laptop woes

[NeoStarO1]

Hi everyone,

I have this compaq presario 1275 laptop given to me a while back, and i decided to put win2kpro on this thing. While its running it seems fairly stable, however when i am doing the updates or anything that requires booting it will freeze up on me when it gets to the black screen that says window 2000 is now loading, most times it freezes right there and make the screen really choppy or sometimes it gets right past that to the blue screen and freezes there.

holding the power button for 6 seconds to turn it off and then restart it will restart on the second attempt just fine.

When the laptop is running and is in 2k it seems pretty stable other than when it comes to type, my cursor seems to jump at random places. i know its not the way i type because i have finger pecked on this laptop and it continues to do the same thing.

specs.

1275 compaq presario
333amd proccessor (win system info shows its a 361. )
64 mb ram

I am thinking this is a memory issue thus why it doesn't like to restart well when i am doing updates to the OS itself.

Should i go back to 98se? or do something else? I can't afford more memory at this time but hope to do so.

If you need more info will be back later this afternoon to read up as i got to go somewhere right now.

If it is advisable i plan to use my own 98se win disk rather than the restore disk that came with compaq. I can't stand all the crap they put in with it.

TIA

NeoStar

<edit> no i did not overclock the laptop, I wouldn't even begin to know how to do that.

[str8jakit]

I would say this is definitely a memory issue. Even though the minimum requirements is 64, I have found from experience that you need at LEAST 96-128M for it to function properly.

I agree that going back to 98 is your best bet until you can get more memory.

FYI, a 128 MB stick is only $35.00 from Crucial.

Str8

EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, I think I have a 64MB stick that will fit it. That would put you up to 96MB. Not ideal, but I'd be willing to send it to you.

PM me if you want it (no charge, 'cause I ain't gonna use it for anything).

[JimG]

Yeah, my money's on the memory. But the one thing that's bothering me is how your CPU isn't reporting correctly. I have a Compaq Armada with a 366 MHz P2 in it (128 MBs RAM). That's reported just fine. I'd say to check your BIOS, see what it says the proc is.
As for memory, my friend got Win2k for her laptop (same laptop as mine), I installed it. Worst mistake ever ... she has 64 MBs RAM and that thing grinds every second it's on. She keeps telling me she'll get memory .. but that was back in July ... I'm just waiting for Win2k to quit on her.