How Far Can You Go Back?
By Ann LeFlore
@poehere (15123)
French Polynesia
January 11, 2016 2:28pm CST
On a recent comment someone laughed at me when I mentioned Windows 3.1 running off of DOS. They told me this was classical. But, believe it or not this wasn’t the first computer I ever owned. My very first computer I built in school back in 1975.
This year I was in California attending Mission Bay High School. I had one more year till graduation. I had also been hired in 1974 as a network technician trainee for the government. What I lacked in English, reading and writing I made up for in math. This year I was so advanced in math that the school had me enrolled in a college Trigonometry class at a near by college. I needed to take two courses at college to qualify. My second course I chose was electronics.
In this class is when I built my first computer. We needed to design a computer system that would calculate number, display output in binary code and run a sun tracker. The sun tracker sat on the roof of the building and would basically turn the solar panels to follow the sun.
The computer had an 8 switch input and output display that used LED lights to display your results. You needed to write the binary code and manually input the code to the device. Each switch used a toggle when it was on or off. A switch off displayed a 0 and the switch on displayed a 1. The computer took me 6 months to build. Each chip on the card had to be hard wired to the other chips. The board used a clock for timing. When hooked up to the device the binary code had to be manually input into the computer one line at a time. We each had to design our own blue print, research our chips and hard wire the chips using a wire wrap tool. I used a bus and tag cable design to cut down on how many wires needed to be wrapped around each chip leg. There were only 3 people in the class to complete this project and I was one of them.
After this I needed programming classes to write code for other computers I built or ran off main frames. My first programming language was FORTRAN. You needed to write your code and use a punch card machine to create your punch cards. The cards were feed into a compiler which processed your code and printed out your results. My second language was COBOL.
I then build a computer that used DOS and ran with 2 – 5.25” floppy disk drives. You booted the system with Drive A and a DOS disk. Your program disk was run from Drive B. Here I wrote many DOS programs for word processing, calculations, and even some games to play.
The first hard drive I ever installed into a computer was a 500 MB drive. Here the system booted up from DOS and ran on the first Windows operating system Windows 386. Afterwards, this was upgraded to Windows 3.1 and again to Windows NT 3.5.
Now here is the fun part. What was your first computer? What was the first operating system you ever used?
• DOS
• Windows 3.1 or 3.5
• Windows 95
• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows 98
• Windows Millennium
• Windows 2000
• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 10
Believe it or not I still own the first Packard Bell colored display laptop that works today on DOS and Windows 3.1. This beast is slow to boot up but you can still run the computer if you have a lot of time to wait. Computers have come a long way. Before we didn’t mind sitting around while the drives cranked up and made that nose. But today we want everything at the speed of light and have no tolerance for a slow computer or problems.
Image source – my PackardBell 1st Color monitor laptop
18 people like this
19 responses
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
I remember when I came to Tahiti in 1994 and brought with me a laptop and a small portable printer. There wasn't a single computer here on the islands at this time and nobody had an idea what I had. It was funny to see this one. But after a few years computers started to arrive here on the islands. Only the very rich could afford one. I think they were selling for around 3500 dollars at this time.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
11 Jan 16
I actually worked in reverse. My first operating system was Windows 98, since which I have used not just each Windows release that followed along with a few Linux systems, but also backtracked and used DOS. I still have a copy of DOS and the original floppy release of Windows 3.11 for workgroups.
It is surprising how legacy systems stay alive long after they have ceased to be relevant. B drive remained reserved for a second floppy for many years.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
11 Jan 16
@poehere I am still a great fan of the humble floppy. Flash drives may have a higher capacity and data transfer speed, but there is something special about a floppy disk.
I still have an unused floppy drive and would happily install it if modern motherboards had a floppy controller.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
@Asylum If you have the newer floppy 3.5 you can buy a USB floppy reader and use it now. I know on a few MB I purchased they still had a connector for the A drive or floppy drive on them. Not a lot of them but here I can still find a few that come with the A drive connectors.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
11 Jan 16
You are so right. I just thought this would be sort of a fun post to see and think back on. I see so many people saying how slow their computers are running. I guess they never ran any of these before. They would not complain so much if they had to run one of these OS now. 
2 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
11 Jan 16
The first computer I actually owned was a Sinclair ZX81 which came with 1Kb of volatile RAM. The monitor was any standard B/W television and the storage device was a standard cassette recorder. I suppose that it must have had an operating system of sorts but I don't believe it had a name. Programming was done using a somewhat odd version of BASIC, which could be enhanced with machine code which was always loaded as a block of hex at Line 0 of the BASIC code. The programs had to be either typed in every time you wanted to use the machine or saved to and loaded from a standard cassette tape (it used audio signals to represent bits and sounded rather like a fax signal if played back through the speaker). Since the memory was volatile, everything was lost once the power was switched off.
