Aug 28, 2021, 20:16 pm
{Hardware and Software}
Here is something I've been musing over for a number of weeks now:
I have an old gentleman who bought his first desktop computer in 2000 that was loaded with MS Windows Me. He also bought from Office Depot at the time a cordless phone (!) that was branded MS Phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_...one_System. Hardware-wise, this phone was hooked up to the computer's serial Com1 port and phone jack, which connects to the land line. Software-wise, this MS Phone had its own CD-ROM software disc with text-to-speech features for a few relatively easy voice commands, and its voice mailbox was paired with Windows Me's own Outlook Express.
This setup worked wonderfully for my guy for decades. And although he has had newer computers, including a more recent model (x64, 2015) with Windows 10 and Office 2016 (with its Outlook), he never retired the old Compaq Presario with Win Me. It turns out that the MS phone, with its mailbox and address books, was his indispensable computer app. The address book moreover contains hundreds (if not thousands) of his professional and family contacts. (Oh, he is not a fan of social media, and he reads a real newspaper.) He does all his mail correspondences through Outlook Express and not through the Outlook in Office 2016 in the newer computer. And the voice mailbox, also stored in Outlook Express, contains saved voice recordings of his friends, relatives, and families over the years, many of whom have died since.
Well, the computer died two months ago. My gentleman is now using the regular Outlook, and he loves the "new" calendar feature and its integration to his Android mobile phone, etc. But he seems to be mournful and often at a loss as to how to reach out to the people in his life. For you see, everything social and extended in his life is stored in the 20 Gb hard drive of that Presario.
As a friend who "occasionally" downloads a movie/pr0n or two via a crack BitTorrent, I want to help this guy to get his ancient MS Phone with its address book and mail/voice messages back up and running again.
I have three difficult tasks: [1] I want to set up a virtual machine on his current physical desktop machine to run Windows Me, Outlook Express, and the MS Phone software. (The MS Phone software, version 1.1, can only run with Outlook Express.) [2] I have to remove the old presuming-functioning SATA drive from the dead computer and connect it somehow as an extra drive to the current physical desktop machine. And [3] I have to figure out how (and where) to retrieve the important data to import to the virtual machine's Outlook Express.
So the first thing is first. [1.1] How do I set up a virtual machine? [1.2] Which is the better version of VMware Workstation Pro to use? [1.3] Is there a ready-made "machine" that is already Windows Millennium for the VMware platform? [1.4] How does such a "machine" interface with a real thing like the cordless phone and a physical disk drive (and a floppy drive)?
Can you help me to help this gentleman? (If this isn't the appropriate forum, please re-direct.)
Here is something I've been musing over for a number of weeks now:
I have an old gentleman who bought his first desktop computer in 2000 that was loaded with MS Windows Me. He also bought from Office Depot at the time a cordless phone (!) that was branded MS Phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_...one_System. Hardware-wise, this phone was hooked up to the computer's serial Com1 port and phone jack, which connects to the land line. Software-wise, this MS Phone had its own CD-ROM software disc with text-to-speech features for a few relatively easy voice commands, and its voice mailbox was paired with Windows Me's own Outlook Express.
This setup worked wonderfully for my guy for decades. And although he has had newer computers, including a more recent model (x64, 2015) with Windows 10 and Office 2016 (with its Outlook), he never retired the old Compaq Presario with Win Me. It turns out that the MS phone, with its mailbox and address books, was his indispensable computer app. The address book moreover contains hundreds (if not thousands) of his professional and family contacts. (Oh, he is not a fan of social media, and he reads a real newspaper.) He does all his mail correspondences through Outlook Express and not through the Outlook in Office 2016 in the newer computer. And the voice mailbox, also stored in Outlook Express, contains saved voice recordings of his friends, relatives, and families over the years, many of whom have died since.
Well, the computer died two months ago. My gentleman is now using the regular Outlook, and he loves the "new" calendar feature and its integration to his Android mobile phone, etc. But he seems to be mournful and often at a loss as to how to reach out to the people in his life. For you see, everything social and extended in his life is stored in the 20 Gb hard drive of that Presario.
As a friend who "occasionally" downloads a movie/pr0n or two via a crack BitTorrent, I want to help this guy to get his ancient MS Phone with its address book and mail/voice messages back up and running again.
I have three difficult tasks: [1] I want to set up a virtual machine on his current physical desktop machine to run Windows Me, Outlook Express, and the MS Phone software. (The MS Phone software, version 1.1, can only run with Outlook Express.) [2] I have to remove the old presuming-functioning SATA drive from the dead computer and connect it somehow as an extra drive to the current physical desktop machine. And [3] I have to figure out how (and where) to retrieve the important data to import to the virtual machine's Outlook Express.
So the first thing is first. [1.1] How do I set up a virtual machine? [1.2] Which is the better version of VMware Workstation Pro to use? [1.3] Is there a ready-made "machine" that is already Windows Millennium for the VMware platform? [1.4] How does such a "machine" interface with a real thing like the cordless phone and a physical disk drive (and a floppy drive)?
Can you help me to help this gentleman? (If this isn't the appropriate forum, please re-direct.)