I was recently given a Compaq Presario 425 All-In-One manufactured in 1993. What makes up this little machine and can does it still work?
Part 1: This part
Part 2:
0:00 Intro
0:40 Close up look at the Presario 425 inside and out
10:14 First power-up
12:32 BIOS options
16:49 Compaq’s version of Windows 3.1 and installed programs
29:54 Star Trek by Interplay
31:00 Conclusion and outro
Cirrus Logic CL5420
Compaq Presario 425
Tabworks from XSoft
The Compaq Adventure
PFS: Windows Works Version 2
Prodigy Service
Symantec Game Pack
— Video Links
Support the channel on Patreon:
Adrian’s Digital Basement ][ (Second Channel)
Compaq Presario 425:
Intel 80486SX:
— Tools
Deoxit D5:
O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards)
Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
TS100 Soldering Iron:
EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
Magnetic Screw Holder:
Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
Heat Sinks:
Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
— Links
My GitHub repository:
Commodore Computer Club / Vancouver, WA – Portland, OR – PDX Commodore Users Group
— Instructional videos
My video on damage-free chip removal:
— Music
Intro music and other tracks by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino
Watch more new videos about Archeology | Synthesized by Mindovermetal English
I thought I would never see one of these again. This was my first computer. I found it in a box in my parents basement. Mind you, 4 year old me could barely move this thing, even across a concrete floor. But when I got it set up and on a table, with the help of my mom, I booted it up only to find out that the hard drive failed. Apparently this was the reason my parents "got rid" of it and stored it in the basement. Luckily we knew some computer people that replaced it and installed NT 3.1. Absolutely loved that machine and I wish I could relive those days. So much Oregon Trail, Kid Pix and other educational programs.
And this thing it what got me into computers. How different my life would've been if I didn't scavenge through random stuff in my parents basement at that age lol
I have one running Win 98 .24 Megs of ram Great Computer .The glass in the CRT is great and clear 🙂 QC
I’ve owned one in 1993 and upgraded it to its max with modem and sound card. Worked great.
We had ibm eduquest computers in school and i remember seeing one of these thinking it was a great copy of them. Much cheaper and easier to afford im sure
I've been almost daily driving my ARM development machine (RockPro64) running FreeBSD/ManjaroARM for a while now. I need to swap to my main machine (twin xeon 12 core, 24 core/48 threads on a budget as joke project turned primary machine when the prices shot sky high, and availability stopped existing) when I need some heavier lifting/RAM.
What I would give for an ARM machine that's basically the SBC but with RAM/storage expansion (SATA/NVME) and expansion slots. The RockPro64 is the closest I've found for a reasonable price, but if I could get M1 performance with upgradability I could finally full time ARM. Doesn't even need a socketed SOC as long as the price to replace the SBC is around that of either a motherboard or processor. At that price it wouldn't feel as bad to replace if damaged, just wouldn't be good in terms of ewaste tossing an entire board for a SOC or vice versa. Founding and adopting a standard for a socketed ARM module would just make it even less likely to happen in general.
I remember being paid a nice sum to upgrade a couple of those Pcs back in the day. I think i installed 486DX cpus, and advanced ISA printing card and some more stuff. That bios modem option was for a rom that allowed to hook up your pc to the telephone line and wake-on-ring it. Not entirely sure about all of this, since it has passed so much time! thanks for the good memories!!
as a kid I just used a flat screwdriver that would fit in and then apply pressure against the screw as I twisted, and I'd hear the tiny lil bit of noise that said "ok, screw is coming loose" and I could unscrew it with ease after.
I had a macintosh <3
chkdsk!!!!!
Is possible to connect it to the internet, with a modern modem?
That was my first computer lol. I'm actually not sure which model number it was but it had this exact case. It was sturdy enough to survive being dropped on icy pavement screen first. I recall that it needed a soundcard added plus of course an external CD drive I got later. And I think we added some RAM too. Provided so many hours of entertainment for 10 year old me to dig around and I still remember that boot sound. And omg that TabWorks thing! Didn't think I'd see that again ever. Compaq basically taught my kid self how to use computers even before I had Internet access. I also had the Presario CDS 520 or other model in identical case, my very second PC when the older one got too slow for the games I wanted to play, and this one became my little sister's PC lol. I wonder whatever became of all those old desktops that eventually got stuffed in the storage box of my parents' house? It wasn't really a priority back then to save them although I kinda wish now they had been saved. Maybe some collector has them lol.
where's part 2?
ah the memories. juno email was my first email address.
