OMG!!! My First Computer!

landbeforetimelover · **on:** December 21, 2009, 02:50:32 AM

Well, it technically wasn't "my" computer per say, but it was the first computer that I was allowed to use. My grandmother never said I could have it, but she never took it away from me or told me I couldn't use it. But my mother just gave me this ENORMOUS and HEAVY package. Arrived a few days ago but she forgot to tell me. So anyway, I open it up and look what's inside of it:

This was the computer I upgraded from MS-DOS 4.0 to MS-DOS 5.0. This is the computer that I loaded Windows on for the first time (Windows 95). This was the computer that I learned all the Windows keyboard shortcuts on because I didn't have a mouse. This was THE computer! The computer that got me into it all. Here are it's glorious specs:

I swore I had sold this computer at a garage sale, but my Aunt found it in the attic and mailed it to me. Whew does this sucker bring back memories! It really struggles to run Windows 95, as it just barely meets the minimum requirements. Oh, and I should add that I upgraded the hard drive and ram on this thing. I put a whopping 750mb hard drive in it. Much better than the 340mb that came with it. I also upgraded the ram from 4mb to 8mb.

JitteryDragon · **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2009, 03:36:22 AM

It still works!? That's awesome!

8 Mb of ram was a lot back in those days.

My first PC I owned is borked, and now rests in a rubbish pile somewhere. I still have my second one, though... and I also have an Atari ST lying in my Grandmothers garage.

I really should fire it up and see if it works

I love old computers.

2007excalibur2007 · **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2009, 06:38:39 AM

The awesomeness of Windows 95 back in the day was just epic. I mean, just look at those desktop icons, and the good ol' blue background.

:

*sigh* Good times...

Petrie. · **Reply #3 on:** December 21, 2009, 07:52:41 AM

That looks quite new compared to some computers I remember growing up with.

Kor · **Reply #4 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:09:16 AM

A pretty old computer by today's standards. Guess you had a lot of fun on that one.

Amaranthine · **Reply #5 on:** December 21, 2009, 11:35:41 AM

Awesome! ^^ Hehe, there are computers at my school that look a lot like that. I mean sure, they have newer mac computers and newer Dell computers too, but they still have those and they work just as good as the new ones.

My first computer was a Toshiba laptop. I don't know where it is right now.

I probably gave it away to a recycling thing.

Noname · **Reply #6 on:** December 21, 2009, 02:35:15 PM

I used to own a Toshiba laptop... thing was a piece of crap...

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #7 on:** December 21, 2009, 03:39:49 PM

Quote

Hehe, there are computers at my school that look a lot like that. I mean sure, they have newer mac computers and newer Dell computers too, but they still have those and they work just as good as the new ones.

Then they can't be nearly as old as this sucker. This thing has a REALLY hard time even opening Word '94.

Internet? You can just forget about it. 640x480 resolution on a 9" screen.

There is NO website on the internet that would display properly on this sucker. The standard changed to 800x600 in like 1997 and it's now 1,024x768. Heck, I'd say 40% of all websites aren't even coded to the 1,024x768 standard.

I tried to take screenshots on this thing instead of using the camera, but it kept freezing when opening Paint. Took like 5 full minutes to take a screenshot and save it. On top of that, I couldn't get it off the computer. No internet so I couldn't transfer it over my server (and I don't even know how to network in Windows 95), and I tried putting the pictures on floppies, but it kept telling me they were damaged and couldn't be formatted. I don't know what was wrong with them. Maybe because all my floppies are newer?

This is just about the oldest computer I'm capable of fixing. My knowledge of computers older than this is....inadequate. I wouldn't trust myself to repair something older than this. I've repaired a computer or two that was older than this, but I was scared to death I was gonna blow it up or something the whole time I was working on it. Of course, I told the guy that but he said no one else would even touch it, so I had the honor of taking apart this ANCIENT like 4 foot tall computer. It was so old, he'd paid IBM to solder connections on the mainboard for a 3.5" floppy drive, and then a CD-ROM drive. The sucker ran MS-DOS 3.0 and had a whopping 756kb of ram (or something like that). I was able to get Windows 3.1 on there. It was the hardest thing I've ever done.

BTW, I've still got Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 on floppies somewhere.

3.1 is like 7 floppies and 95 is like 13.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #8 on:** December 22, 2009, 09:00:00 PM

No mouse? Then there's NO way I would even ATTEMPT to access the Internet on that thing. I'm sorry, but I'm just TOO used to using a mouse when I'm on the net that I'd be down-right terrified to even try it without one.

Anyways, great to see the first computer you ever had. Wish I still had mine, but we sold that thing.