![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jul. 31st, 2004 11:09 amI'm at Megan's parents place, doing the final tweaks on the machine I built for her folks. After a minor scare over an apparently failed modem, I reseated -everything- and discovered that the modem was just being twittish. At least I'm not going to have to go out and buy yet another one. Given the propensity of computer equipment that seems to suddenly stop working when left up here, everything's not only bolted down but lock-washered as well.
The machine that was originally up here was built around an old-but-bulletproof FIC VA503+ and the last of my Cyrix M-II 300 Socket 7 processors. After almost four years of being used without upkeep, the Windows Millennium install had literally come apart at the seams. I'd gotten it reinstalled with Windows NT, completely patched current... and then had everything come apart (after seventeen hours) when the power supply committed suicide and zapped both hard drives.
The replacement system is built around a BioStar M7MKE Slot A mainboard with the last of my Athlon 650's. The antiquated DCS video card was replaced by an old-but-still-kicking Matrox Mystique, quadrupling the video RAM. For ease of install, an old ISA 3Com 3C509-TP was put in it, and the modem (the only from-the-old-system card remaining) was installed. While the BioStar board is not and was -never- top of the line, it did ship with the Via onboard sound... replacing the partially fried SoundBlaster AWE 32.
Given a history of 'silent L' abuse that machines get up here, I opted to put Windows 2000 Pro on it. A bit more durable than the Window 9x set, more versatile than Windows NT, a bit more resilient than Windows XP Home, the biggest perk it has in its' favor is the fact that it's still actively supported by Microsoft. Not that anyone'll bother checking for patches and service packs. In spite of it amounting to another weekend where I'm pretty much offline, I'm glad I opted to make the trip. Considering the machine jarred something loose while wrapped in packing materials in the trunk of the Saturn, I can only imagine what would've happened had it been entrusted to UPS. Not my idea of a pretty picture.
At any rate, for those that care about such things, I'll be back home Sunday evening. My net access until then will be spotty at best; there's only one telephone line into this house, and I can't expect to be allowed to tie it up all day. It's just not a reasonable request. I brought the John Ringo novel that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
m_masque gave me, There Will Be Dragons, with me... I'll likely camp outside and read for most of the day. Given the proximity of the Metedeconk river, it's actually pleasant outside. It's pretty to watch, as well.
Well, the anti-virus software just finished downloading; time to get back to work. I need to install it, and then grab SpyBot; both of which I managed to forget to download and install while this silly machine was plugged into the LAN at home. Take care darlings; I'll be back soon.
*hugs*
The machine that was originally up here was built around an old-but-bulletproof FIC VA503+ and the last of my Cyrix M-II 300 Socket 7 processors. After almost four years of being used without upkeep, the Windows Millennium install had literally come apart at the seams. I'd gotten it reinstalled with Windows NT, completely patched current... and then had everything come apart (after seventeen hours) when the power supply committed suicide and zapped both hard drives.
The replacement system is built around a BioStar M7MKE Slot A mainboard with the last of my Athlon 650's. The antiquated DCS video card was replaced by an old-but-still-kicking Matrox Mystique, quadrupling the video RAM. For ease of install, an old ISA 3Com 3C509-TP was put in it, and the modem (the only from-the-old-system card remaining) was installed. While the BioStar board is not and was -never- top of the line, it did ship with the Via onboard sound... replacing the partially fried SoundBlaster AWE 32.
Given a history of 'silent L' abuse that machines get up here, I opted to put Windows 2000 Pro on it. A bit more durable than the Window 9x set, more versatile than Windows NT, a bit more resilient than Windows XP Home, the biggest perk it has in its' favor is the fact that it's still actively supported by Microsoft. Not that anyone'll bother checking for patches and service packs. In spite of it amounting to another weekend where I'm pretty much offline, I'm glad I opted to make the trip. Considering the machine jarred something loose while wrapped in packing materials in the trunk of the Saturn, I can only imagine what would've happened had it been entrusted to UPS. Not my idea of a pretty picture.
At any rate, for those that care about such things, I'll be back home Sunday evening. My net access until then will be spotty at best; there's only one telephone line into this house, and I can't expect to be allowed to tie it up all day. It's just not a reasonable request. I brought the John Ringo novel that
m_masque gave me, There Will Be Dragons, with me... I'll likely camp outside and read for most of the day. Given the proximity of the Metedeconk river, it's actually pleasant outside. It's pretty to watch, as well.Well, the anti-virus software just finished downloading; time to get back to work. I need to install it, and then grab SpyBot; both of which I managed to forget to download and install while this silly machine was plugged into the LAN at home. Take care darlings; I'll be back soon.
*hugs*
