[Ham-Computers] RE: What ISP for an Old Computer

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

>>> I think the computer is an ACER Aspire AB164.009, but will need to
contact him again to be sure.  I was dubious about spending money, so didn't
look too hard.  I would appreciate names of other sources.

Ahhh, that explains quite a bit.  Laptop memory wasn't standardized until
just the past 2 or 3 years.  Typically, laptops with CPU's older than a
Pentium-II use proprietary memory.

FYI, even today, memory for any computer still isn't 100% standard.  Systems
have different timing latencies and require faster or slower memory.  Tye
typical spec in this respect is the "CAS Latency" or "CL".  My older 850MHz
laptop requires faster CL2 memory than a newer 1.2GHz laptop that uses CL3.
Always make sure that the memory you buy fits your system's specs.  Often I
see techs in stores selling customers the wrong type of memory for their
system - either it's slower memory because the system will work with it (but
at a slower speed), or it's faster or "hyper-speed" memory because the store
gets a higher profit margin (even though the system won't take advantage of
the higher speed memory).  Caveat emptor.


>>> Where do you check on a Win95/98 machine for this info, particularly
microprocessor speed?

Unfortunately, I don't think Win9x had a built-in ability to report the
processor speed.  It reports the processor type if it recognizes the CPUID,
but otherwise, there's not speed information.  There are simple utilities
out there that will do this, however.  A really popular one is "WhatCPUID",
aka WCPUID.  You can get it here and it will report what speed the CPU is
rated at and what speed the system is currently running at.  Be aware that
power management features may cause WCPUID to report a slower speed than
expected...this would be the power management kicking in.

You can get WCPUID direct from the author here:
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html


73,

  - Aaron, NN6O