Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Queen of Swords · 04-09-2003, 01:22 PM

I volunteer at a church store. No, really, I do. Anyway, today the manager showed me a computer that she said she had found in the office when she was first hired, and she wanted to know if I knew anything about what the computer could do. Bear in mind that the thing wasn't even connected to the monitor or plugged in. She asked me what all the words and symbols on the tower meant.

"Well," I said, "I don't know. But there's this wonderful online community of intelligent people who will." So if anyone can decipher all this, I'd be most grateful, and the church will be indebted to unbelievers.

The make of the computer is "Creative" - that's what it says on the tower. It also says

Digital IR S2X
Intel Inside
Workstation ID Client 10
NICcard - 3 Com Fast Etherlink XL

There is something which looks like a ZIP drive, except that it has a handle, sort of like a tiny drawer, and it says

BITE Configuration PDC 7

What does all this mean, and can anyone tell what the computer's capabilities are just from these arcane codes?

Scotty · 04-09-2003, 01:53 PM

Holy crap, that looks like an old system.
I doubt it is usable though, as anything but a paperweight.

The NIC card is useful though, maybe it isn't as old as I think it is, but they have been around for 8 years or so. Maybe a Pentium 90

Zip drive with a handle? Sounds like a 5 1/4" floppy drive to me.

Yup, old paperweight.

Crack the box open and pull the CPU out turn it over and give me the numbers

Maybe the motherboard manufacturer (that would help, board model number and manufacturer unless it is from someplace like Dell).

The Workstation ID sounds specific to a company marking the machine.

AT case, ATX case?

I will confuse you yet.

Tower case or desktop?

edit: I have no idea what BITE Configuration PDC 7 means though, it must be old, the thing I think is a floppy might be a tape drive, does the "handle" move if you twist it?

-Scott

Queen of Swords · 04-09-2003, 02:10 PM

Originally posted by Scotty
Tower case or desktop?

Sorry, Scotty, I don't understand the question.

The manager wants to know if MS Excel, from my Office XP disks, will run on this computer. I guess not, even though the tower has a CD drive. On Saturday or Sunday, I'm going back to the store, so I'll connect everything and see what I can do.

Scotty · 04-09-2003, 03:03 PM

Best to connect it up and see what it says.
A tower is a virtical case, a desktop is horizontal.
The reason I ask, is that most of the older computer models were desktop and most of the newer are all tower (when you build your own, they rarely sell desktop cases anymore, if at all).

I would suspect it is too old to handle the newer stuff, but I could be wrong. It could be a model that is built by a local manufacturer "a clone" that might be fine.

When it does a POST, you can see what processor and memory it has.

-Scott

Corwin · 04-09-2003, 03:56 PM

Ok, I'll poke around and see what I can find.... but from what you've said it SOUNDS like you might have an old DEC Alpha system. Let me see what I can find.

Scotty · 04-09-2003, 04:57 PM

Since she is out of country, I bet it will be a bit harder to tell.
When did Intel start putting the emblem on systems? I guess since it is on the machine, it is probably from a main manufacturer like Dell...
I guess if the Intel emblem is not a new version (check on their site) that might say something about the age too.

The POST is the best thing at this point I bet.

-Scott

Jimmy Higgins · 04-09-2003, 05:36 PM

I'll bet its a 33 to 40 mHz computer that runs Windows 95.

Vincent · 04-09-2003, 06:34 PM

It could be a computer manufactured by Digital -- Digital was purchased some time ago by Compaq (which has pretty much been purchased by HP). If it was manufactured by Digital and has a pentium logo on it, it probably has a processor that runs between 75-166Mhz. (There were 60 and 66 Mhz variants of pentium 1s as well as a 200Mhz version, but none were widely used.)

At the very best, it is probably only capable of running Windows 95. It is highly unlikely that anything from Office XP would run on it.

If it isn't from Digital, from the physical description, it probably still only has a Pentium 1 (or worse) and the prediction of a 75-166Mhz processor still holds.

