Testing an IBM Aptiva Desktop PC from 1997

This IBM Aptiva 2137-E14 was saved from an e-waste fate recently and sent to me in unknown condition with unknown parts inside. So let's open it up, look inside, power it on, and try out some software! Windows 98 and MS-DOS goodies await.
Oh and it looks like the weird graphical glitches in certain DOS games is due to VESA weirdness being weird. Here's a fix! www.bttr-softwa...

[@subtlewookiee]

Oh neat, I'm glad this got to you! (I'm the one who sent it in). I forgot to get the tracking number from FedEx, and I think I missed seeing it in the unboxing video around Thanksgiving, so I was unsure its fate. Glad to see it featured. :)

[@koz-8727]

Lake Champlain - cool to see a fellow upstater!

[@LGRBlerbs]

Thanks again, it's a lovely little tower! I didn't show it in the unboxing since I wanted to save it for its own video here :)

[@Fractal_blip]

Thanks for sending it in, I was given one, couldn't figure out how to open it (lazy or stupid, you decide) but now I know (because of this vid). So yeah lol thanks again

[@livefreeprintguns]

I had almost this exact one in black! I remember it like it was yesterday because it was my first "real" PC I ever owned! It was a 2162, with a 233Mhz Pentium II, 32MB of memory and 4.2gb Western Digital hard drive! Thanks for the huge nostalgia factor!

[@wrmhle8510]

@@LGRBlerbs I have a Power pc Macintosh 7200/78 from 1995 with the monitor, it worked fine last time I tried it and idk if your looking for a computer like this atm.

[@Ranger_Kevin]

Ah, the good old days.... when the malware-protection-software actually slowed your PC down about as much as the actual malware.

[@LGRBlerbs]

For real though. That stupid stormer program on here _never_ actually finished loading and only bogged it down until I forcefully removed all traces of it

[@Ltulrich]

@@LGRBlerbs 💪

[@musashigundoh]

@@LGRBlerbs Not surprising, it's a 2004 garbageware running on a 1996 PC with a hard drive that was slow even by 1996 standards, is almost filled up and undoubtedly fragmented to hell and back.

[@redpheonix1000]

Same. I bought an old Pentium 4 laptop running XP, and had AVG running on it (a surprisingly recent version, too! 2015 I believe). And the thing was slow as molasses, unbearable to use. I wiped it and installed a fresh copy of XP SP3 and it absolutely flies.

[@3dlabs99]

They protected the PC by making it so slow it was useless for hackers or malware.

[@vwestlife]

A cAPTIVAting video. IBM tried advertising it by reworking Alice Deejay's song "Better Off Alone" as "Do you really want a clone?"

[@LGRBlerbs]

oh my word, I've gotta track that down EDIT😄 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rIfHp4ekndCHhZo

[@garysnell47]

A buck a day

[@s8wc3]

@@LGRBlerbs NOO WAYYY!!!!!!!!

[@8bitbubsy]

@@LGRBlerbs Oh no, my ears!

[@leetymcleet6490]

Hahaha. So much cringe in one video 🤣

[@HamburgerAmy]

as cool as the "10,000.00" vintage PC's are, I kinda enjoy when you revisit every day machines that a lot of us grew up with.. we had these at a hotel I night clerked for & it was good enough to play Diablo over LAN with the clerk next door at the motel 6 xD

[@LGRBlerbs]

I love extremes! The best, the worst, most expensive, least expensive. They're each memorable in different ways, often lusting after one while actually living with the other.

[@KingLich451]

some good old LAN...

[@atari2600b]

This model lasted regular use until like 2004

[@Eyetrauma]

LAN matches during the night shift sounds rad as hell (I’d imagine the reality was quite different, of course 😀)

[@HamburgerAmy]

@@Eyetrauma it was pretty fun at the time, beats watching re-runs of over the air TV infomercials thats for sure. xD

[@TheDrewCrawford]

Holy crap, I had this exact computer (my first PC). I bought it at Office Depot and I think I paid around $1200 dollars for it back in 97. So many memories. I kept the hard drive from it for years as it was rock solid. What a trip down memory lane.

[@thishereanakinguy]

My favorite part of getting an old PC is when the HDD is included. It's like opening a time capsule and bringing me back to my childhood. Yes show the restoration process!

[@MrDuncl]

I do wonder how many long forgotten programs will be lost if he does that. Also if the original owner was one of Mike's relatives he might like to see the poetry etc. If you don't happen to have a suitable monitor etc browsing an old computer is more difficult than browsing a notebook or phot album.

