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Another OLD computer!!

Discussion in 'Computers & Technology Forum' started by preacher, Sep 24, 2006.

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  1. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Hello Strangers .....& Strange Ones!!!
    Got one for yuns....found an OLD Dell tower sitting on a curb the other day & tossed it in my truck. Didn't have a thing in it but the mother board, processor, & some empty slots. Has built in video, sound, usb, mouse & such. I took an old harddrive & installed win.98 by hookin it to my machine.
    Then I installed some ram,(32Mgb) hooked up the HD, Monitor & other necessities, turned it on & WHAM!!! Worked like a charm! Found out it has a Pentium 2 450Mghz.
    Now here's the mystery...I took out MY HD from this machine, Installed more ram(128Mgb) & it won't boot. I have win 2000 on this one. It would begin the process then just freeze up on a screen tellin me that I need to run a virus scan or check the drive for defects & such. The CMOS shows the HD but nothing works....any ideas why???
    Your Favorite Junk Collector....Preacher,...& BH!!:praying:
     
    #1 preacher, Sep 24, 2006
  2. exscentric

    exscentric Well-Known Member
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    You might try going back to the memory that you had in when it was working and give it a try. Bad memory can cause boot problems. I stuck two new sticks in one I was building and it wouldn't boot.

    The great tech support told me the processor was bad so they replaced it and not change, they said it was the mother board so they replaced it and no change. Third call the guy asked if I had changed the memory before all this, I said no and he suggested trying it. Bingo, removed one and it booted, stuck it in and other one out and no boot.

    Just a thought.
     
    #2 exscentric, Sep 24, 2006
  3. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Imight try tomorrow, but the ram came out of this computer,....& it would boot up the other HD with the Win98 on it, no matter which ram I installed. It tells me to hit F1Help on startup with either HD in it, but the 98 carries on from there just fine.
     
    #3 preacher, Sep 24, 2006
  4. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    I just chucked a couple of old computers out in the ditch for the city to pick up. One was a 333MHz P2, but the other was a 450MHz K6.

    The missus said either they go, or I go.
     
    #4 Trotter, Sep 25, 2006
  5. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Luckily my wife likes to play with stuff as much as me!!
    I came in Fri. & she had her computer,(an old piece too) with just about everything out of it. I asked what she was doin & she just replied..lernin!!
    She wanted to see if she could put it back together & it still work....well...it did!! The only advice I offered...watch out for static lectricity'!!
     
    #5 preacher, Sep 25, 2006
  6. TC

    TC Active Member
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    The old computer might have compatibility issues with Windows 2000. Mine did - which is a Pentium II 450. I dumped Windows 2000 and put Windows 98 back on it and it works fine.
     
    #6 TC, Sep 28, 2006
  7. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Thats what this one is. I talked to the local puter fixit guy yesterday & he said on old dells like this one Win2000 would try to load different drivers for the motherboard cause it couldn't reconize it, or something like that. I put the 98 back in it too. Gives me something to play with anyways!!
     
    #7 preacher, Sep 28, 2006
  8. Magnetic Poles

    Magnetic Poles New Member

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    It would probably be a good machine to use to learn Linux/Unix.
     
    #8 Magnetic Poles, Sep 28, 2006
  9. thomas not doubting

    thomas not doubting New Member

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    The tech is right, the hard drive doesn't have the right drivers on it for the Dell motherboard. When you install an operating system, the install routine looks to see what brand of motherboard you are installing it on, then loads the right drivers off the installation CD. If you take that HD out of one machine and put it into another computer with a different brand of motherboard, it probably won't work, because it doesn't have the correct drivers on the HD for the new motherboard.

    Go into Device Manager on your computer and expand the entry under 'system resources'. There will probably be 15 or more entries with names like 'PCI Bus', 'System Board', 'System Timer' etc. These are all the drivers for the specific brand and model of motherboard you have in your computer.

    Swap a hard drive into another computer with another brand of motherboard and all the drivers will be wrong. The whole operating system will choke and give you weird error messages because all the very basic low-level drivers are the wrong ones, or missing entirely. If however, you erase that HD, and install Win2K on an empty drive, Win2K will normally find the right drivers for the motherboard on its install CD and set everything up correctly during the install routine.

    Dell computers might be a bit of an exception though. Possibly the drivers would be on the install disk that comes with the Dell computer and not on a regular Windows install CD.
     
