Nostalgia

August 5th, 2013 at 2:15:37 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Last weekend as I began to try to install Win8.1 preview on an old XP, I took a quick trip to c.2007. That's about how long that PC had remained untouched, making it essentially a time capsule of my computer use at the time. There were a few noteworthy aspects:

1) I had it configured to look like Win98 (!) Of course the Start Menu was XP standard, but all in blue-gray and with muted features. The taskbar boxes were also blue-gray rather than blue. I'm a bit stumped as to why that is, as it coincided with my current work PC, also XP, and it's factory standard in looks.

I forget when I bought it, but it must have been 2004 or so. it was my second XP. My first was perfectly fine, but it went to replace a Win98 at the office (I had a differnet job then), and I wanted a PC that would run 3-D graphics well. I had this one made to roder, with a then-new DVD burner, and a top-of-the-line viceo card. Oh, it ran 3-D graphics just fine, but never for longer than 40 minutes. Upon reaching that time it crashed. I tried several fixes, and sent it to 3 different repair shops, all to no avail. That's one reason why in 2007 I was eager to get a new PC, which I did. And that's how I got stuck with Vista.

2) It had Windows updates turned off. That I do recall why. It was them days of the scary Service Pack 2, which would as soon wreak havoc with one's PC as fix security issues. I ran a resident McAffee and a firewall (all still there), to protect me from threats instead.

Well, First thing I tried was to update Firefox, which told me any updates required SP2. So guess what i did? Yep, that's right.

Of course, being updated and having Office 2003 still running, I thought I could sell it, even though support for XP ends next year. Then i recalled it crashes easily, and then I couldn't boot from DVD either the 8.1 preview or any of a number of Linux discs. Also both IE and Firefox, updated to the latest versions, tended to crash unexpectedly (another delight I'd forgotten). So I can't, in good conscience, sell it. Still, if anyone wants the parts of a near-decade-old PC, let me know. I also have the OEM OS CD, but in Spanish. If memory serves, Office tended to crash also, but not as often...

3) Firefox was running Version 2. We're on version 22.something by now, I think. The older one looked a lot like I recall Netscape (yes, I know they're related). What's odd is that it works almost exactly the same way it does now.

4) I expected to find old audio, Word, video and assorted files, including old games. Alas, there were none to be found. The old XP's HD was wiped nearly clean. I recall I did that in late 2007, in case I deicded to sell it or give it away. But no matter, I think I transplanted about 90% of all that to my current Vista clunker.

5) I did migrate the old Firefox bookmarks to my current PC, which has undergone many updates since. As I recall, I did similar bookmark transfers from the previous XP, and from the Win98 which preceded it. And perhaps it goes even farther back than that (I don't think so, but maybe). So I definitely have bookmarks going back to the late 90s (I rarely delete any),a dn possibly as far back as 1996/97 when Netscape was king.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER