amusedI've been mucking out my room, and some of these old computers that I never use have just got to go - I've got another P166 from the B's (a true-blue Aptiva, no less) with the hard drive out of it, and a 486 with Windows 3.11 that I used extensively in the early 2000's. I'll probably remove the remaining hard drives and put the chassis in the attic. I found the box for my stepfather's old TI-99, and in case we ever find the actual 'computer,' I advised retaining it - some people collect that stuff, especially in this case when it works OK.
Another computer I'll keep is my old Acer laptop - it's a tank, and it just needs a CMOS battery. It's a unique enough unit to be worth keeping, not to mention that it was a Christmas gift from my father, and it was my only computer for many, many years.
Anyway, after I got back from Ukraine, I had use of the handed-down P166 (although it wasn't as useful as before as the floppy drive, graphics accelerator, and some other bits were removed for use in his "new" machine), and so I reconfigured that and purchased a home wireless kit that came with a USB dongle. So now I had wireless internet on my 1997 machine.
Now, though, with the new notebook, I've only turned that machine on a handful of times this year. Today I was deciding whether or not I'd keep it. A few factors to consider:
- I can't for the life of me get the computer to connect to the network with the new settings - any sort of passkey (even WEP) just frustrates it. I think it boils down to either the CPU or Windows 98.
- Well, maybe I'd be able to connect with Knoppix from my LiveCD? That would also be a good excuse to try out Knoppix, right? We'll just change the boot order in the BIOS, reset, and I'll be surfing again in no time!
- Knoppix took 45 minutes to load.
Yeah. I think it's over. The new day has dawned. I'm glad I didn't buy a car instead.