Hello all,

Neighbor has an aging computer (Dimension 8200) used for basic web browsing email and a few windows only programs.

Specs,

Windows ME (Having lots of issues)
P4 2.0 GHZ
128 MB RIMM (rhombus inline memory module very very expensive to upgrade)
40 Gig HD

So the question is with so little ram (128) would 2000 Pro be an option?

or should I just reformat with ME (shudder)

thanks

From Microsoft: 64mb. So I would say 128 min
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304297

Windows 2000 only requires 64MB of RAM but would run very slow even with 128MB of RAM, that computer uses RDRAM which is extremely expensive, about $265.00 for a 512MB module.

http://www.4allmemory.com/index.cfm?fuseac...memory_id=77121

this is one time i would reccomend checking ebay for recycled memory

you have to use matched sticks

Is it matched sets or all of the slots have to be filled?. I seem to remember a special blank that had to be used if a slot was empty

http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.asp...400MHz%20FSB%29



Seems like i remember those "filler" pieces also for empty pairs of slots? Might be a balancer like you use when you only have one cpu in a server board?

wow 2 gigs of memory for only 1100$

Yes, RIMMS use a "blank" in slots where no ram exists. That said, if the user is installing new ram, he/she would be removing them.

Don't waste your money on the ram. Get a new machine if you are in this position and want an upgrade.

BE CAREFUL GETTING RECYCLED RAM!
RIMMs are tricky, and are rated based on latency in nano seconds. If the latency is too high, your motherboard will reject the ram. Also, finding out the latency of the ram and the requirement of the motherboard is difficult if not impossible when getting used RIMMs.

For more information, please see the following article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RDRAM

Billy3

http://search.ebay.com/Dimension-8200-memo...eZ0QQsofocusZbs

I have seen posters with the same issue have excellent results with ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Dimension-8200-81...1QQcmdZViewItem

30$ shipped in the usa is not a bad gamble

Thanks for all the helpful feed back, i ended up buying a pair of 128 MB for ~35 with guarantee if it doesn't work in my Dimension 8200 refund -S/H ($6) Figured it was worth a shot.

The Neighbor can't justify a new computer right now, considering they use if for genealogy, Word processing, and Email. Its just their genealogy program is unstable on ME.

Don't connect W2k to the internet till you have fully updated it

W2KSP4_EN.EXE (sp4)
Windows2000-KB891861-v2-x86-ENU.EXE
Windows2000-KB943055-x86-ENU.EXE

make sure it's behind a good firewall even then

I stopped at IE 5.5sp2 and dx 8.1

Considering XP with 384 Meg of Ram... for future compatibility.

What do you think?

XP will run on that amount of RAM, but most will agree that it really doesn't perform well with less that 512MB of RAM.
You might consider Ubuntu

Like dc3 said, most will say 512. If that's all they using it for and they minimize startup applications and keep it pretty lean, they might get by

What video card it's running will be critical, I found that xp does not do well with 16 megs or less of video memory, the lamer onboard chipsets that only share 8 megs were a disaster. You have to be extreme with your power user tweaks then.


Browsing and email are fine but what about antivirus and firewall?

actually has a dedicated NVIDIA Geforrce2 MX 32 MB card.

the seller shipped me ECC RIMM, had to ship back to him for non ECC ram. he shipped that today, hopefully it will work with out issue.

Let us know how it goes, good luck.

The Correct type of Ram arrived today. Installed XP pro. all is well, works fine. not to bad.

Thanks!