The $5 Packard Bell Legend PC - Garage Sale Finds 

"Thankfully Packard Bell used Phillips screws and most still do now" * Cries in HP *

CMOS password on a late '90s PC? Unplug the power cord, remove the CMOS battery, wait for 3 seconds (just to be sure), put a new CMOS battery in while you're there, plug the power cord back in and the CMOS password should be lost (along with the rest of the CMOS settings).

Talk to “the nostalgia mall”. Billy has the restore discs. He’s in the Packard bell group on FB.

You should call the machine the $5 legend.

It's so funny that michael was kind of surprised and impressed with the massive 40mb of RAM. I also gave it a appreciating nod. :D

I thumbed up when I saw the thumbnail. My family’s first PC was a PB Legend of some sort back in 1996 and I have such fond memories of tinkering with the Windows 95 settings and playing really bad kids games on AOL. Also retrobrite is good, but you’ll get better results submerging the case in peroxide and exposing it to UV light. Black light LED strips are a great options for this.

1:52 I’m rather surprised that the specs listed the original 1 GB drive as 1,000 MB for clarity. Hard drive manufacturers were notorious for hiding from users that they used the decimal definitions of kB, MB, GB to represent a thousand, million, and billion bytes, respectively. Software companies like Microsoft would display the true binary capacity (i.e. 1 GB = 1024 MB, and so on) which complies with the original definitions. You should definitely make this into a Windows 95 PC, as it’ll perform better than 98 on those specs. Maybe even multi-boot with MS-DOS 6.22 and/or NT 3.51 since you have plenty of space. Two FAT16 partitions will suffice. (I quad boot DOS6+Win3.x, Win95, NT3.51, and NT4 on a 486SX with half the drive capacity with plenty of space to spare.)

Wow, now i am impressed. That was my First Multimedia PC :D I had the Intel Pentium 120 MHz, 16 MB RAM, 1,2GB HDD. And her Matching BP monitor, with the attached Speakers. Later i insert a Diamond Viper V550 GPU with 16 MB and a total of 32 MB RAM. But the only think was left of it is the Original PB Master CD :( Thank you so much for that Video, that brings back memories. And Today i wish i could have this computer Back :)

I really love and miss those old Beige square case PCs.

Oh Hello! I like the stuff you do! Keep Going!

Found this exact model PC at an estate sale a couple years ago! I slapped an AWE64 and CF to IDE adapter in it and it's been my go-to DOS/Win95 machine since.

I definitely hear LGR music in the background

Brings back memories. I have a PDF version of its user's manual.

Some of these computers from the late 1990s had memory built into the board and then separate SIMM memory slots. The first PC I received that was a new computer was a birthday gift in 1996, it was a compaq presario 9232 with 8gb ram and a 1.2 gb hard drive with a 133 MHz processor. I eventually added 128 mb ram to it which was the maximum it could take, making the total 136 mb ram since the onboard 8mb was still there after the SIMM was upgraded.

Legendary!

Four years ago I bought a XP desktop for $5.00. I have put different Linux OS's on it and It still is working great.

Hello it's Billy Corre from the Carolina Circle Mall wiki an---wait a minute!

its also possbile that it came from an house that is heated with a wood and coal stove - throughout the winter heating period fine dust will settle everywhere, which is really nasty (I love the warmth heating with wood, but I hate the dirt) but you can not change it. so, to all wood heating people around, put your retro computers in a seperate room if you can :) cheers mate, and ty for the videos, just found your channel, I hope you are still around! cheers from bavaria in southern germany

8:45 Your cigarrette talk made me recall that some time ago people used to assume PC case yellowing was due to smoking only. Well, that might make things a tad worse, but we now know that'snot the main factor at all...

These old computers make me nostalgic of when I opened my computers in 1998, being only 8 years old 😜 and I did put all back in its place!

I would LOVE to have an old PB like that one. I had one from 93-97 and while the PC itself wasn't anything special I tweaked the heck out of mine during the time I owned it. I still wish I had kept it.

