On 4 Oct 2004 17:03:27 -0400,
Hello:
I was given a computer system and I believe it may be too old to
access some of the things that we currently use. It's a AMD K6 MMX
enhanced processor.
That doesn't really say a whole lot about the system, just what kind
of processor it uses. In this particular case it uses a processor
that is not particularly fast by today's standards, probably about a 7
year old system.
I was also given a DELL Optiplex GX 100. When I
try to log on it tells me that the WIN.INI file has been deleted.
How do I completely erase these systems so that I can re-install a
new one?
Boot the system with your operating system CD (you DO have a legal
copy of whatever operating system you're running.. right?), chose to
install the OS and when it asks you where to install it, tell it to
format a drive and install on the freshly formatted partition.
In the case of the Dell system you might also be able to get
replacement Restore disks for that system (or you might not, tough to
say for sure) that should be able to wipe the system clean. Try
calling Dell tech support and they will either sell you the restore
disks there (if available) or point you to another dept. where you can
order them from.
I am looking to increase memory and speed, which system
should I purchase?
Between those two the Dell system will be the faster and more
upgradable. Powerleap (
www.powerleap.com) shows that it can handle up
to a 1.0GHz PIII with a 100MHz bus speed, while Crucial
(
www.crucial.com) shows that you can drop up to 2 x 256MB of SDRAM in
the thing.
The process upgrade options are definitely better than what is
available for the K6 based system. The K6 is a socket-7 based
processor and the absolute fastest socket 7 based chips were the
K6-III+ 500MHz processor, about half the speed of the PIII processor
mentioned above, and that might not even be compatible with your
board. As far as memory is concerned, that's a total shot in the
dark, but 512MB is pretty much the maximum that any socket 7
motherboard supported, while most were limited to 256MB or less.
