Can you help me decipher the boot-up info from my mom's computer?

[Mom-to-3]

My mother bought her computer in '98 and basically only uses it for the internet and listening to CDs. Oh, and solitaire.

She's trying to decide if it's powerful enough to run today's kids' games. She has lost all documentation.

Here's what her boot-up says: What does it mean?

Award Modular Bios v4.51 PGM
Pentium MMX CPU at 200 MHz
Memory Test: 32,768
ATAPI IDE version v1.53
CD Rom 36X

Thanks.

 

[Cricket2]

It should be just fine. It will really depend on the game though. Each one will have it's own requirements. Do you have a specific game in mind that you want us to check on?

JC

 

[Mom-to-3]

Thanks for the quick reply! I haven't recommended any games to her yet, but she mentioned that she bought one at Wal-mart and during the installation she received a sound card error. She thinks it said she had no sound card. But she can listen to CD's -- do they go through a sound card?

Aaaarrggghhh. I hate this stuff.

Is the 32, 768 her RAM? 32 of RAM is going to be slow, isn't it?

Thanks.

 

[Cricket2]

32 meg of Ram should be ok to run most kids games. It really does depend on the game though.

To listen to a CD through speakers, you do need a sound card.

Music CD's can be used with headphones plugged directly into some CD players.

I doubt that she doesn't have a sound card though. It's pretty difficult to get a PC without one (unless you are MJ )

JC

 

[Mom-to-3]

Thanks Mr. Cricket. I sent her an email.

 

[albiats]

PMJI -

Mom-to-3 :

Your Mom has a Pentium PC, with MMX at 200 Mhz, with 32 Mb of Ram. The term MMX stands for MultiMedia Extensions, meaning the processor was built to enhance MultiMedia capabilities so they could be processed faster than they could before.

Many of the games state that the minimum system requirements to run the game need a specific level of processor and or memory in order for the user to be able to see the graphics, etc.

It's also important to note what level of software she has, such as Windows 95, Windows 98 (with different levels of Win 98) or Windows ME (Millenium Edition). The amount of hard drive space that is available is also important and should be noted.

In case you aren't aware of the order of Intel Processors as they would be listed on the game requirements, they are:

Pentium
Pentium MMX
Pentium Pro (not many consumer versions produced)
Pentium II
Pentium III
Pentium 4

Each iteration had several levels of speed introduced.

So for instance, if the game says it needs a Pentium II (at any speed), it would not work on your Mom's PC.

Sometimes when you install a new game on a PC that works just fine for all other purposes, it might not recognize a sound card, even though it is there and physically working. This could be caused by the game having a limited set of parameters to 'look for' the sound card. It could be that the sound card is working but one of the settings associated with it is configured
a little bit out of the expected range. Since there are many brands of sound cards and models within brands, it is very difficult to estimate where the 'difference of opinion' between the game and the sound card could be.

It isn't impossible to reconcile, but it also isn't easy.

Hope that helps.