My ancient Sony Viao has died - seems to be vaguely active but screen
stays blank. Not worth repairing because its battery is pretty much
knackered and doing the simplest tasks was always painfully slow.

So, I need a cheapy ebay one fairly smartish to dick around with the
10R's Power Commanded and try to smooth out the off-idle pick-up,
which has become a little abrupt. Balancing the throttles didn't help;
may even have made it worse. I also need to be able to run an old copy
of DucatiDiag for Guzzi TPS resets.

First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
with Win7, which I know works.

Ebay seems to be full of 50-100 quid laptops. It doesn't need to be
fast, though the more performance the merrier, I guess. It will
probably get fired up less than half a dozen times a year for about
fifteen to thirty minutes. Of the brands listed, which is least likely
to blow up? Or other suggestions, bearing in mind that its sole
purpose would be to run the above software?

Dell (plenty of Lattitude model about)
Lenovo
Sony Vaio
HP
Acer

TIA.

--

-Pip

On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:

>First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
>degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
>with Win7, which I know works.

Actually, I lie - I don't know Win7 works. I think the laptop was
running XP.

--

-Pip

Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote in news:v431dhduv9drhq1b91b78s4cgjioijc559
@4ax.com:

[snip]

> Dell (plenty of Lattitude model about)

no idea about the software stuff but >3000 people at my work are using Dell
Latitude laptops, mostly 12" jobs.

My 7280 i5 started off with Win7 in 2018 but has been updated to Win 10 and
the hardware works fine. It is only encumbered by having to VPN into a
fragile network.

On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:58:37 +0100, Pipl wrote:

> On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
>>degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
>>with Win7, which I know works.
>
> Actually, I lie - I don't know Win7 works. I think the laptop was
> running XP.

Either way, Windows 10 doesn't natively support older software. There's a
good chance stuff will work, more so if the original software was
programmed to the official Microsoft standard. Too many apps -
particularly those that interfaced direct with hardware - used
undocumented calls that caused problems when the OS was upgraded.

The best test is to suck it and see - do you know anyone with a Win 10
machine that would be willing to try and install/run the software?

On 14/07/2022 22:58, Pipl wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
>> degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
>> with Win7, which I know works.
>
> Actually, I lie - I don't know Win7 works. I think the laptop was
> running XP.

Depends on the software, as always. Anything requiring dongles or
physical peripherals will be more problematic.

Since you're only going to run it for a short while every now and again
then I would stick XP on it.

Search for "Windows XP Professional SP3 x86 - Integral Edition" to find
a download site. An older machine that was bought for business use and
had Windows 7 Pro on it originally, almost certainly came with a
downgrade rights licence so zapping the OS and starting over is fine.

As for reliability, Lenovo's are very solid - I've bought refurbished
ex-business ones in the past without problems.

--
Bruce Horrocks
FJR1300AS

On Friday, 15 July 2022 at 11:26:25 UTC+1, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
> As for reliability, Lenovo's are very solid - I've bought refurbished
> ex-business ones in the past without problems.

I spent a decade or so chucking a succession of Lenovos in hand baggage,
in the panniers of a bike and generally throwing it around with little ever
going wrong (actually nothing). My colleagues also used them and the
only faults I recall were broken screens. I think they are / were popular
with corporates for a reason.

El Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:58:37 +0100, Pipl escribió:

> On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
>>degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
>>with Win7, which I know works.
>
> Actually, I lie - I don't know Win7 works. I think the laptop was
> running XP.

I just installed XP on this linux box. Works a treat and even talks to
some of the hardware. Virtualbox is pretty good these days.

--
Paul.

https://paulc.es/elpatio

On 15/07/2022 13:50, Paul Carmichael wrote:
>El Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:58:37 +0100, Pipl escribió:
>
>> On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>First question: can Windows 10 run older software without needing a
>>>degree in self-flagellation to make it do it? Otherwise I'll buy one
>>>with Win7, which I know works.
>>
>> Actually, I lie - I don't know Win7 works. I think the laptop was
>> running XP.
>
>I just installed XP on this linux box. Works a treat and even talks to
>some of the hardware. Virtualbox is pretty good these days.

Yes, linux is the way to go running your choice(s) of windows thro virtual
box.
Even swmbo has embraced ubuntu after getting repeatedly sweary and desperate
over windows. That's pretty good for someone who treats computers as the
devils toybox, full of things that might cause you unexpected harm!

