Personal Computer Related Memories - I Remember:

HippsieGypsie

It's Gururrrrrr8!
Messages
13,547
Location
Lilymoor, IL
Hi all,

I was reading the thread http://www.eightforums.com/crashes-debugging/7097-attempting-repair.html, which some older, knowledgeable, and experienced gentlemen were conversing in, not to say that I'm one. They're far above my head! It brought back a lot of memories for me, though. So I thought I would start another "Fun" thread to hopefully to add to the community. We all have memories young and old.

"Preserve you memories. They're all that's left you"
~ Simon and Garfunkel in the song "Old Friends" (last line)
Simon and Garfunkel-Old Friends, Bookends Theme -full version. - YouTube

Born June 29, 1951 - I Remember:

- As a child watching U.S. elections when some of the first mainframes predicted the results. I wasn't born yet for the prediction of the 1950 elections where the UNIVAC predicted a landslide for Eisenhower (100 to 1 odds) and the CBS news cast covered it up for unbelief, then recanted afterwards, but learned about it in early grade school reading an article in a school quarterly magazine. (For the life of me I cannot remember the name of the magazine. It's on the tip of my tongue but can't get it out. If anyone has a clue, please let me know.) You can read about it here: UNIVAC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- Circa 1957: Some of my siblings and I recieved a transitor radio for Christmas. If I remember correctly it had no battery, for one would take the two alligator clips that the device had and clamp to some steel and listen through an ear plug speaker. (Pre-stereo for you younger folk) Many consider the transitor to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century. It led to the invention of the IC. Smaller devices such as the PC, laptop, pads, etc. would not be possible without this invention. Transistor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- In grade school using a pencil to punch holes in cards for multiple answer questions on tests so they could run them through an IBM mainframe for correcting and scoring. That was high tech for those days. I remember the cards had the IBM logo on it. Talk about brain burning!

- In high school holding in my hand the first Cal Tech calculator by Texas Instruments that the rich kid had. I was mesmerized! If I remember correctly, it cost about $400 in 1960's money. I'd guess it to be about $1,000 in today's money. We're buying PCs for that now a days! I think it was my Junior year in 1967.

- Seeing the computer HAL in the Sci Fi "2001 A Space Odessy" in the summer of 69 right after I graduated high school. This is the same summer of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I rented and watched it again in 2001 for New Years eve. It blew me away as to how much has come to past so far as technology goes in the last 40-some-odd years! Incredible technology! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film)

- Circa 1972: My best friend at the time graduated with a BA in mathematics and got a job at Kemper Insurance which no longer exists, but was revamped as Kemper Corp. He was on a team that were the liaisons between Kemper mainframes and companies that would rent time on them at night. He invited me to his work one afternoon and showed me around. The 1st floor was offices and data entry work stations. He took me to the 2nd floor and showed me bank after bank after bank of IBM main frames. It seemed to go on forever! My jaw dropped to the floor! And the noise and the heat! He also hired another buddy of ours to assemble harnesses for workstations at home for spare change.

- Stating to family and friends in 1975 that "Some day we would all own computers, that we would all be using, and that we would be communicating through them". They lQQked at me as if I was crazy! (Well I am, but that's beside the point) No, I didn't capitalize on it, for I guess I didn't believe in my prediction myself all that much. Now you know I'm crazy!

- Circa 1980: Hearing digitalized music on a CD for the first time. Without computers this would not be possible. It was like I heard music again for the first time! I heard instrumental parts that I didn't hear before, for prior to that in analogue stereo we were basically amplifying distortion. I remember a fellow that blew a picture window out in his house doing so! A CD has less than 1%. e.g. The Beatle song "Hey Jude" has 16 or so different parts not including a 36-piece orchestra. I didn't hear a lot of the parts until I heard it again on a CD.

- Getting my first computer in 1991. A used Commodore 64C with a floppy disc and monitor. I played with it some, but wasn't really serious about PCs yet. I think the kids destroyed it. I threw it out. Ouch! I wish I still had it! I got serious with PCs when a IT friend of mine gave me a Gateway 2000 with Win 95 loaded on it in 1997. My friend would teach me how to fix it when I broke it. Now I know enough to be dangerous! I still have it. It runs, but I put it in storage. I think I'll drag it out. It's got 98 SE loaded on it now. Then bought this Acer PC about 6 or 7 years ago.

