Alright, I've been helping them choose out what they want from Dell, but they're stuck on AOL (ugh). Anyway, they want to get a subscription to McAfee, and they want to get AOL as well. I advised them against it, but they say tey want to stick with AOL and get angry at me for even sugesting otherwise (trust me, I'm not exagerating at all). I've told them there's no real point to getting AOL, as they can keep their E-mail for free, and they're already getting a subscription to McAfee, and they won't have to deal with the crap AOL does on the computer. Does anyone have any advice?
As for the building a computer, I've decided against it for the time being, although I will revisit the idea when finicially able. I definatly don't agree with those who say that computer gaming is better than console now, simply for the ratio of cost to value of parts.
quote:The family computer has just broken down (overheated, either the power supply or the motherboard is blown), and as a result we will possibly getting a replacement. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how possible/difficult it would be to use the old parts (like the ram and drives) in the new computer. Also any advice on where to get a cheap computer would be welcome. Right now we're looking at either Best Buy or Dell.
Oh, and I'm using a Wii to post this...my 2000th post, sweet.
quote:Update: Well, we found out that the motherboard has blown, and they've decided to get a new computer from Dell. I did manage to convince them to get Windows XP.
This whole ordeal, however, has sparked an interest in me to build a computer. I've reaserched it a bit so far, but I do have a couple unanswered questions that I hope someone can help me with.
First, how do I get a grounding bracelet?
Second, if I cannabilize an old hard drive would the OS on it work with the new computer? And if it doesn't would it create any issues?
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You should be able to use the drives in the new computer, assuming it has enough IDE ports. Some motherboards nowadays have only one, which is enough for two drives. With the RAM, it depends on what sort you have in your old computer. The standard now is 240-pin DDR2 RAM, but your old computer might have 184-pin DDR or something else.
Do you know the specs on your old computer?
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The computer has two 256MB DDR @ 400MHz, I'm not sure about the number of pins, how do I find that?
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I think all DDR RAM has the same number of pins, so that should be enough info. Pretty much any computer you buy now will have DDR2, so you won't be able to reuse it in the new one.
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Has anyone tried a wireless USB keyboard with the Wii? The latest system update seemed to say that USB keyboards were now supported and I'm curious whether wireless ones would also be compatible.
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Are you sure the computer is completely gone or do you get a message that the CPU fan has failed? We were having that problem until we got a replacement ($15). Our computer would either shut down at times or not even start up. With the new fan, everything is good.
If it is the motherboard, then a new computer is the way to go. Here's the funny thing: our phone company is offering phone service, unlimited long distance in the U.S., Internet (DSL) and a Dell. It costs a set amount per month - around $99, I think. It requires a 2- or 3-year contract, depending on whether you are a current high-speed Internet customer (3-year) or new (2-year). Our phone company is Frontier. You might check to see if your phone company or ISP has something like this.
I had signed up for this last November.There was some confusion at first with Dell, but we got it straightened out. I upgraded the RAM and had to pay for shipping. (The shipping is paid by the customer.) So, I ended up paying $75 for both. The cost of the whole deal is similar to what I was paying for phone and Internet, they include antivirus/firewall software (which is actually a downside, I don't like what they offer), and we got a new computer (that runs Sims2 - my requirement) to boot.
Crucial.com has a way that you can check what your machine is/memory requirements. If you know the information on the computer you want to buy, you can find out what kind of RAM it has. (Crucial Memory Advisor tool)
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Hard drives should be no problem. RAM won't work if you get a brand new computer, since pretty much all the new stuff on the market uses DDR2 now.
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Now how about the video card? I also plan to reuse the dvd drives, would there be any potential problems doing that?
The computer turned itself off and wouldn't restart after my sisters had been playing Sims 2 on it all day. I know that some power is still getting through because of an l.e.d. light that blinks. Through troubleshooting I've come to the conclusion that the issue is either with the power supply, or the motherboard, we'll be taking it in to a Best Buy so they can more precisly identify the problem and whether it would be economical to repair it.
