Having problems with my old laptop

[Avishrant]

I have an archaic Acer Travelmate 4150 notebook. It was my dad's before, but now he has a Dell Inspiron N5010, so he gave it to me somewhere near 2 years ago. My laptop is celebrating its 8th Anniversary:!!!!

It is running perfectly from about this time in 2010. But most of the time, it was kaput. I am now running Windows XP Professional, which is on the 60GB HDD, and Puppy Linux on an 8GB Pendrive. I have some wierd problems with the XP. When I open "My Computer", it just keeps on searching the drives. And MSPaint and WinRAR take too much time to open.

It has very low amount of RAM, just 256MB. It has no Graphics Card too, only Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900. Also, it has no CD ROM.

So, I have the following questions:-
1. Is there any cure for the XP issues?
2. Can I increase the amount of RAM?
3. Can I put in a GPU? If I can't, then can I use an external GPU? If I can, then where do I plug it in & please suggest a GPU (will work if it is old and even has 128MB of graphics memory)
4.Please suggest a good DVD RW.

I have a max budget of Rs.3000. Please suggest something in between this budget. I hope you all will be able to solve my problems

 

[dashing.sujay]

1) Defragment + clean the clutter. Last option, format.

2) Yes, your laptop supports upto 512MB RAM. Support page.

3) No, No.

4) Buy an external ODD; from Buffalo @ ~1.8k.

RAM alone will cost you 1k+ due to its "archaic" nature.

Just buy a new laptop, its too old to revive. You can add an SSD (if it supports), but 5k for SSD alone.

 

[Avishrant]

Is there no way I can play some games(I play quite old games, like Monster Truck Madness 2, Death Rally, Duke Nukem 3D etc. I would like to play at least GTA Vice City and enable some of the graphical features of MTM2. Is there absolutely no way????
Do you know any place where I can get the RAM? As for your suggestion, my dad won't give me a new one until I'm in college (Right now, I'm in Class-VIII)

 

[dashing.sujay]

Use 3D Analyzer. Its an app to run demanding games by disabling candies.

Search local shops for the RAM, you will get it, but costly.

 

[Avishrant]

Can you give me the link?

 

[dashing.sujay]

People too lazy to google *sigh*

Let me google that for you.

 

[Avishrant]

I tried using it and it didn't work well. I don't think it can replace a GPU. On what options should I tick? Also, are some games not running b'coz of DirectX drivers? I think I currently have DX5, as MTM2 doesn't run above it or maybe DX6. Should I upgrade to DX driver version 7 or 8?

 

[dashing.sujay]

You have dX 5 ? wtf Which age do you live in? At least upgrade to dX 9.0c as the latter versions may not be supported by your graphics adapter. Update dX and graphics drivers, and your game should run just fine.

Also regarding 3D Analyzer, its a bit complex for starters. Just tick the option which you want to disable (not which you want, but according to game, i.e., the missing capability which is stopping game to run like SM 5.0 ).

 

[Avishrant]

OK, u might think I'm a caveman. but I don't wanna miss out MTM2, where u can add 1000nds of addons and the community is still active to this date(it was released in 1997, 2 years b4 my birth). Check it out urself by clicking here. OK, I'll still install DX9, but r dere some SP issues? Also, my battery is dead. Should I buy a new one, or would that b a waste?

 

[coderunknown]

^^ buy a new laptop. seriously. if you try to fix your laptop fully, total cost will be more than 10k. not worth it.

 

[dashing.sujay]

dX 9.0c was a major upgrade in dX line up. It doesn't have any issues.

Your laptop is just NOT for gaming.

Lastly, concentrate on your studies, it will fetch you more.

Closing.