[@wohlhabendermanager]

Yeah, I bought some old Amiga floppies off eBay 2 years ago. Of course they were sold as "empty", but we all know that there's still data on it. From the files I could reconsruct that a brother and sister used to share an Amiga, and not only did they use it to play games but also made some lists of CDs they owned (and yes, it was CDs, not vinyl. So I think they used the Amiga well into the 90's, when CDs became the dominating format) and wrote some other text files. For example, the sister called her brother "dumb like a piece of sh*t" in one file, lol (ohh, the love siblings share... I might have typed the exact same thing about my brother as well, haha) I could even reconstruct their names, and found out the brother now is a used car salesman. I thought about contacting him on Facebook, but decided against it. Because if I would receive a message like "hey, I found your old floppy disks" I would think the other person was a creep.

[@JPX64Channel]

yeah, recently got an old pentium pc with windows xp and STILL software like old chrome versions, windows live messenger, it looked like it hasnt been used since way back then, an absolute time capsule

[@MrNamegame]

@@JPX64Channel Similar deal when I got a pizzabox-format HP Pavilion 3260. Featured a Pentium 200mhz with I think 16MB of RAM and onboard video when I got it, including the original CRT but no speakers, mouse or keyboard when I got it. It actually had Simcity installed on the original HDD with Windows 95 on it, but sadly the original drive was dying and needed replacement quite soon. It still does work last I touched it, but would need to be immediately imaged and then cleaned up before preservation of the data on it.

[@NickDalzell]

I got a ton of old smartphones that are their own time capsules. Never updated, all apps stuck in their respective years (2007-12) it's amazing how far we've come. Somewhere I got a P4 HP Pavilion with an unmodified Windows 98 SE that still works put away somewhere. Kinda useless today unless I come across some old game discs.

[@HeadsetGuy]

I love seeing old PC restore processes, so yes, I would love to see this being restored.

[@FelipeCordeiro]

I also love videos of restoring and installing old computers. I'll love to see a video like this with this PC!

[@oqocraft2661]

I also love videos of destroying and uninstalling old computers. I'll love to see a video like this with this PC!

[@stephensalex]

Yes please, I'd love a video of the restore process.

[@RadOo]

We all want it, it's been a while since last one if I recall correctly.

[@user-ws7yt8vn2q]

Put me down for a restore video.

[@bradskaallama]

Man, this takes me back. This was my first PC, I think we got it around 1999. No internet connection, but I remember getting PC game demos from cereal boxes and playing them on this system. Simpler times.

[@NateOhsChannel]

Me too! Age of empires demo from Kellogg’s haha

[@dingdongbells3314]

WOW, the very first PC I ever had in my bedroom as a kid in the late 90s was an Aptiva. Literally, my dad was one of those "techie nerds" who at the time, much to the annoyance of my mother who hated computers, INSISTED that I needed it to help me grow up to be tech literate (And to play Total Annihilation with him)

[@juango500]

now that's a cool dad

[@JW86SH]

TA!!!

[@QuintusAntonious]

I also had an Aptiva as my first computer, also bought by my dad. Mine was a 2144-M51 though.

[@Plasmacore_V]

I loved Total Annihilation, even the music was awesome. Supreme Commander and Planetary Annihilation never seemed to be quite as fun.

[@BlackEpyon]

My very first PC was a Tandy 1000 HX, which I still have. That was back when the words "PC compatible" meant something.

[@shawnbrown1765]

Love the content. My father had a Aptiva desktop like this(but ran Win95). We would spend hours playing Flight Sim 95 and Star Wars Monopoly. He sadly passed in 2016. Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories. and please restore this Aptiva!!

[@warwagon]

I would love a video of it being restored. But no cuts, I want to watch the entire Windows 95 install start to finish :)

[@LGRBlerbs]

Ha. Unabridged Win95 install would be a Blerb for sure.

[@KingLich451]

@@LGRBlerbs Bleeerb!!!

[@blackpete]

+1

[@musickid43]

@@LGRBlerbs Well we've already had a 40 minute video of printing a hot dog banner. Although that wasn't a blerb.

[@misterkefir]

using floppy disks, of course!

[@KeithSurvell]

Oh wow, this was a nostalgia trip - that exact model was my first ever totally brand-new pre-built PC I ever had, which I got just before heading off to college.

[@jonat_gabl]

There's usually a sense of contending with one's own mortality when dealing with old computers - the last two Windows 98 computers that I handled which weren't mine were to recover copies of deceased or elderly family members' documentation.

