Need to upgrade mobo on old Dell running XP with 0f4491 board

[BAD311]

Hello all,

I have a client running tax software on a old Dell computer with a 0f4491 motherboard. The processor is pegged 99% of the time... I'd like to be able to upgrade their motherboard, processor and ram... currently they have a 3.0Ghz Pentium 4 CPU and 2GB DDR1 ram... I really want to get them to a newer motherboard that can handle a better, faster processor. I want to be able to pull out their current mobo, CPU and ram and swap it out for a better board/CPU/ram without causing too much chaos to Windows XP... Any ideas on mobo's that may work???

I'd love to get them to a dual core CPU and 4GB ram.

I'd even consider installing a server mobo that handles 2 CPU's to accomplish this... that also would allow the HDD to be hooked up.

Anyone ever done this?

 

[nsafreak]

Swapping from a Pentium 4 based motherboard to a newer motherboard whether it's something like an Intel Pentium G3458 or an AMD A10 series APU is going to require that they do a re-install of the operating system. There are far too many architectural changes between that old system and a new system. New chipsets, new CPU instruction sets, etc. For that matter I would highly recommend that your client switch from Windows XP to Windows 7 at a bare minimum. Unless that system is not connected to the internet at all they are placing the data at a pretty high risk since Microsoft is no longer issuing official updates for the OS. And if they're doing it professionally I would have to wonder if they would potentially be legally liable should something happen to their client's data. The far easier solution than what you are proposing would be to get a basic system from the likes of HP or Dell, transfer their data and go from there.

 

[BAD311]

That's the catch, the software they use dates back every year to 2001... by law they have to keep client data on record going back that far (they are a loan company). The software they use was installed remotely by the company that made the software... In 20013 the company forced them to upgrade to Windows 7 machines, they did, but they still must keep this one machine operational for about 8 more years before they can kill it off.

They surprisingly use it daily. I'll check to see if it requires internet connectivity, they don't use it online for anything but they do want the ability to run multiple versions of their programs when necessary, which they can't really do now.

I was hoping I could upgrade their mobo made in 2004 to something made in 2006/2007 that with a forced injection of drivers would allow Windows to work but with better hardware.

 

[nsafreak]

The other issue is that you're going to have to swap out the power supply as well. The old Pentium 4 systems did not have a 12V input from the PSU like newer CPUs require in order to function. You can give it a shot if you really want but in all honesty it's unlikely to work properly if you get it to work at all. You may want to consider converting the install into a virtual machine and put that on a new system. There are various tools from various vendors that will do this job and many of them are free. For example you can convert the install with VMware's vCenter Converter Standalone and then use their VMware player in order to run it.

 

[vailr]

What's the budget?
If the budget allows, I'd recommend something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G15M2105
Although WinXP could be made to run on it (requiring either a repair install or a fresh install), a modern 64-bit Windows 7 or 8.1 would be much preferable, security wise.
If the budget is too miniscule for that solution, then a used socket 775 Core 2 Duo system from Craig's List/Goodwill/eBay/etc. might be something to consider.

.....................
Edit:
Dell Inspiron 3646 on sale (for week starting June 21) for $219.99 at OfficeMax/OfficeDepot:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/703711/Dell-Inspiron-3646-Desktop-Computer-With/
CPU: Celeron J1800

 

[vailr]

The software they use was installed remotely by the company that made the software.

Are you talking about 2 different versions of the software? With one version that only works on XP, and with data that cannot be imported into a Windows 7 machine, and also cannot be re-installed by you? What if the hard drive were to crash suddenly?
Something's lacking in your explanation, of needing to keep an XP machine running: "they still must keep this one machine operational for about 8 more years before they can kill it off."
Keeping a copy of the tax data may be some kind of legal requirement, but a requirement to keep an XP machine running on a daily basis is simply not believable.

 

[mxnerd]

Maybe the 99% CPU peg is caused by too few memory and system keeps swapping to disk?

Maybe just upgrading the memory to 4GB will solve the problem?

Or maybe buy a new Windows 7 system with at least 8GB or 16GB, install Virtual PC and a free copy of Windows XP, reinstall tax software and key for it?

 

[escrow4]

A P4 and 2GB of RAM just isn't enough anymore. The cheapest direct upgrade would be a G1820 + 4GB RAM + H81. You need more grunt for a VM so that would morph into an i3 with 8GB RAM if you were to virtualise. Why this one machine for 8 more years? Current clover trail tablets are as fast (or slow) as that box . . . . .

 

[VirtualLarry]

Keeping a copy of the tax data may be some kind of legal requirement, but a requirement to keep an XP machine running on a daily basis is simply not believable.

This. OP is confused.

 

[vailr]

Dell Inspiron 3646 on sale (for week starting June 21) for $219.99 at OfficeMax/OfficeDepot:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/703711/Dell-Inspiron-3646-Desktop-Computer-With/
Windows 8.1; CPU: Celeron J1800

Board + Celeron J1800 CPU only combos at Newegg:
www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=Celeron+J1800

 

[tcsenter]

I don't understand the requirements but I'll just assume they are there. I recently did some work for a doctor's office who had some frustrating legacy requirements. Thankfully the software (server and client) can be installed/configured by anyone not just the software vendor, the full installation package was available, and runs fine in XP Mode under Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

So assuming you CANNOT reinstall the application(s), is a major potential limitation. You can try swapping the hard drive to different motherboard and chipset but there is NO method to guarantee it works unless it's an exact motherboard replacement (or motherboard that uses a common/shared BIOS build).

If you want to try it, keeping in mind that you may be stuck paying for the hardware you can't use if it doesn't work, then this is what I would try personally if I were in this situation:

ASRock 775I65G R3.0 LGA775 Intel 865G + ICH5

Uses the same 865G chipset as the board in the Dell but has LGA775 socket that supports Core 2 Duo generation processors. Brand new, but only supports 2GB RAM MAX. It's worth noting any boards dating back to 2005 ~ 2007 production could be affected by the "bad cap" electrolytic capacitor debacle that plagued motherboards from those years. This board is very recent manufacture probably in 2011 or 2012.

If you should give it a try, I would make an image of the present hard disk so that you can restore it if needed. And test restoring the image first to a different/spare hard drive to make sure there is nothing wrong with the disk image, restore utility, anything with that process.

Basically you want to remove/uninstall several devices or their drivers on the present system prior to swapping boards. e.g. uninstall the audio, LAN, and 1394 drivers and then disable it in BIOS (if integrated), or remove from the PC if add-in. Uninstall the graphics driver and change to Standard VGA adapter. Uninstall any Intel storage driver for the ICH5 integrated IDE and SATA controllers, use the in-built driver provided by Windows XP. Uninstall printer drivers/software and disconnect. And then pray that Windows negotiates the hardware changes gracefully, including upgrades the HAL type from Uniprocessor to Multiprocesser (if you use a dual core CPU).

There is also the in-place upgrade (reinstallation or repair install) of Windows XP that will attempt to preserve the functionality of any applications. I say "attempt" because that's not always successful, either, and has some of it's own peculiarities like having to use installation bits that are patched to the same service pack level presently installed (e.g. if SP3 is installed, the installation bits need to include SP3) and having to uninstall Internet Explorer versions later than IE6 prior to reinstallation because they may not work after.

Are you sure they can't just purchase a new PC with good specs and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, then have the software vendor install the application in Windows XP mode virtual machine? How much more could that cost (in time, potential headache, and actual monetary cost) than what you want to do?