# Best OS for old P3 System?



## Brutalfate (Nov 16, 2006)

Hey, I have an old P3 800Mhz, 256MB, 20Gb HDD, system with no OS installed.. I know its old, but it still works fine and it'd be a waste to toss out... Any suggestions as to what OS i should install on it? Something other than boring 'ol windows...  

Thanks in advance..


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## Agility (Nov 16, 2006)

Linux?


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 16, 2006)

Windows 2000 or XP will run just fine, though adding some RAM wouldn't hurt for XP.


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## MrSeanKon (Nov 16, 2006)

Windows 2000 or Millenium.
You may try XP but it will run like o tortoise!


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 16, 2006)

XP runs fine with 256MB, Windows ME is a big no go. Crappiest release ever. Windows 95 was a bad idea already, 98 wasn't better and ME made it even worse.


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## MrSeanKon (Nov 16, 2006)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Windows ME is a big no go. Crappiest release ever.


I agree with this.
For this reason I did not install them I had Windows 98 and 2000 later.


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 16, 2006)

MrSeanKon said:


> I agree with this.
> For this reason I did not install them I had Windows 98 and 2000 later.



98 was crap too, NT4 >2k>2003, I skipped the crap releases


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## Agility (Nov 16, 2006)

I think he's asking for other os other then "boring olo windows".


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 16, 2006)

Agility said:


> I think he's asking for other os other then "boring olo windows".



XP has a Teletubbie look, that's not boring, just ugly 

Though you're right I'd say Zeta. Zeta ftw and such.


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## tkpenalty (Nov 16, 2006)

Windows XP, dude... do you guys realise that although windows XP isnt the best release, most tools these days only work for windows XP


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## Agility (Nov 16, 2006)

I totally agree..but he's asking for other os other then windows. BTw what is FTW?


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## Munkul (Nov 16, 2006)

ubuntu.
tho iv never tried any other linux versions, so i dont know how they compare.
if it has a hardware t&l card, try running games that require more than you have, see if the reduction in resources lets them work!


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 16, 2006)

FTW > For teh win.


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## infrared (Nov 16, 2006)

I'm running xp pro SP2 on my old P3 rig. 933mhz with 192mb of ram, runs like a champ


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## Brutalfate (Nov 17, 2006)

heh, alright. thanks guys!


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## Solaris17 (Nov 17, 2006)

give suse a try to. it has had no problems with anything of mine and is really stable doesnt look to shabby either.


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## Deleted member 3 (Nov 17, 2006)

Or run Solaris on it...


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## mikek75 (Nov 17, 2006)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> FTW > For teh win.



Oh, I thought it meant F*&k the world, my mistake


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## Batou1986 (Nov 17, 2006)

i run xp on a  400mhz laptop with 96 mb of ram dont run half bad if u stet it to look like win95/98 hell i even got a wifi card in it to bad the charge lasts about an hour


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## Polaris573 (Nov 17, 2006)

tkpenalty said:


> Windows XP, dude... do you guys realise that although windows XP isnt the best release, most tools these days only work for windows XP



Almost everything that runs on XP will run on 2000 you just have to make sure you have all the updates.  I have an old PII based system running windows 2000 I've never had any compatibility problems.  Of course all it does is internet and word processing.  Although I did run photoshop on it once when my computer went down for a couple of days.  That was a nightmare, but I got what I needed done.


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## Migons (Nov 17, 2006)

I recommend Xubuntu. Absolutely one of the best choices for that kind of PC.


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## ktr (Nov 17, 2006)

i can run XP on my pentium pro rated as 150mhz with 128mb. it runs slow but runs just fine for email and web.

also my older lapy has a p3 600mhz, with 192mb, 8mb ati rage...and runs xp like a champ


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## Alec§taar (Nov 17, 2006)

Windows 2000 (fully service pack level + hotfix patch updated of course) will do the job nicely...

APK


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Nov 20, 2006)

Alec§taar said:


> Windows 2000 (fully service pack level + hotfix patch updated of course) will do the job nicely...
> 
> APK



Yes,  but also, DSL, if you are not gaming.


