Old laptop

[GamingRev]

I've got an Old laptop, it sucks. Its a Compaq presario, and it says 1247 beneth the screen of it. It runs Windows ME and It is slow. I would like to upgrade it to a better os and make the internet faster, maybe even the graphics better, without ripping it apart. Could someone tell me what to do?


PS: I need a power cable too!

EDIT: I have a wireless router in my house too, and im not looking to sped too much $ on internet and OS but I could spend some cash on a wireless card.

[GamingRev]

Well? Help me out.

[totokan]

Don't double post ten minutes after the first one when your post is still at the top. All the things mentioned are impossible without replacing the whole system. Try knoppix, although it probably won't work.

[Sparkfist]

Ok you will need 128MB SD-ram, a 266MHz CPU and about 2GB hard drive to upgrade the OS to something like 2000 or XP. Seriously I wouldnt run XP on anything slower then 750MHz, and you may (dont know for sure) get away with 64MB ram under 2000.

As for wireless internet, you need the computer to be atleast no slower then 266MHz.

[GamingRev]

How? How can you tell how fast it is? And a price estimate?


As for knoppix? Thats awesome, would it work the same(in speed) on my main comp?

[GamingRev]

Okay, will knoppix go fast? How can I tell how fast my comp is? Can I just download it instead of buying it? Please help me out!

[marshallh]

It runs Windows ME and It is slow.

Format the hard drive and put linux on it.

make the internet faster, maybe even the graphics better, without ripping it apart.

Good luck with that. You can't change the video card in a Presario, it's integrated.
And you also can't make the internet faster. Unless you're talking about your connection, that is. If you have a 10/100 ethernet card and broadband, that's about as good as you'll get.

but I could spend some cash on a wireless card.

Search newegg for either a USB wifi adapter or a PCMCIA adapter. I'd reccommend PCMCIA for your laptop because it's faster than usb 1.1.

How can I tell how fast my comp is?

Goto Start > Run > type "dxdiag"

[Radon199]

It's nearly imposible to increse your CPU speed with the laptop open let alone closed, the best thing you can do is make sure you have 0 programs running the the background, includeing virus software when your offline. Get Firefox lite, it should give a slight increese in speed but still not much. Uninstall every program you don't use. You can't get wireless internet unless your laptop has a USB port or a Cardbus slot.

To sum it up, theres no real way to add any new hardware to your laptop, laptops arn't ment to be upgradeable. If you want more power, sell it and buy a new one. If you don't have the money, deal with it.

You can generaly cheak your CPU speed by right clicking on the My Computer desktop icon, and it will be in the bottom right of the window.

[GamingRev]

Yes!

"Running Linux on Compaq Laptop and Notebook Computers
I highly encourage anyone using Linux on some notebook not listed here to help by providing documentation! To contribute, publish your information on a web page and submit an entry."

Compaq Presario 1247 [RedHat6.0]
Compaq Presario 1247 [Ubuntu Warty Warthog]
Compaq Presario 1247 [Generic,Slackware8.0]

But what is all the stuff next to it?

BTW: How would I configure my BIOS to boot from the cd?

Knoppix will work!

[teraflop122]

If you have very little knowledge of Linux, you may want to avoid it. Installing an older OS like Windows 98SE will improve the performance, because it doesn't run all the fancy doo-dads of windows ME.

Telling us the hardware in your laptop would be helpful: hit Start > Run, type "DXDIAG" into the text box. The window that pops up should have things like Ram and CPU type/speed listed. Click the Display tab to see what kind of integrated video card it uses.

You can do a google search for "overclocking (your video card)" yourself to see if there are any easy programs to help you speed it up.

[GamingRev]

Okay that helps a lot! (im not being sarcastic), but how do you configure your bios to boot from the CD?(I mean Knoppix)

[marshallh]

For Compaq computers, hit F10 at the Compaq logo. Then at the top of the screen, you change the boot order.

[Sparkfist]

Once you get to the BIOS be sure you computer can boot from CD. I have an old Toshiba Satilite Pro 430t that is too old to support CD booting. If you can't you'll have to boot though floppy, which if that is the case you can only use 2.4.* linux kernel.

And trying out linux even if you don't have any linux/unix experiance isnt too required. You'll just have to check forums/mailing lists to find your answer for changing systems or the like. And take it from me nothing is a better teacher for learning linux/unix then experiance. Reading doesn't do crap.

[GamingRev]

On the linux website it says $4.99 Knoppix 4.0 (1 DVD) for i386

What does i386 mean? Will it function with my computer properly?

I also am wondering if I am going to use the knoppix internet at a hotspot (my house, I have a router) would I need a wireless card that supports linux, because I will be useing knoppix, or a windows me one becuase that is the operating system that knoppix will be booted from?

Help would be appreciated ASAP

PS: Is there anything elese I have to do to get knoppix working on my computer besides change some BIOS and boot it?

[sniper_spike]

I think that has to do with all of the modern x86 chips being based upon the Intel 386 architecture; the software being intended for Intel\Amd chips from the 386 upwards.

Well something along those lines atleast.