- Circa 1996: Getting my first mobile phone account and bag phone, which led to the "Brick", which led to the dumb phone, then to the smart phone. They are actually very small computers. We carry in our pockets more computing power and MEM that took rooms to house some 30 odd years ago. I have not had and not needed a land line for about 13 years now.

- Getting my first charge and bank cards with the magnetic data strip on them and using it at stores and ATMs. Like the Church Lady said on SNL "How convenient!"

- Seeing a automobile ECU for the first time. They had and have more computing power than the Apollo missions had!

- Seeing a UPC barcode for the first time and wondering what it was for! Commonplace today.

- I remember throughout the years anticipating "The next Windows OS" or program with excitement just as I have done with Windows 8.

More to come as this older mind remembers.


Please share yours, "Fellow Forumeers".

All of you can return, edit, and add to your posts as you remember things.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Dad helped develop memory for RCA (before they dropped out of the computer business).
He was in the local paper holding an 8 kB memory board (approx 8 1/2 x 11) amidst reams of paper scattered all over.

He also developed 10 mB hard drives the size of washing machines!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Sir Tony,
In the year 1989 was the time I’ve seen a computer with Win 95 in my friend’s house. For their family has a grocery store, they can afford to buy for it.

Sir usasma,
It’s an honor to read what you have shared about the ram. Having that size is for a mainframe infrastructure. And for sure you have inherited.

Truly amazed with your past memories were that time I have no idea with computers.

Thank you for sharing and it is my honor. *salute*


I’ve been a part timer as computer assistant in a computer shop in the late 90’s, high school days. I open everything to my father and mother for I do not want them to get worry when I come home late. Then one time they talk to me of which way I’ll be heading, to be in the computer shop or to go to school. For I choose the school and stop being an assistant. And they always tell me, there’s nothing in this world I can give you except for your education, which is true.

When I remember that old days I can’t ignore to get disappointed were my father has a different point of view in life. He listens but when it comes to technology he set aside of it. He always say be contented of what we have for other people do not have. (They did not finish their education but I’m proud of them for they pursue our education.) But on the other hand I do not blame them of what I have right now or even in the past.

Now that I have a daughter I will not prevent her for lack of information about computer/technology for she might need it someday. I will give to her the support that she likes to learn more.

Pace of time is too fast do not waste time and learn in every single day.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8 Release Preview, 7 Home Premium
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS K53SJ Notebook
    CPU
    CPU @ 2.10GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2310M Processor
    Memory
    DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 8 G SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED Backlight
    Hard Drives
    500GB 5400rpm/7200rpm
    Case
    Aluminum Blue
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    HP 2.4 GHz Wireless Optical Mobile Mouse
    Other Info
    Qualcomm Atheros AR9002WB-1NG Wireless Network Adapter
    Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
    Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
    Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
I can still remember my early experiences with the digital world. You won't believe this!!
My dad worked in the war arsenal in Chorley during WW2 making bombs in a factory under a hill responsible for making bombs.
He took me to work on a number of occasions and to keep me occupied he would offload me to a couple of nice ladies who ran the punch card system (Power Samus) I believe. They gave me packs of cards and the chips that came out and I would happily spend time filling in the holes, building houses (like you do with playing cards) then bombing them.
Step forward to 1959having left university having studied pure maths; I did not get a job preferring to "party" getting up at noon going out in the evening and coming in the early hours. He threatened to throw me out if I did not get a job and suggested I
I became an actuary (boring) and waited for his next suggestion - he said get into computers they are the coming thing.
Round of interviews began (NCR, IBM, RCA, Elliots, LEO, Univac) Most of which were a disaster.
IBM 4 guys in dark suites, white shirts, and blue ties and so stiff and formal I was horrified not my style at all.
LEO (google LEO 1 computer for background).
First question "how many hours do expect to work a day" answer by me "if bored as little as possible - if fun as long as it takes"
They told me to come back a couple of days later - 6 of us did an IQ test then were given an hours lecture on binary programming followed by a test. This entailed adding, subtraction and Multiplication (shift left- shift right etc) you had to solve each problem in the shortest number of steps. I managed to pass and was sent off to work J Lyons on LEO 1.
The rest is standard IT as I climbed up the "food chain " some points of note however.
I was responsible for overseeing the final shut down of LEO1, bits went to Science Museum and somehow the name plate stuck to my fingers and that and one of the mercury delay lines are still in my loft.
I later joined the Plessey Company and I can remember putting up an authorization of 1 meg of 16bit -£750,000!! for an ICL 1906.
I still have a Swiss Army knife on my desk that ICL handed out on the launch of the ME29 their first mini to take on the DECs
By the time the PCs came out I was out of direct IT involvement into telecomms but could not resist meddling in their affairs.
Rather than waffle on here see my posthttp://www.eightforums.com/general-...id-people-do-when-windows-95-came-out-11.html that explains my conversion from mac to pc.
Other odd points of note were competitions with my 10 year old daughter to obtain the highest scores on a commodore 64
for which I wrote a couple of adventure cames; still in the loft as is an original mac ( I am a hopeless kleptomaniac to my wife's horror). I finally quit aged 52 (24 years ago) having spent a year commuting between San Diego, Boulder, London and Sydney weekly on quite a good pension. I can now only claim to be a hobbyist now reverting to getting up at noon and still be messing around at 2a.m. Life turns full circle!!!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    xp , 7Pro, 8RP, Android phone, Tablet
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    q6600@3Ghz, amd 965 etc etc
    Motherboard
    gigabyte
    Memory
    8gb per
    Graphics Card(s)
    gts450 ,560gt etc
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3xsamsung 24in
    Screen Resolution
    3, 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    To many! spread across 4 desktops,3 laptops 1 netbook
    ssd, sata 3's ide etc
    PSU
    Hyper Modular 600W
    Case
    lian li
    Cooling
    artic
    Internet Speed
    60Mb
    Other Info
    Basically the house has 4 desktops 3 in the study + the wifes,
    3 laptops 1 netbook 2 android tablets 2 android smart phones
    and ipad and iphone
Dad helped develop memory for RCA (before they dropped out of the computer business).
He was in the local paper holding an 8 kB memory board (approx 8 1/2 x 11) amidst reams of paper scattered all over.

