IT·Science Talk

My lab's most important PC runs a 20-year-old OS and I love it

Our spectrometer is controlled by a beige PC that runs a very old version of Windows. It's not connected to the internet. Nobody is allowed to install anything. It has a sticky note that says 'DO NOT UPDATE' in three languages!

The instrument still works perfectly, the software only runs on that system, and replacing the whole setup would cost more than my entire PhD stipend for several years. So it lives on, a little museum piece doing real science every day.

Anyone else have an ancient machine at work that everything depends on? I want to hear the stories!