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xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx

Beginning
So semi-recently i got myself an Intel Compute stick [model STK1A32SC released Q1 of 2016. Mine was manufactured in 2018]. I didn't get it as a multimedia PC, as i don't need that.

Aside from minor scratches on the back, it was in a good state. And i'm not sure if this is common in these, but it automatically turns on when plugged into power, and i haven't seen an option in the BIOS of it to make it stop doing that. Also it's CMOS battery is dead, nice.

Continuation, and my experiences so far
It's previous owner forgot to wipe it, so i had to do that myself, and so that meant ditching windows 10 that was on it, and for now, installing Linux Mint so it was usable.

It was an audible change. In windows 10, the fan I'm pretty sure it has a single fan, poor thing was kicking in on the start, and after a few minutes was extremely loud. With Mint, it remained largely silent until an heavy task was queued up, and then it would just continue blaring.

Another annoyance is when trying to shutdown this slab-of-computing. When you try to quit from the OS, it dosen't shutdown fully, and you need to hold down the power button until it finally decides that shutting down is what it is gonna actually do. And even then it takes a bit for it to slowly shutdown.

I have no idea what it's doing that is preventing it from shutting down when the OS calls it, as no video output is being sent from it over HDMI[/b]

Aside from those odd quirks, it's actually not bad. It works fine as a portable PC, although i will admit i bought it kinda blind, thought it had an internal battery like a laptop, and had 8 GB of RAM. My bad.

Conclusion
I should not buy things blind, that is a good way to loose money...aside from that, it's well, a portable PC. And solidly, 2GB Ram is way more than enough...I wish i did my research, as model STK2M364CC is what i would have went with instead [4GB of RAM, 64 GB eMMC instead of 32, 3 USB 3.0 ports, and dosen't use an Intel Atom], but oh well, im stuck with mine, and i will use it.

As for the reason i got it, it was mainly for trying out Linux Distros personally for my future switch. But also, i might just ditch that idea and install something else onto there...Maybe XP, who knows.
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leefymoon · Posted: Wed May 06, 2026 3:54 pm Post subject:

omg that's still dope that you have one... honestly xp on it would be very funny you should try that!
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xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx · Posted: Thu May 07, 2026 5:28 pm Post subject:

VCSMaster · Posted: Fri May 08, 2026 3:14 am Post subject:

32 gigs of storage? That's more than a lot of people had when XP was new. An awful lot of people were running 10 gig or even 5 gig drives in 2001 if you were unlucky. Dell was shipping 20 gig drives even in I think 2004 on base models, though by that point you could probably get 80 gigs if you had the money and wanted.

xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx · Posted: Fri May 08, 2026 3:50 pm Post subject:

VCSMaster · Posted: Fri May 08, 2026 11:08 pm Post subject:

What do you mean "More customizable?" Almost all of it was done with third party tools and if you include that, modern Windows is WAY more configurable with WinAeroTweaker than NT/2K/XP ever were.

xX_D4rkW1ng_Xx · Posted: Sat May 09, 2026 1:01 pm Post subject:

VCSMaster · Posted: Sat May 09, 2026 11:20 pm Post subject:

WinAmp and XMPlay having skins didn't really mean Windows was more customizable.

As far as adding themes, it's been a LONG time since I tried, most of the ones out there were gaudy to say the least. Pretty sure it was as simple as double clicking the theme file. The files were the same at least through 7 and there was even some compatibility there.

Myself, I find most "personalized" copies of software to be beyond ugly, nearly to the point of uselessness, hence my utter lack of desire to ever do it.