He also developed 10 mB hard drives the size of washing machines!

They are interesting and I appreciate the memories of your dad. How about some of yours?

Now that I have a daughter I will not prevent her for lack of information about computer/technology for she might need it someday. I will give to her the support that she likes to learn more.

Thanks for sharing, Nelson! Wise advise to all the parents out there.

I can now only claim to be a hobbyist now reverting to getting up at noon and still be messing around at 2a.m. Life turns full circle!!!

Good for you, besb! Thanks for sharing. And how true that life does a full circle!


I'll edit my lead post with this statement: All of you can return, edit, and add to your posts as you remember things.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
I worked for DEC in the late 60's/early 70's - building mainboards for the PDP-11's on the graveyard shift.

I started playing with computers on my own in the mid 80's - using the Wang word processors that the military had. We were in Korea so we had access to any game that we wanted at $1 each. Wanting better performance, we read the manuals and started tweaking. Luckily the military had technicians on contract to fix the things that we tweaked!

Our tech was a nice guy and used his time on the job to explain to us why and how we had screwed things up. All he asked for was that we help others - and that's how I got started in the online forums!

I still didn't know all that much about computers until the mid-1990's - when I had a tech who worked for me (again, in the Army). He was smart as a whip, and would swipe anything that wasn't nailed down. To his credit he used his thievery to help our unit out! But I had to learn what he did in order to be able to ride herd over him.

For example, my supply sergeant and his 2 clerks spent 2 solid weeks inputting data into our supply inventory system when the system crashed (Win95). The tech's only idea was to wipe the hard drive, reinstall Windows, and have them re-enter all the work. Luckily I was around, and I rebuilt the autoexec.bat and config.sys files - and the system booted up. Then I booted the supply sergeant for not making a backup!

But the tech used this opening to get into the supply channels, and the next thing we knew - we had 50 laptops that we didn't have the day before!

We also had a T1 line at work, but the dialup at my home (on the German Telekom lines) was charged by the minute - so I had to learn how to move IDE hard drives from one system to another so that I could download from the T1 line, then take the drive home and use it there.

Finally I got deeply into computers on my return to the states in 2000. I started overclocking and got a brand new copy of Windows 2000 to install. I couldn't figure out why my system wouldn't work right and went on the web looking for help. At one site the helper asked me if I had installed my drivers. My reply was "What are drivers?"