I do remember spending hours late into the night teaching myself BASIC and keying in programs from magazines. What I don't remember is what I actually did with it, though I do remember playing a basic ping-pong game and a break-the-blocks game as well as a program which calculated the date of Easter for any year you cared to input.
After that I got an Amstrad PC (512Kb RAM and two 5.25" floppy disks, one of which contained the operating system - DOS). I taught myself DOS on that machine and learned to use dBase and, I think, WordPerfect. The later version of the Amstrad had 640Kb RAM and a hard disk (and 256 colours). That ran a GUI (which everyone seems to have forgotten about) called GEM by Digital Research and that allowed me to use a Desktop Publishing program and a number of other applications.
Incidentally, before Windows 3.1, there was Windows and Windows 2. There was never a Windows 3.5. Windows 3.1 was rather short-lived and was quickly replaced by Windows 3.11 which was probably Microsoft's first really good GUI (it was NOT an operating system but a GUI application which ran on DOS). Windows 2000 (and its Home computer version, Windows 95) was the first true graphical operating system from Microsoft.
2 people like this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
11 Jan 16
With online system we did use a Net 3.5 for windows. I guess I have miss stated it here on the entries. Yes you are right about 3.1 being short lived. At work we did use Windows Net 3.5 on a few systems. We also used Linux on a lot of other system that ran off the main frame.
Now wasn't that fun . You started back when I did. I loved computers from the time I was 14 on. I had to use them in a reading lab they put me in to learn English. They had a sort of a computer set up that had lessons on it. when you started this it had a grey bar that went down each line. You were to read this. At the end they had a series of questions for you to answer. This is how I basically learned how to read English. It was some sort of new experimental government program they were testing in some school. I was pick for this program because I had such a hard time reading English. This is basically how I was chosen to work for this branch of the Gov and took on a network tech training position from age 16 to 18 when they put me on full time and moved me to Mexico to install networks.
. You started back when I did. I loved computers from the time I was 14 on. I had to use them in a reading lab they put me in to learn English. They had a sort of a computer set up that had lessons on it. when you started this it had a grey bar that went down each line. You were to read this. At the end they had a series of questions for you to answer. This is how I basically learned how to read English. It was some sort of new experimental government program they were testing in some school. I was pick for this program because I had such a hard time reading English. This is basically how I was chosen to work for this branch of the Gov and took on a network tech training position from age 16 to 18 when they put me on full time and moved me to Mexico to install networks.@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
12 Jan 16
@poehere Ah yes. That is .NET ("dot net"), which, I believe, was developed for Windows NT, 98, ME and XP as a code management component of the operating system. To be honest, operating systems and network protocol was covered in my HND computing course but that was just as Windows was appearing. The last version of Windows that I could say that I really understood was probably 3.11, though I was fairly competent in Win 2000.
I'm impressed with your career history! From struggling with English to a fascination with computers and then moving to Mexico (where you, presumably, had to master Spanish).
I quickly found that the theory and programming aspect wasn't really my thing (though I knew enough to identify and fix most common problems) - I was much better at supporting real people in their use of computers and could 'translate' the mysterious language used by 'techies' into something my users could understand!
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
@owlwings Yes it is a complicated history mine is. I guess I am sort of lucky in languages and did pick them up quickly. I guess it was sort of a blessing at home we had to speak English to our mom. I am just sorry she never taught us to read or write in this language too. But this one was complicated because our lessons were in French and my father thought this would of confused us way too much. He liked the idea that we could speak 2 languages but he insisted that we study in French because that was where we were born and lived.
Spanish wasn't that complicated to learn. My daughter grew up in Mexico for 7 years and she spoke Spanish and English. I tried hard with her in French but she said she didn't think we would ever go back to France and decided not to learn it.
As for work I still had to write some source code for my job along with installing networks and communications. I had my English tutor there for me to help me out in writing the manuals and training classes. The manuals and classes had to be done in English and this was the requirements of the job. So I sort of had a difficult time in the beginning but after I learned to over come this one.
Yes I did have to use Windows Net 3.5 in my work and completely forgot that most users on home based systems wouldn't of ever known what this one was.
