Dell Dimension 5150 E-Waste Rescue - Full Restoration!!

[@LatitudeSky]

We had quite a few of those 5150s with P4s at my workplace. We called them "P4 heaters" and made sure they went to people who complained about being cold. They loved it. The air intake on the front is like a funnel or classic drawing of a black hole sucking in everything. Dust, paper clips, small coworkers, dollar bills to pay for the electricity it used. Planets. The irony of that BTX design was that it didn't solve anything. All they did was flip the board around and put the door on the other side. A The ATX family accomplished more cooling improvement just moving the PSU to the bottom.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahahahaha this comment. Planets, dollar bills??? Lol. Yes - this machine was definitely running hot. I will tell you I like that the pcie card was facing up instead of down... Better for heat dissipation?? :). Thanks for watching.

[@therealoldliver]

Never a Dell moment in these videos!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha!! Nice....

[@TheRandomGuy570]

I have one of these Dimension E510 PCs, it has lived a hard life with cigarette smoke and getting tossed and busted up. After all these years, it is now in my possession and I take good care of it now. These Dells truly never die.

[@TheRetroRecall]

So very true. Each one I've come across so far is built like a tank.

[@buda3d2007]

If the 2000's needed a mascot to represent the tech from that time, this would be a contender.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha absolutely!!!

[@gordonprentice7090]

Brings back memories I had a Dimensions E521 same case but had a Athlon 64 Dual Core. Had for about 4 year before upgrading ti an XPS machine and gave my Dimensions to a friend who continued to use for another 4 to 5 years. Only issue it ever had was the sound chip died and I had to install a sound card.

[@TheRetroRecall]

It seems they lasted. I have other Dell's today that are 10 years old running windows 10 without issue. That replacement sound card was probably better than the onboard :). Thanks for watching and for sharing!

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

For the optical drive, there should be a spare set of screws for it on the back of the black panel. They ride on a track in the drive bay and snap into the blue thing. Once you do that the drive should be more flush with the panel and better held in.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks! Yes, this was mentioned as well from another viewer. Was completely unaware of this and it will be most helpful. I was told it makes it more of a tool-less design. Either way, love the feedback and suggestions. It really is appreciated and helps!!!

[@georgez8859]

Another Awesome Dell Saved from the E-Waste. I have a XPS 420 BTX. Built like a Tank. Great Job . Thanks for the Video

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome and no problem, thanks for watching!

[@pierreinthavong181]

Very nice E-waste rescue video, I'm impressed!👍👍😁

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you!!

[@cfwebdeveloper]

Oh man, I had this "beast" back in the day. Great memories! Also Unreal Tournament was so much fun on this system. Upgraded almost everything mine, loved the video format.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!! Yes definitely a beast, and definitely many options for upgrading. Thanks for watching!!

[@dagglock7615]

I picked one of these a few weeks ago and I love it. FUN!!!!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Big time!

[@precisionxt]

That graphics card looks to have one bad electrolytic on it. I’ve never seen a passive cooler like that on a card. Neat!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice catch! I noticed that as well. It seems to be a good card to keep around so I think a good recapping is in order!

[@adamward3100]

Got one here on the shelf waiting to be put back into action. It was given to me and I did run it for a while but I have too many computers right now lol. Some of the parts in it I recycled into a newer older system (video card) but all in all it is in pristine original condition

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!!! Get it going, it deserves some love haha!

[@yurieu5872]

remember an age when windows and office came in a titanic massive case with a disc shining like gold

[@TheRetroRecall]

Absolutely. Now it's all common place, internet and USB stick driven. Where's the shiny disc?? :)

[@fanguy247b9]

Windows xp home before service pack one had an issue with hard drive partitions over 160 gb but it was patched eventually. Windows pro and enterprise editions didn’t have the issue. I remember having the exact same issue you were having trying to install Windows Xp home on a 250 gb hardrive drive and ended up having to partition it into two separate 125gb.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this info. As noted I had never experienced that before so this is helpful for future builds!

[@fanguy247b9]

No problem I enjoy your content.

