HDD question.

Devon68 · Feb 1, 2016

Hi. So there is an old PC I sold to a friend 3-4 years ago and she haven't used it until now. She started to use it but she is complaining about how slow it is which is to be expected form a system that is almost 15 years old.

I really don't know the CPU,
It has some 478 socket board
512mb kingston ram
Has an FX 5200 GPU
350w no name psu
and a 40 GB IDE Drive.

She was complaining the internet is kind of slow and that the Os is old and she would want something newer.
Well I just cant figure out what to install. Back when I got it up and running I installed Windows XP since the HDD was so small and the components were so outdated.

With the 40GB HDD what other 32 bit os can I install?
I know Linux would be the best option but she hardly even knows how to use a windows OS.
She only uses it fot youtube and her 7 year old son plays some smaller and older games.

Drone · Feb 1, 2016

With 512 GB ram no OS will work normally. Even 2-3 browser tabs/windows will run slow. Windows XP SP2 and some lite Linux (like Xubuntu) might work. But then again modern browsers sooner or later won't work on XP.

RCoon · Feb 1, 2016

Remix OS. If she's used Android then it's easy.

Drone · Feb 1, 2016

Remix OS is not usable it's just for having fun on virtual machines, plus its official requirements are:

A USB 3.0 flash drive that supports FAT32 format, with a minimum capacity of 8GB and a recommended writing speed of 20MB/s.

A CPU with 64-bit compatibility.

Mussels · Feb 1, 2016

with those specs you're stuck with XP (disable windows updates, its broken/super lags machines) or linux.

such a small amount of ram wont handle modern web needs as others have said - even a single page/tab could use 500MB of ram.

newtekie1 · Feb 1, 2016

The biggest problem is the RAM and HDD. I know Windows 7 will install with 512MB of RAM, but it is going to run like garbage. The first thing I would do is try to find some more RAM to put in it. Even if you can get it up to 1GB, that is going to make a huge difference.

RCoon said:
Remix OS. If she's used Android then it's easy.

Remix might be an option, they just released the 32-bit Alpha version(it was 64-bit only before). http://support.jide.com/hc/en-us/ar...S-for-PC-compatible-with-32-bit-CPUs-Updated-

Grab a 64GB flash drive and run it off that. It is still going to be slow, but it will probably be more usable than the current setup.

Drone said:
Remix OS is not usable it's just for having fun on virtual machines

Not sure why you'd say that. It is Android on PC, designed to be used as a full OS like ChromeOS. There are even full computers sold with it running as the OS.

And the 32-bit build is still Alpha, that is why the official requirements are 64-bit, but it will work with 32-bit.

The Flash drive requirement is a recommendation more than a requirement. You want it to be as fast as possible because the OS runs off the flash drive, not the internal hard drive. But it will run off any flash drive, it will just be slower. Though I'd definitely make sure the machine has at least USB 2.0 ports.

RCoon · Feb 1, 2016

newtekie1 said:
The biggest problem is the RAM and HDD. I know Windows 7 will install with 512MB of RAM, but it is going to run like garbage. The first thing I would do is try to find some more RAM to put in it. Even if you can get it up to 1GB, that is going to make a huge difference.

Remix might be an option, they just released the 32-bit Alpha version(it was 64-bit only before). http://support.jide.com/hc/en-us/ar...S-for-PC-compatible-with-32-bit-CPUs-Updated-

Grab a 64GB flash drive and run it off that. It is still going to be slow, but it will probably be more usable than the current setup.

Not sure why you'd say that. It is Android on PC, designed to be used as a full OS like ChromeOS. There are even full computers sold with it running as the OS.

And the 32-bit build is still Alpha, that is why the official requirements are 64-bit, but it will work with 32-bit.

The Flash drive requirement is a recommendation more than a requirement. You want it to be as fast as possible because the OS runs off the flash drive, not the internal hard drive. But it will run off any flash drive, it will just be slower. Though I'd definitely make sure the machine has at least USB 2.0 ports.

You can actually install Remix on a HDD. Wasn't aware of the 32bit support until today!

Drone · Feb 1, 2016

newtekie1 said:
Not sure why you'd say that. It is Android on PC, designed to be used as a full OS like ChromeOS. There are even full computers sold with it running as the OS.

There's Androidx86 for that. And Chrome can't be called "full OS" since it's cloud based.

System Name	Ryzen 2023
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700
Motherboard	Asrock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	G Skill Flare X5 2x16gb cl32@6000 MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + gaming Oc
Storage	WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB 64MB 7k SATA600 Blue WD10EZEX, WD Black SN850X 1Tb nvme
Display(s)	LG 27GP850P-B
Case	Corsair 5000D airflow tempered glass
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-850W
Mouse	A4Tech V7M bloody
Keyboard	Genius KB-G255
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	HP Omen 17
Processor	i7 7700HQ
Memory	16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060
Storage	Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s)	1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s)	Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply	230W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD+
Software	Win 10 Pro

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	Intel Core i7 10850K@5.2GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z470 Taichi
Cooling	Corsair H115i Pro w/ Noctua NF-A14 Fans
Memory	32GB DDR4-3600
Video Card(s)	RTX 2070 Super
Storage	500GB SX8200 Pro + 8TB with 1TB SSD Cache
Display(s)	Acer Nitro VG280K 4K 28"
Case	Fractal Design Define S
Audio Device(s)	Onboard is good enough for me
Power Supply	eVGA SuperNOVA 1000w G3
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

System Name	HP Omen 17
Processor	i7 7700HQ
Memory	16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s)	GTX 1060
Storage	Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s)	1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s)	Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply	230W
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD+
Software	Win 10 Pro

HDD question.

Devon68

Drone

RCoon

Drone

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

newtekie1

Semi-Retired Folder

RCoon

Drone