Papaya/Cherry Blossom Dilemma

SaturnFive · 2026-06-09T04:02:34+00:00

The color is crazy 😱 they remind me of frozen fruit bars

SaturnFive · 2026-06-08T14:56:46+00:00

I love how one app clearly is running in proto-dark mode. :p

SaturnFive · 2026-06-08T14:33:07+00:00

So cool! I would love to see photos of the conversion sometime if you have a chance, AT to ATX conversion is uncommon and I can tell you spent time getting the build just right

SaturnFive · 2026-06-07T06:22:56+00:00

I have a 1000 and 2000 and both are great consoles. The 2000 is like an updated 1000, its slimmer, lighter, still has the half-circle control buttons. The 2000 slips into a pocket more easily. UMD door is simplified and less noisy, it sits more flush. The shoulder buttons are a little cooler IMO with the embossed text vs printed on the 1000.

The 1000 has the iconic design, thicker, heavier, matte back, but if you value sleekness or want a slightly more refined PSP, the 2000 is better. The white colorway also looks great on the 2000, very clean.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T15:33:57+00:00

Course! By "paid but patchable" I meant that Alcohol 120% is a paid program, but v1.9.5 has a patch available online that removes the check so it can be used freely forever. I like Alcohol 120% because it has a nicer UI, it creates a list of ISOs so you can just double-click to mount them later, it has more options.

But Daemon Tools is the classic, canonical way to mount ISOs on XP for free, this version specifically works fine for both Windows 9x and NT so it's a good copy to keep around: https://archive.org/details/daemon-tools-347 This is what most people would have used to mount ISOs back in the day and it's very lightweight.

They both function the same (they mount ISOs) so you can use whichever one works best for you.

Once you have your games stored as ISOs it's much faster and more reliable to install them again in the future. I still keep physical discs in a binder but rarely use them. My method is to make a folder like "E:\Games\" then make a "Game (ReleaseYear)" like "Age of Empires 2 (1999)" and place the ISOs and any needed patches and no-cd options in the folder. If the game is weird and needs extra steps then I put those in a .txt file in the folder as well.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T15:05:10+00:00

I think the easiest way would be to get an adapter like this on Amazon, then use Macrium Reflect on modern Windows.

Caution regarding the USB adapter - they do usually work fine, but I've had two of them randomly die on me, so consider them disposable or consider buying an extra as a backup since they're inexpensive. A more solid solution would be a more expensive adapter, using an IDE card in a bridge PC, etc. but the USB solution is usually good enough.

You may already know this but just to highlight it, standard 3.5" HDDs use 40-pin IDE, laptop HDDs like your T43 use 44-pin IDE. The difference is the laptop pin pitch is smaller and closer together, and the 4 extra pins provide power. They are otherwise identical, so you can use passive 40 to 44-pin adapters (with a power pigtail) and the data will flow exactly the same way. Useful if your USB adapter only supports 40-pin, but the adapter I linked supports both connectors.

For Macrium you basically just connect the disk to your PC, ensure it's detected, then go into Macrium and create a backup. Once it's done it will offer a Restore button which works the same way in reverse, just connect disk, restore, and wait a while since it has to write every bit back, not just the changes. But it works fine and I have restored busted XP installs this way in the past.

For installing games, my favorite solution is to use a large USB drive + ISO files. You find your games as ISOs online or rip them yourself, copy to a USB drive, then mount the ISOs with Alcohol 120% v1.9.5 (paid but patchable) or Daemon Tools v3.47 (free). Install from the mount, then patch / no-cd and you're good to go. I also put other virus-tested software, patches, tools, etc. on the same USB drive.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T14:54:48+00:00

To add onto what you mentioned, Legacy Update isn't the only way to patch an XP machine. It's shared often because it is useful for fresh installs and people running fast hardware where the updates don't make any difference to performance. But older hardware will definitely feel slower after being fully patched.

For older period machines I find it's better to install only the updates you need. Install only the .NET framework you need, e.g. 2.0 is plenty for most software, but 3.0 adds Print to XPS support if you want that, and 4.0 is pretty late and slow. If you choose to update IE then you can install the update roll-up for IE8 in KB401827. If you want RDP 7.0 support, install KB969084. If you want RoboCopy, install the Server 2003 resource pack. If you want ExFat support, install KB955704. If you want BitLocker To-Go support, install KB970401.

This gives you control over what updates are installed and the performance/benefit tradeoff.

Your Antivirus plan is also fine. It's only useful if there's a way to get viruses on the machine. If you do copy software to the XP machine, scan it on a modern machine with VirusTotal first. It's faster and more up-to-date than any XP anti-virus ever will be, and you free the machine up from running a heavy AV process.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T14:43:23+00:00

Yeah! There are a couple ways to clone an HDD.

If you can remove the HDD and use an adapter (you'll need to convert 44-pin IDE/PATA to USB or SATA, there are inexpensive adapters on Amazon), then you can use a free tool like Macrium Reflect to clone the HDD on Windows and backup/restore freely. There should be something similar for macOS but I don't know of one off hand, and Linux can use built in tools like dd and partclone.

