Want to rebuild using one of these old puters...
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Thread: Want to rebuild using one of these old puters...

  1. #1
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    Want to rebuild using one of these old puters...

    I have a few old computers some family members donated to me,and wondered if it would be worth the time and energy to save one of them for a backup computer. I told them I doubted it,maybe take some of the hardware out to have on hand.

    I already have a self build, Intel Quad 6600/500 HD/75 HD for apps/ and a 500 external HD/WinXP Pro. Which one of these, if any, would be a good candidate to keep. I don't know much about which platform would support a faster CPU,or just get a new Mo-board and start over. These are all stock and nothing added to them. I know I will have to reformat the HD and install new OS.

    1) DELL Dimension 4300/ Pentium4/Win 2000
    2) HP Pavillion XL918 /1.0 Cerleron /30 Ultra DMA HD/Win XP Home
    3) HP Pavillion 8250 266 MHZ/ 4GB HD Win95

    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    Actually any of them would do the trick. For backing up stuff like a file server.

    Although I would lean more toward the HP Pavillion XL918

    Definately change the hdd to something bigger or add a card so I could add more hdds.

  3. #3
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    The first two would probably be ok, although they both max out at 512MB of RAM. The third one is probably not worth the effort or expense. It's running on an ancient Pentium II (read: s-l-o-w), maxes out at 384 MB of RAM and has a measly 4GB of video RAM.

  4. #4
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    That collection is a good start toward rebuilding an old Willys, if nothing else - perhaps a Jeepster?

  5. #5
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    I now also have a another addition of a Compaq 5011CL to do with what I want. 1.2 Cel. /80gb Ultra HD/ 256sdrm PC100.


    OK, Knowing that I'll be taking parts out of the HP Pav 8250, and two of the other puters, Out of all four puters, this Compaq has the largest 80GB hard drive. (the others have a 30,40, the 8250 with a 4GB).

    As long as the hard drives are DMA IDE, does it matter if they are Ultra, as long as they are ATA100, and could I maybe put two hard drives together?.....The Compaq's 80Gb Ultra DMA and the Dell's 4300's 40 GB hard drive?

    If I keep either the DELL 4300 or the HP XL918, would I have to do anything at all to the mobo to support both? Maybe find the highest Power supply from these units and use that one? or all I have to do is put the hard drives together slave/master,add the max memory of 512 of PC133,and install WinXP, and hope for the best?


    OR should I just recycle them all? Thanks!

  6. #6
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    The Presario 5011CL can support another hard drive, an additional 512MB of RAM and Windows XP. (The video card is pretty lame but, it'll work).

    HP.com > Compaq Presario 5011CL Desktop PC
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...&product=92927

    HP.com > Compaq Presario 5011CL Desktop PC > Product Specifications
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...&product=92927
    1.2 GHz AMD Athlon
    256MB SDRAM (three total DIMM slots upgradable to 768 MB)
    250 watt power supply

    80.0 GB UltraDMA Hard Drive
    10X DVD-ROM Drive
    8X CD-RW Drive
    3.5" 1.44 MB diskette drive

    nVIDIA M64 Pro 4X AGP Graphics Card with 16 MB video memory
    Integrated SoundMax® Digital Audio (AD1881)
    10/100 Ethernet Networking Card
    56K ITU V.90 modem

    Input/Output: Two PS/2 ports (keyboard, mouse), Four USB ports (2 front, 2 back), Serial, Parallel, RJ-11, RJ-45, Audio ports (line-in, line-out and microphone-in), VGA

    Four Expansion Slots (One empty): One PCI slot with modem installed, One PCI slot with networking card installed, One AGP slot with video card installed, One PCI slot open for expansion

    Six Expansion Bays (Two empty): 3.5" 1.44 MB diskette drive, Hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, CD-RW drive, Two drive bays open for expansion

    Microsoft® Windows ® Millennium Edition
    HP.com > Compaq Presario 5011CL Desktop PC > Upgrading Memory (RAM)
    http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...&product=92927

    Crucial.com > HP - Compaq Presario 5000 Series Model 5011CL Desktop/PC
    http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...odel%205011CL#

    Newegg.com > Desktop Memory > 168-Pin SDRAM > 256MB > PC 133
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&Order=PRICE

  7. #7
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    Exclamation

    Hi, and Thanks SpywareDr,

    Well after all that, I might go a different direction since the compaq case is so smaller than the Dell 4300. Really, the Compaq can support 768 of pc133 Ram? I made a note on the side that it can only support PC100 but I guess I have only that much onboard...64+128+128= 320. I had no idea it supported 768. It's just a small computer to work on. it already had XP that I replaced the Millennium Ed.

    Is pc100 the same as using pc133 for ram?

    That old Dell dimension 4300, I wanted to wipe the hard drive and reinstall my licensed OEM copy of WinXP. Do I just put the CD in the drive and it will reformat like that?
    or do I have to go into the BIOS and change the boot sequence to CD if it's on another boot?

    I also wanted to know if I could add/use another Hard Drive (either a Compaq 80 Ultra DMA, or a Maxtor DiamondMax plus9 - 160GB ATA/133 HD) in addition to the onboard 40 GB IDE ATA-66/ATA-100 Ultra DMA? OR use both the higher capacity HD'S like the 160GB and the 80GB in the Dell Dimension case,and toss the onboard 40GB?


