Overkilling a netbook.

[casterofdreams]

Has anyone ever tried to strain a netbook to the point where it would crash? And if you have is there a way to, say, tweak the operating system so that it can run more smoothly?

The reason for those shoddy questions is because I am in the middle of building a powerful PC and I was going to give my mother my old netbook which is the Toshiba NB 205. I want to get a new netbook as well which is the Toshiba NB 305 but I was wondering with that tiny Atom processor and the 1 Gig DDR3 ram that is installed, would adding a second Gig really help? I want to run a copy of Windows 7 Professional on it and Office 2010 as well. I did it before on the old netbook before I used Ubuntu Netbook edition on it and it was quite stable, but not reliable. It didn't stay that way all the time.

[pjvdg]

Windows 7 actually performs quite well with only 1gb, but it all depends on what and how many programs you want to keep running simultaneously. If you are going to be using it daily, I would definitely recommend the additional 1 gb upgrade.

[flojocabron]

I have an ASUS EEE1000HE. Its what I mainly use for my web surfing and my videogames emulation. It has a 2gb ram in it. Its the only way I've used it, since I bough the ram and added it to the netbook. so I see no problem with the extra ram.

[Ziggy]

The NB 205 is what my brother has. I got him the extra gig of RAM as a present and he said it definitely helped.

I did it before on the old netbook before I used Ubuntu Netbook edition on it and it was quite stable, but not reliable. It didn't stay that way all the time.

Are you saying the Windows OS was not reliable, or Ubuntu? I was gonna suggest a Linux netbook version, or a stripped down 7. I think there's versions of 7 out there on the web that people tweaked/stripped down to run lighter on a netbook or whatever.

[renardqueenston]

on my netbook i use the stripped down XP Black Edition (obviously not a legit copy of XP), and it's really great - or at least, it is on netbooks with normal HDs. it doesn't get along too well with SSDs.

[casterofdreams]

The NB 205 is what my brother has. I got him the extra gig of RAM as a present and he said it definitely helped.

I did it before on the old netbook before I used Ubuntu Netbook edition on it and it was quite stable, but not reliable. It didn't stay that way all the time.

Are you saying the Windows OS was not reliable, or Ubuntu? I was gonna suggest a Linux netbook version, or a stripped down 7. I think there's versions of 7 out there on the web that people tweaked/stripped down to run lighter on a netbook or whatever.

It was a reference to the Win 7 Pro before Ubuntu was installed. I love Ubuntu and I have the Netbook edition installed on it. It is hella stable.

I want to run a copy of Windows 7 Professional on it and Office 2010 as well. I did it before on the old netbook before I used Ubuntu Netbook edition on it, and it was quite stable, but not reliable. It didn't stay that way all the time (referring to the Win 7 install).

[Anapan]

Look for XP: Performance Edition. Updated with all the SP3 enhancements that are worthwhile and everything extraneous was surgically removed.

[Ziggy]

Cool, that's what I was thinking of. Just didn't know what it was called, but good to know. I've been wanting to suggest that or Ubuntu to my brother for his Netbook.

[CRTGAMER]

Never heard of the "Performance Edition" version of WIN XP, an underground version? Seems to be stripped down to save room on the hard drive, maybe a sacrifice of losing some desired files. I wonder if similar results can be accomplished by selecting what not to install from a regular WIN XP, deleting extras not needed. Turning off the animation and going a lower resolution bit setting will help the speed as well as adding extra Ram.

EDIT
You can make a SLIPSTREAM version with WIN XP, that has all the service packs built in the install disc.

[Ziggy]

While saving space on the hard drive might be an added bonus, I think it's more of an unattended result. I think the main purpose is to have the OS run lighter (use less resources).