[@xheralt]

I have a couple of these towers, recovered from a direct mail warehouse that went under. I was thinking of trying to find a more modern mobo that would fit the airflow scheme.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! From what I understand the case would have to be modified to fit an ATX form factor MB. I will say I like the design and the concept is neat... However it seems it never caught on and ATX was the mainstream form factor.

[@bruhperson]

You do very nice videos!!! You earned a new subscriber!

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome, glad to have you aboard!!!! Stay tuned for more :)

[@billoverson2263]

Another great vid my northern friend!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Many thanks!!!! It was a lot of fun doing it and saving this machine :)

[@vasileios6301]

I had the same 7600gs along with an Athlon64 s754 and 1gb ram. I was playing Lost Planet on them, great moments.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!

[@captainkeyboard1007]

Incidentally, Microsoft Windows XP Professional was my first and favorite operating system I ever used. While I used it independently, I enjoyed doing some utility operations with it and solved some software problems without getting another person involved. Microsoft Office XP Professional worked so great for me, that I discovered some application techniques that I would unlikely learn in a job, plus I was able to try out some simple tricks to make information management much easier that they still would not teach you in a job. All the application programs in Microsoft XP Professional complemented my keyboarding skills in ways that I needed not to keyboard fast as in the days of the "good-old" typewriter. You are smart: "You are wise: Just stay what you are!"

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha I love hearing these stories. I 'learned' to type on a digital typewriter many years ago. I took the course in high school as I had already had years of typing tutor experience on Windows 3.1. It wasn't difficult for me and I saw the benefit. I'm extremely thankful that I took it now as I type on a daily basis as part of my career and am quite fast.

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@TheRetroRecall You are still better than me. In 2002, once I received my first microcomputer the Cybernet, I forgone my keyboarding speed, because I want to enjoy the electronic typewriting, since my typewriting skills did not give me successful employment from job interviews, even though I presented myself with a corporate appearance and a corporate attitude. Fortunately, I still touch type with eight fingers and the right thumb, and without bowing my head toward the keyboard. By touching or tapping the keys slowly, this technique promotes fast keyboarding without the "blood, sweat, and tears," while trying to get the job done. During employment interviews, I demonstrated at least 70 words per minute with accuracy on typewriting tests, and I was not hired, even though I wore suits, shirts and ties to make a first impression. In fact, my keyboarding skill should have done all my talking for me. Today, I am trying to revive my typewriting service at home, even though I may need to use different methods to achieve the same results. Otherwise, I am free [from the everyday routine]!

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@TheRetroRecallI bid you "Happy Keyboarding!"

[@aarontrupiano9328]

small downdraft coolers and some waterblocks should work with these cpu mounting holes

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for the tip! More cooling would definitely benefit this system.

[@aarontrupiano9328]

@@TheRetroRecall you can even get mini radiators down to 80mm or less in some cases so watercooling would be possible. also those fan failurs can usually be solevs with proper 4 pin pwm fans. you may need a dell fan converter becasue 2000's era dell things

[@TheRetroRecall]

Awesome, thanks! I will check it out. Always love the tips - gives me more ideas :)

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

@@TheRetroRecall I would suggest getting the better Dell cooler. It mounts to the same shroud and goes to the top of it. It also has heat pipes, that’s what the holes in the top of the shroud are for. That larger heatsink was made for the beefier Pentium D chips like the 3.4ghz model.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this. The system was quite toasty even with just the 2.66ghz CPU. It's crazy how warm this can get.

[@ElwoodBluesAK]

Can I use this a sleeper with a modern mATX motherboard?

[@TheRetroRecall]

I am not 100% sure due to the BTX form factor. I know there are a lot of videos online that show case modifications to allow it to work. I would recommend checking those out.

[@SheldeniHardware]

I have a sad love for these systems! Just as a heads up those front optical drives use special screws. You only need 2 or 3 if I recall correctly and they are located on the blank covers for the unused 5.25 bays, you just install them first and the drive slots in through the front and can be removed tool lessly. This will prevent that optical drive for sitting sideways in the bay. Sweet XP system! Cheers

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this helpful info!!! I will take a look as I 'may' have another version of this system ;).

[@SheldeniHardware]

@@TheRetroRecall excited for another video! Keep up the great content

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thank you and thanks for watching!

[@fra4455]

Great🎉

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks!

