My Aim: To make my ~12 year old E-machines desktop PC an everyday usable computer.
The Task:
To begin with the specs of the computer as I received it from a friend some years ago are as follows:
OS - Windows ME
CPU - Celeron @ 733MHz with a 66MHz FSB
RAM - 64MB SDRAM
CD-ROM drive
Ethernet PCI card
Modem PCI card
10.2GB HDD
(And just to make it more interesting, I cannot use parts made after 2003[other than a wireless device])
My first point of call was to connect the PC to the internet and update it as much as Microsoft will allow me (I may have cheated a little here my using my trusty Thinkpad to bridge the Ethernet connection as I don't have a cable long enough to reach the router).
After this I attempted to ditch the abomination that is IE6, this is where the problems start, Firefox 3 or above isn't supported on ME, Chrome needs XP or higher and I'm sorry but any other browser wouldn't be worth the bother of installing. So i'm stuck with IE6 until I update to XP.
The next obvious route was to upgrade the RAM as 64MB just doesn't cut it anymore, even for web-browsing, so I checked eBay and picked up 2x 128MB SDRAM sticks (the most this mobo will accept) for around £2 each with £1 delivery.
This is where I am up to at this point in time (08/03/2012) and I plan to upgrade to XP, maybe upgrade the processor if I feel it needs it and finally the HDD is a possibility.
Please check back on my blog for updates and let me know about your endeavors to keep your old (but equally noble) computers/laptops breathing!
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