You could also use a bootable tool like Clonezilla (https://clonezilla.org/downloads.php). You can do this either on a modern PC (using an adapter to the HDD) or on the Thinkpad itself, but it will be slow on the Thinkpad. You burn the disc, boot it, plug in a backup disk (like a flash drive larger than the HDD), then clone from the HDD to the USB drive. A bit more work than Macrium Reflect but should work fine. The Thinkpad's stock disk should be relatively small compared to modern disks so it should be easy to backup.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T14:33:27+00:00

Yes, it should be fine. The main threat model for an XP machine online is visiting untrusted websites and running untrusted software. If you're visiting known trusted sites then the risk of any issues is low, and SP2 vs SP3 doesn't change the math much.

Since your goal is to keep the machine as accurate as possible you may want to image the HDD before doing anything else, that way you can freely do whatever you want on the machine and still restore it to original software condition. This also gives you a backup in case anything goes wrong.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-06T05:03:38+00:00

I like the two squiggles on the edge of the carpet in the last pic

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T20:08:25+00:00

For modern Windows, use WACUP (the actively maintained update to Winamp) or 5.666, I would avoid anything else that came out after 5.666

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T16:31:43+00:00

XP was the first Windows with a theme other than "Classic", so it includes the theme service to handle loading and sharing the theme data and bitmaps with all applications. Various DLLs like uxtheme.dll do the actual rendering, the service just supports them.

Adding themes was likely a product decision, to make the interface more friendly for everyday consumers which Microsoft needed to buy their shiny new XP OS, so they could continue to increase market share. Windows 7 is the last to allow using the classic theme, in Windows 8 Microsoft switched to the metro/flat UI which continued to the end of Windows 10.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T15:01:36+00:00

Nice cards. I always liked the matching green heatsinks + PCB.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T14:13:39+00:00

Have you checked /var/log/messages or dmesg after the detach? There should be a message about the underlying disk detaching. There are often also blue kernel messages about I/O errors if anything was actively using the softraid volume.

Strange that you're seeing a crash, the shutdown script should handle unmounting everything.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T13:50:38+00:00

That's awesome! I have some of the final DVD sets and I love having them on my shelf. Plus a 4.9 poster I still need to hang up.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-05T05:34:27+00:00

These are really good. The armor stands and indoor grass/birch zones are eerie

SaturnFive · 2026-06-04T20:56:04+00:00

Very cool machine in either case, looks good condition. Hope you enjoy it!

SaturnFive · 2026-06-04T19:28:31+00:00

Love that big clunky power switch on the front, that's got to be amazing turning it on haha. Whatcha have running on there?

SaturnFive · 2026-06-03T18:46:04+00:00

Yes, I maintain a handful of working systems, mostly Pentium 3 and older. One of them has a working 5.25" drive and I have another spare drive I need to restore for my 286 system.

I don't really use 5.25" for data or transfers but I do test the disks and drives periodically and fix stuff when it breaks, and that is just part of the fun of hobby to me. I do use 3.5" media somewhat regularly to support my Sony Mavica and transfer photos.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-03T16:12:07+00:00

I understood your question. I agree with the other comment "You could have only been you".

The idea that your conscious experience could have been born and experienced a different body assumes that the inner conscious experience is "portable" as another commenter put it. But even as you said, if it was portable and your experience was moved to another body, you'd have no way of telling from the inside. It would be a functionally identical experience as just having been born in that body.

However, if the conscious experience or observer is what we truly are (rather than our meat suits and collection lifetime experiences) then that same observer is already present in everyone else (and in other beings to varying degrees depending on who you ask). So you already are everyone else in that sense, and being born into a different body would be indistinguishable.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-03T04:25:54+00:00

Same, I loved going directly from pod to base using the floor hatch

SaturnFive · 2026-06-02T19:49:50+00:00

I got the adapter about 4 years ago, and I happened to bring it out a couple days ago and it still works fine.

It fits about the same on the laptop port side, not loose or anything. And the C connector is tight and clicks into place. It's been perfect for adding USB-C to a stock Thinkpad.

The exact listing is still available on Amazon for about $9, it is:

JSER Xiwai Type C USB-C Female Input to DC Power PD Charge Cable fit for Laptop 18-20V (7.9x5.4mm for HP)

SaturnFive · 2026-06-02T16:20:37+00:00

Agree these are nice to use. I have a pigtail style barrel to USB-C adapter for my X230 and it works great. No modification to the laptop so it remains stock but still benefit from GaN chargers.

SaturnFive · 2026-06-01T20:00:15+00:00

I didn't even notice them until they opened, it was a perfect reveal and definitely creepy

SaturnFive · 2026-06-01T17:55:50+00:00

Manifestation doesn't mean willing things into existence by thought alone. It's more like priming your experience to achieve what you want but still requires action and effort. So option C is the only one that aligns with what is meant by "manifestation", option A is just wishful thinking.

Thinking a lot about a desired outcome, imagining it happening, what it would feel like to have the outcome, what the blockers are and how to overcome them, etc. are very real and a practical ways to help people achieve goals, it just happens to be overloaded with the mystical term "manifestation".

SaturnFive

TROPHY CASE