What to do with this old computer...

[J-Roc]

My friend came to me asking if i could check out his computer. He wants to play WarRock on it.

Its an IBM Aptiva with a K6 proc. 128mb ram and onboard video. He currently has windows 98 on it but we all know how much that blows.

I know there are many Linux distro's out, Which is best for a slow computer.

Can i still play windows based games in a linux distro?

[Luke122]

IMHO, Win98 was one of the most solid release MS ever did. Certainly better than win95, WinME *shudder*.

[D1337]

slap him and if he doesnt get a new computer, then try installing tinyxp..

[OvRiDe]

I would agree with Luke122 on the Win98 (I don't see any problems with ME, I have a system still running it and it NEVER has given me any problems except the fact it just got old. :) ) But honestly what kind of Windows games are you talking about running on a system like that? Obviously nothing modern, but If you are wanting something that will still run some retro games then you might as well leave it on 98, I don't think you will gain anything in that realm by going to Linux.

Of course there are some other things you could use it for. IPCOP firewall, Webserver, FTPServer, Network Attached Storage, or even maybe a dedicated streaming music server for your home network. It all depends on what you maybe interested in.

[SgtM]

I'll have to second OvRiDe. There's not much your friend can do with that box, and he definitely can't play War Rock on it.

My recommended uses:
1. Web server
2. Proxy server
3. Network Attached Storage
4. File server

[slytherock]

IMHO, Win98 was one of the most solid release MS ever did. Certainly better than win95, WinME *shudder*.

Just a side question: ME Was an OS??? :p

Agree with above statement: File server first, but add some RAM

[cured]

torrents is also good

[Luke122]

Just a side question: ME Was an OS???

I personally never believed it.. I always thought it was a huge joke that MS played on its customers.
;)

Back to the OP's questions..

Why not try to overclock it until it explodes? A PC of that age is really only good for limited server type duties, or a very stripped down Linux web surfing box, or a science project. How fast can a K6 go before it "pops" ? Hehe.. we assume no responsibility for fires, explosions, or injuries caused by dramatic hardware failures. ;)

Boost the ram a bunch, strip out all the apps except what's absolutely necessary to run Windows, plug in a big External hard drive, and use it as a server to share files. You can even run it headless (ie no monitor, keyboard, mouse) if you install an rdp server on it, like VLC or Remote Admin.

[Crazy Buddhist]

I'd put an IPCOP firewall on it and build the smoking barricades. I smell war. Or is that luke burning computers again?

{:~/

[Cannibal23]

you could use it for some more of the following:

boat anchor (fill with concrete)
foot rest
work bench
door stop
speed bump
target practice
basicly anything that does not require serious computing power like modern games and a fair ammount of modern applications will not run on windows 98 because it is a 16 bit OS. so as it was mentioned above you can use it for low intensity suff. web server or ftp server or a file server telnet server maybe if your pushing it a little a mail server for just a few accounts. beyond that refer to above list :-)

[slytherock]

you could use it for some more of the following:

boat anchor (fill with concrete)
foot rest
work bench
door stop
speed bump
target practice
basicly anything that does not require serious computing power like modern games and a fair ammount of modern applications will not run on windows 98 because it is a 16 bit OS. so as it was mentioned above you can use it for low intensity suff. web server or ftp server or a file server telnet server maybe if your pushing it a little a mail server for just a few accounts. beyond that refer to above list :-)

hehe :D You forgot the cat litter

[Crazy Buddhist]

.... maybe if your pushing it a little a mail server for just a few accounts. beyond that refer to above list :-)

Beg to differ. There are mail servers that will run on Windows 95 on a 486 with 128M RAM and handle hundreds of users.


:)

[Xpirate]

I had a K6 machine with 128MB running Win98 SE. Some of the RAM broke and then the power supply fried. I'm not going to bother repairing it because it is just too old. My wife wants me to get rid of some of my computer junk anyway.