Around that time I got very ill due to an allergic reaction and nearly died (search for Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis if you have a strong stomach). My vision was severely damaged, so I couldn't spend a lot of time outside (I was stationed in the high desert at El Paso, TX). Consequently, I spent a whole lot of time on the internet after that!

I've been helping out with general questions on the forums since that time. I got interested in BSOD's and started trying to find out how to help people who had them on their systems.

It turned out that there just wasn't much useful information about them - so I started researching things myself. Around this time James Eschelman (the owner of aumha.net) stopped updating his BSOD page - so I started up my own ( BSOD Index ) Not long after that I found that there was no centralized resource for pointing users at downloads for their malfunctioning drivers - and because of that I started the Driver Reference Table ( Driver Reference Table (DRT) ) which jcgriff2, Laxer, neimiro and others are helping to maintain and improve.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
Thank you, usasma for adding your personal experience! What a treasure chest full of helpful knowledge!! We are all so glad that you survived that awful disease. I researched it. You must have suffered tremendously. We admire you for your help here on the forum. Thank You!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Sir besb,

With the list of companies (NCR, IBM, RCA, Elliots, LEO, Univac) there is only one I recognize and that is IBM. :)
Great share and thank you! *salute*

Sir usasma,

It was a great experience for in your early age you've been expose in technology/computers and I try to fill myself within the past can't imagine those times.
Eventhough you had a hard time with the disease you still manage to keep upto date of what is happening around.
Thank you for the great share.

Sir Tony,

You're welcome, my pleasure to share.


Now, I can say it's my privileged reading stories of the oldies that can't be written in books but only through out the experiences.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8 Release Preview, 7 Home Premium
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS K53SJ Notebook
    CPU
    CPU @ 2.10GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2310M Processor
    Memory
    DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SO-DIMM socket for expansion up to 8 G SDRAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 520M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED Backlight
    Hard Drives
    500GB 5400rpm/7200rpm
    Case
    Aluminum Blue
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    HP 2.4 GHz Wireless Optical Mobile Mouse
    Other Info
    Qualcomm Atheros AR9002WB-1NG Wireless Network Adapter
    Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
    Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
    Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
My history with computers started in 1993, when I got my frist computer. It was a 486 DX2 @ 66 MHz with 8MB of RAM running Windows 3.11. At that time I didnt have a modem and used it mostly to keep records of my father's firm clients and do some of my school home work.

In 1995 my father gave me a Pentium 100 MHz with 32 MB of RAM, Windows 95 and Office 95. At that time I started to learn CorelDRAW 5 and started to create logos for my father clients. Also in 1995 I started to use the internet for school researches and to contact some clients.

In 1997 we bought a Pentium MMX 200 MHz and I installed 192 MB of RAM. I got it running at 250 MHz and that was my frist overclock experience. At that time I was using Windows 95 OSR2, but after a few months I moved to Windows 98, and loved it. With Windows 98, Office 97 and CorelDRAW 7 installed in that rig I entered in a new level of production. In this year I started to learn some programing at university. I used MATLAB and Pascal.

In 1999 we bought a Celeron 300 MHz with 384MB of RAM. At that time I was using Windows 98 SE, Office 97 (or 2000?), AutoCAD R14. I was very interested in gaming, so I bought a 4MB graphics card. My favourite game was Counter Strike. From 1999 to 2000 I started to learn AutoCAD 2000 and we bought a cutting plotter. Also in that year I started to learn Visual Basic and Delphi.

In 2001 I started to build our systems, and my frist build was a Pentium III 800 MHz with 1GB of RAM. That was pretty fast compared to anything I had ever seen before. In the same year I built a Duron 950 MHz with 1GB of RAM exclusively for school jobs.

Since then I havent stoped anymore. I like to build systems and get the maximum from them. I like to research and share things through over internet and cant imagine my life "disconected".
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff
Thanks for posting, Vlad! Started very young. Lucky you!

I like to research and share things through over internet and cant imagine my life "disconnected".