By todays standards (at least in the US) it is probably a "paperweight" though some of the more geeky would be tempted to play arround with it.

Vincent · 04-09-2003, 06:37 PM

This link may help if it is a Digital:
Legacy Digital Support

Cofffee · 04-09-2003, 07:24 PM

Here's the clues as I see them:

- "Creative" - that's what it says on the tower.

Could this be the model of the CD-ROM drive. "Creative" used to release drives and I've seen 4x up to 52x speed CD-ROM drives with the Creative label.

- Intel Inside

I don't think Intel started using this slogan until they came out with their pentiums (and everyone made all the jokes about this when they found the pentium bug). Perhaps it's somewhere between a P75 and P133.

- NICcard - 3 Com Fast Etherlink XL

I think this is a PCI card. Very likely this is a Pentium system if it has a PCI bus.

- There is something which looks like a ZIP drive, except that it has a handle, sort of like a tiny drawer

This could either be a removable or easily-replacable hard disk enclosure used for backup purposes. It could also be some kind of tape backup device. (Depends whether there's anything in the drawer or not, and the size of what would fit in there).

- BITE Configuration PDC 7

This is an interesting label. PDC sometimes means "Primary Domain Controller", which is generally a high-quality Windows computer (for the time the computer was built). The purpose of a PDC is to be on all the time so other computers can use it to log in and print things. The computer system may have Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 Server on it and would be useful for sharing files/printers.

I doubt the computer would be fast enough to run Windows XP, and if it's running NT, I'm not sure whether Office XP would run on it without reformatting the computer system and installing Windows 2000.

(Note the progression of Operating Systems: NT 3.51, NT 4.0, 2000, XP)

If you tell us how much memory it has, and the name of the operating system it displays as it starts up we can give you some more specific advice on what the system would let you run normally.

04-09-2003, 01:22 PM	#1
Queen of Swords Contributor Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Canada. Finally. Posts: 10,155	Computer questions I volunteer at a church store. No, really, I do. Anyway, today the manager showed me a computer that she said she had found in the office when she was first hired, and she wanted to know if I knew anything about what the computer could do. Bear in mind that the thing wasn't even connected to the monitor or plugged in. She asked me what all the words and symbols on the tower meant. "Well," I said, "I don't know. But there's this wonderful online community of intelligent people who will." So if anyone can decipher all this, I'd be most grateful, and the church will be indebted to unbelievers. The make of the computer is "Creative" - that's what it says on the tower. It also says Digital IR S2X Intel Inside Workstation ID Client 10 NICcard - 3 Com Fast Etherlink XL There is something which looks like a ZIP drive, except that it has a handle, sort of like a tiny drawer, and it says BITE Configuration PDC 7 What does all this mean, and can anyone tell what the computer's capabilities are just from these arcane codes?

04-09-2003, 06:34 PM	#8
Vincent Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 37	Possibly -- It could be a computer manufactured by Digital -- Digital was purchased some time ago by Compaq (which has pretty much been purchased by HP). If it was manufactured by Digital and has a pentium logo on it, it probably has a processor that runs between 75-166Mhz. (There were 60 and 66 Mhz variants of pentium 1s as well as a 200Mhz version, but none were widely used.) At the very best, it is probably only capable of running Windows 95. It is highly unlikely that anything from Office XP would run on it. If it isn't from Digital, from the physical description, it probably still only has a Pentium 1 (or worse) and the prediction of a 75-166Mhz processor still holds. By todays standards (at least in the US) it is probably a "paperweight" though some of the more geeky would be tempted to play arround with it.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

