• This topic has 49 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 7 years ago by fisha.
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  • Windows Help: old XP machine and 10yo software
  • Del
    Full Member

    we’re just about done supporting xp machines. some of our kit uses proprietary machine vision frame grabber cards that don’t have drivers available for later than XP or win 2000. easier for us to stick a new camera in the machine than screw around trying to install XP on modern PCs. windows update website has been pulled.

    as mentioned above, if the kit is only using serial comms, it’s likely it will run on a VM.

    seems a bit harsh of the supplier to not provide a code for you to reinstall, even if they said ‘you’re on your own’ after that, so long as your BIL is the original purchaser.

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    More interesting posts. Most of the kit in the lab is connected to a dedicated machine the vast majority of which are stand alone, ie no internet/network connection. I hear people about up to date kit but why should electronics and by extension computers need to be “current”, it if does the job and is still running then its good enough for the job.

    Update:

    1) Called the MS number which is an automated service, after typing in the gazillion digit number it basically said “too old or stolen”.
    2) We also tried a few other XP codes from other boxes but they didn’t work
    3) Tried to put the drive into another old XP box but the boot stopped early with a NTDLR (?) error

    Finally BIL said he will have another look round for the old machine, agreed as above that a repair of that maybe the best option. We had asked him more than once if he still had it

    Aside. Was interesting to see some boxes with a mix of Sata and IDE connectors. Also old XP box had 256mb of RAM !

    richmars
    Full Member

    How does the lab kit connect to the PC?
    I’m guessing that it’s either RS232 or there’s an extension PCB plugged into the PC (PCI?). If it’s this, you definitely need to find the old PC.

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    jambalaya
    Free Member

    RS232

    Yes this.

    deadkenny
    Free Member

    Cougar – Moderator 
    Holy cow.
    I saw an ATM reboot a few months back. It was running OS/2 Warp.

    Wow! Best I’ve had is ATM reboot XP. Swallowed my card in the process 👿 . Interesting watching the whole BIOS start up, XP load and then the ATM UI load on top. Embedded XP version I’m sure. Almost certainly still being used.

    fisha
    Free Member

    Ok, your ntdlr error might be fixable to get to the boot stage . If you have a xp cd you can boot from it then go into that and get to the recovery console command line. Once there, run “fixmbr” from the command line and that should reinstate the boot record on the drive. Once that is ok, it might start to boot from the drive at least,

    richmars
    Full Member

    It was running OS/2 Warp.

    I’ve still got the installation disks for this, I think there was about 20 3.5″ floppies!

    richmars
    Full Member

    I hear people about up to date kit but why should electronics and by extension computers need to be “current”, it if does the job and is still running then its good enough for the job.

    Because electronic stuff does degrade over time.
    Sooner or later the lab kit will stop working.

    deadkenny
    Free Member

    Been following some retro computer groups and a lot of the old kit needs work to replace components that degrade. Caps in particular, and often on board batteries leak and kill the motherboard. Tracks can lift too or crack.

    In companies, the problem with depending on old kit is not only this but then finding it’s a major cost to upgrade as things have moved on so much, and the time it takes to get a complete new system in means downtime. Incremental upgrades would soften the blow.

    fisha
    Free Member

    Is there new software that the lab equipment runs with that can be bought off the shelf? How much is it ? Reason I ask is that sometimes the expense is simply worth it. For example you could spend 15hrs researching and fixing the problem, if not more. As a rough example, if your paid hourly rate was worth £10/hr then that time has could be considered as worth £150. If the new software was £100 , was the time spent worth it? You could buy new, and be up and running in an hour, leaving you 14hrs of your time for other things.

    A very simplistic view but sometimes worth looking at it in those terms.

Viewing 10 posts - 41 through 50 (of 50 total)

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