rudypoochris Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Also, this doesn't help you after the fact at least I don't think... But if you had partition magic you could boot with a floppy, resize your c: drive, and leave maybe 3-4 gigs of unallocated space. Then install windows on the empty space and go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruez Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 If you are running XP, it would be ideal to have around 6-7 gigs for its partition... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 You don't NEED pci-express but, AGP is dead. No new chips use it, it's only going to be harder and harder to get good AGP cards in the future. PCI-Express cards are already faster and cheaper than AGP. And yes, the cards cannot currently use even 8x pci-express to it's fullest. If you're doing the work yourself, and have stuff like windows already, i prefer building to buying pre-made. It's slightly cheaper and comes out just how I want it. spare hardrives? I use spare computers for back up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 It's slightly cheaper You sure.....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 This is just me speaking, on my own personal preferences. If you are under a tight budget, test the motherboard to make certain it wasn't taken out by the processor. (It happens fairly frequently) AGP is on it's way out, although not yet gone... Nvidia just released the 6800GS. That being said, with your motherboard, there is a good chance it is old enough to be incompatible with current AGP8X vid cards. If the motherboard is good, the latest Socket A processors are mostly under $100. Top of the line AGP Vid card is right about $200. Installing with current hard drive is very doable.... and not too difficult... but definitely not a high percentage way to go. Take any number of the prior suggestions, as long as they involve an additional harddrive to install to. Counter-point: No matter how tight of a budget you are under.... updating your current equipment is coming very close to throwing your money away. As others pointed out, there are computers available for $300 or so. Everyone of these computers will be as powerful if not considerably more powerful than your maximum upgrade to the current motherboard. I think it was mentioned that you game to some extent... so that becomes a concern as well, because in either case you have graphics issues. Your older motherboard is at the very end of its life, as far as supporting modern hard-core games goes, and most of the $300 new machines cant even be upgraded to a discrete video card that will support most games. (you have to have an available AGP or PCIE slot, which very few of the cheap computers have, most go for integrated graphics, which is the equivalent of a 12 volt, electric turbo.) So, what to do? If money is really tight, test your motherboard and do the minimum to get it running again, while saving for a proper replacement PC. Assuming only the CPU went south, you can replace it for under $100. The replacement PC could be a pre-assembled job, as long as its from a reputable company, and as long as it it supports either AGP, or much more preferably, PCIE graphics. That will probably run you a little more than the $300 minimum we have discussed, but will allow for upgrading on the timetable your wallet demands. The other route would be to buy components for a scratch build, using core components from your existing PC. CD-rom, hard drive, floppy drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse. Memory stick, vid card, processor, power supply and such are probably not viable to carry over. Minumum new parts: Case $50 CPU $166 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535 Memory 512MB DDR $38 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145026 Mother board $63 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128286 Vid card $129 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150098 Total: $446 plus shipping, figure $50 $500 gets you a nice pc that will do everything you want NOW, and be upgradeable for a few years as well. Well, forgot operating system, another $140 if you do not have some flavor of XP laying around. Sorry for the novel, hope this either helps or adds some perspective to your situation.... = ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Sorry for the novel, hope this either helps or adds some perspective to your situation.... = ) I quote: http://www.dell.com Basic PCs Entry-Level Desktops Perform basic computing tasks with Dell's value-priced Dimension desktops. Early Holiday Deal starting at $299! After $50 mail-in rebate ($349 before rebate price) Free Shipping on Basic PCs' starting at $499 - Online Only. $24 Handling Charge Applies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Ya, was there last week helping a relative look for an affordable PC/Laptop. Great for a student or basic home PC, useless if you like to play games that are DX8 or better. The OP is apparently at least a casual gamer, and I covered that need earlier in the post. Quoting myself: ""As others pointed out, there are computers available for $300 or so. Everyone of these computers will be as powerful if not considerably more powerful than your maximum upgrade to the current motherboard. I think it was mentioned that you game to some extent... so that becomes a concern as well, because in either case you have graphics issues. Your older motherboard is at the very end of its life, as far as supporting modern hard-core games goes, and most of the $300 new machines cant even be upgraded to a discrete video card that will support most games. (you have to have an available AGP or PCIE slot, which very few of the cheap computers have, most go for integrated graphics, which is the equivalent of a 12 volt, electric turbo.)"" