Thanks for that hint stuckgear.

The wretched machine is staggering its way through the installation of SP3 as I type.
I reckon it will be long past my bedtime when it finishes, so I'll give that a whirl tomorrow.

N o t a

Hi,

You must have some big problems with this machine !!!
Even on a slow PC .. one hour or little more is a standard time for installing XP SP3
More than 2 hours will be already considered as abnormal.
So methink you can not expect good use of this machine .. after your endless OS install .......

Spot on! It's old, very slow, lacks RAM and it's had a hard life on a farm.
With the best will in the world the owner has a somewhat 'agricultural' approach to technology.

On the other hand I wouldn't be able to lamb a ewe. :ooh:

N o t a

Down here in Oz I have now bought three laptops and one desk top from this place:

Computers - Technology - iShopTODAY

I have chosen to stick to Dell. The machines are ex lease and have been reconditioned by Dell themselves before re selling through 'ishoptoday'. The dearest, with postage, came in at about A$400.00, all with XP loaded. Obviously not a lot of help to you in UK but I imagine there must be similar online stores in UK or close by in other parts of Europe? Worth thinking about before you buy more RAM for an old machine, even if it will take it.

With ex lease machines you may get one that has worked for two or three years or you may get one that has sat and gathered dust, they usually have a 30 day warranty, a minimum of 1GB RAM and an 80GB hard drive, sufficient for most peoples needs who don't run large technical programmes etc.

Re buying a renovated machine from a good source, I can recommend an excellent UK firm. Can't advertise it on PPRuNe but has the same name as financiers J.P.******

OFSO

(or PM me if you don't follow the financial news)

Thanks pb and OFSO.

Yes, I've just been looking at various sites with ex-lease equipment, including that referred to by OFSO.

I think a few hints in that direction are what is required. I shall deliver them with all the tact and subtlety of a thousand bommber raid:eek:

ETA I've just subjected the machine to the crucial.com memory scan. (Thanks stuckgear)
It is equipped with a mighty 256mb of RAM. I suppose that shouldn't come as a surprise. It would cost about £60 to bring it up to a respectable 1Gb but given the limitations of the rest of the machine, that would be pretty pointless. There was a Dell leaflet in the newspaper this morning. I shall leave it under the lid of the laptop!

Here in Oz Dell will offer a not unreasonable hire-purchase scheme at reasonable interest rates, probably infinitely more reasonable in Europe at the moment!

There's always their Outlet:

Dell Outlet - Refurbished Computers/PCs: Laptops, Desktops & Servers | Dell UK