Win XP

[0roo0roo]

98 was not stable.
every windows based on 9x or 3.x was not stable.
it wasn't until win nt based o/s like 2k or xp that it became stable. and there is nothing wrong with vista other than people running it on low spec computers. nothings changed. if you had tried to run win2k on a win98 spec pc it would perform pretty poor as well.

 

[jae]

with each new OS, hardware advances and so do the hardware requirements for each OS. just as cars were developed, faster they went more powerful engine, more gas it required.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Oh CharBroiled, cmere babe....

Ok..
now Dell SAYS they will only support
PC2100 ddr sdram Non ECC 184 pins

But that doesnt mean the computer itself cant handle a PC2700?
This computer isnt under warranty so cant I just iggy Dell? haha

I dont even see any pc2100's LOL

Oh babe... I want a DVD-RW
CAN I have one?

Im not a gamer, unless you call yahoo spades being a gamer lol

But mmmmmmmmm I love music..
Oh another thing...
where can I get speakers for this computer? Any kind will do? Which ones will give me a good sound? Oh and can I change my sound card if I want too???

I dont have the computer up and running yet, as its waiting for outpatient surgery pending ram LOL (cant wait to get my hands on that patient haha)

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

With XP do you have to do a full take down?
With ME, my disk forces me to take it down to manufactures state.

And wow..that msconfig where my 'start up' place is, is STRANGE with XP.. all these monitors come up and there are so many things in that startup area that I have no idea what in the world they are.

What is mandatory for XP startup?


I have no idea what bullet to remove hahaha

 

[EagleKeeper]

You can use 2700

And yes, you can install a DVD burner - remember that they come in multiple flavors, some may not be compatible with what you have hat home elsewhere.

Speakers should be asked at the proper forum - if you have onboard sound, you can disable it and put in a sound card. Again different forum.


To up the horse power of the system, you will probably have to replace the MB - changing the processor will not generate the boost you expect. - it is limited by the MB itself.

You can change out the MB and then need to replace the processor and memory.

Frys does have MB/CPU packages that are 6 month technology that some on sale all the time.

You may not have a Fry's nearby (based on your profile) but you might be able to order either online or arrange for some one near a Fry's to ship a package to you.

Or, just hang around the Hot Deals and track down a MB and processor that will match up.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

Originally posted by: dumbellwkeyboard
Oh CharBroiled, cmere babe....

Ok..
now Dell SAYS they will only support
PC2100 ddr sdram Non ECC 184 pins

But that doesnt mean the computer itself cant handle a PC2700?
This computer isnt under warranty so cant I just iggy Dell? haha

I dont even see any pc2100's LOL

Oh babe... I want a DVD-RW
CAN I have one?

Im not a gamer, unless you call yahoo spades being a gamer lol

But mmmmmmmmm I love music..
Oh another thing...
where can I get speakers for this computer? Any kind will do? Which ones will give me a good sound? Oh and can I change my sound card if I want too???

I dont have the computer up and running yet, as its waiting for outpatient surgery pending ram LOL (cant wait to get my hands on that patient haha)

Hi

Back in page one I linked to some PC2100 RAM at newegg, its 184 pin non ECC (what you want, but see below). but I havent seen any computer that specs for 2100 that wont take 2700 or 3200, but if dell insists just to be safe you can go with the 2100. get 2 512 mb sticks. again, see below (about CPUZ).

you can grab a DVD burner, it needs to be IDE and is easy to install (you tore the old one apart and reassembled it and it fired up right?).

Really you should stick with XP, its mucho better than any flavor of 9x/me. did you get the XP disk or a recovery disk with the PC? Is there a XP key number on the PC anywhere?

you could add a sound card but unless youre really heavy into music or have really good ears on board should be good. as for speakers its a personal preference, go to a computer store (circuit city say) and listen to what they have.

grab CPUZ and run it, check the memory tabs, it will tell you exactly what type of memory is in it now spec wise, we can just match from there.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

HI Charred..

Yeah I did tear a computer up lol
but I didnt kill it, it ran like a computer should run.
But I didnt learn much.. I learned that I am good at identifying like parts..
I learned that I am a bit logical.
But, as far as 'what that part actually does', well I didnt learn much.
Ticked me off sorta.