[@MrDuncl]

Things are going to get worse with passwords etc. Several years ago I read about a boy who inherited his grandfathers iPad. Despite being a named beneficiary in the will, Apple wouldn't unlock it for him.

[@damian9303]

@@MrDuncl You can just create another user account on Windows 9X easily if there’s a reason you didn’t want to restore (has the original install with included goodies, too lazy to track down drivers and all that gunk, etc.)

[@ChocoHearts]

I have my late uncle's old laptop that he used to write sermons on. I've been meaning to back it up... but it's too old to have USB or wi-fi and I don't have any floppies laying around anymore...

[@wohlhabendermanager]

@@ChocoHearts You can still buy floppies off eBay, even sealed ones. And yes, they still work.

[@damian9303]

@@ChocoHearts I just bought a cheap IDE to USB adapter off eBay to transfer data off of an old laptop I bought, I used Disk2VHD to convert the entire drive into a partition that can later be restored to with VHD2Disk but you can always just pick files out individually

[@ThatMatt85]

this kind of discovery of old computers and inspections is definitely my favorite content on all of LGR channels.

[@jordanclock]

My first PC was an IBM 2176! It was somewhat similar but had the mega cool "stealth" front panel that had a cover that slid up and down to cover the front bays.

[@currentsitguy]

I had one of those! I worked IT support back then an my office had one that was only about 6 months old and they didn't want it because they had standardized on some locally built system. I remember it came with a huge binder of software and games. I was in my early 20's then and hadn't moved out yet. My mom thought I was nuts when I loaded NT4 Back Office Server on it and set up a domain and LAN in the house. When cable internet came I was even running my own Exchange Server for a time off of it. Great little machine that lasted a long time.

[@LGRBlerbs]

Those Aptivas with the moving front panels are so darned cool. Some of them were even motorized!

[@maddogct]

I still have mine. 2176. P166 , ATI 2mb 3d chip. 2GB HD. And the worst design ever: MWave Modem/Soundcard. I modded it by throwing in an Evergreen 333 AMD chip and I drilled holes on the front grill and changed out the fan with faster fan with LED’s Added WIN 98. The folder with a ton of software is still intact.

[@currentsitguy]

@@maddogct WOW, I remember that MWave board. It was a real PITA if I remember.

[@MiskaKarvonen]

Brings so much memories. IBM aptiva was my first own computer 😄 my dad got bunch of computers from some library or something. All of the computers were dead so I had to mix and match those three aptivas to get one working 😂 so in a way it was my first pc and a first self build one at the same time. All that I can remember from it that it had like pentium 3 in a slot 1 socket and some kind of 64mb ATI graphics card so I could play games. Have to get me one of those aptivas just for nostalgic sake.

[@MiskaKarvonen]

Oh and for the record Clint. The flap on the under side the case in the front opens the case. Just pull from that towards you and the case opens much easier 😄

[@fjccommish]

Love the youngsters pretending to be old timers by remembering using these PC's.

[@alexsyritsyn6307]

I advise you to install a Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 emulator on your modern computer. This fully satisfies the natural feeling of nostalgia, but is much cheaper than buying a rare computer.

[@MiskaKarvonen]

@@alexsyritsyn6307 I have plenty of original hardware to play with :) emulating is not for me.

[@alexsyritsyn6307]

@@MiskaKarvonen Oh yes, you're probably right. Is it more correct to put an old record on a gramophone, and not look for an mp3 record? I am writing this without any irony, but with great respect for a true enthusiast of the right retro👍

[@MyMyMicah32]

Awesome video. I was really touched by the fact there was so much information on the previous user before they passed. Would it be possible for you to pass the photos and poems onto possible relatives of the user, as you said there was emails etc. I just think this kind of data shouldn't just be deleted but given to surviving friends and family.

[@LGRBlerbs]

The files have been saved and set aside just in case but I didn't run across any current usable contact info or email addresses. Just names.

[@MyMyMicah32]

@@LGRBlerbs Thanks for the reply clint. I knew you would of thought about that. Youve always been super respectful when dealing with stuff like this. You never know, someone may even recognise all that lovely bloatware

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@MyMyMicah32 thank you for raising this point Micah, I was also hoping her poetry wasn’t just sent to the ether, even though it’s of course obviously not appropriate to upload an archive or show in a video.

[@JoshuaPaulKing]

Obviously you never want to invade someone's privacy, but I'm more interested in understanding who she was then just the computer restoration.

[@MyMyMicah32]

@@JoshuaPaulKing exactly. Normally its not so blatant and personal, but I love discovering little things about the previous owners of tech, like what games and applications they used. There is always that line between a persons privacy and also appreciating a life lived through a shared connection (it being this heavily used machine) It nice to know others felt the same.