Are you Max Headroom? ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10.0.10122
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    My Build - Vorttex Ultimate
    CPU
    Core i7 @ 4500 MHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z87-Plus
    Memory
    32GB DDR3 @ 1822 MHz (OC)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon R9 280X 3GB @ 1180 / 6800 MHz
    Sound Card
    7.1 HDA
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LCD LG 22" + CRT LG 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1760 x 1320 / 1280 x 960
    Hard Drives
    1 x 240 GB SSD (System)
    3 x 500 GB HDD (Data/Media)
    1 x 2000 GB e-HDD (Backup)
    PSU
    ThermalTake 1000W PSU
    Case
    Corsair Carbide R300
    Cooling
    Corsair H60 (Push-Pull)
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    60 Mbps (Down) 5 Mbps (Up)
    Browser
    IE, FF, Chrome
    Antivirus
    AVG Internet Security 2015
    Other Info
    Some wired stuff
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Whoa...very interesting posts!

My putering experiences don't go very far back, in fact, the first time I used a Windows OS was Windows 95 at school. I was a youngin at the time and barely remember it, I remember having to flip a switch in the back on the PSU of the tower to shut it down! It was pretty cool at the time, my school had a lab of new Windows PCs and they kind of taught us how to use it. The main thing I remember using was Paint, fun days! Later, those puters were upgraded to 98...I think. I don't really remember using that, not as much as using Windows 2000 on a new lab of Micron PCs that the district bought. I also remember a relative that was living with us at the time had a PC running 2000 on it.

I remember a couple years after that, my brother won some money in a lottery and bought the first PC in our house, a Dell Dimension 4550. God, wow, he had that for YEARS! My first PC that I had was a Gateway, don't remember the series though. My other brother bought a new PC when his old one died and that's where my first encounter with the Devil Vista came from. It was cool, it looked different and felt nicer to use. I actually though it was nice that when a program encountered and error, a dialog box popped up giving you a few options on what to do with it....it was nice until it was doing every hour! :mad: Terrible. I was pondering upgrading to vista for awhile, but after that and ALL the bad flak on it, nope.

The first PC I've ever built was two years ago. Yes, I am that young! :D My brother that bought the Dell bought a new one and so he donned that off onto me. It was a bit of a higher end tower than mine. I had to replace the motherboard on it though. That is where I got a taste of the Windows 7 RC.... :cool: Wow, that was almost a good two years ago, I think August 1 will be two years ago. That puter ran the RC better than xp, I was so impressed! But since it was an elder tower by tech standards, I decided to build a new PC, one that was better, faster, stronger! :) So I literally rebuilt the tower, stripped it down, installed two hard drive bays, a laptop drive bay and one DVD drive bay. It was a pretty slick looking tower at the end. I was very proud of it! I became the first person I know to have built a computer! Although today's standards of building a computer versus building one 30 years ago pales in comparison.

Now, I have decided to rebuild a new PC, one that is better, faster, stronger and built with Windows 8 in mind. I'm planning for a total of four hard drive bays, with a grand total of 8! Yes, 8 hard drives! And two external laptop connector ports and an external mSATA port as well, a new laptop drive bay for 4 hard drives, probably a dedicated bay for my SSD, and probably a 3.5 inch hard drive bay that is accessible from the front of the case. STORAGE! :dinesh:

It's absolutely amazing how technology has traveled in terms of software and hardware....
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
I remember the first time I broke a PC. It was 1988 or1989, and it was the first PC I had seen with a colour monitor and a GUI. Not Windows, but GEM (Graphical Environment Manager). ​I can't remember what exactly happened, but I had some problem with a file, so I used that nice friendly sounding "Recover" DOS command like this:

Recover C:

That Big, Fat MS-DOS manual said nothing about every file being wiped and replaced with File0001.rec, File0002.rec...

I was never allowed to use that PC again :(
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP COMPAQ Presario CQ57
    CPU
    AMD E- 300 APU with Radion HD Graphics 1.30GHz
    Motherboard
    inbuilt
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI
    Sound Card
    High Definition Audio on-board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    notebook
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST9500325AS
    Google drive 15GB
    Skydrive 25GB
    BT Cloud
    PSU
    external 20v
    Case
    Laptop
    Cooling
    pretty good
    Keyboard
    inbuilt
    Mouse
    touchpad
    Internet Speed
    BT Infinity Unlimited - 80 up 20 down =70/16 really
    Browser
    Chrome Canary usually
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    no Start menu modifications
    Upgraded with no issues to 8.0 and to 8.1
My putering experiences don't go very far back, in fact, the first time I used a Windows OS was Windows 95 at school.

