OS Recommendation for P2 333/128mb RAM laptop (Vaio laptop)

pillagenburn

pillagenburn

[H]ard|Gawd
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OK guys, I ran into a Vaio P2 333 laptop with 128mb RAM and a 6.4 gig hard drive. This thing is absolutely tiny... I wish there were a way to upgrade it beyond a p2 333/128mb ram but there isn't.

I plan on swapping the hard drive out for a good Compact Flash to IDE adapter in the near future, but I need a good low-overhead Operating System recommendation.

I've heard that Damn Small Linux is a good choice, but I'm still not sure. Do Linux Web Browsers utilize much in the way of resources? What about chat clients for things like IRC and AIM?

I'd like to stay GUI-oriented; I've installed Ubuntu on a desktop before, but I'd like to experiment with this! This laptop will just be for general usage and really just something I don't care that much about (if it breaks or whatever, i wont be too heart broken).
 
I'd second the vote for Windows 2000. A great OS that with a few tweaks gets even greater, especially on such older hardware. XP can be gutted out pretty drastically using nLite and become a viable option, actually, but it takes effort to accomplish that sort of project.
 
I've tried WinXP on a P2 400MHz, and 128mb ram, 6GB harddrive... didn't run too bad.

Didn't try music, videos, or flash, but browsing the internet was fine.
 
Another Win2K vote here, although you should let us know how Ubuntu runs on that machine if you do decide to install it. I've never run it on a machine so old and I'd love to know how it performs.
 
+1 W2K. Even win98 if you still have that would fly on your box. Ubuntu's recommended is 384mb ram.
DSL and some of the ones that don't need much hardwre aren't very good. They're fast, but they aren't exactly user friendly.
 
Another vote Win2k. It is still one the best no-nonsense OS's out there.
 
I would have to say either windows 2000 (if you want to stick to Windows) or DSL or Puppy Linux. Oh, and congrats on the picturebook.
 
Debian would run ok on that.

for instant message use GAIM and the web browser is just firefox.
 
I loaded XP onto a P133 before ha, BeOS is fun I dunno if they are doing much with it anymore but you got a lot of linux options
 
Down8 said:
I have a copy for sale! $20 shipped! :D
Click to expand...

What? I thought you had to pay to get RID of Windows ME... You know, like those virus removal specialists? lol


But seriously Windows 2000 here as well. Unless you want to try a Linux package of some sort.
 
Win2K always ran great for me on my 233 Mhz P1 with 96MB RAM. You won't have any problems with it.
 
linux should get you better performance than win2k , the question is which
 
I'll be the loony and toss out a vote for Windows XP; it's quite a bit more modern than Windows 2000, is still supported by Microsoft, and really isn't that much more bloated.

If you're really concerned about it the tiny amount of fat XP tacks on, you can shut off the few services and effects XP has running that 2000 didn't. Theme's Service, IMAP CD Burning service, Image Acquisition Service, and all of those fancy little window effects like menu fades, shadows, advanced font smoothing, etc. Those effects can be turned off by going to:

System properties > Advanced tab > Settings button in the "Performance" section > Select the "Adjust for best performance" radio button > Click Apply.

That should speed things up noticeably, though XP will resemble Windows 2000 without all the visual goodies like theme's running (and should actually perform faster, XP handles RAM far more efficiently than Windows 2000).
 
i've got XP on my old Compaq PIII 800mhz laptop and it is "ok".
I did have XP on my 366mhz laptop as well, but it ran a tad too slow, so I put 98SE on it and it runs decent.
Both have 128megs of Ram and small drives 4-6gigs.
 
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