Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300

Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
2,079
My sister got a Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 for free from my cousins Uncle Ralph. After checking it out for it was discovered that the laptop had 40MB RAM a 133 MHz Pentium, 2GB HDD, CD-ROM drive, and 13.3 TFT LCD display. No PCMCIA PC card were included, so I looked on ebay and amazon. A 4-port USB 2.0 PCMCIA cardbus card was ordered along with a Cisco Linksys WIreless-G network card only to find out that neither of these are compatible with the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 as it only excepts PC card instead of cardbus. Also I purchased a Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 for parts because it included a Pentium 266 Mhz processor with MMX, 64 MB RAM, mouse, floppy drive, external floppy drive adapter, and laptop bag. After getting the thing in the mail it was discovered that it has no Operating System installed and won't boot from the CD-ROM drive. Also, I'm not even sure if the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 even included a hard drive, but I can't prove it because I can't boot from CD-ROM. It was discovered that it may support up to 384MB RAM, which is good even though I only need 64MB to install Windows XP or XP Professional. However, if it does support up to 384MB that is also good as anything past 256MB will make it less dependant on Virtual Memory. Before you complain about my picture please understand that photobucket messed them up and that is why they are not rotated and why some are upside down. As stated before I got a Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 with the lid shown here:

Gateway2000SOLO2300lid.jpg



The keyboard shown here:


Gateway2000SOLOkeyboard.jpg



The bottom label shown here:


Gateway2000SOLO2300label.jpg



An image of the POST screen shown here:


Gateway2000SOLO2300POST.jpg



It was discovered that by removing the CD-ROM drive casing from the CD-ROM pictured here:


Gateway2000SOLO2300CD-ROMdrive.jpg



That the CD-ROM drive interface connector pictured here can be removed for drive replacement:


Gateway2000SOLO2300CD-ROMdriveconnector.jpg



After removing the CD-ROM drive interface connector board shown here the drive can be replaced:


Gateway2000SOLO2300CD-ROMdriveconnectorboard.jpg



Finally after the CD-ROM drive interface connector board is removed all that remains is the standard connector shown here:


Gateway2000SOLO2300CD-ROMdrivewithoutconnectorboard.jpg



However, would someone please tell me what this bay is for as shown in the following picture:


Gateway2000SOLO2300USBside.jpg



because if the previous image is showing were the hard drive goes it looks like I need a special casing and connector to get the hard drive in there, so please let me know if you recognize this as this in not described in the users manual.
 
Last edited:
Um...wow...

I don't know what you think you're going to do with this, but I can't see it as anything other than a bag of hurt.

XP SP0 might have had a minimum install memory of 64mb, but once you get it updated through SP3 and patched to current, anything less than 192mb is going to be excruciating. And modern antivirus (absolutely required) consumes an additional 100mb at best. Even if you max it out, it will border on unusable.

I wouldn't spend another dime on this. By the time you get this thing viable, you will probably have spent enough to buy a new netbook, which would be -- quite literally -- ten times the computer in every conceivable way. This, quite honestly, was not worth the cost of shipping it.
 
I replaced the CD-ROM drive and just as I suspected it was at fault for not booting the WIndows Installation CD. However, replacing it also proved that there is no Hard drive as shown here from the WIndows XP installation screen:

Gateway2000SOLO2300WindowsIntallscreen.jpg


After this I'm not sure where I'm going to get a hard drive caddy because I looked and couldn't find one. Guess I won't be getting any use out of this laptop for my sister after all, but I'll keep you posted.
 
JUNK THIS POS!

Seriously...any $100-200 laptop on Craigslist will be works above this ancient, old, decrepit dinosaur of a laptop.

I'd be mad at your uncle for even giving this away.

Hell, if you have a case and power supply I've got an old Pentium 4 3.2ghz CPU, motherboard, 2x1GB DDR1, and 80GB IDE hard drive I'll GIVE YOU if you pay shipping!
 