As for computers they were easy for me. I loved the internal working and how they operated. I was sort of a math wizard or they said I was. I never felt like this but they said I had a great understand for math. It just seemed to be natural and I guess it compensated for my lack of reading and writing in English at the time. Electronics always fascinated me when I was young and I loved to take things apart and see how they worked. I guess that is why I am here today and doing what I do. It is still fascinating and I still love to take things apart and make them work again.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (135822)
• India
12 Jan 16
I started with windows 95 with floppy disks and half gb hard disk. Today the hard disk is more than 300 gbs with no floppy disks. I now have Windows 7 and hope to stick to it as I like it.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
Try they are now 3 TB hard drives. I normally need 3 or 4 1TB hard drives in all of my computers I build and run for my business. Less is not even possible for me. My firmware just to fix hard drives takes up 2TB of data. I then have drivers for computer system that I have downloaded for repair and they take up over 500GB of data. I don't know how you get by with only 300GB of data I can't do this one at all.
@allknowing (135822)
• India
12 Jan 16
@poehere My needs are limited. I hardly download anything. For you your life is computers.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
@allknowing Yes you are right. A small basic user that only does documents wouldn't need much room on a hard drive to store all of them.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
12 Jan 16
I started off with DOS - no windows for me. The first programming language that I mastered was COBOL-85. Then, I learned SCO UNIX (which was all without any GUI back then). And I loved it more than DOS for sure. The only issue, it came on floppies and they were always so very delicate. Next, I learned C went on to add Assembly Language, Fortran and Pascal to my resume. I had always wanted to be a Programmer but they (my trainers) wanted me to become a Trainer. I became one - and am quite very much grateful, happy and passionate about it. I taught for next 16 years. Then migrated to Application Development and today, I am a Website Consultant and Developer. Today, I am the only one in the IT industry from my batch.
Windows 3.1 appeared on the scenario after I started working as a Teacher
When Windows 95 was released, I was one of the first 5 people in my state who got the Certification from Microsoft.
Windows 3.1 appeared on the scenario after I started working as a Teacher
When Windows 95 was released, I was one of the first 5 people in my state who got the Certification from Microsoft.2 people like this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
13 Jan 16
@poehere I loved debugging COBOL Programs - the most wonderful thing about it was if you missed a . (dot) after one of their sections, it would give to so many errors and then you put the dot back and all errors gone. It made me feel superior
I think because I joined in as a teacher, the self-learning too got into me which helped me survive for so long in this industry. I learned many languages and stuff relevant for my profession on my own as paying for and joining courses was not always possible.
I think because I joined in as a teacher, the self-learning too got into me which helped me survive for so long in this industry. I learned many languages and stuff relevant for my profession on my own as paying for and joining courses was not always possible.@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
13 Jan 16
@thesids That is fantastic. I only wrote coding for around 3 years and didn't need to do it anymore. But in this time I learned fast how to embed different codes that I had used before into new codes. It made it a lot simpler to write and get done. I use to get an error now and then. I could find it for the life of me. Then when sleeping I knew the routine. Wow for some reason I saw it. I had to get up and fix it. I guess that was one reason I was glad when I didn't need to do this anymore.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
You have a very impressive history with computers and programming languages. I had to learn FORTRAN first and then moved on to COBOL afterwards. I didn't so much like programming because when you had a source code error in all that massive lines of code it could be a nightmare to find it. I was sort of glad I did not go into programming. I would need to call programmers in the middle of the night to come in and fix their source code or see why their program crashed. Most the time they would ask me if it couldn't wait till morning. Sorry but the times I did call they were on systems that needed to run 24/7 without being down. So guess you were lucky you never became a programmer and instead became a teacher.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (471217)
• Switzerland
12 Jan 16
I do not go back to 1975, but to 1979, my first computer was an Apple II, the 8-bit computer designed by Steve Wozniak. My first Apple II is still here in my computer room, together with my Apple IIc, the first to use 3.1/2 floppy disks.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
13 Jan 16
@LadyDuck This was the very first computer my parent's bought. One of the guys I worked with was a Commodore Geek. He loved to tear them apart and fix them. We use to pick up a lot of old one that people threw away and mix and match parts and build new one. We would give them to a few of the poor schools in the areas we were working. None of them cost us anything except time and testing. The parts all came from other ones that didn't work any longer.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (166595)
• Boise, Idaho
12 Jan 16
@poehere ...I can remember XP, not 2000, then Vista and the rest. Just whatever came on the computers I got and the ones I used at work.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
@celticeagle You didn't miss much with 2000 that one is for sure.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
17 Jan 16
My first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in 1979 or 1980. It was followed quickly by an Amstrad using CP/M for OS. In 1985, I have had my first DOS computer, an HP 100. This one was interesting as it has a kind of touch screen, working with infrared beams around the screen, and I have still it at home in working conditions. The HDD is only 5 MB, but it was a lot of space at this time
. I think I used any version of MS DOS before windows. When Windows 3.1/DOS 5 came I was using Geoworks 1.2 which was a un*x like graphic interface a lot better than Windows, but MS managed to make Geoworks not compatible with Windows and I installed Windows 3.11. I installed my first Linux in 1995 and used Linux and Windows until Vista appeared. It was a horrible OS and I switched definitely to Linux at this time. I have still a desktop with XP for gaming though.
