Should I give PC away with XP or reinstall Win98?

bigifsh

adouglasmhor wrote: »

I think you are a bit behind the times with your opinion of linux, My gf accidently booted up my PC with a live disc of dream in it and managed to get on the internet and check her bank ballance and send me an email to tell me the screen looked funny, and she is the biggst technophobe ever. Gnome and KDE interfaces are up there with th GUI on vista and Mac nowadays, you never need to touch the terminal if you don't want to,

i know i use it myself on another machine im aware of the great GUIs but still what if he wants to do something like add a new user? problems with permissions? install software(which may be for windows)? various other things, if everything is preinstalled and he just uses the gui its fine. but if he wants to add something it would leave him in a bewildered state.
I dont think linux is viable for a novice. What if he wants to play mp3s or use itunes? linux doesnt even come with mp3 support as standard if im correct. If he needs help with something, theres likely to be someone he knows who can tell him how to do it on windows, but unlikely linux.

gjchester

beachbeth wrote: »

My pc came with win98 on it and I purchased XP later as OEM along with a mouse.

Never heard of ubuntu.

Technically an OEM software's licence is invalid without it being installed by a OEM system manufacturer, it's not supposed to be installed by an End User as an upgrade. It also should be sold with a "non trivial" piece of hardware and a mouse does not qualify but hey ho..

OEM's cannot be re-installed on another machine, the licence cannot be transferred it becomes tied to the machine it's installed on, so you may as well give it away with it (and give the guy a warning that it may need more memory) as it can't be sold on legally.

Ubuntu is fine, but the world runs on Windows and thats what everyone knows and loves (or loathes as you see fit). Putting anything else on will probably meant it doesn't get as much use as it won't run any software he already has.

johncolescarr

bigifsh wrote: »

i know i use it myself on another machine im aware of the great GUIs but still what if he wants to do something like add a new user? problems with permissions? install software(which may be for windows)? various other things, if everything is preinstalled and he just uses the gui its fine. but if he wants to add something it would leave him in a bewildered state.
I dont think linux is viable for a novice. What if he wants to play mp3s or use itunes? linux doesnt even come with mp3 support as standard if im correct. If he needs help with something, theres likely to be someone he knows who can tell him how to do it on windows, but unlikely linux.

You are right mostly, but there is a distro called Linux Mint that plays all audio and video straight out of the box (there may be others I'm not aware of). The reason a lot of Linux distros don't do this is because they don't believe in closed source - its a philosophical thing, the Linux community has developed its own file types for audio and video, they work fine but they're not widely used. I personally like the idea of open source software but I'm no hippy and just want things to work, so download all the propriatory stuff.

adouglasmhor

bigifsh wrote: »

i know i use it myself on another machine im aware of the great GUIs but still what if he wants to do something like add a new user? problems with permissions? install software(which may be for windows)? various other things, if everything is preinstalled and he just uses the gui its fine. but if he wants to add something it would leave him in a bewildered state.
I dont think linux is viable for a novice. What if he wants to play mp3s or use itunes? linux doesnt even come with mp3 support as standard if im correct. If he needs help with something, theres likely to be someone he knows who can tell him how to do it on windows, but unlikely linux.

The last 5 linux sytems I have set up all had MP3 and 4 support, Mint is the best for that followed by ultimate (not going to run on 128m 512 min for that one) OpenSuse and BeOs. I hardly think someone who has not updated their system from win98 is going to be using a lot of new software or running iTunes (GF use ubuntu hippo Ipod mannager)to add and remove tunes from her Nano though)anything else the is Ubuntu forums absolute beginers forum is a big help.

I see your point and I do have XP on a dual boot laptop (So I can watch C4 and ITV catch up and use my sony ericsson software for my phone). But I would recomend Linux for any low end user who wants to just use WP, internet and a email, and maybe listen to the odd bit of music.

johncolescarr

bigifsh wrote: »

ok the guy is a novice pc user in his 50s. and your sugesting linux? come on...jsut give him windows he needs simpilicty. He wont stand a chance in linux.

I do agree with you but I don't think its to do with simplicity. Admittedly there are some pretty bespoke distros out there, but I find that the most common Linux distros, such as Ubuntu are actually much easier to use if you have never touched a computer before. They are so intuitive and make a lot more sense to me.

The reason I would also recommend windows to the novice user is because most of their friends and family will use it and its these people who will be helping the user to use their machine.

However, I think the biggest disadvantage of windows for the novice user is the amount of maintenance that is require, antivirus, registry cleaners, disk defragmenters etc etc.

My parents got a PC for the first time in their 60s and they just want to point and click and never do any maintenance. As a consequence people have to keep making sure its done for them! They're often calling out expensive engineers because their security software has lapsed. I am convinced if they were given a PC with Ubuntu or similar, they would have learned the OS quicker and would be able to point and shoot with no more than a centralised update that simply prompts you every time updates are released.

However, alas, i think for at least the next 5 years windows will be the answer for old and new users like because of the above.

Oops, rambled on a bit

adouglasmhor

hotkee wrote: »

No thanks teacher!

If it works its not worthless - oh please get into the real world - if you give a pc which you think is not worth your while to someone else and ask for £20 then it is worthless.

Who is asking for £20 that has never been mentioned on this thread, you are functionally illiterate as well as rude and I think you should grow up. Its worth is in improving someone’s experience.

basmic

I'm going to completely ignoring most of what was said above.

You said he offered to pay for the machine? Why not ask him if he'd like you to install RAM with that donation? You could probably get another 256mb for £20 on eBay.

Myself, I'd completely reinstall Windows XP - not repair. Reinstalling alone with make the machine that little bit faster, with the latest drivers installed.

basmic

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/256Mb-PC133-SDRAM-168-Pin-Memory-Sticks-RAM-PC-MAC-UK_W0QQitemZ330315700931QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_ComputerComponents_MemoryRAM_JN?hash=item330315700931&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1690|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Buy 2 sticks of these, and you've got 512mb RAM. Total spent: £7.98

beachbeth

adouglasmhor wrote: »

Who is asking for £20 that has never been mentioned on this thread, you are functionally illiterate as well as rude and I think you should grow up. Its worth is in improving someone’s experience.

I was going to say this too!:D

I am giving it away for free! What he does with it when he gets it is his own business! If he doesn't like the pc he can just keep the monitor and throw the rest away!

One point to add - people keep suggesting I add the extra RAM and charge him £20. I've no idea how to do this anyway!!!

From the replies on this thread I think Im going to use cccleaner (I think its called that!!!:o) then clean reinstall xp (I hope Im using the right terms). I will install basic programmes that I think he may need (java, windows media player etc). I also have Boxworld that I'll put on for him (if you haven't had a go at this puzzle its really good!)

isofa

beachbeth wrote: »

I was going to say this too!:D

I am giving it away for free! What he does with it when he gets it is his own business! If he doesn't like the pc he can just keep the monitor and throw the rest away!

One point to add - people keep suggesting I add the extra RAM and charge him £20. I've no idea how to do this anyway!!!

From the replies on this thread I think Im going to use cccleaner (I think its called that!!!:o) then clean reinstall xp (I hope Im using the right terms). I will install basic programmes that I think he may need (java, windows media player etc). I also have Boxworld that I'll put on for him (if you haven't had a go at this puzzle its really good!)

No need to use Ccleaner if you are going to reinstall, just format the HD and reinstall from scratch.