40mb ram and pentium 133....xp will choke.

btw, min req for xp:
Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution
Sound card
Speakers or headphones
 
40mb ram and pentium 133....xp will choke.

btw, min req for xp:
Pentium 233-megahertz (MHz) processor or faster (300 MHz is recommended)
At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM (128 MB is recommended)
At least 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available space on the hard disk
CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
Keyboard and a Microsoft Mouse or some other compatible pointing device
Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600)or higher resolution
Sound card
Speakers or headphones

I know that read what I said more carefully. I said he gave her a Gateway 2000 Solo 2100 with a pentium 133MHz and 40MB RAM and I bought a Gateway 2000 Solo 2300 on ebay for parts with a Pentium 266MHz and 64MB RAM (Upgradeable to 384MB), but it still works.
I have no intention of putting Windows XP on the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 because its maxed out at 40MB, although the users manual suggests that it can support 64MB, but it still wouldn't meet the minimum processor requirement. The plan would be to install it on the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300. The only thing the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 needed was a new cd-rom drive and a hard drive. I replaced the cdrom drive, but don't have the hard drive caddy to mount the hard drive. By the way I'm also having trouble finding SD-RAM so-dimms that will fit in the memory slots, but at this point its not worth putting any more effort into getting the laptop. However I may still keep working with the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 to see if I can make it fully functional. Even if that means putting Linux on it. As for the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 I can't convince my sister that notepad is not a word processing program and that paint is a lousy photo editor because she just won't listen and doesn't care because the laptop was free. Considering she had a Mac Book Pro that got stolen and doesn't know the difference between a PC and a Mac or Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Paint its really fustrating and she older than I am.
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure if I should start a new thread about this or talk about the lastest problem with these two laptop here. First though my sister some how wiped out the installation of WIndows 98 on her Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 , so I tried to put Redhat 6.2 Linux on it because my Windows 98 installation disc's won't boot on it. However, that was a horrible idea because throughout the graphical install the graphics were distorted and hard to decipher not to mention to top it all off during the partioning it keep adding a 1 in front of the size I wanted making it even more of a problem. Then the installation of Redhat 6.2 crashed and afterwards I couldn't get the installation CD to boot past vmlinuz. As for the Gateway SOLO 2300 I got the hard drive caddy and successfully installed it with a 12 GB hard drive despite the screw that came with it being a mismatch with 1 screw being to small and another being to big. However, after I got windows XP SP2 installed I was checking to see what type of PCMIA cards it uses and when I was putting the ethernet card back in I couldn't tell that the door for the slot came off. Then after trying to force the card in a little and still realizing the card would not go in I look again in better lighting to confirm that the door came off and got jammed in the slot. That's not the worst of it though because now I still can't get the card in because the door bent the pins on the bottom slot while jammed in the slot because I tried to force the card in, so does anyone know the best way to take apart a Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 or should I just go for it and be careful? As for the Windows XP SP2 installation through it did run pretty horrible because the system was using about 77 MB of memory and the most physical memory installed is 64 MB, even if it does max out at 384 MB.
 
Last edited:
Red Hat won't work if it requires the 686 instruction set as the Pentium only has the 586 instruction set. I ran into that issue trying various linux distros on a Pentium 233MMX. Puppy was one distro with a GUI that worked, but I never got the PCMCIA network card to play nice with it.
 
I repaired the slot myself with some small flathead screw drivers and alot of hassle bending the pins around to get them back in an acceptibable position as shown below along with a picture of the screen showing WIndows XP installed. I might as well not even have bother taking a picture of the inside of the PCMIA slots to show that they are repaired, but it will be shown below anyway. I took the all the doors off the PCMIA slots and threw them in the trash because of this and the door covering the back connectors like the VGA along with the hinges because it was broken too and was causing problems as well as safety concerns.


Here is the picture of the repaired PCMIA PC card slot:





Here is the picture of the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 laptop partially taken apart:





Here is a picture of the tools used to repair the pins on the PCMIA slot:






Finally here is a picture of the screen showing the installation of Windows XP using the Windows Classic theme:


 
Last edited:
That thing isnt worth spending any money or time on.

Yea maybe, but I didn't pay much for it or the parts I needed and its still functions. Not only that, but the remainder of what I need is still cheaper than anything new.
 
Red Hat won't work if it requires the 686 instruction set as the Pentium only has the 586 instruction set. I ran into that issue trying various linux distros on a Pentium 233MMX. Puppy was one distro with a GUI that worked, but I never got the PCMCIA network card to play nice with it.