But I was proud of myself that it actually turned back on without sizzling our electrical circuit breaker LOL
That mother board intrigues me.

I have changed out ROMs before. My old one didnt have a burner and I wanted one.
I just have to get hip to what is now. Everything ran off and left me in the dust..

Some things are on the mother board that arent interchangable.. you have to get another motherboard. Its that motherboard that has my attention lol And I do know how to solder

My finances are pretty lame, as both my hubby and I are disabled, but well. I guess I have an SSDI income but a 'top o the line' taste in computers hahaha
Could be worse, I could want diamonds and cruises I suppose. lol Or mah nails n hair done weekly.. haha

So, thanks for the headsup on the speakers. I am not creating an arena here to start a band or anything, just like crisp, clear, deep, real sounding music. While I cruise around the world, been to Australia so many times via online lol

Oh cant wait til I can get that ram..Seems like Nov 3rd will never get here haha..

thanky thanky!

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..
I dont have to wait till Nov 3rd.

I am going to order my ram today.

I am going to go where adviced, as I do see its cheaper than most computer stores.

But, here is a question....

Can too much ram or anything doing with ram cause my pc to overheat?

Just wondered..

Oooh babe i am so drooling!

 

[Quiksilver]

Not really as ram isn't a huge heat source like a CPU, hard drive, or video card. If the ram ever did get too hot; it would just burn itself out and you would run into BSOD's. I'm actually kind of surprised you were able to make windows me last so long, I had it as an OS for about 6 months and I ran into several problems with it including that it would forget that it could turn itself off on shutdown so I would have to manually do it. Of course if you find XP to be sluggish or you can't adjust to the interface fats enough you could always just windows 2000 which has the old me/98 interface and can be a tad faster than xp.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Hi Quick.
I updated as much as I could on ME. I dont do much of anything video'ish.
Had my son stayed home, well that would have been a diff story about the longitivity lol

With dsl, still I have no problem online.
To beat it all I bought it at tigerdirect.com haha
Fought with them and Microsoft about the wrong key number.
Both blamed the other.
Wasnt a refurbished or return either (or so tigerdirect said)..

But honestly, ME has more issues it needs to 'talk' about than any menapausal woman I have ever known haha
Since I dont know much about tweaking bio's and things like that, I just take the machine back down to mfr.
If this was a work computer, it would have been tossed out the window years ago LOL
But for a few hundred $ and quite a few years ago.. cant really complain too much.
Just vexing with all the error messages.
If it wasnt for online, I would have thought my pc was broken many times, but always found a place that showed me what was wrong and how to fix it.
But issues piss me off..
I like the inside of the pc better haha..
This pc would never work with computer guru's.. too many high powered fun things out there for them to play with and this machine has little resources haha

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Originally posted by: VeryCharBroiled

Originally posted by: dumbellwkeyboard
Oh CharBroiled, cmere babe....

Ok..
now Dell SAYS they will only support
PC2100 ddr sdram Non ECC 184 pins

But that doesnt mean the computer itself cant handle a PC2700?
This computer isnt under warranty so cant I just iggy Dell? haha

I dont even see any pc2100's LOL

Oh babe... I want a DVD-RW
CAN I have one?

Im not a gamer, unless you call yahoo spades being a gamer lol

But mmmmmmmmm I love music..
Oh another thing...
where can I get speakers for this computer? Any kind will do? Which ones will give me a good sound? Oh and can I change my sound card if I want too???

I dont have the computer up and running yet, as its waiting for outpatient surgery pending ram LOL (cant wait to get my hands on that patient haha)

Hi

Back in page one I linked to some PC2100 RAM at newegg, its 184 pin non ECC (what you want, but see below). but I havent seen any computer that specs for 2100 that wont take 2700 or 3200, but if dell insists just to be safe you can go with the 2100. get 2 512 mb sticks. again, see below (about CPUZ).

you can grab a DVD burner, it needs to be IDE and is easy to install (you tore the old one apart and reassembled it and it fired up right?).