    Do I have to be concerned if the MoBo can support the two hard drives with the existing power supply of 250w (Dell HP-2507F3P)or this is a non-issue. if I have to flash the bios,I'll just toss the whole thing to the Haz-Mat place and be done with it...

    I only needed it for a backup to replace another back up Compaq 1.2 Celeron/200MHz/80GB HD with total memory of 320Ram with this Dell 4300 Intel P-4 845 (1700) with a Max memory of 512 PC133.


    Sorry for all the questions.....Thanks!
    Last edited by bozobytes; November 29th, 2008 at 04:59 PM.

  8. #8
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    Dell™ Dimension™ 4300 specs.
    http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...cs.htm#1101572

    Since you are thinking of using XP and update it to SP3, then going through disk management, you can pick up and use a 750 GB hdd for the second drive. Now if you used the right SATA card, then a 1.5 TB hdd can be used. Check out the ps [power supply] size as it just might be to small.

  9. #9
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    Train,


    So you say if I wanted to use a Sata PCI card for a bigger HD I could on this mobo?

    I chose to go with the Dell 4300. I was going to format the Hard Drive, so I inserted the Winxp in the Drive,thinking it was going to start, but when I turned on the monitor, it said>
    "Keyboard Failure..please type in password....to bypass password functions,type in Control,Enter." I shut it down, removed the CD,restarted,this time keyed the F2 for set up then,F12 for Boot Sequence...same annoying password prompt.

    So the big lug that I am thought if I remove the CMOS battery, it might help me Not to see that message, but in trying carefully to remove the battery, I accidently broke off two of the four tabs on the battery holder. The first keyboard was an HP,because of the keyboard failure message, I plugged in my own DELL keyboard,but the same thing happened.

    1) Can this still work with out two of the BATTERY tabs, or

    2) should I just buy a newer Mobo and start new, since the Max memory on this mobo is only 512, and the processor is about ten years old, and just use the 4300 case ? Thanks!

  10. #10
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    Go with a new mobo.


    Whatever you do and wherever you buy - avoid:
    Jetway
    PC Chips
    ECS
    These aren't the bottom of the barrel; they'd have to improve greatly to achieve that status. Their failure rates are obscene.

    Fat is that old mobo may have had a jumper for resetting the BIOS.

    As for using SATA with that old rig, this is the type of item needed. A example'
    http://www.promise.com/product/produ...product_id=168

    And some of the newer mobo that have that silly raid needs one too so you can use 4 seperate SATA drives as 4 seperate drives.

  11. #11
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    Dell Vostro 200 - $389.00 ... and that includes a Dell 20" Widescreen LCD monitor
    http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...vostrodt_200mt
    • Intel® Core™2 Duo Proc E7300 (2.66GHZ, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066FSB) (others available)
    • 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz - 2DIMMs (for 2GB add $30)
    • 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ (for 250GB add $10)
    • 16X DVD+/-RW Drive (add a 48X CD Burner/DVD Combo for $10)
    • Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 (other options available)
    • Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio (other options available)
    • (Add a Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader for $30)
    • Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic, Service Pack 1 (for XP add $99)
    • Dell 20 inch Widescreen E207WFP Analog Flat Panel Display
    • 1 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 1 Year NBD On-Site Service

  12. #12
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    Now that will be right rough to beat!

  13. #13
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    Right? You're looking at a measly $100.01 for the computer, keyboard and mouse. Check it out ...

    Dell 20 inch Widescreen E207WFP Analog Flat Panel Display - $179.00
    http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...s=04&oc=207wfp

    Windows Vista® Home Basic, Service Pack 1 - $109.99
    http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...4&sku=A1528475

    $389.00 minus $179.00 for the monitor, minus another $109.99 for Vista Basic means you're getting the new computer for $100.01.

    I seriously doubt one can find a comparable: Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, 2.66GHz Intel Core2Duo E7300, 1GB RAM, 160GB SATA HD, 16X DVD+/-RW, Keyboard and Mouse for $100.01.

    Now assemble it all, buy and install Vista Basic, get it all working 100% correctly and provide a 1 year warranty for a grand total of $210.00? I rather doubt it.

  14. #14
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    Lat time I saw the price on the E207WFP monitor, Over $300 then, I figured that was a heck of a buy and still is.

  15. #15
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    Thanks!

    Yeah, it would be worth it to just start iover and buy a new atx case. I have two torn aparts that are old and worthless. I thought I could add another 160 GB HD into the compaq and use that as a backup to the already nubiuld e6600/ MSI Platinum.

    But anyway, while I was on that mission working with the 4300 DELL I had this error message I could not get rid of,

    Thinking I could remove the frustrating Dos message on start up telling me to "type in my password, or type in Control, Enter (or was it Alt,enter) to bypass password. Anyway I went round and round with this fr a while.Then I thought either to remove the battery from the mobo that would reset it, don't know much about jumpers,but in doing do, even though I was trying to be careful, I broke two retaining clips that hold the battery in. Is this board useless now? I do have a Compaq CL5011 I could put the dell's 160GB harddrive in along with it 's already onboard 80.0 GB UltraDMA Hard Drive

    I think they are either ATA100 or ATA300 Ultra DMA.....How does the battery supposd come out,and do I ever I have to remove them,or do they charge themselves?

    Thanks!

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