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Best Buy is unlikely to be able to diagnose anything worth anything. Are there any beeps after it is turned on? If there are, what pattern are they in (short & long).
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quote:Originally posted by MEC: Now how about the video card?
Once again, it depends on what the old video card is. If it's a PCI express card, then you should be able to reuse it. If it's AGP, then most likely not.
quote:I also plan to reuse the dvd drives, would there be any potential problems doing that?
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Oh, and fugu's probably right about Best Buy. I'd find a computer shop and take it there if you don't feel confident diagnosing it yourself. I had to take in my computer once because the motherboard died, and a shop charged me $15 to swap out components and confirm that it was the motherboard.
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Unfortunatly Best Buy wasn't my decision (this isn't my computer), I already advised to go somewhere else, but they were quite insistant on taking it there. Thanks for all the advice.
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The Motherboard LED tells you that there is *some* power getting to the motherboard. There are a number of different voltages required to run a computer, and that LED only monitors one of them. If the computer just shut off while operating and wouldn't turn on, I'm more than willing to bet that the problem is the power supply. And that's usually a 40 dollar fix, depending on whether or not the power supply is one of those Dell "Buy from us or you're screwed" power supplies. Of course, I'm not there to do my own testing, so I can't give you a 100% on that, but PSU is definitely more likely to be the problem here.
As for the video card, I'm pretty certain you won't be able to use that in a new computer, either, since it is likely an AGP video card and all the new stuff on the market has (of course) moved on to PCI-Express. Of course, you may get lucky, but knowing Dell, I doubt it.
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I do believe the video card is PCI-express, but I don't know what model it is, and thus if it's worth anything. (It's not a major producer)
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quote:Originally posted by MEC: First, how do I get a grounding bracelet?
I imagine they have them at any place that sells computer components. Maybe this is a bad thing to admit, but I've never used one.
quote:Second, if I cannabilize an old hard drive would the OS on it work with the new computer? And if it doesn't would it create any issues?
Most likely not. The drivers will be mismatched and Windows won't boot. I seem to remember working around this problem once before, but I don't remember what I did. Maybe someone else can be more helpful.
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It's possible to run the OS that is on the hard drive in the new computer, however you have to do a repair installation for it to work (assuming it's Windows XP...Everything before that is slightly more friendly with major hardware changes, IIRC). Basically, Windows installs over the old copy and sets everything up properly for the new computer. I'm about to go to bed, so I don't have time to look for a tutorial on this. I'll try to get back to it later.
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I've been shopping around for parts, but I haven't really been able to put together anything that isn't more expensive than what I could buy from a company like Dell, is there something I'm doing wrong? Some store I don't know about?
Oh, and is there anything I need to know about what hardware is compatible with what OS?
quote:I've been shopping around for parts, but I haven't really been able to put together anything that isn't more expensive than what I could buy from a company like Dell, is there something I'm doing wrong?
If you're building a low-end rather than a high-end machine (which you are), you will get a better price from a vendor; they blow out those low-end boxes at deep discount.
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About what point does it become cheaper? I've been looking at prices between $1000 and $2000 and building your own is still more expensive.
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Building your own is generally comparable or more expensive if you want an equivalent machine. If you're willing to accept some parts of lower quality while keeping the parts that matter to you higher quality, you can build a high end machine that performs just as well for what you need, but perhaps not as well overall, often for a good bit cheaper.
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With Windows XP, you actually have a pretty good chance of being able to move the hard drive to the new computer, provided that the XP installation is up to date and that the new computer is truly newer. Be warned, however, that you will need to re-activate Windows.
All hardware will be compatible with Windows. If you care about compatibility with Linux or other operating systems, you have to use google (first to find what chips are hiding behind the brand name, and then to determine if open source drivers exist).
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