Ahh, Tabworks, that brings back memories! My father had a PC at work that had that on it, in the early 90's. I vaguely recall playing the Windows games on it a few times, before it was upgraded to Windows 95. After that, Tabworks was no longer needed.
2:25 "Compaq … built like a tank." Man, you remember a different Compaq than I do. I just remember the one that ruined both Digital and HP.
534h is the standard I/O address for a Windows Sound System compatible audio device. Also, the flashing cursor in the top right is the BIOS setup prompt, pressing F10 while this is on should bring you straight in.
wow, i had one of these, ,i had sooo many different old machines, wish i still had them 🙁 sigh
I had the similar 433 model and upgraded the RAM to 12MB which made a big difference to its speed.
Wow! I had one of these in 95 that I added a bodge job of a CD player and a 486 DX 66 overdrive chip. Man it was fun to use, and I had a great time using it for quite a few years.
I had to maintain one in a college computer lab. It was a 486 dx2/66.
Torx screws (in my opinion) are less likely to strip. I prefer them over philips screws.
that's a neat old retro pc just there
The presario range is a nice type of old pc
every AIO computer should have video input for when it becomes outdated also juno is a internet/email provider
Why put expansion slots in there, if you need special tool to get inside. Not giving sense.
Compaq were quality products at this stage…
Juno!
Widows 3.1, was a shell program. I still have my Windows 95, OS. Then I got the Windows 98, with USB support, you could add drivers for the USB port, in a file, on the OS disk. It was added, with the Win98 OS! I also, have the Windows for Workgroups. on 3.5 Floppies! :).
I like to think of this era of Compaq as being the klingon computer company… Com Paq! Lolol
Ooh, Betrayal at Krondor! Great game — I'm actually playing it right now, via Webex, with a friend from my old hometown.
This was the computer I learned to program on Pascal, C and COBOL. My father bought it second hand in 1996 and I really loved it. Unfortunately by 1996 there was a lot of software in CDs only so I ended trading it for a generic beige Pentium in the late 90's.
As usual, Great Video Adrian!! Personally I cannot forget my huge smile and positive reaction when I first time installed Windows 3.1 on my PC back then! Something that I never experienced again in my life as a computer user with any other OS, maybe perhaps a little with Windows 95 but after that every new version of Windows was somewhat the same till today.
Your assumption at 29:30 was correct. The tabs in TabWorks were the Program Manager folders. I sold Compaq PCs during that era, and they all came with that TabWorks overlay. IIRC, several OEMs pushed Program Manager replacements in Windows 3.1.
The Presario series was a budget line entry system. Its Bios was the same as the Deskpro business systems abd the bios has lots of legacy functions. Interesting to note that the access to the bios was via a system installed in a Diag partition on the drive.
The original iMac
You had to have it just the right width, but you could get the screws out with a flathead screwdriver as well.
3/3: You can easily switch between Tabworks and Windows Program Manager using the Options menu.
2/3 I've actually also added a backup of the whole file system of this PC to archive.org complete with Xerox TabWorks and WindowWorks. I've purged personal data to the best of my ability, so it should be pretty easy to restore on a blank hard disk.
1/3 You can upgrade this PC easily up to 486DX2 @ 66MHz. Just make sure the model number on CPU is "ODPR", not "ODP". The "R" mean it's a Replacement, includes an extra pin on the processor that disables the onboard CPU. Then change the jumpers to match the 66MHz configuration. This computer can be upgraded higher with rare CPU upgrades, but they're hard to find and expensive. and not guaranteed to work. Also for a free upgrade, you can actually overclock the built-in 25MHz CPU to 33MHz 🙂
Man, this thing just looks awesome. I love how you explain motherboards. It's one area of tech I'm trying to learn more about. Keep up the great work!
Replacement shells like that for Windows were popular with OEMs around that time period, and you better believe Microsoft did not like it!
The power plug is where it is for one reason only, you can't plug it in unless the tray is fully pushed in. Well, or no tray at all at which point it doesn't matter. The whole plug sticking out the back issue completely goes out the window once you plug in a parallel cable. Especially one of the old school super thick ones.