[@fra4455]

@@TheRetroRecall thanks

[@xheralt]

Just noticed something that may explain why your XP Home install failed. Upper right corner of the XP Home disk portfolio calls it an Upgrade...which means it is expecting there to be a pre-existing version of Windows 9x! All of the necessary files are on the optical disk, they're just disabled because this is the (cheaper) upgrade version. There IS a way around it, told to me by a friend who worked for a computer retailer, it involves copying the CAB files to a directory on the HD, unpacking a couple of them, modifying a couple of numeric values in INI files, and then rebuilding the CABs before running the install from the HD directory.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That is a great call out. I was expecting from a clean install that it would ask for proof of validation. It wouldn't even get to the part (GUI) after the files were copied which has me thinking it was a driver issue that the SP1 wasn't covering as part of the Home edition version that I have. Either way, PRO OEM installed perfectly, but definitely a great call out!! Thank you!

[@wrlrdqueek]

@@TheRetroRecall This is true, another thing from my experience, Dells are very picky about what they will install. I had an old Dell desktop system, and it absolutely refused to install from the generic MS windows disc I had (which was a full copy, not an upgrade), I had to get a Dell specific OEM disc, which it looks like you have there based on the printing of the Pro booklet.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I do! Thanks for this info it makes sense. When I revisit these systems (hint hint haha) I may do that test! Thanks again.

[@randyharrigan4790]

I've worked on a ton of that model and still have one rotting away in my basement somewhere lol

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahah! No!!! Rescue it!!! :)

[@randyharrigan4790]

@@TheRetroRecall it still runs last time i used it was probably about 6 years back i put a 120gb ssd and windows 7 since then pentium d cpu won't run 10

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!! Nothing wrong with Windows 7.

[@jeremikurry3167]

JUST GOT ONE OF THESE SNAZZY DELLS AND GUTTED THE OLD HARD WARE AND REPLACED IT WITH MODERN AM4 MOBO R5 3600 16 GB DDR4 AND A RX550 4GB GREAT LITTLE HTPC! LOVE THE AIR INTAKE AND THE METAL LATCHING SIDE PANEL!! WILL BE PAINTING ALL WHITE! HAD TO MAKE A CUSTOM MOBO TRAY AND CUT OUT THE BACK A BIT BUT WORKS FLAWLESSLY!! WIN 11 ON A "E510" LOL

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha I was going to say, ATX VS BTX. Did you have to do alot to the to case to modify it?

[@mattparker9726]

OMG I have this exact same case! I'm planning on case modding it though.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice and do tell! What do you plan on doing?

[@mattparker9726]

@@TheRetroRecall I'm not sure, I want to find/make an adapter plate to turn it into an ATX case, then maybe add in some cold cathode tubes, blue, right there at the top of the grill scoop, going for a blue and white iceberg theme, I think. OBV all AMD stuff though. AMD is the new sexy.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha yes!!! Would love to see the finished product!

[@middle_pickup]

5150!? Paint that boy in stripes!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Hahaha! On it! ;)

[@justsumguy2u]

That turned out great, and nice choice of video card. I always wondered, what do you do with your vintage pc's once you restore them? Btw, XP will run on as little as 128 mb of memory, albeit verrrrry slowly. Many XP office machines back in the day were saddled with only 128 mb, much to the chagrin of the people that actually had to use them

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for the info on XP. I can't say I ever ran it on that little amount of ram before, I think 256 was the lowest amount and I found it terrible haha. Regarding what I do with the systems afterwards, for now they go into my storage labelled with what was done with them in case I ever need them for another video showcasing something. That said, I am not sure what the future holds for them :)

[@neopolaris]

I still have one of those, but mine has the Athlon x2 5400. It's the first Dell ever with an AMD processor.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!

[@BaumInventions]

I have a boxed Intel pentium 4 630 Processor for BTX boards. Yes they made special BTX versions... The package is super heavy and huge because of the included heatsink. Seriously ... its the size of a Mainboard Package with double the height... Its also like 1.5 Kilos (3 Pounds) ... BTX was something special :D

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha awesome! And yes.. I'm discovering that quickly. The whole heatsink thing was nuts!