As for the hardware, my son has run many, many dell latitudes over many
years in extreme conditions and still swears by them. Not at them!:-)

Hth, Chris

--
XV750SE & GS550T

On Fri, 15 Jul 2022 11:26:23 +0100, Bruce Horrocks
<07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

>Depends on the software, as always. Anything requiring dongles or
>physical peripherals will be more problematic.

Well, it will be talking to a USB PC III or a cheap USB OBD port. The
DucatiDiag is, I think, someone's homebrew software. The PC III stuff
is DynoJet's software, so should be safe enough.

>Since you're only going to run it for a short while every now and again
>then I would stick XP on it.
>
>Search for "Windows XP Professional SP3 x86 - Integral Edition" to find
>a download site. An older machine that was bought for business use and
>had Windows 7 Pro on it originally, almost certainly came with a
>downgrade rights licence so zapping the OS and starting over is fine.

I really don't want to be pissing around changing OS's if I can help
it. I don't have the patience.

>As for reliability, Lenovo's are very solid - I've bought refurbished
>ex-business ones in the past without problems.

Ta.

--

-Pip

On 15/07/2022 17:50, Pipl wrote:
> I really don't want to be pissing around changing OS's if I can help
> it. I don't have the patience.

On the other hand you don't want to be running the software that came
with a machine you bought from a random person on eBay either. And when
I say "running the software" I don't mean the OS.

Go for an established refurb store if you really don't have the
patience, but you'll pay a little more.

--
Bruce Horrocks
FJR1300AS

On Fri, 15 Jul 2022 21:33:20 +0100, Bruce Horrocks
<07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

>On 15/07/2022 17:50, Pipl wrote:
>> I really don't want to be pissing around changing OS's if I can help
>> it. I don't have the patience.
>
>On the other hand you don't want to be running the software that came
>with a machine you bought from a random person on eBay either. And when
>I say "running the software" I don't mean the OS.
>
>Go for an established refurb store if you really don't have the
>patience, but you'll pay a little more.

That is a good point.

--

-Pip

On 15/07/2022 14:11, chrisnd @ukrm wrote:
>
> As for the hardware, my son has run many, many dell latitudes over many
> years in extreme conditions and still swears by them. Not at them!:-)

After using a Latitude E6410 for work for a few years, I bought an E6430
for myself. Not lightweight by any means but a pretty good piece of kit.
As well as indoor duty, it gets used now and again to run TigerTool
(written by a member of the Tiger800.co.uk forum), although I'll be
selling the Tiger soonish and the equivalent software for the Bonnie
(TuneECU) runs on Android.

On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:

Yet more bad form, but thanks all - as always, I suffered mission
creep and spent over £200 on a used Lenovo with Win10 from a local
shop.

Power Commander III software installed. Initailly wouldn't talk to the
PC on the bike. Then I discovered that it helps to start the bike's
engine.

Haven't tried DicatiDiag yet.

So, current map saved; first experimantal iteration of probably many
programmed but not tried yet.

--

-Pip

On Sat, 16 Jul 2022 13:10:49 +0100, Pipl wrote:

> On Thu, 14 Jul 2022 22:53:34 +0100, Pipl <pluscher@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Yet more bad form, but thanks all - as always, I suffered mission creep
> and spent over £200 on a used Lenovo with Win10 from a local shop.

Much, much better than spending £250 on a new laptop that can barely cope
with the basics and is so slow it annoys you every time you use it.

> Power Commander III software installed. Initailly wouldn't talk to the
> PC on the bike. Then I discovered that it helps to start the bike's
> engine.
>
> Haven't tried DicatiDiag yet.
>
> So, current map saved; first experimantal iteration of probably many
> programmed but not tried yet.

Good luck!

On Friday, 15 July 2022 at 11:31:04 UTC+1, stephen...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, 15 July 2022 at 11:26:25 UTC+1, Bruce Horrocks wrote:
> > As for reliability, Lenovo's are very solid - I've bought refurbished
> > ex-business ones in the past without problems.
> I spent a decade or so chucking a succession of Lenovos in hand baggage,
> in the panniers of a bike and generally throwing it around with little ever
> going wrong (actually nothing). My colleagues also used them and the
> only faults I recall were broken screens. I think they are / were popular
> with corporates for a reason.

+1 on Lenovo laptops.
Last did 25k in panniers without breaking (SSD) before I dropped it, doing for the screen and keyboard, since when it's run on a shelf for 5 years via VNC as a W7 m.media/seeding machine.

eBay always seemed to have plenty of ex corporate stuff.