[@tfksworldoflinux]

This was my second PC, a Pentium 200. Nostalgia hit me when someone offered a 2158 (AMD K6-2) with an original monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers. It has a front panel which opens as a door. It had been in an attic for years and was as new. Instant buy.

[@karl-erikkald8876]

There's just something with IBM computers. They definitely knew how to design their computers to look good IMO and they were generally well built as well.

[@livefreeprintguns]

Bro I had a model similar to this one (a IBM Aptiva 2162) and their keyboard was untouchable for years.

[@vaughnparkes]

Agreed. This Aptiva design looks very industrial - so was a simpler one my family bought back in 1996. I liked on the simpler towers that it had an actual handle you could use to both left the entire computer and assist with removal of the casing.

[@grootzijl]

I'd watch a restoration video of this machine! I think this is from around the same time when I built my own PC for the first time after having owned a Shi-tec 386 and an HP Vectra pentium 1. Good times

[@livefreeprintguns]

I had almost this exact one in black! I remember it like it was yesterday because it was my first "real" PC I ever owned! It was a 2162, with a 233Mhz Pentium II, 32MB of memory and 4.2gb Western Digital hard drive! Thanks for the huge nostalgia factor!

[@HeadsetGuy]

Late model E series Aptivas were apparently made by Acer. Wouldn't surprise me if this one was; it definitely shares Acer's design language of the time. EDIT: Okay, yes, this was definitely made by Acer. The motherboard has an ALi chipset (Acer Labs, Inc.) and the label on the BIOS chip clearly says "Acer Inc." on it.

[@LGRBlerbs]

That'd make a lotta sense!

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

Must be, has the same configuration as Clint's Packard Bell and Mac84's Compaq. Seems they liked using S7 with ATI and ESS/Crystal audio

[@MrDuncl]

But IBM themselves made the Cyrix processor.

[@JoseAML1988]

Aptiva 2137 = Acer V58XA

[@HeadsetGuy]

@@JoseAML1988 Thanks! The label was so faded that I couldn't read it. I wonder, did any Aspires use that board?

[@charlesstanton4135]

I waited months and months for the Aptiva 2168-M71 to come in stock in 1995. I called Best Buy every day. The day they finally said they were in stock I was shocked. Great machine, minus the Mwave combo modem and sound card that would choke if you connect faster than 14.4 and use the sound at the same time. Had a more prominent carrying handle and sliding front cover. Also having a built in DVD decoder in 1997 on this one -- not bad.

[@anarchopunk00]

I personally would love to see a restore of this PC, as I had a similar model from 1996 as my first PC.

[@CoreyDWillis]

I would love a game where you're in charge of cleaning up all computers and you're reading through files and end up uncovering a conspiracy or something. They've been games close to this concept recently, but I love that kind of stuff.

[@FiXato]

instead of uncovering a conspiracy, I'd like if it were more about finding the necessary info to contact the next of kin or people in the pictures to send a copy of the personal data to. Bringing closure perhaps, but also dealing with fallout from the others finding out how the person really thought about them.

[@Dentantje]

Wow, we had this PC growing up, such a beast for its time, I remember being able to play all sorts of games on this one with no issues.

[@livefreeprintguns]

I had almost this exact one in black! I remember it like it was yesterday because it was my first "real" PC I ever owned! It was a 2162, with a 233Mhz Pentium II, 32MB of memory and 4.2gb Western Digital hard drive! Thanks for the huge nostalgia factor!

[@1pcfred]

@@livefreeprintguns Cyrix was Pentium 1 era but it really wasn't Pentium compatible. It was more like a super fast 486.

[@brucewrigleysgumchewz4667]

I had one with the 400MHZ K6-2 CPU and it still seemed like a dog. I didn't care at the time because it was my first computer and I used the hell out of it. Ahhhh... the BSOD fond memories haha

[@1pcfred]

@@brucewrigleysgumchewz4667 a lot of prebuilts don't get the performance you'd think they would for the specs they have. I'm not sure how they manage to screw them up like they do. I only know that's what happens. Enthusiast motherboards are just better somehow.

[@alhuno1]

My aunt had this exact family PC when I was young. I remember it having Windows 98, then was upgraded to Windows 2000, and before she got rid of it it was upgraded to XP. It was fun at every Christmas seing the upgrades they did year after year. Eventually she bought a laptop. I wished I could have kept it.