. I think I used any version of MS DOS before windows. When Windows 3.1/DOS 5 came I was using Geoworks 1.2 which was a un*x like graphic interface a lot better than Windows, but MS managed to make Geoworks not compatible with Windows and I installed Windows 3.11. I installed my first Linux in 1995 and used Linux and Windows until Vista appeared. It was a horrible OS and I switched definitely to Linux at this time. I have still a desktop with XP for gaming though.@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
22 Jan 16
I never adventured into Vista or even Windows 8. In my books both of those OS were garbage and not worth investing in or installing on your computer. I love 7 and 10 and this is what I use now on my systems. I have 6 computes set up with 7 for my jobs and I have another 5 running on 10.
1 person likes this
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
11 Jan 16
@Drosophila You're right but it still seems like it went by awful fast.
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@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
12 Jan 16
Holy smoke! You built your first computer, @poehere ? You are not an ordinary lady, my friend. You are like the late Steve Jobs ! In 1975 I was still using the old Olympia typewriter . . and had no knowledge whatsoever about computers!
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
That is funny. I had to choose a second college course and I took electronics. BTW I aced this class and went on the following year to take the second advanced level class. In the class was only guys and I bet them all hands down. I just like to build stuff and it isn't so hard for me to see how things work.
2 people like this
@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
12 Jan 16
@poehere Man, my hands are only good in wielding watercolor brushes to paint sceneries, my friend. Just like these ones!
1 person likes this
@Freelanzer (10743)
• Canada
12 Jan 16
The first computer course I did was on DOS but my kids started with windows 3.1
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
I think a few people here started with Windows 3.1. I had a DOS computer first and then later upgraded it to 3.1 then again to 95. I skipped a lot of the other stuff until XP came out. I loved XP and was disappointed when they stopped supporting it.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
Old computers are fun and they too have a history. Maybe not like your vintage stereos but they do have a fun history and if you think about them it did advance rather quickly.
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
11 Jan 16
I can see how this could be difficult to master it way back then. There was basically no way to learn except on your own. I have always loved computers and especially building them from scratch. Now look at where we are today. Didn't take that long for us to get there now did it?
1 person likes this
@ElicBxn (63593)
• United States
7 Mar 16
I am very impressed! Mind you, I'm sort of an idiot with a computer and I have to trouble shoot for a friend who's an even bigger idiot with them.
I owned a computer running 3.1 and it did quite well, after all, it was faster than looking stuff up by hand and writing things out and then typing them up.
We have to remember what came before 3.1 and computers at all to know that we thought we were racing with it!
@snowy22315 (180286)
• United States
24 Feb 16
I really was not on the computer until about 1994. I can't remember what my first computer was, but my boyriend bought it for me and showed me how to use it. It ran Dos..
@poehere (15123)
• French Polynesia
12 Jan 16
If you can even use a computer to do the basics I don't think you are computer illiterate.
@EugenesDDen (310)
• Ireland
12 Jan 16
In 1979, we had an Apple II computer in our school. Our computer science teacher didn't like BASIC so we all had to learn COMAL which was sort of a structured BASIC.
I had a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in 1986 and made an I/O accessory for it for reading and writing digital inputs and outputs and it also had an ADC and DAC for reading/outputting analogue signals. When I got my first PC in 1991, I made an I/O card for doing the same tasks. This PC was a 386 machine with a 40 MB disk running DOS. It only took about 10 seconds to boot. I eventually installed Windows 3.1 on it. It also had a 5 1/4 inch and 3 1/2 inch floppy drive. When I was in college in the mid 80s, I used a microprocessor development system which worked off 9 inch floppy drives. During that period, the college still had lots of Commodore PET computers, but was replacing them with IBM PCs. I think these had either a 10 MB or 20 MB hard disk.
What microprocessor was used in the computer you built in 1975?