Thanks no one else seemed to have an explaination to this problem so far, but it's kind of a disappointment because I was hoping to have an alternative solution to Windows 98 that would work on the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 at least.
 
I got Windows XP SP3 for $5 off amazon by using a gift card because it was originally $60.99 for this laptop. While I was installing it I got to the part were it was copying the files to the hard drive and it keep saying can't read file ignore or skip, so I kept doing that until it kept asking me for like every file. Then I decided I would use another genuine Windows XP disc instead of the disc I bought of amazon and use the product key from that disc with another disc, which you can do because service packs are free as long as you own a valid copy of Windows. However, instead of pressing F3 to quit and restart the computer and eject the disc I decide to just turn in off and it shouldn't have mattered, but maybe it did and when I put a different Windows XP SP3 disc in the cd-rom drive wouldn't read it. I thought the drive might be bad, but at the time I had nothing else to test it in. Finally I got another Gateway 2000 SOLO 2300 that I paid $30 for on ebay including shipping today. This 2300 has a cracked screen, but once I stuck the cd-rom in it from the other one it booted fine despite not being able to load the partition setup because of only have 32 MB instead of the 64 MB minimum requirement. After that I knew the board was bad on the original 2300 I purchased, so I took the cover off and got it apart as much as could until the this point below showing the cd-rom tray and some screw I can only get to with either an off set screw driver, snake screw driver, or flex screwdriver. However, I don't have either of these at the moment and I was hoping maybe someone could tell me if its even necessary to take these screws out underneath this lip.




Here is the shielding from a zoomed out position:





Here is the back showing the I/O port retention bolts taken out:






As you can see I hope there is nothing else left to take apart except under this lip that I can see and I took the screw off from the shielding, even though they are on in these pictures because taking them off didn't help. I'm done with this and any Gateway SOLO series laptop though from now on if this is what I'm going to run into and if no one else can help me figure out how to take the rest of this apart to replace the motherboard or at least the screen in the one the arrived today on 7-5-2014.
 
Why haven't you thrown out this 20 year old POS yet? Instead of wasting $30 and who knows how much time on another one, you could just spend $50 to get a 10 year old laptop that's slightly less terrible (but still nonetheless) off craigslist and at least run something that isn't Windows 98. Even then though, I'd still consider that a waste of money. Hell, someone even offered you a free one two years ago. You do know what [H] is all about after all...I hope?
 
Why haven't you thrown out this 20 year old POS yet? Instead of wasting $30 and who knows how much time on another one, you could just spend $50 to get a 10 year old laptop that's slightly less terrible (but still nonetheless) off craigslist and at least run something that isn't Windows 98. Even then though, I'd still consider that a waste of money. Hell, someone even offered you a free one two years ago. You do know what [H] is all about after all...I hope?

This isn't for me and my sister doesn't want a desktop, so I'm not interested in offers for a desktop. I don't have any need for this for myself because I have an Asus G74SX-3DE laptop PC, a Mid 2012 Mac Book Pro, a Mid 2012 Mac Pro, and a Xeon PC i'm currently working on that I mostly use. After this if I need to I may end up getting her a Mac Book AIr to replace her Mac Book Pro that got stolen.
 
A few years ago I tried to get an old 13" thinkpad, 233mhz, 64MB ram set up to stream audio to the stereo. Ended up going with Win NT 4.0...But then ran into problems finding a browser that would run on 64MB ram and run flash content. I eventually got it set up, but it wasn't worth it.
 
Windows 2000 on that thing. Dont even bother with XP.

