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I just bought a refurbished Dell inspiron 8100. It came with a P3 1.1ghz, 256 ram, 512 cache, 20 gb hd, and preloaded with windows 2k. It takes about 10 minutes for the laptop to fully boot up and it's slow. If anyone knows of how to fix this problem I could use your help. Thanks.
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Upgrade the processor, RAM and hard drive, and there should be a significant performance increase. Still, it's probably better to get a newer laptop.
I have access to a similar vintage notebook computer.
Gateway Solo 3450
PIII 750MHz (slower than yours)
512MB RAM (twice yours)
20GB 4200 rpm HDD (about halfway filled)
Windows XP Home (SP2)
Boots in about 2.5 minutes.
What I would do for your computer (in order):
1. scan for viruses and spyware
2. download and install latest drivers from Dell.com.
3. defragment HD
4. double the RAM
5. repartition, format, reinstall Windows 2000.
6. (optional) use Windows XP
If you use the newest graphics and stuff in XP, it'll be even slower than your current configuration.
should i install, or which one would be more practical. and how would i go about upgrading the cpu.
It just doesn't make sense. I've read about people experiencing performance issues with XP, but I've personally never seen it. XP (especially XP Pro) is generally a very sound OS. I'd check the MS Windows site for tips to speed up your W2K boot up. It may be programs you have set to start at boot up, rather than an OS issue, that are causing the long boot time.
I suggest that you read the CNET weekend project "How to punch up your portable".
1. I wiped my old Acer w/ P3 600 MHz, 256MB RAM and the stock 11GB 4200 RPM drive and after the OS install I still needed drivers for motherboard, video, audio and I forget what else.
Your post didn't tell if you've installed the OS "proper."
2. After all that the boot time would not go to less than 4 minutes in spite of any/all known tweaks and help from BLACK VIPER (see google.)
This gives you an idea that you should be near 4 minutes on a cleaned up boot.
3. Finally I caught a clue about the hard disk being the bottleneck. I ordered an 89 buck 40GB 54000 RPM drive, cloned the OS with GHOST (I had a lot of tweaking time there) and booted with a stopwatch. The boot completed just under 2 minutes.
I'm not writing you will match my 2 minutes but share that you have to dive in.
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