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iskone Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Just get a new MOBO or take it in somewhere. Try the place next to Fred Meyers called A-1 computers or PC Parts and service on Sylvin across the street from Badda Bing Badda Boom Pizza. Both of those places can tell you whats wrong and usally don't charge for something simple. A1 has better MOBO's I happen to have one of those magic "No activation required" copies of XP so if your system does wind up crashing I'll track it down if you need it. Isaac But really screw the PC work on that bottom end!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Minumum new parts: Case $50 CPU $166 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535 Memory 512MB DDR $38 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145026 Mother board $63 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128286 Vid card $129 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150098 Total: $446 plus shipping' date=' figure $50 $500 gets you a nice pc that will do everything you want NOW, and be upgradeable for a few years as well. Well, forgot operating system, another $140 if you do not have some flavor of XP laying around. Sorry for the novel, hope this either helps or adds some perspective to your situation.... = )[/quote'] He would need optical drives, HD's, and a powersupply. Unless you are saying put the old HD's in the new computer and use the same old powersupply.. Can his old powersupply support an Athalon 64 or FX? Also 8X AGP cards work just fine in older 4X mother boards, don't know about 2X... So I think his MB would be sufficent... (I had a Nvidia 5200 Ultra dual monitor card on my 4X AGP HP MB and it got the same FPS as my PCI Express radeon X300SE) You do make a good point about not being able to have a free AGP or PCIE card spot on the cheep computers. The HP a1130e (I think thats the number). Gives you a 2ghz Athalon 64 with 80gb SATA HD, 16X DVD-R/RW, and 512mbs of DDR400 for $349.99 "after rebate". A $60 Upgrade gets you Nvidia 6200 with 256mbs of ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Ya, as I said, I was assuming re-using all the practical stuff, except for power supply, but for someone who isnt going all out for components and overclocking, a decent but cheap case will come with an acceptable PS. I have used the 6200 card in a rig I built on the cheap for a friend.... wont do that again... yanked it and put in a 6600GT. That puts the HP and my suggestion in the same ballpark, price-wise. (Other than some very good parts in my list) The point of not getting another AGP board is, your already buying a board, for basically the same price might as well not lock youself into tech that is already on the fading edge of current manufacturing. AGP will run the same speed as PCI Express... but only assuming similar cards... which are getting harder to find, and I think both Nvidia and ATI have produced their final "New" AGP products, which while good, are already providing limited performance on the newer DX9 games. I tend to build what I can afford (think about your budgets for car modding and read into that what you like, lol) and then upgrade the darn box till it wont upgrade anymore. My current rig is Socket A, and it gets old building machines for people that are several generations better than my own... = ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workinprogress Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 Wow, finally I get a thread that people reply to, but its not even about my freakin car!! Isk, I just picked up a bare bones system from A-1, I even got a burner with it for a total of 429. It turns out the cpu, motherboard and somehow my existing burner were all toast. I re-used my ram and will be transplanting my two existing hard drives into the new pc, in addition to the brand new 60 gig in there. I could have just replaced the motherboard, video card, burner, cpu and the power supply (just a 250 in it), but I figured it would be cheaper and quicker to just go this route. Any hints on how to recover my saved emails and addresses from outlook? By the way, thank you to everyone who replied and offered their advice and opinions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudypoochris Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Any hints on how to recover my saved emails and addresses from outlook? C:Documents and SettingsLocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftOutlookOutlook.pst Use import and export under the file menu in the new outlook. Select import from a file. Import from Personal Folder FIle, browse to the location above. Should load your stuff. I am not positive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iskone Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Yeah A1 has decent prices for an offline store especially for the 1 horse town we live in. Isk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandonsZ Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 I happen to have one of those magic "No activation required" copies of XP so if your system does wind up crashing I'll track it down if you need it. Isaac Ok, and now Microsoft knows too. Hi Bill! I love my copy of WIN 95 I bought in 1997 with my 200MHz screemer and 33.6k modem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Workinprogress Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 Ok, well I cant import the .pst file, I did a search of the old hard drive and its not there. I did import the email addresses though. Now here's my REAL problem. If I can find a way, I need to be able to access my old documents on the first hard drive, however, I had a password on my account (I know it) but it says the folder is empty and there's no where to input a password. Any help??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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