Need advice on a Build

[zm307]

A friend of mine has an old computer.. about 8 years old now and his computer is not longer working properly. He would like me get him a new HDD and install his old OS on it. But since his computer is so outdated, is it even worth it for him to try and just get a new HDD while keeping all those old parts? I would assume he has an IDE connection (not that he would know what it was even if I asked him to look) and I feel like buying an IDE drive brand new for some rusty old computer is a waste. What should I do?

PS-This computer was a pre-built Gateway computer, so I worry that things just won't be compatible.

 

[akhilles]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813121342
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...48&name=Mini-ITX+Tower

Depending on how old the pc is, a new build might be worth the money. This cpu/mobo is a steal. It does DDR2, SATA and has PCI, cpu, cooler, and onboard video. Throw in a 2GB ram stick, a small SATA DRIVE and a DVD burner. Put them in a mITX tower. Extremely energy saving. The pc is plenty for home/internet.

 

[zm307]

That sounds good except this fellow is very tight for money.. I don't believe he could invest 300-400 dollars into a new computer. I feel like he just wants to spend less money for the HDD and OS and hope that fixes all his problems. If he went the cheaper route, would that satisfy him? I feel even though he would have a better HDD, still his other system components may fail.

 

[humanure]

did the other hdd fail? you can find 80GB drives for $40, not much money to get by for awhile longer. I would just make sure that is going to fix whatever problems he's having, and not just a guess.

 

[Gustavus]

zm307
You didn't say what sort of problems he is having, but more than likely they are not due to the harddrive. If that is the case, migrating his existing system to a new harddrive will not fix anything. If he is as much of a novice as you suggest, then he may have a harddrive so fragmented it is the problem. First thing I would do is defragment with something like Perfect Disk (which is what I use) or any of several other good defragmentation softwares. I asume he has run an antivirus and anti-spyware check. If not, then those are classic ways a system gets slowed down and made to perform strangely. It is possible that he has installed and uninstalled software and left a lot of stuff lingering in the registry. I have a neighbor who knows nothing about computers and in spite of my repeated warnings downloads all sorts of crap software she finds in browsing the net and then calls on me when the system gets weird to straighten it out for her. Your friend may have done the same, in which case you might want to run a good registry cleaner program like Registry First Aid. He may also just be low on free space on the hardrive; loads of uncleared temps etc. In that case you may wish to run something like TuneUp Utilities to recover space.

Even if you do end up migrating his OS to a new harddrive, you should do these things first anyway -- otherwise you will transfer over a lot of garbage -- although the migration will clear up the fragmentation.

 

[zm307]

Good advice Gustavus Thank You, but I believe his issues lie within the drive itself... He told me that he has no "installer" meaning that he cant install any programs or really do much of anything except go on the internet. He said he can't even install a new copy of wind98 or XP because of this "installer" issue. I really don't understand what he is talking about...If this is the case, he won't even be able to run any anti virus programs..It's my opinion that getting a new computer is just easier. I mean..I charged him money to fix his computer in the past..he is more of an acquaintance rather than a friend. So I woudl have to charge him around $100 to go buy him a new HDD, Go to his residence, Take his computer apart, Install hard ware and software and then make sure it works. So.. for another $200 he might as well buy a brand new computer that is garenteed to work great and he doesn't need to worry about these issues. The only dilemma is that he wants a dual boot win98/XP and I don't think he will find that out there on the open market.

 

[Gustavus]

One last remark. If he is considering getting another machine because of the problems he is having, then he has nothing to lose in reformatting the harddrive and reinstalling an OS. I always hate to recommend such a drastic step, but before buying a new machine reccomend that he do a reformat and reinstall. Can't imagine why he wants a dual boot of Windows 98 and Windows XP, but if the harddrive is OK he should have no trouble getting one or the other of them installed. Since it is more robust, I'd suggest he go for Windows XP.

 

[zm307]

Yes..I talked to him tonight..He is a rather odd person. He says he is saving this computer because it is a "legacy" and when it came out it was something like the greatest thing ever. I don't know. Whatever the case is, I told him to try and run fdisk and to try n start fresh on that old junker. Otherwise I told him just try and find a good pre-built computer online somewhere...What a waste of my time.