ThinkPad 600e help

[silverknight1311]

So as a graduation "gift" I recieved an old IBM ThinkPad 600e. I don't know a ton of specifics about computers but with a little help I can catch on. I would like to know what I need to do to get it connected to the internet and what things I could buy or do to make it a little more usable for the modern times; speed and the ability to get files from my home computer onto the laptop are biggies. It has about 4 of 6 gigs of space left on it, runs on windows 98, and I think about 128mb of ram.

[thefultonhow]

On that Laptop, I would advise buying Windows 2000 Professional and a Xircom RealPort 10/100 network card. That will get you reliable web surfing, email, and word processing. Keep in mind that you should install an AntiVirus (AVG Free) and firewall (Sygate Personal Firewall) and then run Windows Update immediately after you install Windows 2000; otherwise viruses will doubtless get in.

[glc]

If you are going to put Win2000 on it (highly recommended over 98, by the way), I'd recommend more ram and make sure you have a big enough hard drive. 256mb ram and a 20gb hard drive will keep it going for a good long while, those Thinkpads are virtually indestructible.

[thefultonhow]

I personally think 128 MB of RAM is enough on Windows 2000. A bit extra is nice if you heavily multitask, but 2000 has a much smaller footprint than XP does. My high school was running 2000 on similarly powerful machines with 128MB of RAM for a while, and they were definitely fast enough.

If you do want to go for more RAM, make sure you get it from Crucial's online memory configurator. Chances are most notebook RAM available today will be incompatible with such an old laptop, but Crucial ensures they will ship you something that works.

BTW, GLC, those laptops are definitely destructible if you try hard enough. Drop it on the ground from desk level and I bet you'll kill the screen. But in normal use (laptop bag, being careful, etc.), they are very durable.

[Floppyman]

I'm still using a IBM 390X (PII 400mhz, 192mb ram, 6.4gig hdd) laptop. Right now it's running Slackware 10.1 Linux, but before that I ran Windows 2000 for a long time. Never had any problems and windows 2000 ran great. The hinges are starting to break off now unfortunately so I have to be careful. Hopefully I'll be able to buy another thinkpad next year. They are durable, long lasting machines.

[rwrw1]

I have an older 600e with 128mb. I've been running xp pro for about 6 months without much trouble. But I mainly use it just to browse the internet and do some other small task. I've noticed if I open more then 2 programs at a time it really struggles. I also gets very warm/hot I have to put a book in my lap to keep the heat from legs. But I'm sure I over work this thing picked it up on ebay for $300 and to me it's been worth every penny.

As for internet conn. I use the Ibm modem which came with the computer when I'm on the road and can't really complain.

At home I have a wireless Linksys card which works fine on this computer. Oh, now I remember why I started using windows XP. I tried to install the wireless card when I had win 98 and once the installation was complete and I rebooted when windows opened back up it said something was wrong and I had to re install windows. I had an xp CD so thats why I went with it.

I also bought a 256mb upgrade memory card last week but I doesn't fit my version of 600e. Make sure when you upgrade you know which 600e you have.

[silverknight1311]

Sorry I abandoned the post for a while, I was working to meet all the things thefultonhow mentioned...thanks a lot to all of you. I have McAfee on their as well as 2000Pro and a Linksys wireless card now. Is there any way I can keep the laptop from getting so weiner-burning hot? After about an hourish or so the computer starts to get real sluggish from the heat, forcing me to hold the little vent hole next to my air conditioner...Also, it takes quite a while to load up to an idle point and I was wondering if that process can be sped up, or if that is just a laptop characteristic.

[Floppyman]

Is the fan in the laptop working? If the performance is decreasing from the heat then something isn't working right. HTH

[silverknight1311]

Yeah the fan is spinning away...I might have been running too much on it for too long that session and the idle time it had while cooling off let everything get back in order. I was amazed to see a thinkpad commercial on tv the other day that looked exactly like mine does...has IBM ever changed the design or is black box the most creative they get?

[glc]

Why change something that successful? A Thinkpad is probably the best regarded business laptop on the market.

[silverknight1311]

Ok so I hear a little noise through the vent but I don't feel any air being pushed out...just heat that is radiating out. I went to thinkpad.com and found a fan help thing that only said us "easy setup" to test the fan...uh whatever that means. I searched for that online and on the computer as well as searching for fan diagnostic programs and such but got nowhere. I there a way to get into the computer and check the fan physically?