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## strick94u (Nov 21, 2006)

Migons said:


> I recommend Xubuntu. Absolutely one of the best choices for that kind of PC.



Only if you want that old p3 to be powerful and fast for free other than that do the windows 2000 thing who needs all that power for free along with powerful free programs  listen to migons


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## ferynov (Feb 3, 2007)

I think You can Use TinyXP.... good ones for old system....like P2..with min 64mb SDR ...


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## HookeyStreet (Feb 3, 2007)

Windows 98 2nd Edition


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## ktr (Feb 3, 2007)

ferynov said:


> I think You can Use TinyXP.... good ones for old system....like P2..with min 64mb SDR ...



TinyXP is illegal...what is not is using nlite and making your own "tinyXP"...


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## niko084 (Feb 3, 2007)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> XP runs fine with 256MB, Windows ME is a big no go. Crappiest release ever. Windows 95 was a bad idea already, 98 wasn't better and ME made it even worse.



DITTO! Xp won't be too bad, 2000 pro be a bit better, ME "Erm I would rather shoot myself in the foot", Windows 95... ya... '98..... meh don't waste your time...

Definitely go Linux, 2000 or Xp.

If you really don't want windows... You could install Dos 5... Or Novell 5...


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## ferynov (Feb 5, 2007)

ktr said:


> TinyXP is illegal...what is not is using nlite and making your own "tinyXP"...




it's legal for personal use (no body know)..thats
 clear


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## niko084 (Feb 5, 2007)

TinyXP has not changed the core of XP... It is simply a custom XP Install, that strips it off all the bloat and garbage... Exactly how would that be illegal? It is very legal to strip it all you want. The key point being you cannot resell your stripped version, nor remove the copyright information and such.


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## BXtreme (Feb 5, 2007)

for old systems...linux would be the best os, but if windows is the choice win98 would be the choice


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## Thermopylae_480 (Feb 5, 2007)

I run Windows 2000 on a 375MHz PII.  I ran XP on it for awhile too, and it ran fine, but 2000 was just a little quicker for that system.  I would use Win2000 over previous versions of Windows for sure, it is more compatible with modern programs, and really it preforms rather well on older systems.  If you install Win98, I think you'll find it rather frustrating.

If you really want something other than "boring 'ol windows" though, a Linux distro is really your only other option.


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## SPHERE (Feb 5, 2007)

MrSeanKon said:


> Windows 2000 or Millenium.
> You may try XP but it will run like o tortoise!


ummm lol...

xp will run wonderfully

my moms comp has xp service pack 2 with 256mb of ram, a fx5500 and a p3 666 it even runs halo pc wihout lag it doesnt run out of memory during its normal use either (web browsing, small games, halo, ra2, dvd, etc..) but then again i keep it clean no extra shit like weather bug or the yahoo tool bar lol


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 6, 2007)

PIIIs run win2000 the best.  So, use what it was designed to do.


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## niko084 (Feb 6, 2007)

You know everyone keeps talking about windows here...And his original post said best os, without using boring ole windows.... lol


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## strick94u (Feb 6, 2007)

niko084 said:


> You know everyone keeps talking about windows here...And his original post said best os, without using boring ole windows.... lol



Hey I only said 2000 if he wanted to spend money ubuntu is completely free and the old p2-3 
systems love it


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## wiak (Feb 26, 2007)

try out FreeBSD Minimal, and install xorg & fluxbox and use opera as browser
it runs realy nice on my celeron 850mhz, 128mb ram, 14gb hd laptop
you might want to use fluxbox, as kde/gnome uses to much of the system
i can play dvd/h264/xvid files just fine using mplayer (cli)

xp and 2k uses to much resouces on my laptop, my dvds lags!, it wont even play h264 smooth, nor xvid ^^

or 2k, xp is to resource hug on slow pcs,

dont forget bsd is also FREE and open source just like linux, if you read the bsd license you can read that you can do what EVER! you want with it, but you have to have give the orginal authors credit


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