[@ChadBoughton]

I just so happen to have an Aptiva coming in the mail myself. It’s the kind with a door that slides down slowly to reveal the drives and has a “Multimedia “ sticker. I’ve always loved the Aptivas for some reason. I had the exact one you are showing but regrettably sold it a year ago. Thanks for the great videos Clint!

[@theodorerelic2718]

Oh sure, I'd love to see this Aptiva restored. The department store I worked at used Aptivas (among other systems) back in the late 90s-early 2000s for their everyday stuff. They were kept up on the third floor where the local chain's computer shop was. I can remember when me and a co-worker was watching them work, and one of the tech guys decided to show us what else was on the system. That's right, nude images in all their monochrome glory! Sure bet the management would have loved seeing those along with their sales figures :) And the Cyrix brings back memories...back in 1998, when my eldest brother sent me parts he had left over cross-country I used them, including the Cyrix 6x86 120+, as the backbone for the first computer I ever built on my own. In fact, I still have that original processor, as well as the mobo manual for that first Frankenstein!

[@livefreeprintguns]

Yes, please restore! Bonus points if you can find the original Aptiva factory discs!

[@junkaholic95]

Would totally love to see you restore this. I love PCs from this era and would love to see what you can do with it.

[@kevinwetsch5209]

I always enjoy these little trips down memory road with these vintage PCS.

[@nafion112]

This is almost the same model as my first computer that I got when I was 12 (and it was indeed 1997). It taught me a lot of the base knowledge that I now use daily as a computer engineer. I haven't watched the vid yet, but I'm amping myself up, this is gonna be a treat! 😃

[@ShredBird]

I had an Aptiva growing up with a Pentium MMX and embedded ATI Rage II, it had MPEG-2 decoding which was the DVD part. The computer came bundled with MechWarrior 2 ATI 3D Rage edition. And a PC gamer was born!

[@JuanWonOne]

Hey Clint, As a person who likes to keep history alive, I sure hope you at least made a back up of this ladies stories and photos and are looking into passing it along to the family.

[@paravion5706]

Aptivas are fantastic computers, this one definitely deserves a restoration!

[@jensL.]

My cockatiels love the squeeky duck feet :D

[@LGRBlerbs]

I bet they could manage a fine imitation too!

[@jensL.]

@@LGRBlerbs Yep, they responded to every single squeek.

[@TheKeymaster316]

I had almost the exact Aptiva that you have there. I got married in 95 and I think in 96 or 97 we decided to buy our first PC. We went to the local Circuit City here in Richmond, Virgina and it felt like half the store was PC’s, so the era was in full-swing! The one we had was an AMD K6 233mHZ model with the same style hard drive as yours. A Christmas or two later my wife got me a Monster Fusion video card and I started on my journey of absolutely loving PC gaming. My first and favorite from that time was Dark Forces II, Jedi Knight. In 99 I got a job with Media One and got to experience high speed internet in all its glory. 22 years later I still work there (now Comcast). Unfortunately that Aptiva was replaced by several other PC’s so I no longer have it. But this one you have brings back all the feels. Thanks for sharing.

[@livefreeprintguns]

I remember when I first got my Aptiva 2162 (very similar to this model), I was JUST getting into Linux (Slackware Linux 3.1/96 to be specific) and I CAN'T TELL YOU how much hardware growing pains I had to experience to discover what a WinModem was (had to dumpster dive a hardware modem before being able to connect to the internet under Linux) OR the fact that my onboard ATI Mach64 chipset was HATED by X-Windows for the longest time (until I ended up finding a S3 ViRGe graphics card in the same dumpster). The memories, my god!

[@greatquux]

Ha I think the only bug I ever reported to Linux kernel mailing list was for Rage128 to fix a problem where X driver would not work with it correctly! That was like 2002 omg

[@1pcfred]

@@greatquux ATI never worked with Linux too well. I had to recompile X Window because of the Permedia bug. Someone forgot to put an 0X in front of a hex number in the code. That only took 4 hours to build.

[@livefreeprintguns]

LOL! All the OG's know what's up!

[@1pcfred]

@@elleon3542 that's the dark side. I've tried to get ATI/AMD hardware to work in Linux a few times. Makes me understand why folks can hate on Linux.

[@branhicks]

That lever under the front is what releases the case to pull off. I'm using an identical 2139 as my daily with all modern parts in it. I love it

[@SpectraParadox]

God, these old towers are so cool and as a person born in the late-2000's, I so want to get one if possible! I have a Intel Celeron that was one of those cpu cards from a scrapped PC (not like the pentium ones, it's the "socket on a card" thing) and I really want to build a machine out of that.