Thanks for posting, Coke. Good story, but waddaya mean not that far back? In relation to creation, yes. In the computer age, no. Let's see you're between 21 and 30. the average of that is 25. The 1st main frame electronic computer was the Zuse Z3 built in 1941.

2012 - 1941 = 71.

71/25 = 2.84.

So, you've been alive nearly the last 1/3 of the electronic computer age. If you consider the IBM 610 Auto-Point released in 1957 for $55,000 as the first PC, then you've been alive almost 1/2 of the PC's 55 year era. Also, the PC wasn't really massed produced until the late 70's. I'd say with the Commodore.

Surely you have memories that are computer related before you used a PC. e.g. "My birth certificate was printed out on a printer via a PC". You can come back and edit/add to your post as you remember things, if that's what you choose.

That Big, Fat MS-DOS manual said nothing about every file being wiped and replaced with File0001.rec, File0002.rec...

I was never allowed to use that PC again :(

Oh my, fafhrd!!! That's quite a "spanking"!!

And then?! And then?!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Coke Robot - why msata out of curiosity?
esata enables me to hot plug a 2TB drive or SSD 120GB it will be a a couple of years before msata devices have that sort of capacity and I hate to think what the cost will be!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    xp , 7Pro, 8RP, Android phone, Tablet
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    q6600@3Ghz, amd 965 etc etc
    Motherboard
    gigabyte
    Memory
    8gb per
    Graphics Card(s)
    gts450 ,560gt etc
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3xsamsung 24in
    Screen Resolution
    3, 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    To many! spread across 4 desktops,3 laptops 1 netbook
    ssd, sata 3's ide etc
    PSU
    Hyper Modular 600W
    Case
    lian li
    Cooling
    artic
    Internet Speed
    60Mb
    Other Info
    Basically the house has 4 desktops 3 in the study + the wifes,
    3 laptops 1 netbook 2 android tablets 2 android smart phones
    and ipad and iphone
Coke Robot - why msata out of curiosity?
esata enables me to hot plug a 2TB drive or SSD 120GB it will be a a couple of years before msata devices have that sort of capacity and I hate to think what the cost will be!

It's a bet on the future since I'm trying to futureproof my nee build as best as I can. As I see it, when the Windows tablet PC becomes more mainstream, so will issues and storage needs. I bet that as OEMs build thinner tablets, they will either a) build the flash memory onto the board, which results in limited expandability on board. Or b) SSD manufacturers will pump out mSATA SSDs to suit the needs of storage and keeping a thin tablet within its thin envelope. It takes a simple service panel and taking out a small flash drive to carry on the tradition of the PC in terms of customizing.



I'm also going to have two external 2.5" hard drive ports as that size hard drive will remain for a long while, maybe even go smaller.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
My first encounter with computers was in college in the early 70s. I was a chemistry major and in one of our courses they taught us Fortran (using the WATFOR compiler). We entered the programs on punch cards (IBM 029 machine) and took them to the I/O clerk at the window to be read into the system and run. Then in a lab the next year, a lab partner showed me the (hard-copy) terminals in an open lab and I was hooked: the thought of interacting with a computer was really cool for the time. I would go on to spend a lot of time in those labs both as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student. When some of the newer terminals were configured to communicate at 300 baud I was amazed at the speed.

In graduate school I continued using the mainframe extensivley but was also able to use a departmental Nova minicomputer. Most system software was loaded as needed from paper tape but the system had a removable hard drive (maybe 2 MB?). I definitely remember the horror when the hard drive crashed (head crash) one day, and thinking I had somehow caused it. Fortunately nobody blamed me for the crash and I still had use of the machine off and on after that.

The department hired a new professor who was building custom "microcomputers" for the chem lab instruments. The microcomputer booted from a cassette tape (ordinary tape player connected to the machine). I did not know a lot about the hardware but I was able to program one in our lab using BASIC. I didn't do a lot more than that with them as we were all learnign how to use them at the time.

I took a job as a programmer writing Fortran programs for a company that wrote software for small colleges and for paper mills. They used custom-built minicomputers and interactive text-based terminals.

