I used it primarily to attach printers, routers, etc. for my home network. Well, I just grabbed an old Compaq machine from my work with a busted CD drive, and openned it up. I dont have a clue about working on computers, but I can wire up pretty much anything, and I'm all about the software side of things, so I figured I'd give it a shot. By the end of the day, I had fixed all the hardware, the CD drive worked great, and I used a fresh copy of XP 1 from 2002, and loaded it up, then loaded SP2, and that machine kicks some ASS! For a simple browing computer, it takes full advantage of my Fios network at home, and surfing speeds almost couldn't be faster. If you let your finger up from the mouse button, your on the next page already. So home is all straight now, as long as I dont put anything on that comp, it should stay fine.

I dug up my old Recovery CDs from my Vaio. First I actually just did the same as I did on the Compaq, and loaded XP, then SP2. It was cool, and everything loaded fine. The machine has obviously old hardware, but it did come with 512 Ram back in the day, and a 35GB hard drive. For some reason when XP is installed, its just not right. Things all load, pages show up fine, flash player loaded fine, but when I did anything on screen, the resolution just didn't mate well with my external screen, and if I dragged any windows around screen, they'd be super choppy, and little lines flashed down the screen, just like when you're rendering something in a 3D program. So I figured I'd give the Recovery CDs a shot, and after a few attempts I got everything loaded up just like it came from the Factory. All the preloaded registration forms were to sites that are no longer in place, and for services that went out of business years ago, lol. I have Prodigy Internet as the featured ISP loaded on the machine, lol. Also, the OS is Windows 2000.

So having read all of that, what do you think I should do with this computer? Its final desitnation is going to be on some brackets that sit where the glove box used to be in my RD1, so I can always have access to it, and use it as the on board computer for tuning the MS, and other things like broadband access internet, entertainment, security, etc. I'll just have a 17" screen that comes up from under the dash, with a wireless keyboard and mouse. But what should I do as far as the OS? It already has 512 ram, and I think its just not got the hardware to run XP smoothly, unless there's some stuff I can do to beef it up for cheap? What do you think guys? Any geek opnions appreciated smile.gif

 

I would wipe it clean, load it with XP, get all the new XP drivers from Sony's website. This way you have a clean copy of XP, no bloatware, which Sony is notorious for including.

Sony makes some real nice laptops. What are the specs on it?

 

Well, I actually already loaded XP on it, then loaded up SP2, and it ran ok, but kinda slow, and with problems in the resolution department. It just didn't run nearly as fluid as it does running Windows 2000, and I'll never need to run any crazy programs on it. I just need it for internet browsing, which it does great using FireFox.

Its a GR Series Vaio custom ordered back in 2001
Has an Intel Pentium III Mobile CPU
AT/AT Compatible
523,244 KB RAM

It had a 17 inch screen, and just kicked major ass when it was new, since nothing out had 512 Ram, even most desktops.

 

What I'm saying is, if you just install XP, you'll get a clean install, but you won't have any of the drivers. It would be like running your car with half the sensors unplugged.

Since it's old, see if you can find XP drivers, if you can, do a fresh XP install, and load the drivers. You'll be much happier running a clean version of XP than you will with a bloated "sony" version of Win2k.

 

I did bro. I loaded just XP, fully wiped out any partioned drives, both C and D, then installed a clean version of XP ONLY, not anything that came from Sony, or ANY other program at all. Just XP, and still it seemed that the requirements of ONLY XP, with no other programs, not one single thing from Sony, and just the essentials inlcuded with the XP install CD from windows, were still too much for the hardware to handle. This doesn't sound right though? With a Pentium III and 512 ram I'd think it could run XP fine. So what should I do to make XP run correctly. I'd hate to do anything at this point since Windows 2000 runs perfectly, super quick browsing etc, and any software I load for tuning isn't going to require XP right? So what's the harm in keeping 2000, as opposed to switching to XP I guess is my REAL question. I have plenty of other computers that run XP for work and home.

 

I never played with 2000. I jumped right from 98 to XP pro. My laptop is in the same boat as yours. An older Toshiba P3. As long as I do not try to run any newer programs designed for pentium4 machines, it works great. Mostly I use it for surfing and mail when on the road for work. I could get a newer and lighter computer, but this thing is a tank. All of my friends havd destroyed their newer laptops, but this thing keeps on ticking like the proverbial Timex watch.

 

You're missing the point.

If you do a clean install of XP, you'll have to get the drivers dude...

 

also, you couldn't have used a recovery cd if you truly did wipe everything clean. recovery cds work off a small partition on a hard drive to reload the os.

get the xp display driver for your laptop and im 99% sure that will fix the choppiness.

 

^ ts.gif

If you install the proper display driver everything should run fine. Videos, your choppy window movement, everything will be fine with the right display drivers.

 

That's what I hoped. It makes sense that the machine can handle XP. But after completely reformating both drive C and D, then using the recovery disc, the machine runs like new. So I know that I can always just load those back up if I have probs getting the drivers I need for XP. So where should I look for the right drivers? You know my specs, and I have XP on one disc, from way back, as well as a downloaded copy of SP2 on a different disc. I can load them both pretty quickly while I'm working on other things in the office, but how or where do I go about finding the drivers needed to get everything displaying correctly on XP? I know before I did all of this, I had a pretty ugly virus that just started giving me problems about a week before I backed up all the files and wiped the machine, but before the virus the machine ran XP fine without the issues I noticed this time. Help me find the drivers, and I'll be set with good hardware and good software! Thanks guys, I really never wanted to mess with Windows 2000 in the first place, even though it runs so clean.