Really you should stick with XP, its mucho better than any flavor of 9x/me. did you get the XP disk or a recovery disk with the PC? Is there a XP key number on the PC anywhere?

you could add a sound card but unless youre really heavy into music or have really good ears on board should be good. as for speakers its a personal preference, go to a computer store (circuit city say) and listen to what they have.

grab CPUZ and run it, check the memory tabs, it will tell you exactly what type of memory is in it now spec wise, we can just match from there.

About the xp recovery disk..yes got that and they key is on the side of the pc.
got xp small business cd and a few other things also.
all in all about 6 cd's

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

cool. at some point you can reinstall XP fresh with all that and bring it to factory condition.

you should really reinstall XP fresh as you dont know what condition its in, probably has a ton of junk left over you dont need.. before doing that though youll need to download a bunch of stuff (SP3, latest drivers etc, we can give you a list). wait till after youve put memory in.. memory is super easy to put in, take a couple minutes.

if youre short on cash you can get by with one 512 mb stick (with the 128 mb you have thats 640 mb, not bad) but you really should spring for two to bring it to one gig if you can afford it, I think they were like $15 each.

did you run CPUZ? that will tell you the current speed of the memory that in it now.

putting in a burner and/or hard drive is a bit more complicated but once the XP machine is up to snuff you can experiment on your old machine buy practicing removing and reinstalling its CD and HD and messing with the cables and jumpers, then once youre comfortable you can do the XP rig.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Originally posted by: VeryCharBroiled
cool. at some point you can reinstall XP fresh with all that and bring it to factory condition.

you should really reinstall XP fresh as you dont know what condition its in, probably has a ton of junk left over you dont need.. before doing that though youll need to download a bunch of stuff (SP3, latest drivers etc, we can give you a list). wait till after youve put memory in.. memory is super easy to put in, take a couple minutes.

if youre short on cash you can get by with one 512 mb stick (with the 128 mb you have thats 640 mb, not bad) but you really should spring for two to bring it to one gig if you can afford it, I think they were like $15 each.

did you run CPUZ? that will tell you the current speed of the memory that in it now.

putting in a burner and/or hard drive is a bit more complicated but once the XP machine is up to snuff you can experiment on your old machine buy practicing removing and reinstalling its CD and HD and messing with the cables and jumpers, then once youre comfortable you can do the XP rig.

Hi,
I got the ram, I bought 2 sticks of 512 , but with taxes, and extra money for faster delivery (hehe) it came to $50.
So, I am el-broke_O for awhile..
I have put new ROMS in other computers. Its not really that hard.

I havent ran CPUZ yet, because I am still using my Win/Me for the moment.
I did however open the XP computer up and clean out all that dust. (sterilizing for surgery lol)

What I would like to know, I want to take this HD out, I think its only 20 gig..
And put a new one in, but how do I transfer info?
What exactly is on a brand new harddrive that will allow it to read a cd?

I have cd's for drivers, sp1, could that be used then download updates or would it be easier to just burn newer drivers and such and use that cd during install?

Upon looking inside..
I see an empty bay.
I see room for more harddrives
I see 3 slots that could use something.
The one card in the slot, when looking at the back of the pc is used for phone jacks, but its not the jack that dsl uses. So that isnt an ethenet card is it?

I dont think its set up for wireless.
Not even sure I want that, as other people connect to the same airwave you have and can keep you from working online (this is my gf's words). She says her neighbor is using her wireless to get online. But if I am not mistaken, up to 6 people can use that same signal?
I dont need wireless anyways, its not like I have a laptop lol

Oh so many new things out there...
and I wanna play lol
And my hubby said no no no to any more exspenive computers.. so I went another route..LOL
I should have married a computer geek, we would have been in heaven hahaha OR I would have at least .....

 

[EagleKeeper]

The easy way on the HD is to install it as a second drive.

Then you can just copy files from one to the other.

You will have to check the master/slave jumpers on the old HD and make sure tht they are set to either Auto or Slave.

The drive can be attached to the space plug on the existing ribbon cable that is connected to the Master drive.

Dependng on the BIOS on the new system, you may have to select the drive information for Drive #2 for it to be detected.