[@ObamaPhoneProMax5G]

XP supports 3.5GB of ram due to it being a 32bit OS. One of the main reasons I switched to Windows 7 back in the day was due to this limitation and the fact that if you had a 64 bit processor a 64 bit OS would generally be snappier.

[@TheRetroRecall]

For sure! And thanks!

[@phillipmullins1643]

Good job on the build. I don't particularly like the first person shooters as you play around with. I liked the old Win 95, 98, 2000 games such as Railroad Tycoon, and Rollercoaster Tycoon. They are more of a management type of games. I even have Windows 10 set up on my iMac to play those games when I get a mind to.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks! To each their own for sure. I only play a few min of titles to showcase and test the system, GPU etc after the build. Always happy to try another :) I'm sure I have Rollercoaster Tycoon.

[@maxtornogood]

Looking good there, 2.5GB for Windows XP was pretty beefy for the time! Back then we had a HP desktop with like 512MB RAM for XP & my 1st ever laptop was a 2nd hand HP with XP & 256MB (less with shared video RAM). Meanwhile you've got like 512MB just on the video card alone, I reckon you're all set!

[@TheRetroRecall]

100%!! That and I have tons of ram.. Way too much. Need to use them somewhere haha! Of course if the system starts acting up, that tends to be the first place I go looking :).

[@MistahMatzah]

Ahh I had this thing! I upgraded it to a Core Quad and made it into a hackintosh 😂

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!

[@captainkeyboard1007]

Computer Technology makes me appreciate the microcomputer much more.👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

So much variety!

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@TheRetroRecallI have my second Dell "Keyboard," which is my powerful typewriter, that is the OptiPlex that I bought on my seventieth birthday this year, 2023. It can run Microsoft Windows 11 fluently. I bought my first Dell which was an Inspiron in 2017, and had Cybernet, my first keyboard in 2002, running Microsoft Windows XP Professional, and Microsoft Office XP Professional. All microcomputers, that I call my "keyboards," are all-in-one [desktop] personal computers. I cannot succeed without a microcomputer and a computer printer. Desktop computers are great just for me. Thank you for typing to me. Happy Keyboarding!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes I agree and Happy 70th this year!!! Congrats!

[@captainkeyboard1007]

@@TheRetroRecall Thank you for your instant response. My birthday is April 20, 1953. I learned to typewrite on an antique Underwood typewriter when I was 12 years old. Guess what? I liked typewriting ever since, even more than handwriting work. I am using Microsoft Office 2021 Professional to do several business productivity jobs for printing on to my Canon color laser printer, and other jobs with a Brother P-touch label printer. Not only do I do more work; I get to do work better than before. Your message makes me think of a start of a new friendship. Happy Keyboarding!

[@nothingtoseehereipromise]

I have an optiplex 755 pair3d with a q9650, 4gb, and a gtx 750ti, absolutely perfect for retro gaming.

[@TheRetroRecall]

That's awesome!!! Any favourite games?

[@PiercedJedi]

the first time I worked on one of these with that shroud that pulls the heatsink off the CPU, I was a little confused, but the mechanism works well enough... I just worry about when the plastic gets a bit brittle & breaks. can you put a normal CPU cooler on there? if not, you could have to throw out an otherwise perfectly good system

[@TheRetroRecall]

I'd have to 1000% confirm but I'm pretty sure you can.

[@justincovington4401]

how do i clean my computers? with a air compressor . been doing it that way for years with no issues. i used to have that exact pc until the motherboard took a dump. i recently got a dell xps 420. and its a great pc. in fact im using it now to type this message lol

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! Yes I've used an air compressor as well, however it doesn't work in the space I'm filming in. I use the ESD brushes and vacuum to clean instead.

[@Terminatar98]

I'm curious, what's the name of the first game you tested at the end? Not sure if I've seen it before. Thanks for the great videos!

[@TheRetroRecall]

Unreal Tournament 2004!

[@northof-62]

Good job! Are you able to activate your XP?

[@TheRetroRecall]

Absolutely. I've activated it many times. The activation number still works!

[@northof-62]

@@TheRetroRecall Nice. I've had to do the phone rigmarole a couple o'times. And Xp didn't have SATA drivers by default so that required a floppy to get working.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Must have been my SP3 version that had the SATA compatibility as it worked. I wonder if that was the issue at the beginning when I was attempting the HOME installation...