Why even if Windows XP is border unusable because it runs better on 512 or above. It only requires 64 MB and 128 is recommended. Besides with more than 256 MB it ought to run fine despite the most recent version of Microsoft Office probably needing at least an additional 512 MB for it alone. However, I may not need that much memory for Open Office. I would say Lotus Smart Suite 97, but that's extremely out dated an probably won't run on XP. However Lotus was the only option I could give her with the Gateway 2000 SOLO 2100 because it had Windows 98 SE and with support for only up to 64 MB RAM, but no retailer available that sells the type of memory for it Windows XP was not an option. Just as I found out that Redhat 6.2 is not an option for the 2100 as well. Also Windows 2000 doesn't have a firewall and I don't have a copy or the desire to own it as most things weren't compatible with it compared to XP. Cosidering I have Open Office 3.2 and 3.3 and maybe older at just Open Office the requirements for 3.2-3.3 are as stated below and I should be able to meet them despite it consuming nearly all the remaining system memory:

Microsoft Windows

Windows 2000 (Service Pack 2 or higher), Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7
256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
At least 650 Mbytes available disk space for a default install (including a JRE) via download.
After installation and deletion of temporary installation files, OpenOffice.org will use approximately 440 Mbytes disk space.
1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colours

If I do have OpenOffice 1.0 for Windows then the requirements are below and the system maybe more usable despite being extremely out dated, but neither of the ones I mentioned support .Docx either:

Microsoft Windows:
Pentium-compatible PC
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 or XP (2000, ME or XP required for Asian/CJK versions)
64-Mbytes RAM minimum
250-Mbytes hard disk space

Apache Open Office 4.1 System Requirements are as follows, but are the same as 3.2 and 3.3 thus leaving the system border line unusable and consuming nearly all the remaining system memory:

Microsoft Windows

Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1
256 Mbytes RAM (512 MB RAM recommended)
At least 650 Mbytes available disk space for a default install via download. After installation and deletion of temporary installation files, Apache OpenOffice will use approximately 440 Mbytes disk space.
1024 x 768 or higher resolution with at least 256 colors

Believe me if I can go with a version of Open Office older version of Open Office I probably will to keep it from using all the system memory. Also Office 2013 and 365 are not an option as the laptop cannot meet the system requirements stated below:

System requirements for Office 2013 and Office 365 ProPlus

This article includes system requirements for:

Office 2013, which includes the desktop programs for Access, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word
Office 365 ProPlus, an Office-only version of Office 365 for people who don’t need additional Office 365 services, such as Exchange Online or SharePoint Online. Office 365 ProPlus is a monthly subscription-based service that includes Access, Excel, InfoPath, Lync, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word.
For system requirements for Office 365, the monthly subscription-based service available for business, education, and government organizations, please see Office 365 system requirements. Most Office 365 plans include Office desktop programs, as well as SharePoint Online, Lync Online, Exchange Online, Yammer, and other services.

COMPONENT REQUIREMENT
Operating system
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 7
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8
32-bit Office can be installed on 32-bit or 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit Office can only be installed on 64-bit operating systems.
See about choosing to run 32-bit or 64-bit Office at Choose the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Office 2013.
Computer and processor 1 GHZ or faster x86 or 64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set.
Memory
1 GB RAM (32-bit)
2 GB RAM (64-bit) recommended for graphics features, Outlook Instant Search, and certain advanced functionality.
Disk space 3 gigabytes (GB)
Monitor resolution 1024 x 768
Browsers See what browsers you can use to get the best out of Office features at Supported browsers in Office 2013 and Office 365 ProPlus.
Visio
Visio has slightly different requirements.

COMPONENT REQUIREMENT
Operating system
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 7
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8
With at least Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5
Computer and processor 1 GHz or faster x86 or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set.
Memory 1 GB RAM for 32-bit or 2 GB RAM for 64-bit
Disk space 3 GB
Hardware acceleration Graphics hardware acceleration with DirectX10 graphics card
Monitor resolution 1024 x 576 or higher
Browsers
Windows Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10
Mozilla Firefox 10.x+
Apple Safari 5 (Mac)
Google Chrome 17.x
Internet Used for some features
Multi-Touch features Windows 7 and a touch enabled device
Project
Project also has slightly different requirements.

COMPONENT REQUIREMENT
Operating system
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows 7
Windows Server 2012
Windows 8
Computer and processor 1 GHz or faster x86 or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set.
Memory
1 GB RAM for 32-bit
2 GB RAM for 64-bit
Disk space 2 GB available disk space
Hardware acceleration Graphics hardware acceleration requires DirectX10 graphics card
Monitor resolution 1024 x 576 or higher
Browsers
Windows Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10
Mozilla Firefox 10.x+
Apple Safari 5 (Mac)
Google Chrome 17.x
Internet Used for some features
Multi-Touch features Windows 7 and a touch enabled device

This leaves me with Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 as the only choice for a recent version of office that supports .docx as far as I know.
 