I left there after about a year and a half, and took a job as a programmer at the university. They had a contract with the EPA to write programs for the EPA sample testing and results tracking system. Most of those were written and run on a DEC PDP-11 in a 4GL called Inform. The univesirty lost the contract but I stayed on and learned Cobol and PL/I for the (Amdahl 470) mainframe system. After about five years doing programming I moved into tech support. I learned IBM assembly language and wrote/modified operating system exits. I also installed and maintained the OS and some applications like compilers or system software. I wrote a bunch of articles for a publication called Technical Support that was published by the National Systems Programmers Association.

From there I moved to our local electric utility and continued as a mainframe systems programmer. I got involved with some other platforms like Unix, as the era of client-server computing was dawning. I found out what TCP/IP was and learned how it works. We actually installed TCP/IP on the mainframe and did file transfers between it and some of the other systems using FTP.

Around 1995 we merged with another utility and a decision was made to deploy Windows 95 workstations as the standard, with Windows NT e-mail and file/print servers. We would also deploy Windows NT domains for network user authentication and access. (There was some use of Novell Netware before then. The Novell guys were furious that we chose NT over Novell.)

I got involved with Windows NT because the vendor of a Unix-based system we were using was planning to move to Windows NT. So I was in on the ground floor of our Windows NT rollout. I also sort of defaulted into hardware support: the server and components on the next order came separately, and we realized we had nobody who was a hardware expert. Fortunately, I read the installation instructions carefully, had someone else look at the server with me when I was done, and it powered up and ran correctly the first time. (Whew!)

Memorable moments from all that:

- Installing Windows NT Server (3.5 or 3.51) on a 100-MB hard drive partition and a server with 32 MB of memory.
- Installing Windows NT Workstation 3.51 on my workstation from 20+ floppy drives (learned to appreciate software on CD)
- Learning about service packs
- Learning about device driver installation (Windows NT 3.51 and NT 4.0 were not PnP - though NT4 did later support some PnP)
- Beta testing Windows NT 4.0, Windows NT 5.0 (later Windows 2000), XP, Vista, and 7 (and of course now Windows 8)
- More NT resource domains than we ever have imagined (they were merged into a single domain with AD)
- Learning RIS and WDS for automated server deployment
- Learning to appreciate some hardware manufacturers over others (I won't name any here)

Since Windows 2000 (originally called NT 5.0 in beta stages) much is a blur. I've done AD administration and architecture, general Windows administration, software installation, and hardware support over the years. Each new version seems to get a little better, except that I don't care for Windows 8.

Somewhere in there we started using VMware ESX - something I have aways enjoyed using, especially with the whole vCenter suite.

Most of our workstations here at the company run XP - we have a few Windows 7 "pilot" users but the Windows 7 rollout was sidetracked due to another merger that just completed. I run Windows 7 x64 both at the office (Enterprise) and at home (Ultimate) (with one netbook running Win7 32-bit). My main home machine came with Vista about four years ago. When Windows 7 came along I wiped and reloaded the machine with Windows 7. (XP seems so outdated to me any more.)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 x64
My first computer experience was being one of two people allowed to use the decwriter dot matrix terminal (no monitor) in high school. We played adventure (colossal cave) and star trek, reversi and a bunch of other text games, printed out ASCII art (Some of which I still have!). We also wrote programs, I mainly concentrated on ASCII art graphing of math functions (not quite fractals but similar idea). My friend wrote a program to make banners using fonts he hand "digitised".

All done at 110 baud or something on a honest to ghod phone receiver modem where you place a phone handset into a pair of rubber cups after dialing the computer by hand. The paper was all recycled city school used green lined fan fold, we used it once on the back then flipped it over and used it again down the other edge when playing games.

Paper was always scarce. Sometimes the paper had things like teacher salaries and stuff printed on it O.O
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
Thank you, TerryE, for sharing your amazing story! It must have taken you some time to sit and write. We surely appreciate that time spent. You must be proud of such a fulfilling and diversified career!

Thank you, FSeal, for the early memories! What a privilege to be able to use the school computer terminal! We would have gotten our hands wacked with a ruler at our school! (Yes, teachers were aloud to do that back then :() Ah, the good old paper printouts. I still see them today at some stores, mostly lumber yards, for printing receipts. You must have been proud of your program and printing projects. And so, finally, tell us. How much did a teacher make back then?

Please remember that you all can come back and edit your stories to add as you remember things.

Also, We would surely like to hear from more of you younger ones. Building your 1st rig, loading your first OS, etc. It doesn't matter how old one is. We all have memories.............
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
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