There's a good chance that this was used on a network, due to the Windows logon screen and the empty slot above the sound card. The network card would have been pulled to put in the new computer since built-in networking in Windows PCs wasn't common at that time. QuickBooks might have been set up to connect to a network share for it's data, or been installed in client/server mode. AOL would still have made sense, if this was used later at home after it's retirement, or if the office didn't have internet on the LAN (not uncommon). QuickBooks was expensive and not pre-installed like Quicken sometimes was, so someone must have installed it for some reason I would think. Of course, this is all conjecture and doesn't really even matter :)

I had the same 5$packard bell windows 98pc mine had 512 mb ram and i also got a floppy disk thingy inside the pc case and alot of cds.I hope you still do videos on the 5$98PC love you

Nice find! And even though Packard Bells were marketed to the home, some of them did end up in offices. I worked someplace with 1,000 employees in the late 90s and its PC fleet was a mismash of off brands when I arrived in 1998. After we standardized on Micron Client Pro PCs, we cleaned up the consumer-grade stuff and got it into the best working order we could, and sold it all cheap to employees. Your $5 Packard Bell find probably took a similar journey.

These videos are so interesting, Keep it up!

Hi! Your videos are awesome! And interesting. Not to forget they are entertaining too! I'm watching your videos for a while now. Just ordered a old pc. Can't wait till it arrives!

I had the 75mhz version of this computer, which was upgraded to 120Mhz which was overclocked to 133mhz. I then upgraded to an IDT WinChip 200 cpu since this model didn't support the split voltage required by an MMX processor. So that would be an interesting upgrade, see if you can install an IDT WinChip CPU on this like I did and benchmark it. IDT up front pretty much said they know their CPU isn't the best at all functions but has been specifically optimized for the most common Windows tasks. That would be an interesting comparison. Maybe even see if you could get XP to run on it after upgrading the memory with a Winchip.

MJD is right, always either smash the hard drive, or properly wipe the drive. What I used to do was I would use DBAN with DOD settings, and wipe the drive clean. Then I would install a Linux Distro on it then sell it or get rid of it.

I guess the Windows 98 PC has a new rival 😄

This would be a good 95 machine 2:49 it looks like a monitor stand has been resting on the machine and it has yellowed around it

I'm sure Bille Coore (Roadgeek/The Nostalgia Mall) will approve :)

Another $5 PC? I smell a new series.

Wow! Thank you for showing me this Michael! Your helping me decide what old computers to get! Thank you

This is the first PC I owned. Bought as a display model as almost new back in the day. Someone had stolen half the ram out of it so it ran windows 95 like a noisy dog. Thanks for me flashback.

I picked up 12 computers from a local municipal court and half of them still had hard drives with arrest warrant info, SSNs, addresses, etc. I contacted the court and was told I could bring them back or wipe them myself. I was really shocked that that was their response. I nuked them all, but kept the buffalo chicken dip recipe I found on one of them!

This thing is virtually identical to my first PC. Pretty cool to see one again. Nothing special in terms of hardware. But definitely some nostalgia going on for me.

Awesome find! Can't wait to see some more videos on this pc!

Nice video! I would have bought it too because $5, heck yeah! About that scandisk going backwards on the percentage. I remember this back in the day and I used to know why but I totally forgot. I think it has something to do with processes or phases but I don't recall. I know sometimes it would go back several times.

Holy cow! Why would expensive old PCs be sold for such extremely cheap prices?! That's really shocking.

i love how the cmos battery has been on that pc since 1996 and its still has power!!