[@warrax111]

hey, late 2000's means 2007-2009. You were born in the era, where the cases were obsolete, in 2007-2009, most of the people were moving to typical huge black cases. Some even to aluminium one. Personally I didnt know almost noone, who had typical baige case in 2010. I had some mid 2000 silver one, definately old school model, but not so old school like this one (late 90's ). Even I moved to typical black case in 2011. I search so long for some baige old school design, with cool cooling, and 12CM fans, but nothing existed. I was dissapointed, so had to take black one. Just saying, you probably cannot remember baige ones from childhood, as when you grew up a little, it was already 2012.

[@FirstSkilletFan]

I'm a little younger than you, Clint, so my nostalgia for PC's starts a little later than yours. My dad worked at IBM in the 90's and had an IMB PC. I don't know which one it was, but it looks just like the Aptiva when I was kid. My earliest memories of gaming where on that computer. I was about 4 or 5 and played stuff like Rouge Squadron, X Wing vs Tie-Fighter, and Age of Empires.

[@knightcrusader]

I love the design of these machines. They shared them with the Netfinity servers (in Black) as well as the 300GL tower units. Although, I still prefer the design of the generation of Aptivas before this one, the one with the door that slides down.

[@CoreyDeWalt]

My favourite computer standing up. With very interesting software! Yes I'd love to see a restoration.

[@matthewtuel2747]

We had an Aptiva with an identical chassis from 1999. Had an Athlon K7 @ 550 MHz, a ±24x CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, 20 GB Maxtor HDD, 64 MB RAM, and an 8 MB ATi AGP video card. Lots of memories with her. This machine is what I started to learn computer hardware with. Wound up upgrading the RAM to 768 MB, a 52x CD-RW, and a 40 GB HDD. We had the matching Monitor as well, a nice 15" CRT. She also perform "file server" duty for a number of years as well. I very much regret recycling her, she would be great for retro gaming!

[@TimRoope]

This was my childhood PC! So many good memories with this, I even took up the handle Aptiva64 in my early online presence. So awesome to see this again.

[@magreger]

Great vid! In my youth my family had the IBM Aptiva with the sliding door on the front that smoothly slid down to reveal the CD-ROM and floppy disk drive. Loved that machine! Put in hundreds of hours of Mech Warrior 2. I don't have the computer anymore however I do still have the CD-ROM software binder full of the original disks.

[@griffonclaw]

I owned an Aptiva E34 with 32MB of RAM that I doubled to 64. The ATI video card that was embedded on it was great for a few years and it was no problem upgrading it. I bought an internal ZIP-100 drive. I loved that computer and I gave it away to someone who needed one. It was my last pre-built computer. After that, I built mine and I'm forever hooked.

[@Video_Crow]

I love the sound of those Quantum Bigfoots spinning up.

[@grauekatze]

SpywareStormer IS/WAS malware. Had some friends who "used" it in like..2004?

[@MichaelThomas-be7gq]

We used these at work, a very good machine for the era - I think mine was a DX4-100 which was a quick machine for its time.

[@turbinegraphics16]

A nice timepiece, I hope you save the software and the wallpapers as it shows what a typical pc would have in about 1999.

[@davidgreen8512]

So many core memories unlocked on the games that my grandmother had on her computer - Micemen, Solitile, etc.

[@MrQwint22]

My family had one of those back in the day as our first windows PC. Agh! The nostalgia, the goggles, they do nothing!

[@brothertax]

Please do more of these. I like the format. RIP previous owner. Your legacy lives on.

[@jacobscarberry4799]

Seeing any IBM just takes me back to school. Of course we never had the towers, but that stock IBM look and feel floods me with memories. Good stuff.

[@mateuspinesi]

One thing I've been looking for for years is the audio software that came with these Aptivas. Mine came with a YAMAHA MIDI player software and a bunch of MIDI songs - and I really wanted to hear those MIDIs again! If anyone knows where to find it let me know!

[@JonSturm]

I have an Aptivia 2162 sitting behind me, if I get it put together or the HDD out and dumped I'll make sure to upload them somewhere.

[@zhayward3190]

These IBM Aptiva's were scattered all over my high school in Australia during the early 2000's there actually pretty decent pre built's had a lot of fun on these playing space pinball

[@artartpal]

My family bought the Aptiva with the sliding front door. My parents signed up for a predatory Radio Shack credit card and ended up paying thousands. I remember it came with a copy of Mech Warrior 3 which was awesome back then. The PC lasted for 4 years then completely died.

