Win2K on a 300MHz?

[DaverD]

Is Win2K going to run well on a Pentium 300 MHz laptop with 160MB RAM?

I am currently using Win98SE and getting tired of having to reboot a number of times everyday. I use the laptop for Quicken, Office, CD burning and digital photos. I am looking to W2K as an OS that will allow me to do my work in a stable environment.

I can upgrade the memory to 288MB if needed.

I'd appreciate any opinions.

Thanks in advance.

David

 

[edemiere]

I am sure you can get it done, but instead of having to reboot many times a day, it will take you all day to boot, lol.

Seriously, I personally wouldn't bother trying to run that on such antiquated technology as Windows 2000 and XP have more overhead on the OS and it's resources.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Cheers!

 

[euston]

I have a machine of equivalent spec running Win2K. The performance is not intolerably slow. It should work reasonably well in my opinion but use as much RAM as possible. It won't set your desktop on fire but it will be powerful enough for MS Office, Paint Shop Pro, Macromedia software and Internet browsing. Also, check that hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List to be sure.

Enable DMA for HDDs if possible. Turn off Last Access Time Stamps for file accesses. If you can, put the paging file on another HDD reserved solely for that regular use (but by all means store files that are not accessed in the normal course of things, i.e. use as a backup). SCSI HDDs might benefit performance.

 

[TonyBose]

Stuff it with as much RAM as it will take.

...Mac

Humpty Dumpty was pushed!!

 

[Marcs41]

Win2000 will run just fine, even with just 128MB.
Of course it will not be a speed monster.
You have to ask yourself why you want to go from 98 to 2000.
If all works fine, leave it as it is, that is, re-install 98.

Marc
_{If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all. Please specify details.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC!}

 

[victorv]

I show you my powerful machine park:

Pentium 133 65Mb ram with W2K Advanced Server : it
is my AD Domain Controller (also for me is not a monster
but with 65Mb, I can do my test work )

From 5 years, I have my IBM laptop with 48 Mb with NT4,
in which I develop C++ Program (Visual Studio 6)

Intellistation P2 450 Mhz 128Mb ram with Windows 2K Pro

.....

Don't hesitate : reboot your W9x for the last shot.

(Don't migrate: after data saving, format disk )

bye

 

[wolluf]

I'd certainly do it - have 2k running on P300 equivalent with 128MB RAM - absolutely fine (certainly put more RAM in if you have it). I abandoned 98 for NT, 4 years ago - for the same reasons you state. Euston's comments spot on.

Assuming your hardware is compatible, you will get vastly improved stability.

 

[euston]

Thanks Wolluf. Nice of you to say so.

 

[dementg]

It should be just fine. I have run 2000 on 3 different 400-450MHz systems, and it works great. My sister's machine, a Cyrix 233MHz, used to run 98 but she got sick of problems with it, so I upgraded memory and put 2000 even on that machine. It's a little slow, but not any worse than 98 was. She's much happier with her computer now that it actually works.

Really I think 98 has so many issues that it can end up seeming slower than NT/2000 for non-gaming, real life use. It might run okay when it's first installed, but over time it takes longer and longer to boot and seems to lose performance for no apparent reason. All intel CPU's ever since the Pentium Pro, and including the P-2, are optimized for 32-bit code, while Win98 is largely a 16-bit system.

128MB works okay, but it takes longer to open programs and gets sluggish with multitasking. 256MB is much smoother. I believe 2000 will run at least as well as 98 did, though it needs more memory to do so.