Nice find! It's about the same age as a vintage PC I found for sell on a local FaceBook Marketplace post. It's a Compaq Presario 4112 complete with it's original mouse, keyboard, and monitor with side mounted speakers! Not as cheap as yours though. I paid $25 for it but that still feels like a good price to find something like this especially since it came with all the original accessories for the most part. Probably similar specs. I think it came out around the same time. Has a 120Mhz Pentium CPU. Mine was never opened too. The factory seal (unlike yours) was still intact plus no yellowing of any of the plastics. Except for the quotations marks key. It's pretty yellowed which is odd since the pretty much the entire keyboard surrounding this key is in immaculate condition. :P The only issue the machine initially had was that the sliding protective cover on a floppy disk got stuck inside the floppy drive and the CMOS battery was dead. But after I pulled the metal shield cover out of the drive and cleaned it, it worked perfectly. I also made some minor convergance adjustments to the CRT monitor. It was a tiny bit off for me. Still is, but only someone OCD about this kinda of thing would notice it. That aside, it still produces a nice bight sharp picture. Doesn't look like it had a lot hours on it. It's a great machine and the built in sound card has great compatibility with most MS-DOS games. (at least all the ones I care about at least. :D ) I have since upgraded the hard-drive to a 4GB HD. The largest the BIOS supports without some LBA MBR thingy. I think there was a work around for this with these old machines but I didn't feel like hunting it down plus I happened to have the drive that originally came with my Presario 5000 (a 1999/2000 era machine that came with Windows ME) and that drive happened to be exact max capacity it supported. Maxed the ram to 72MB and have a CF to IDE converter card accessible from rear via expansion slot. Currently have Windows 95 (The OSR 2.5 version which was the last build they made before the transition to Windows 98) installed. Don't plan on putting Win98 on it. It can probably handle it since it does have the ram for it, but I feel like it might be a bit sluggish on Windows 98. Oh and while I intend to continue using it's original keyboard...it is kinda crap. At least with the layout. (the keyboard otherwise feels fine to type on). The space bar is this horrid abomination where it's actually just half a space bar with the left half being a backspace key. What in the living ***k where they thinking with this?! Was it normal for keyboards to be like this? I was a kid in the mid 90s but despite this I definitely remember all the keyboards I've come across having normal space bars. This wouldn't have been that bad if not for the fact that I'm left handed and almost exclusively use my left thumb to hit the space bar, so I'm constantly having to correct accidental backspaces when typing on it.(maybe right handers would run into problems with this keyboard too, but I've never really paid attention to what thumb they use to hit the space bar with. Pretty sure the dominate hand is used I would assume) I don't think I've ever really used my right thumb for the space bar until I've encountered this abomination of a keyboard layout. I guess they just hated left handers. That and hunt and peckers would probably not have any issues either. Only us folks that took keyboarding class could have issues with this layout. :P I think when I was younger I used to own Packard Bell with a similar chassis as the one you're showing off. Don't think it was a Legend model, but was very similar in appearance/layout. Too bad I didn't keep a whole of it. This was back in the early 2000s and 90's era PCs weren't even that vintage back then yet and hadn't thought to hold on to it. :P

You are so lucky. Everyone around here thinks every 90s and 80s computers are vintage collectibles no matter what their condition and price them rather high.

pretty sure who ever had this computer didn't do a secure erase if there where any files on it. you should take that hard disk, and plug it in ide usb adapter and use a file recovery program to show everyone how easy it is to recover files off a hard drive. plus show how to use dban.

Outlook 2000 was actually released June 1999 ;-)

So this PC was named Legend. Thank you, my mom picked up this PC for me as a kid second hand and it had Windows 95 installed. Didn't know what was named but now I do. Differences were the classical "DOUBLE SPEED" CD-ROM drive many surely know and a much smaller hard drive. Now all I need to figure is what my exact Compaq Presario model was called... 🤔

this looks almost exactly like the first PC my family had in 1994. must be the same case

Looks like the $5 windows 98 pc has a new friend!

My first PC was a Packard Bell Legend 415CD running a Pentium 75MHz with 8MB of ram a Conner 1.2GB HDD and a 4x CDROM

Bug: *dead Michael JD: "wonderful"

I have a Legend 102CD that I think the PSU died. Served me well for quite a few years.

This was my first pc !!! 😍😍😍 I’m pretty sure I still have the original packard bell Windows restore cd somewhere

The $5 Windows 95 Legend PC

Great PC. Nostalgic memories...

My guess would be that this computer was decommissioned in the office, and someone working there took it back home. Maybe to fix or use. And then it just sat there until it was sold to you. Maybe because of the CMOS password.

Watching your videos for some time man! Keep up the good work and Good Luck!

I like how you always do computers videos maximizing the usage. Also somehow think of brain of the cartoon pinky and the brain speaking of old computers

One of the first computers I ever used was a Packard Bell Legend 20CD

Look up retro recipes "light brighting" method. You legit just place it outside in the sun.... thats it. It takes allot longer but ive had good luck with stuff so yellowed it was almost orange turning back into beautiful beige after a few days and you don't need to do any disassembly or use any chemicals like retrobrite which can sometimes streak and look terrible.