[@MightyWeiner]

Dang, this video was a nostalgia trip from start to finish. Reminded of my old Aptiva, those sweet Westwood trailers, the longass Aptiva loadtimes....

[@tomr.knudsen3897]

Am I the only one imaging Clint talking to himslef, narrating all the part that he removed when looking into the personal stuff, even when knowing that he would cut it away, he kept narrating it)) anyway loved this video, so much nostalgia!) and awesome chilled presented))) and yeah would love to see more like this, and a restoration with this))

[@skovsen85]

The first PC as a child, absolute love it, the case is so cool, had with the old CRT monitor with the speakers that you could hang on the sides and the round subwoofer :D

[@SchardtCinematic]

I worked at Radio Shack for a few months in 1996 and o remember the Aptiva we had there. I loved watching it go through itsself running demo. It had about a 15 to 20second clip of the mudic video Good by Better than Ezra as part of it and it blew me away thst full motion video was on a PC.

[@PuffyDonut365]

This was my first computer ever. Bought it in the spring of 1998 in Vacaville, Ca. That was also my first introduction to high interest store credit cards; fresh out of the Navy, I garnered a robust deal of 19% interest. I stayed on an inflateable mattress for the term of the loan. Still loved it, wrote a ton of Macromedia Director Apps because of this first PC. Curt Hayward, Ca

[@IkanGelamaKuning]

I still remember 1997 as yesterday. Going to computer shop back then, is like going to smartphone shop these days.

[@smugshrug]

I had an Aptiva growing up. Mine had a sliding door on the front, though. Been very tempted to buy one for nostalgia's sake.. but I don't think I'd do much with it besides stare at it occasionally, lol.

[@TheDoomspeaker]

I think I have this computer downstairs right now! Wow, I loved seeing it getting some shine!

[@shanem.1769]

I didn't have one exactly like this, but my first PC was an IBM Aptiva 2176 from 1996 (the model with the cover that slides down), and this definitely brought back some memories

[@afb9999]

A dream to the past. These IBM Aptiva were awesome back then

[@The84Chambers]

This was the first PC my family ever got. What a great video.

[@XxLIVRAxX]

Now that brings memories, the first PC we had home was an Aptiva 95, I remember the day we bought it from a big box retailer, came with a bundle of programs including the Encarta Enciclopedia, Netscape navigator and several games including Ceasar 3, the game that ignited my love affair with city builders, strategy games and classical history, good stuff

[@JarrydHall]

I had a black IBM Aptiva from this era! Very similar design except the case was black and the monitor had a special cable that handled USB1, audio, and some communication channel to the monitor. That’s what one of those blank slots were for. There’s special restore discs available for these machines. When you first get if it’s a solid vanilla windows 95 install (green background and all) but if you yelled “Aptiva!” at the mic it would do a full install of all the extra apps and functions (the keyboard had all sorts of extra functions). Loved that machine.

[@inachu]

As a teen visiting Sears seeing this new IBM PC running prodigy internet. I was glued!

[@definitelycasualpcs8789]

I have a similar one! A 300pl? Something like that, it's in storage awaiting a restore and showing off. Nice to see these late 90s IBM's getting some love

[@randomthingschannel2692]

I love how you always unbox exiting things on the floor like a guidy child at xmas. I still do it too when i bring home cool things :)

[@leetylr]

My first pc ever, I loved it and wish I had kept it. Happy memories ❤

[@Belnex]

I know some people may be against it, but I LOVE the squeaky feet. Give this machine some character.

[@NaoPb]

I didn't know you could press Escape during the Windows boot screen to see what it was being held up on. Cool! I'll be using that.

[@dantohatan]

Wow. I actually remember these old PCs from when I was in school. Good old days.

[@50centgotshot9times]

Love the hum from old machines.. and the smell. I can't say I miss it but I am very happy to have experienced it

[@JHMBB2]

This is equivalent to finding old cassette mixtapes and seeing what people were into back in the day.

[@paulj.thaddaios]

I REMEMBER the sound/chime at startup! So nostalgic!

[@jackilynpyzocha662]

Hearing those pops made me smile!

[@quadruple_negative]

My family's first brand new PC was an IBM Aptiva. It cost like $1699 AUD with keyboard, mouse and monitor. It *might* have had windows 98 on it and had a Pentium 100. I remember the 5-1/4" bays being covered by a swinging door.

[@loam6740]

Its always bizarre buying something from goodwill that was probably owned by someone who is now dead but to get such a close look at their life is extra strange

[@dangerotterisrea]

I had an IBM Aptiva under monitor model that had a big plastic cover that hid the cd and disc drive, I loved that thing.

