Thanks for your inputs Peter.  I had to search my records to find this 
old computer since it left my hands sometime ago.  As I remember it, it 
would freeze during boot with the Win XP flash screen.  I think it was 
probably a driver conflict since it would freeze with XP on it, but 
worked fine with ME on it.  I think I couldn't find any Dell drivers for 
XP so that was probably the issue.
Anyway, it's long gone from me.

On 12/29/2011 7:56 PM, Peter Ekkerman wrote:
> Hi Russ,
>
> I realize this is in answer to a now 2 month old post and I have no idea if you've resolved your problem.
> There have been some recent answers to your post and without prejudice to those posts,
> I like to offer some info and suggestions that you can "take to the bank" .
>
> Realities: While XP will operate with 256 MB of RAM, it will hardly be satisfactory. It's really only a theoretical amount.
> With 512 MB of RAM it's somewhat better ,but you can still expect freezing during AV scanning, graphics operations
> or applications like Word , multi-tabbed browsers etc.
> More satisfactory would be 768 or preferably 1 GB of RAM. Note comment below.*
>
> Let's face it ,this is an older machine and as such needs to be finely tuned to cope with today's - or even yesterday's programs.
> Please see info about this machine:
> http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/plav/sm/index.htm
> If you go to the page liked to below, you'll see your specs:
> http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/plav/sm/specs.htm#1000450
>
> * You will notice that the maximum amount of RAM for this model is 512 MB ,so any suggestions to increase it are not realistic.
> Having only a P3 CPU doesn't help either.
> I'm not putting it down ,just stating the facts. More power to you if you get it to run half decently.
>
> My suggestion to get some reasonable performance ,is to curb the number of background services.(Disable them or at most set to manual)
> Things like the Indexing Service Spool Service if no printing is required, System Restore if making manual backups.
> System restore requires at least 2 services ,the Volume Shadow Copy Service and the SR Service)
> Do not run Desktop Search from anybody,whether Micosoft, Google or Copernic etc
> Minimize or reduce the number of Startup items.
>
> An excellent source for Services is BlackViper.
> This page will give you an overview for different conditions.
> http://www.blackviper.com/2008/05/19/black-vipers-windows-xp-x86-32-bit-service-pack-3-service-configurations/
> It will give you a good idea how to set your services.
>
> If you want a custom setup that can very conveniently applied ,go to this page:
> http://www.blackviper.com/2008/06/16/windows-xp-home-service-pack-3-custom-services-registry-file-tool/
> You select the services as required and as indicated for a certain configuration.
> When finished ,you download the .reg file that will do all those settings for you in one fell swoop.
> (double click on the .reg file and select Merge.)
>
> Since XP is a mature product ,there a literally hundreds of tweaks on thousands of sites to tune your XP for performance.
>
> You may even want to consider a "slimmed down" version of it by using eg nLite.  Free
> http://www.nliteos.com/
> HowTo's
> http://www.nliteos.com/guide/
> http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:nlitexp
> A search will turn up numerous guides ,but will be similar to the nLite one - maybe with some extra tweaks.
>
> Another option is XPLite http://www.litepc.com/xplite.html   However it's almost $40
> A free ,but limited function version is here http://www.litepc.com/download.html
> FREE TRIAL - a free, feature rich, no-nags edition that works with both Windows XP and Windows 2000. Trial, or use for life.
>
> On a personal note, I've used a mini version of XP for years. It's  small and fast. Will fit on a small hard drive and is perfect for older hard drives
> as low as 3 ,5 or 10 GB . basically it'll fit even on a 1 GB hard drive or USB flash drive. Obviously at that size ,the number of programs is limited.
> I store personal data outside this drive. I don't bother with Windows updates and my main protection is using a protected browser at all times.
> I mentioned them before : Sandboxie  http://www.sandboxie.com/   and BufferZone  http://www.trustware.com/
> AV and malware scanning is done from another partition or system.
> Before this system is exposed to the internet ,I create a full image backup.
> This is not meant to include personal data files ,but just to quickly restore the whole setup in case of corruption or malware infection,
> but really haven't had to do this because of the safe browsing aspect.
>
> Everything depends on how you intend to use the laptop.
> You major challenge is to limit the number of programs, choice of AV protection if really wanted and your choice of browser.
> Expect to have some trouble with the latest versions of the major browsers. Most are multi-threaded and consume loads of memory
> when multiple tabs are opened.
> Because newer systems have loads of RAM and huge hard drives , efficiency went by the wayside ,so using a lot of RAM
> became of no concern ,but in your case it is a concern.
> There are lighter browsers ,but up to you to select which.
>
> On a final note: Try to use the Dell drivers as much as possible. They were designed for this machine and usually provide special
> accommodation for the proprietary hardware.
>
> Happy Tweaking
> and
> Happy New Year.
>
> Peter E.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Russ Cox"
> Sent: Saturday, 29 October, 2011 6:53 PM
> To:<[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: [PCBUILD] Win XP freezes
>
> Recovering a Dell Inspiron 8000 (Pentioum 3, 512 MB RAM). It is using the XP
> drivers, not the Dell drivers. Device manager shows no problems. Win XP
> installs ok, accepts updates.  Then will freeze at the Windows splash
> screen  about half the time. I have swapped RAM, tried a second HDD, removed
> the battery. Also freezes in Safe mode. What's the likely problem?
>
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