You can still buy SODIMMs for these pretty cheaply because it is in demand for printers. PC100/PC133 memory is backwards compatible to PC66 specs too.

There are some issues with regards to how much RAM will actually be recognized. The main issue that I've encountered is only half of the SODIMM will be recognized. I have a link somewhere that explains why, but it's not something you can divine from just looking at the modules themselves, nor can you judge it from reading the specs.

Worst case (from Amazon, you can return the item) just assume the chipset you are applying the RAM to will only see 1/2 of what you put in, in each slot. Sometimes the reviews can be helpful, but not always.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
You can still buy SODIMMs for these pretty cheaply because it is in demand for printers. PC100/PC133 memory is backwards compatible to PC66 specs too.

There are some issues with regards to how much RAM will actually be recognized. The main issue that I've encountered is only half of the SODIMM will be recognized. I have a link somewhere that explains why, but it's not something you can divine from just looking at the modules themselves, nor can you judge it from reading the specs.

Worst case (from Amazon, you can return the item) just assume the chipset you are applying the RAM to will only see 1/2 of what you put in, in each slot. Sometimes the reviews can be helpful, but not always.

I don't know if any of those will work because they have to be low profile DIMMs as well and I already tried purchasing memory from Amazon from AZPerfume by Edge at this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086GXSW2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the DIMMs were to big. As soon as keystonllc or Keystorn on ebay gets back from vacation I can purchase memory from them at this link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/150711672943?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT and hope they are the right size because they claim the memory will support the model I need it for. Also according to Gateway the 2300 will support up to 384 MB. However by running SiSoft Sandra or Astra 32 I may discover that it supports more like up to 768 MB, but even if it recognizes 512 MB SODIMMs I doubt it will detect them all and read up to 1.5 GB of RAM. This situation with the memory though is all considering I get the motherboard swapped out for a working one.
 
Last edited:
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I don't know if any of those will work because they have to be low profile DIMMs as well and I already tried purchasing memory from Amazon from AZPerfume by Edge at this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0086GXSW2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and the DIMMs were to big. As soon as keystonllc or Keystorn on ebay gets back from vacation I can purchase memory from them at this link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/150711672943?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT and hope they are the right size because they claim the memory will support the model I need it for. Also according to Gateway the 2300 will support up to 384 MB. However by running SiSoft Sandra or Astra 32 I may discover that it supports more like up to 768 MB, but even if it recognizes 512 MB SODIMMs I doubt it will detect them all and read up to 1.5 GB of RAM. This situation with the memory though is all considering I get the motherboard swapped out for a working one.

Wow, that's a tough one to find then. I've never even heard of low profile SODIMMs. The one you linked to looks pretty short, did it look like what was pictured when you received it?
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Wow, that's a tough one to find then. I've never even heard of low profile SODIMMs. The one you linked to looks pretty short, did it look like what was pictured when you received it?

I haven't ordered them yet because the guy was on vacation until 7-09-2014 and after that I won't have the money to buy them until I sell something on ebay or the end of the month.
 
Man, you should be posting this topic in the Vintage Computer Forum.

I practically specialize in the old computers noone wants that aren't vintage yet. Signed up just to reply here. So yeah, first thing, don't throw it out, it'll be vintage tomorrow. Actual usability? Very low. But please don't torture it or it's users with XP *or* CD installation. Install DOS from floppy disk (have it's floppy disk drive though?), it's easier. Then you can use DOS CD-ROM drivers to load up Windows 2000 Pro files onto the hard drive and install it without a product key. Windows 2000 Pro does most of the things XP does, except with a ton less memory usage. It'll run fine on 64MB RAM. (Remember that 2K is numbered Windows 5.0 while XP is numbered 5.1). And it can be downloaded free since it's basically abandonware. While it's not very useful since XP was discontinued, it will run Opera anyway.

Doesn't it take standard PC100 RAM like you can get here for $4? www.ebay.com/itm/181503885671 You could grab two or three of those and have plenty of RAM.
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top