A brand new HD is a storage medium. Software has to be installed to read a CD by an OS and/or the BIOS needs to be told to load from a properly prepared CD.


w/ repect to a fresh install:
Download the ZoneAlarm firewall and store/burn it for use after reinstalling XP
Download any decent Anti-Virus application and store/burn it for use after reinstalling XP.
Download the XP SP3 and store/burn it for use after reinstalling XP

Disconnect from the internet.
Install XP
Install any additional drivers that are needed
Install the Service pack 3 - It contains everything from SP1
Install the ZoneAlarm firewall
Install the Anti-Virus


At this point, you have a clean safe system.
If you have the ability to make an image of the system (Ghost/Acronis, etc) do so.

Now you can connect to the Internet and run Windows Update to get anything else.

After getting all updates, it you can make another image, do so.

Configure your browser and/or install what every browsers and plug ins you desire
Install any applications that you use and their updates (if any)

Again attempt to make another image.


Having these images, allow you to fall back to a safe point, without going through anything done before then. Saves time & frustration.

After this point, you are safe to challenge the net. If you contaminate your system for any reason, you can go back to the last safe image that you have.

Enjoy

 

[wayliff]

I have XP SP3 on a PIII 450Mhz with 512MB of RAM with no bloat...runs fine.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Hi everyone.

I have installed my ram.

Have not felt up to a fresh install yet..

but I need to ask something.
well lots of things..haha

Inside my pc at the back, there is a fan. Its connection is just dangling there. It needs 3 pins to plug into and dang if I can find it.
But there are 2 other fans going.

Next.
On my IE, I have 4 layers of *chit*
the normal bar on top, then a bar that has TWO search places
Then the one I am used to that has File, Edit..etc
THEN this weird one I can not get rid of...it has yellow stars (favorites) and things I dont even need its like a duplicate.

Here is some info I found out..
CPU 1.80 ghz
Core Speed 1794.2 mhz
Bus speed 99.7 mhz
BIOS = milac Int.
133 mhz
166 mhz
2.5 Volts

1 gig ram

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

1 gig ram

congrats!

the previous owner probably installed a bunch of browser add-ons to IE. I dont use IE so Im not sure how to remove them but someone here can tell you.

I would just forget about IE and grab the firefox browser, faster and more secure.

the 3rd fan, there should be a 3 pin header on the mobo within reach of the lead. maybe you just knocked it loose when cleaning it? those little 3 pin fan headers are in odd places sometimes.

unless the previous owner used a 4 pin molex (like the power plug that connects to the hard drive or optical drive) to 3 pin fan adapter. look on the leads from the power supply and around the HD and optical power plugs, might be dangling off one of them.


EDIT: make sure you have XP all updated: go to START -> ALL PROGRAMS near the top select WINDOWS UPDATE and let it do its thing. if its been a while since its last update run it will probably find a ton of stuff so be prepared to wait a bit as it updates.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

HI Charred.

Oh lord, come to my house and help me.
I dont know what in the world this woman has done.. or if its just some kind of poopy firmware issue but here goes.

I have a samsung cd-r/rw sw 240b

It wont play music.
It wont read the computers CD's.

I have tried to download firmware for it and it just sits there.
I went to restart with a windows cd and pressed f12 to run an express test and it wouldnt go. said samsung was not supported.
Well, hell.. they why did Dell put it in there? LOL

IM going to get to the bottom if this even if I go bald..LOL

I will try that foxfire.. thanks.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Does Windows recognize the drive?

If not, then no S/W will work for it.

If not recognized, check the cabling and also the BIOS setup.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Hi all.

Well what a day I have had. Remind me to NEVER charge by the hour hahahaa

I had this brainiac idea that I could take the cd rom from my win/me to use in the xp so I could to a fresh install.........................thinking........................
afterwords the cdrom that was IN the xp in the first place would start working.

Not a chance. It blinks a while and that is all.
Not only that BUT, prior to the fresh install, I could get online with xp using my dsl.
Now I cant.
I get yellow question marks next to all that I need to create a connection for internet.
Im on Roadrunner and I need my ethenet card to function. I cant even create a connection.
And, how its saying this xp doesnt have a sound card.

I am back to sp1, no drivers..
tons of cd's that say they have this and that, but when I put them in the cdrom its bulldung.. just info, no downloads.

All I have handy at the moment are CD-R
Not sure I can get anything I burn on that over to my xp, by ..........yep
changing the cdrom when I want to do something to xp LOL

Well,
Sp2 didnt do anything to my cdrom as I am back down to Sp1.
My friend said it just stopped one day and then started again , but quit again for good. Floppy doesnt read either.