Can't wait to see the rebuild video.

12:38 A machine like this was indeed really limited by 2001, or even 2000, just when it was 4 year old. It was like using something like a late Core 2Duo machine today, or a first-gen i3, i5... which are 10-12 yr old machines, go figure...

Dub it the $5 PC V3 for future videos as an alternative. PS Nice to see another Garage Sale Finds video, thought it would be a while because of lockdown.

Can't wait for the next video featuring this PC

I'd love to be able to acquire such old PCs.. Unfortunately my local recycling center doesn't let us take old computers. Such a shame.

That’s not modem port it’s a serial port. Looks like they removed the modem. I believe that model would of had a sound / modem combo. So that could have been an aftermarket sound card. Packard Bell liked to slap there logo on internal cards. Yes it originally shipped with 8mb expandable to 128mb.

Five bucks is a magic number on this channel

Tell The Nostalga Mall About this.

Reasons you shouldn't smoke: - Is bad for you: no - You will smell: no - Your PC will look bad: YES

Call it the $5 Windows 95 pc! I like that!

A new 5$ windows pc??? Its a legend

Awesome video, Michael!

Great video! I recently got my first windows 95 and 98 pc!

Hi i love your work keep it going

Hey! I had an older version of that computer. Basically the same case but it was a 486 dx2-66 with 8mb of RAM I believe. Good computer overall.

Name it the 5$ legend pc :D

Will you try to install XP on it? (I highly doubt Vista and above will run)

You should do a series like LGR Thrifts when you go to garage sales and shops and stuff

My first computer was a Packard Bell Legend 11CD.

40MB of RAM? My god, that thing's a turbo jet

Had one of their towers, had a pentium mmx 166 with an ati rage 2 turbo +DVD 2mb igfx. Long named chip lol. Also remember the x16 speed cdrom that ejects crazy fast, sometimes would throw the disc at you if you eject while it was trying to copy a file from a disc it was having trouble reading. It was good at reading disks that my 56x drive couldn't (like scratched to hell ps1 games) OH and yea the +DVD meant that you could install an ide cdrom and play dvds with the ATi software

if it was used in a office, i wonder if it's successor was a Windows XP or Vista PC

5:26 I’ve seen worse in an eBay sourced HP Compaq Elite 8300 SFF. There was a dead rodent in it. How it got in I have no clue. That was the only item I left a negative on so far.

10:05 So the CMOS battery was not flat in a PC as old as this, and was still keeping BIOS config including the password? That's just ridiculously weird!

Nice! A couple weeks ago I found an iMac g3 for $4

My dad found a Packard Bell like that at his brothers house and gave it to me it and when we plugged it in it booted up perfectly and ran Windows 95

i love michael mjd videos!

keep the good work michael!

Specs wise, that is not an original sound card. These packard bells came with an Aztech sound/modem all in one card around that time. I am guessing the original owner wanted to upgrade the modem since they were using it into the early 2000s and probably had conflicts getting a second modem working with the onboard modem, so they removed the modem/sound combo, put in the cheapest windows compatible sound card they could find and installed a modem in the second slot but later removed it and installed an ethernet card if it was in an office.

I got one of these models as a Freshman in High School!

Michael, we are very close to 100k subs YESSSSS we already have 93.3 k

I think you should do a video a full restore of this computer?

You Could ALMOST Install Windows XP just some upgrades but Linux might run if you find a linux os that will work on the Packard Bell Legend PC

Do a hard drive startup and shutdown of the WD Hard drive!

$5 for this...you are so lucky! Considering they can be repaired.

Please try to install windows XP on it! Love your content!

The esc trick works because these are networking accounts, win 9x did not have user accounts

I bought one of these at the Goodwill for $30 over a Dell machine with Windows Vista

They upgraded to 98 from 95. It came with 95 and packardbell navigator

i'd love to see you upgrade this to windows 7! (if possible to upgrade the specs..)

A good OS2 candidate.

seeing this computer makes my heart hurt. same exact hardware as my old AST... only it had more ram and an awesome ATI gpu