[@asgerms]

Old lady was pretty good at installing stuff and using the PC in general. (doubt any casual helper would identify and help installing *that* much stuff)

[@DakalaShade]

Yeah, this is a nostalgic blast from the past for me.

[@benadamsondxb]

I'd love to see a full clean and restore of this on your main channel. I can't get enough 90s computing nostalgia!

[@HotClown]

oh my god, wasn't expecting to see this today I still have my childhood aptiva (2137-EQ2) sitting in my pile of old computers and cases. I started on computers around the age of 5 (1996) on DOS and windows 3.11, and that's all I knew until we got the aptiva in late 1997. I spent so many hours on that thing installing demos from the "Fresh 4 Gamers" demo CDs my mum would let me and my brother buy from bi-lo when we did the shopping each week, god only knows how many times I played the demo for diablo on that thing. it was a massive part of why I got into video games, PC hardware, computer repair and eventually game dev. I tried turning it on a few years back, in 2018 or so, and it straight up worked first try, no issues, Ali G Indahouse wallpaper and everything. those duck feet are still intact because that entire PC is built like a goddamn tank. I've considered tearing the guts out and putting my modern PC into the case, but it'd be a ton of work and the airflow is nonexistent. it's a shame because maaaan is that case 90s IBM as shit. I love it so much. also, I feel very old right now

That sound of booting harddrive is beautiful ❤

[@deanphillipsmusic]

I have an IBM Aptiva from around the same time period, that runs Windows 98. The responsiveness and speed of your machine there is quite impressive, given the age and probable lack of use. I seem to remember Lotus SmartSuite preinstalled on my machine and, for me, that application served as an introduction into databases and a re-familiarisation to programming, having been acquainted with BASIC in the Commodore days. I also recall Westwood's Blade Runner which came as part of my PC package. That was the first Windows based PC game that I have tried and I loved it. Nostalgia.

[@mtipto2]

This was Radio Shack’s main machines that were sold. My first job was registering and providing tech support for the IBM Internet Connect software that came on these machines.

[@arthurmeis6302]

Nice to see old good pc . this was my first pc what i get from parents. Hope i found this again

[@nowhammies10]

I had one of these, looked almost identical! We got it around 1998. Ran for about a decade before it finally gave up the ghost.

[@Nickword1]

Very awesome! It took me like 7 years to finally find my matching P200 IBM crt monitor for my IBM case... The stuff is getting so rare these days!!

[@MrDuncl]

I had from new a gorgeous black IBM monitor. The best 17" CRT monitor I have ever seen with a ruler flat screen and perfect geometry. I gave it away when I got an LCD monitor and sold my Celeron 500 PC.

[@1pcfred]

Well yeah. The stuff wasn't made to last. In this era I was replacing computers every few months. 386, 486, Cyrix, Pentium, Athlon That all happened really quickly for me. Then I did hang onto that Athlon for a long time. I just got tired of the whole PC thing.

[@MrDuncl]

@@1pcfred I think computers reached a point where they met most peoples needs. After four different PCs the most impressive upgrade I made was to a Core2Duo. Then I could scroll pdfs far faster than I can read. I'm now using a ten year old I5 that I only got because back then it was only twice the price of a Windows 7 Pro Licence. I will only replace it when Windows 10 goes end of life as it doesn't have the necessary TPM to run Windows 11.

[@1pcfred]

@@MrDuncl we employed two major techniques to increase performance. We shrank the pitch of parts on dies and we reduced the voltage circuits ran on. We did all of that aggressively. We're at a point now where it is no longer practical to do either. So we're at the end of the line now. Which is why we've taken to just building out instead of up. Although there's limits to how far out we can go too. You can only fit so many cores on a wafer. I've seen one insane product where they use a whole wafer for a CPU. Thing has like 32,000 cores or something. It's as big as a plate is too. So it won't be coming to a desktop PC near you anytime soon.

[@marissach]

I had forgotten about Hover. That brought back memories of playing on my family's brand new Sony viao computer in 1998.

[@vm8430]

Oh man, that music from Moraff's 3D Jongg is hypnotically mind-blowing!

[@RetroFez]

Had this as my main PC through 97-99 not the best available but brings back great memories!! Still think the case looks pretty good!!

[@JfLSpawny]

listened to this with headphones and when you shut it off at the end it took me wayyy back, i used to run my pc in my bedroom 24/7 so the hdd noise is like white noise, soo soothing and feels empty when no there lol i totally forgot how that felt!