04-09-2003, 01:53 PM	#2
Scotty Senior Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: OutBound Posts: 804	Holy crap, that looks like an old system. I doubt it is usable though, as anything but a paperweight. The NIC card is useful though, maybe it isn't as old as I think it is, but they have been around for 8 years or so. Maybe a Pentium 90 Zip drive with a handle? Sounds like a 5 1/4" floppy drive to me. Yup, old paperweight. Crack the box open and pull the CPU out turn it over and give me the numbers Maybe the motherboard manufacturer (that would help, board model number and manufacturer unless it is from someplace like Dell). The Workstation ID sounds specific to a company marking the machine. AT case, ATX case? I will confuse you yet. Tower case or desktop? edit: I have no idea what BITE Configuration PDC 7 means though, it must be old, the thing I think is a floppy might be a tape drive, does the "handle" move if you twist it? -Scott

04-09-2003, 02:10 PM	#3
Queen of Swords Contributor Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Canada. Finally. Posts: 10,155	Originally posted by Scotty Tower case or desktop? Sorry, Scotty, I don't understand the question. The manager wants to know if MS Excel, from my Office XP disks, will run on this computer. I guess not, even though the tower has a CD drive. On Saturday or Sunday, I'm going back to the store, so I'll connect everything and see what I can do.

04-09-2003, 03:03 PM	#4
Scotty Senior Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: OutBound Posts: 804	Best to connect it up and see what it says. A tower is a virtical case, a desktop is horizontal. The reason I ask, is that most of the older computer models were desktop and most of the newer are all tower (when you build your own, they rarely sell desktop cases anymore, if at all). I would suspect it is too old to handle the newer stuff, but I could be wrong. It could be a model that is built by a local manufacturer "a clone" that might be fine. When it does a POST, you can see what processor and memory it has. -Scott

04-09-2003, 03:56 PM	#5
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	Ok, I'll poke around and see what I can find.... but from what you've said it SOUNDS like you might have an old DEC Alpha system. Let me see what I can find.

04-09-2003, 04:57 PM	#6
Scotty Senior Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: OutBound Posts: 804	Since she is out of country, I bet it will be a bit harder to tell. When did Intel start putting the emblem on systems? I guess since it is on the machine, it is probably from a main manufacturer like Dell... I guess if the Intel emblem is not a new version (check on their site) that might say something about the age too. The POST is the best thing at this point I bet. -Scott

04-09-2003, 05:36 PM	#7
Jimmy Higgins Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Proud Citizen of Freedonia Posts: 42,473	I'll bet its a 33 to 40 mHz computer that runs Windows 95.

04-09-2003, 06:37 PM	#9
Vincent Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 37	This link may help if it is a Digital: Legacy Digital Support

04-09-2003, 07:24 PM	#10
Cofffee Regular Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Pickering, ON, CA Posts: 447	Here's the clues as I see them: - "Creative" - that's what it says on the tower. Could this be the model of the CD-ROM drive. "Creative" used to release drives and I've seen 4x up to 52x speed CD-ROM drives with the Creative label. - Intel Inside I don't think Intel started using this slogan until they came out with their pentiums (and everyone made all the jokes about this when they found the pentium bug). Perhaps it's somewhere between a P75 and P133. - NICcard - 3 Com Fast Etherlink XL I think this is a PCI card. Very likely this is a Pentium system if it has a PCI bus. - There is something which looks like a ZIP drive, except that it has a handle, sort of like a tiny drawer This could either be a removable or easily-replacable hard disk enclosure used for backup purposes. It could also be some kind of tape backup device. (Depends whether there's anything in the drawer or not, and the size of what would fit in there). - BITE Configuration PDC 7 This is an interesting label. PDC sometimes means "Primary Domain Controller", which is generally a high-quality Windows computer (for the time the computer was built). The purpose of a PDC is to be on all the time so other computers can use it to log in and print things. The computer system may have Windows NT 3.51 or 4.0 Server on it and would be useful for sharing files/printers. I doubt the computer would be fast enough to run Windows XP, and if it's running NT, I'm not sure whether Office XP would run on it without reformatting the computer system and installing Windows 2000. (Note the progression of Operating Systems: NT 3.51, NT 4.0, 2000, XP) If you tell us how much memory it has, and the name of the operating system it displays as it starts up we can give you some more specific advice on what the system would let you run normally.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.