I have an old desktop (Celeron, 128MB RAM) that I'm going to use for SETI crunching only. Other additions that are going to be running are VNC and ClamAV.

Which OS will be more productive, RAC wise? Win98SE or WinXP?

Sorry, Linux is not an option here :)

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@128M Win98SE, if you can go 256 or more (512 preferred), XP.

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My movie https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/502242

I have an old desktop (Celeron, 128MB RAM) that I'm going to use for SETI crunching only. Other additions that are going to be running are VNC and ClamAV.

Which OS will be more productive, RAC wise? Win98SE or WinXP?

Sorry, Linux is not an option here :)

On an old single P3 that I used to have, I found WinXP to give a better RAC than Win98SE -- but, it did have 512MB.

With only 128MB, especially since VNC and AV is sure to take up a bit of resources, I'd probably go with Win98...

Is 128MB the max this old guy can support? If not, old RAM for it is probably pennies on Ebay...

Don't use 98SE, use 2k at least.

XP will run fine if you use nLite on it and remove some of the junk.

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i would say just stick with 98 save the money for the next computer

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Live a little- put Linux on it. Why pay Bill G to run an antique?

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Boinc Button Abuser In Training >My Shrubbers<

I have done Win. 98FE and XP on a Socket 370 P3. Definitely do the XP.

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Thanks to all of those who replied.

BTW, I goofed. The machine has 256MB RAM, not 128MB.

I'm inclined to let Win98SE run for a while, mostly because it was such a pain to install. I was originally planning on running Win98 off a USB thumb drive, and no hard disk, but it has been such a struggle to get the installation working that I gave up.

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Go on... try a Linux distro and save on the ClamAV gobbling up resources and time. No anti-virus and no firewall needed on a simple Linux client system, especially so for just a cruncher. You can run VNC on Linux also.

Take a look a Kubuntu (most similar look to Windows) or Ubuntu (most similar look to Macs). There's Xubuntu that is more resource efficient.

Boinc can be installed from a few clicks. No scary command-line needed!

And see the thread "Stupid guy installs linux to HD for first time" for a fun adventure ;-)

Also try:
Kubuntu BOINC install

and for the more adventurous:
BOINC on Damned Small Linux


Enjoy some freedom!

Happy crunchin',
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Thanks to all of those who replied.

BTW, I goofed. The machine has 256MB RAM, not 128MB.

I'm inclined to let Win98SE run for a while, mostly because it was such a pain to install. I was originally planning on running Win98 off a USB thumb drive, and no hard disk, but it has been such a struggle to get the installation working that I gave up.

Save your pennies and stay with Win98SE, but use the optimised app, see sticky thread, but be aware there are some extra issues running with Win9x that don't appear in WinNT and derivatives. It is hoped that most of these will be gone when the next app apears, i.e. they are being looked at on the Beta site.

Andy

This had been discussed before back on the Classic forum, perhaps three years ago. The way I remember it, Xp seemed to crunch about 10 percent faster than 98SE, with everything else being the same. I don't know what effect that would have with SetiBoincEnhanced, and with Simon's Enhanced Cruncher Version 2.0. I don't know if older computers can handle all this modern stuff or not. It might be a gamble buying that expensive software, only to have it not work. I don't even think 128 MB of RAM is enough to run Xp.

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This had been discussed before back on the Classic forum, perhaps three years ago. The way I remember it, Xp seemed to crunch about 10 percent faster than 98SE, with everything else being the same. I don't know what effect that would have with SetiBoincEnhanced, and with Simon's Enhanced Cruncher Version 2.0. I don't know if older computers can handle all this modern stuff or not. It might be a gamble buying that expensive software, only to have it not work. I don't even think 128 MB of RAM is enough to run Xp.

XP Pro will run on 192Mb... I know, 'cause I have an old Toshiba LT (P3, 750Mhz - 128Mb stock, 64Mb added) running same. (Not that there's much space for applications - maybe 110Mb, 52 with SETI running.)

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Hello, from Albany, CA!...

This had been discussed before back on the Classic forum, perhaps three years ago. The way I remember it, Xp seemed to crunch about 10 percent faster than 98SE, with everything else being the same. I don't know what effect that would have with SetiBoincEnhanced, and with Simon's Enhanced Cruncher Version 2.0. I don't know if older computers can handle all this modern stuff or not. It might be a gamble buying that expensive software, only to have it not work. I don't even think 128 MB of RAM is enough to run Xp.

XP Pro will run on 192Mb... I know, 'cause I have an old Toshiba LT (P3, 750Mhz - 128Mb stock, 64Mb added) running same. (Not that there's much space for applications - maybe 110Mb, 52 with SETI running.)

It will run on 128MB (I have a reconstructed DEll 8100 w/128 RD RAM)...I stripped the OS to only the basics, and put BOINC in a separate partition. I also have explorer.exe shut down to make sure that it doesn't suck up too many resources. But when needed i can (and have restarted explorer.exe and surfed the web (slowly).

-citroja

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I'll bet that if you could make an installation package for DSL that would install just itself and anything required to run BOINC on an unmonitored machine, after a few fields to fill out on a form, you'd gain a few more converts.

Following the instructions are only a little daunting for me, but just flat out daunting for non-techies.

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I'll bet that if you could make an installation package for DSL that would install just itself and anything required to run BOINC on an unmonitored machine, after a few fields to fill out on a form, you'd gain a few more converts.

Following the instructions are only a little daunting for me, but just flat out daunting for non-techies.

Very true and understandable.

A volunteer has already packaged Boinc into an automated install for the Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu Linux distros. Just look in the applications repositories. Installation is then just as easy as for any Windows (and perhaps even a few mouse clicks less). Installing Kubuntu itself is certainly fewer clicks than Windows!

For the other distros, unfortunately the install relies on the user following instructions to type in a few command-line commands...

[edit] Walk-through instructions to install using the Berkeley installer are given here (with pretty pictures :-) ) [/edit]


Anyone put together a Boinc-ready LiveCD distro as was done for s@h-classic?

(I'm busy hacking elsewhere.)

Regards,
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)