    #9 thomas not doubting, Sep 28, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 28, 2006
  10. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    One flaw with that, tha win98 I installed on my CTX computer, then took it out & put it in the Dell & everything works fine. The HD with 2000 is also out of the CTX so I just figure it's got something to do with FAT32 vs. NTFS? No big deal cept now I'm wanting to get broadband & they say I have to have at least a 400Mghz processor & guess which one that is??THe Dell. My CTX is only 300.
     
    #10 preacher, Sep 29, 2006
  11. TC

    TC Active Member
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    Could be that or other compatibility issues. Mine had many hardware and software issues. It just was not worth addressing all of them so I will have to save up for a new computer - actually, I would like to build my next one.

    As long as the hardware is compatible it probably would be. Some brands are not supported and it would probably need to be an older version. Mine does not meet the system requirements of the newer versions of Linux/Unix. I don't really need to worry about it either though, because I bought an older Sun Workstation that has Solaris 9 on it from UMD.
     
    #11 TC, Oct 3, 2006
  12. David Michael Harris

    David Michael Harris Active Member

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    Sometimes with older computers all you have to do is after you have installed the memory and boot you just enter the Bios then save on exit and it will use the new memory. If the previous owner has set a password for the Bios then you will not be able to do it!

    Have fun :)
     
    #12 David Michael Harris, Oct 3, 2006
  13. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    To clear a BIOS password, just unplug the comp, remove the battery from the motherboard for a bit (a few seconds does it, but I usually say a minute), pop the battery back in, and you're done.
     
    #13 Trotter, Oct 3, 2006
  14. David Michael Harris

    David Michael Harris Active Member

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    Oh you hacker :) ./root
     
    #14 David Michael Harris, Oct 3, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 3, 2006
  15. TC

    TC Active Member
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    One thing I have seen is if you use a Win2000 upgrade disk, it will scan your system and make a page with any compatibility issues listed and then gives you the option of continuing installation or cancelling installation.
     
    #15 TC, Oct 3, 2006
  16. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    OK Guys...Thanks Again,
    I have BH with me in here so if this gets messed up, its her fault!!
    Actually...I'm on the old thing now!! But I'm still running 98..SE..
    Since it meets the min. requirements for RoadRunner I've got them coming out Friday evening to hook it up. I'm still gonna try to load 2000 o n it...uh oh....BH is on my keyboarrrrd !!/lijh/.7
    Anywho...it's faster than either one of our othner old ones so I'm gonna give it a whirl. RR says they're modems have to have at least 400Mghz...my others only have 300 but I wonder if it would work, just a little slower??
    Gotta run to the hardware store...be back some vtime!!
     
    #16 preacher, Oct 3, 2006
  17. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Hey Again,
    I stuck the HD with 2000 in here, set bios to boot from cd, reinstalled 2000 & now it's working on here just fine!!! I guess the reinstall let it find missing drivers or something...anyways now I'm almost ready for BroadBand!
     
    #17 preacher, Oct 3, 2006
  18. Trotter

    Trotter <img src =/6412.jpg>

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    Glad to hear it! Still wish I could have gotten that K6 to you... it would run circles around that 450.

    You will love broadband.
     
    #18 Trotter, Oct 4, 2006
  19. preacher

    preacher New Member

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    Howdy...
    Last nite I went to the Dell upgrade site & downloaded a Bios upgrade, have'nt installed it yet. I can't seem to find how far up I up the processer. My older CTX has 300Mghz & you can go up to 500...but Dell don't say. Rite now I'm at 450... but I figure I can go up to near 1Ghzh which I can proably get from Robbie for free or cheap anyways. Heres my Specs if anyone has an idea...

    Intel II 450 Mhz..160 Mb Ram...Motherboard Properties
    Motherboard ID <DMI>
    Motherboard Name Dell Computer Corporation OptiPlex GX1 450MTbr+

    Front Side Bus Properties
    Bus Type Intel GTL+
    Bus Width 64-bit
    Real Clock 100 MHz
    Effective Clock 100 MHz
    Bandwidth 800 MB/s

    Memory Bus Properties
    Bus Type SDR SDRAM
    Bus Width 64-bit
    Real Clock 100 MHz
    Effective Clock 100 MHz
    Bandwidth 800 MB/

    Chipset...Intel82440BX/ZX

    I'm runnin Win2000Pro, & I have the AIDA32 Program if more info is needed.
     
    #19 preacher, Oct 4, 2006
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