[@gentuxable]

@@northof-62 But it doesn't matter because his BIOS is set to ATA emulation mode and in another comment he says that he was able to copy the files and it failed on the GUI startup. If it was the SATA driver he would have failed at "Starting Windows..." before the text gets a bit smaller and it would BSOD with "Inaccessible boot device" given his CD drive is also SATA and XP would not be able to switch from BIOS to direct access.

[@northof-62]

@@gentuxable I see. Thx

[@stevencamp6824]

That gpu heatsink at the end looks like a padlock lol

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha. Yes, so true!

[@phillipsmith4745]

I have a ibm thinkcenter M51 tower and it has a pentium 4 with hyper threading and it run hot it keeps my legs warm and I got it from my local dump and it doesn’t have any bad capacitors at the moment but yeah it plays XP games well and Iove it

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!! Those were robust systems - and good space heaters haha. Thanks for sharing!

[@mattp3437]

Hi, just started watching the channel so a little late to the party. First, if you are rescuing Dells ... you should expect that 9 out of 10 or maybe 99 out of 100 will fire right up. I have had a lot of Dells over the years as well as a number of them from the local thrift store. I can only recall one from this era that didn't boot and that was because some jammed the CPU back in the socket and bent about a third of the pins. Also, I am pretty sure that XP key on the side of the case wouldn't have worked. I believe this is from the era of when there were OEM XP install discs that automatically installed without a key. The tag, I belive, was just to keep track of how many XP installs went out the door. With that said, if you can get your hands on a Dell OEM XP reinstallation disc, it should just install (on a Dell of the era) without a key. The Dell discs would not, however, install on a non-Dell. If you search on archive there are a million of these discs posted. The plus to do this is it should also give you the Dell branding (system information, wallpaper, etc.). That would restore this PC to it's former OEM state.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this and welcome to the channel!!!!

[@dhl-96]

Hey so I have the OEM disc for my Dimension 5150 and it does have the product key, but it doesn't give me the dell branding? Even the Dell Resource CD doesn't give me the branding

[@michaelwood9866]

i have the xps 420 core2quad Q6600...pc is the same except its black

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!!! This form factor is kind of growing on me!

[@michaelwood9866]

@@TheRetroRecall originally i saw them as workstations back in 2006. the job site i was security at used these for 3d modeling machine parts for earth movers. back then they had 48gb memory...insane

[@TheRetroRecall]

Holy!!! 48gb???

[@michaelwood9866]

@@TheRetroRecall yep one of the engineers printed a spec sheet of his machine.

[@chrisappellof5682]

XP can support up to 3.5GB of RAM. Any additional RAM will not be allocated. Unless its the 64-bit version of Windows XP (which good luck trying to find drivers for 64 bit XP let alone programs that support xp in 64 bit.)

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for the additional clarity!

[@sanekibeko]

You know how well Vista works on these machines?

[@TheRetroRecall]

I'm not sure to be honest, it all depends on the hardware configuration. I should try putting Vista on one of these to see.

[@ThatOnecat-m7q]

Ah yes, a classic. Windows 7 will always be my favorite (Because its the one I grew up with) But (In my opinion) Windows xp might be the most influential OS made to date.

[@TheRetroRecall]

I would say Win2k, then WinXP more leaning towards WinXP for sure!

[@ThatOnecat-m7q]

@@TheRetroRecall I agree!

[@VioletDragonsProjects]

I love XP even in 2023, still use XP for some stuff

[@TheRetroRecall]

It really was a great OS.

[@aarontrupiano9328]

it's suprisingly well useable even today. not bad for a 20 year old os

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes, 100%. What came right after was painful haha.

[@aarontrupiano9328]

@@TheRetroRecall which was then followed by one of their best os's with windows 7. there's still people out there that use it on their main computer

[@DGTelevsionNetwork]

My XPS 400 is exactly the same as this system, well other than it having a different Pentium D and a professional coa

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice! I just love these Dell systems.

[@DGTelevsionNetwork]

@@TheRetroRecall They're very interesting to say the least! I really don't like the CPU cooler design myself though, a lot of replacement procedures and cleanup require you to remove the cooler and replace the grease.

