Tilted Tech Support

This is probably not a very interesting problem, involving trailing-edge technology, but I'll lay it out in case somebody has some thoughts for me.

(Note: all of the external links in this posting are system-generated, not from me.)

I have a DOS app (FoxPro 2.6 for DOS) that I need to continue to use. It involves a huge amount of data, and tens of thousands of lines of code.

In theory, this could be ported to a "more modern" environment, but that would be chancy and probably immensely time consuming.

(Around the time that FoxPro went out of style, the dominant database platform to switch to was MS-Access, a buggy and unstable piece of shit which I am very glad to have avoided.)

I've been running FoxPro in the DOS window (cmd.exe or command.com) on a series of Windows XP laptops without much problem. When one laptop wears out (screen dies, hinge cracks, keycaps come off, etc.), I buy another.

As it happens, refurbished laptops with Windows XP Professional installed are abundant and relatively inexpensive.

I use the XPs solely for the DOS app and related programming.

It's important to me that the DOS platform be rock-solid stable.

Since Windows XP "corrodes" (to put it poetically) when exposed to the Internet, each of these XP machines, like delicate hothouse flowers, are kept completely off the 'Net.

So, I never (or extremely rarely) have any crashes or freezes while running FoxPro in DOS.

All of my online activity, and modern-era computing, is on a separate laptop, currently a Toshiba running Windows 7.

That sets the stage. Here's the problem.

My current Windows XP machine is an HP Compaq nc-6230.

The operating system (quoting from System Properties) is Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 2. It has an Intel Pentium "M" processor, 2.00 GHz, 798 Mhz, 128 MB of RAM, Physical Address Extension. It has a 40 gb hard disk drive.

I don't have the specs right at hand for the previous XP laptop, an IBM ThinkPad, but they were similar.

So why does my DOS app run so much more slowly on this Compaq than the ThinkPad?

I mean, less than 25% as fast. As in, it takes more than four times as long to run something.

In an attempt to solve this and other problems, I installed TameDos on the Compaq. That did solve some other issues, and I like TameDos, but the app runs exactly as slow under TameDos as it did under cmd.exe.

I wondered whether the problem was the speed of the disk drive. I installed "HD Tune" on the Compaq, and the numbers I got didn't strike me as unusually low for decade-old technology: min transfer rate 16.0 MB/sec; max transfer rate 34.2 MB/sec; average transfer rate 27.7 MB/sec, access time 18.1.

I guess I should check the old machine (which I still have, but not right here) for comparison.

One specific function of the DOS app, which took mere hours to run on the ThinkPad, would have taken three or four days for the new one.

Fortunately, I discovered and fixed some absurd inefficiencies in that program, and got it to run much faster.

But the ThinkPad ran that program even faster, with those inefficiencies.

So, what could be the reason this Compaq is so much slower, and what should I do about it?

Should I get a new HDD installed? Or should I just go out and buy another XP machine?

What specifically is it about this XP machine that I should avoid when buying another?

Are ThinkPads inherently superior to other Windows-XP-era laptops?

 

@GeneticShift: Wait for the new phones to come out. The One "M8" is basically what the S4 was to the S3; small hardware updates, not much worth mentioning. The S5 looks really fucking cool, though; a battery that can recharge in less than two hours, better processor, and a really fucking sweet looking 2,560x1,440 screen.
The HTC One is a great phone, but in 2 years when you're looking to renew again you're going to be in the same position you are with your Nexus; it was pretty nice when you got it but is far past end-of-life. At least with one of the new phones you'll be on the "cutting edge" for a year or so before the new generation comes out.
If the new phones weren't coming out in three months I'd say pull the trigger on the HTC One, but it's close enough to the release date of the newer generation of phones that you may as well wait and see what all you have available to you.

@Street Pattern: I'm guessing that the Pentium M and the 128MB of RAM have a LOT to do with why your DOS programs are running so slowly. 128MB is the 'recommended' amount that Microsoft said XP should run on (back when Windows XP originally came out in 2001, thirteen years ago), but in this day and age any machine that is running less than 1GB of RAM is considered decrepit and worthy of the junk pile (and even then, machines with 1GB of RAM are generally laughed out of the house).
I am not sure how technical of a person you are, but if literally the only reason why you keep Windows XP around is to run some legacy DOS applications, perhaps look into running XP in a virtual machine on another machine you own? This way you don't need to go out and buy another computer, you can use one that you already have, and you can 'sandbox' the virtual machine such that it does not receive internet access.
But yes, having the specs of the laptop you mention would be good for comparison's sake.

 

The previous laptop was a Dell Latitude, not a ThinkPad. The ThinkPad was the one before that.

The Dell's operating system is exactly the same: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 2. But everything else is bigger and better.

The processor is Intel Core 2 Duo CPU -- presumably something better than a Pentium M.

The disk drive numbers are somewhat better: min transfer rate 6.6 MB/sec; max transfer rate 53.6 MB/sec, average transfer rate 40.5 MB/sec. Access time is 16.7 ms.

The Dell's HDD is 120 GB, compared to 40 GB on the Compaq, but given the limited use, capacity is not an issue.

Most startlingly, the Dell has 1.99 GB of RAM, compared to 128 MB on the Compaq.

So it sounds like I should look into getting more RAM for the Compaq.

Reasonable conclusion?

 

Thanks. I know that's the right answer, I'm just antsy as fuck.

 

New Question....I'm trying to convert Sony Handicam digital tapes to dvd....can't find a way to do it???

any ideas? ... xoxoxoo

 

Hmmm...the only surefire way I'd know to do it is hook up the cam itself to a DVD recorder (the IN ports), then run the OUT cables to a television. The downside is that you have to a) run the entire digital movie to transfer it, and b) you need to have a DVD recorder, and they can get kind of pricey.

Edit: Are they Mini-DV tapes? You could also do what I said above, subbing a Mini-DV player for the cam.

 

My local computer repair place (admittedly, probably one of the best anywhere) has it in stock, with a 6 hour turnaround time for installation and testing. The price is from $15 to $60 depending how much RAM. I'll do this next week.

I know, but I got better things to do than to port tens of thousands of lines of code to ... um ... what environment would even make sense for this? I have no idea.

Yeah, and it worked, but it was awkward. All of the function keys were disabled. I'm sure I could reconfigure them, but that would probably take a lot of fiddling around.

Plus, it's geared for gaming, and its standard response to hitting a problem is to shut down. That's not the rock-solid platform I want.

In the long run, definitely -- if there is a long run for my project. But for now, reconditioned XP laptops are plentiful and cheap.

 

The guys in my office just import it into their machines and use Final Cut Pro then output the file to DVDs. I know that's a more high end method, but I have to think that there is a similar method on the cheap side of things.

Here's how to do it on a Mac... Sony eSupport - Using your Sony^® Camera with a Macintosh^® Computer

 

I'm using Windows 7, 64-bit. I used to have a keyboard that had hotkeys for master volume control. It broke, and my new one does not. Is there any easy way to map these natively, or do I have to tinker with a program like Autohotkeys to do it? The scripting for Autohotkeys looks annoying (from my completely non-coding point of view) and I'd like to know if there's some easy option I'm overlooking before I start messing with it. I'd like to be able to control my master volume from within fullscreen games without having to alt-tab out to use the volume slider.

 

AutoHotKey isn't really so bad once you get used to the syntax.

But I'd like to think that there's a better way; it takes a couple of milliseconds for the script to 'catch' and perform the action (acceptable for some, not for me ), and you have to have it running all the time.

Did your mouse come with any sort of software, or is the driver set up such that you can map the keys through the Control Panel?