But XP looks nice without a bunch of junk all over, like having a recycle bin on my taskbar LOL

Day one of insanity, what will tomorrow bring hahaha

 

[EagleKeeper]

Double check cable connections.

Power lights wil show even if bad connectionson the data cable.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Hi, Im back in there again. I cant tell what this cdrom is set on. The white cap is on the first set of pins to the left. The cable its using is drive 0, which that is what I saw in the BIOS.

Next to the master/slave part even more to the left is another place to plug something in, which this cd doesnt have. There are no more lines to plug into anything. Mine does from my Win/Me computer.
The cables seem right.. the floppy is hooked to the FD drive cable, they dont look ragged or worn. no pins are missing or bent.

I remember this woman sent it out to be serviced. By whom I dont know.
But the fan that isnt hooked up, has been that way for awhile, because its not as dirty as the rest of the machine. The wires dont stretch far, so that darn connection has to be somewhere near LOL I noticed how the fan that is by the mobo was hooked, am looking for the same thing ...

And no internet now.

In the device manager box, I see samsung cdr r/w sw240b
I even deleted it and rebooted..
Im having alot of issues here.

The whole shabang for ethenet is off
light comes on when I plug in the cable jack.

Well, going to scout online to see what I can find..

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

Originally posted by: dumbellwkeyboard

Next to the master/slave part even more to the left is another place to plug something in, which this cd doesnt have. There are no more lines to plug into anything. Mine does from my Win/Me computer.

I remember this woman sent it out to be serviced. By whom I dont know.
But the fan that isnt hooked up, has been that way for awhile, because its not as dirty as the rest of the machine. The wires dont stretch far, so that darn connection has to be somewhere near LOL I noticed how the fan that is by the mobo was hooked, am looking for the same thing ...

that extra plug on the CDR is for an analog audio cable, they fell by the wayside years back when everything went digital. you dont need it.

it sounds like the CDR that came with it is toast. good idea swapping the CDR from the old me to the xp computer, just need to make sure the master/slave jumper on the ME cdr is set the same as the one that came out of the XP machine.

as for ethernet, go to the device manager, delete the items marked with a exclamation points ("!") and reboot, see if it finds it correctly.

 

[dumbellwkeyboard]

Thank you for that bit o info about the audio.. (am so backwoods now)..

Ok latest scoop .. help where ya can.

Fresh Install...

My floppy is now trying to work but it wont format a disk haha..

My cdrom isnt working still.

Lost my internet connection.. had to plug cdrom from my ME to XP everytime I wanted drivers haha..

I have a fan at the rear of my computer where you plug all the stuff in back there.. with no place to plug it.
Went online, manual said its by the ram and processor look for J14..
Well, I even got a magnifying glass to look for that number.. No BINGO for me tonight lol

But..
I unplugged the processors fan, to see what the connection looked like because the clips are the same in both fans.
Now..
When I startup Windows, it goes to a bio page that tells me about the slave/master, primary/secondary and also warns me that my CPU fan cant be detected.
Well, darn it ITS RUNNING, I plugged it back in.
But as far as that 'other' fan is concerned, I took it out haha
IF I cant find a place to plug it, at least I can have those 'airholes' in the back of my pc to allow air in LOL

Oooh another thing.
Got all my drivers.. got my ethernet stuff going..
went for my updates and now Microsoft is telling me I have an issue with ownership and I need to go to www.fixreg.com or something like that
or
helpfixpc.com
or
install registry updates
run registry updates

I want to say something to anyone who reads all this stuff.

I cant afford a programmer.. or a techie..
but one thing I will say... what ever the charge. you ALL are worth your weight in gold.
The president of the USA doesnt deal with THAT many issues haha

I think I am going to have to save my pennies for a new cd rom.
I went to samsung and got the patch that was supposed to fix it, but it didnt work.
It wont read anything on a cd.


thank all of you for your valuable help .... big hugs to you all..

 

[AznVenom]

http://shop3.frys.com/product/...sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

2 gigs of crucial pc3200 ram for 15 after 35 rebate and your dell will love you for it.