[@TheRetroRecall]

100% as I found out. It forces you to do it everytime. Ah well, it is an interesting design!

[@lonetraveler8104]

Mt first pc will do restore on myself

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!!

[@BenState]

So funny, i just put this almost exact (inlcuding GPU) system yesterday, wiht a 3GHz P4, intel board etc with XP MCE2005.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Nice!!!!

[@stand355]

I used to have one like this but it literally exploded with flames and all thanks to the 00s capacitor plague.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yikes!! Fortunately the caps look good on this board but definitely something to keep my eye on...

[@jamesmatheson4746]

this should run win 10 with 4 gigs of ram

[@TheRetroRecall]

It still seems pretty capable.

[@FrustratedApe]

Aha I had one of these back in 2013 as I was poor after buying a house and my Macbook Pro had died. I'm sure mine had Win XP Media Center Edition installed when I got it, I immediately installed Windows 7 Pro... If I remember rightly it was a P4-D 2.8Ghz, 4Gb RAM, 500Gb HDD and I'm sure it had a Dell branded ATI graphics card. It was adequate performance wise but a total waste of power 😆

[@TheRetroRecall]

Sorry to hear about the MacBook but love the switch you made to pc! That's one thing I've noticed about this era of machine, power usage :). That and the heat that is coming off of that chip, it's crazy! By the end of filming, my room was so warm haha. Note to self - record these machines in winter :)

[@jamesmatheson4746]

All Pentium-D CPUs support Windows 101. Devices that run Windows 10

[@TheRetroRecall]

Good to know. Thanks!

[@itstheweirdguy]

I've done a lot of migrations of XP to other computers because of bad caps....for a viable win xp system I like core 2 and athlon 64 and better if at all possible.....older really only matters if they have needs as far as the hardware on the system, for example a driver for an old sewing machine that looks for a Parallel port, even if nothing plugs intro it, had an issue with an old usb dongle for a sewing program, and the system had to have a parallel port. But for all other use cases I'd like the faster newer platform...P4 is slow and a real power hog. But anyways, if the only 100% xp computer I had at my disposal was a P4, I'd use it (of course make sure good caps and new CMOS battery). One of the most enjoyable things I do is clone a xp system with bad caps and/or bad hard drive, clone that hard drive to a good one, and put that into a third gen intel ivy bridge system, the speed boost is unbelievable! Also if you are ever bored, try XP 64 bit edition, it boots stupid fast.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Thanks for this, love the comment. I really need to try out XP 64. The AMD Athlon 64 build I did a few videos back would definitely benefit from that OS. Im curious if a USB to Parallel adapter would have worked for your parallel requirement? Thanks again!

[@itstheweirdguy]

@@TheRetroRecall You're welcome. The equipment didn't even use parallel! It had a USB serial activation dongle thingy that looks like a thumb drive, it's coded to use the parallel interface! The software is linked to that version of the sentinel driver. It's possible that a usb to parallel (or PCI/PCIE) would have worked even though I wouldn't be plugging into it, but an older computer was the better play for this case, since I wanted her to have a floppy drive too and not have to use a USB one for convenience.

[@TheRetroRecall]

Ohhh I get it now, makes more sense.

[@cnmathias5187]

I wonder if a psych hospital has ever had these PCs

[@TheRetroRecall]

Possible. I would think that any institution would be more Optiplex / Precision machines for enterprise distribution.

[@Roadkill7878]

XP supports up to 4Gb ram

[@TheRetroRecall]

Great, thanks for the info!!

[@GarrisonsMadHouse]

I'm currently fighting with 2 of these turds

[@TheRetroRecall]

Haha any luck?

[@rmcdudmk212]

Thats a solid machine. Thrown in a SATA SSD and a light weight linux distro and this would still be a uable system for eveyday use. 👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Absolutely!!

[@rmcdudmk212]

@@TheRetroRecall got to love a modern OS that is designed to breath new life into old machines. 👍

[@TheRetroRecall]

Yes you are so right!

[@DGTelevsionNetwork]

This model sadly doesn't support core architecture, so I wouldn't recommend it. They're a beast for XP gaming though, especially with a cheap ssd. Mine is filled with games and software and it still takes 7 seconds to boot to desktop.