Desktops: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ?
adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ?
by odeo - 9/5/06 12:31 AMHello;
My system is: AMD Sampron(tm) 2200+ 1.50gHZ, 192 mb RAM; hard disk 30gb, Window XP SP2. I would like to upgrade the system by adding an extra internal hard drive and replace 192 mb RAM to 500mb. I wonder if if I could do it myself , I haven't done this before. Will I have to reset the whole setting again after installing ?
Any advice will be very appreciated.
thomas
For example.
by R. Proffitt
- 9/5/06 4:19 AM
In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeo
Crucial.com has some pages about how to install memory. Look them over.
The retail boxes with hard disks come with instructions and software to move to the new hard disk. Unless your OS doesn't support over 127GB drives that issue is best explored a little. But you have XP SP2 CDs so you should be fine.
Bob
thanks bob
by odeo - 9/5/06 9:08 AM In reply to: For example. by R. Proffitt
Crucial 's information is very interesting indeed. I shall give it a try anyway. Wish me luck
Thomas
Adding RAM and Hard Drive
by racet - 9/8/06 8:16 AM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoI'm don't consider myself very tech savey, and I have added RAM and a second hard drive to my computer twice now with no problems. If you are running Win XP SP2, it should be a snap..
Lay the computer on it's side, open it up, find the second drive slot, put it in, plug it in..done!Windows XP does a good job of recognizing, and helping you install the new drive using the new hardware wizard. After following a few steps you'll be up and running in no time.
Installing RAM is kinda the same...
open up the computer, find the RAM slots, line up the pins, gently, but firmly push the RAM module into the slot until it clicks in place. Close up the computer turn it on, and Windows should go through the Wizard again with you.
Of course, I shouldn't have to mention this, but make sure everything is unplugged, and that you ground yourself before doing any of this stuff. Oh and since you will have your computer opened up, it would be a good time to clean all the fans etc. of dust.
Hope this helps you.
Thanks for the info.
by Vampiress1111 - 9/8/06 5:38 PM In reply to: Adding RAM and Hard Drive by racetThank you for the info on the RAM.
Make a Dry Run First
by leaglebob - 9/8/06 11:29 AM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoI remember reading "How to install Ram" and its pretty straight forward==until you try to do it. Do you just place it vertically and push down until "it" snaps in or do you install at an angle and raise it up?==or do you go midway inbetween and wiggle it a little?
How much pressure do you use before you figure out you have the ram backwards?===etc.
All my questions were resolved at the local Fry's Electronics store. They had some model motherboards on display with Ram installed. The sales guy allowed me to uninstall/reinstall the ram sticks a few times which taught me how to do it in 30 secs.
Find a store or repair shop that will let you play with this stuff just a bit. Most repair shops have a cardboard box with throw aways in it you can use. I would say the same thing for installing the cpu cooler. Still scares me how much pressure/force it took to get the snap to go overcenter--still don't know for sure if something was off center or not==but its working.
Hard drive is a bit more simple. Read up and set the jumper as described--power up--and format the drive. Easier than installing ram in my opinion. /// bobbo.
Extra Ram
by rochagomes - 9/8/06 1:53 PM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoYou system is few years old and you have 64 Mbyte and 128 Mbyte installed so that also tells me it is a few years old. Since you have to match RAM, it probably is cheaper with the rebates offer to throw out the old and replace with new boards. You have to check, Crucial site may tell you or check your motherboards manual. See if your motherboard will support 1 512 Mbyte RAM board....you will get a good deal 512 Mbyte w/ rebate....if it does not support 512Mbyte then get 2 256 Mbytes. Unless of course you want to try a 1 Gig. But 512 Mbyte provide the most beneficial, noticible results. DIMM boards you push straight down. The old SIMM cards (SDRAM) were inserted at an angle. Pry apart the clamps on each side of the RAM board and left it out and yes it takes a good force to put in a new board
It's not "easy-as-pie", not at first, .....
by ackmondual - 9/8/06 11:31 PM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeobut it's still rather simple.
<B>on my Dell Dimension XPS T550 (bought in 1999, P3 550MHz, 128MB RAM, 3dFX 16MB Voodoo3 3000 vid card, win98 SE), *NOT* to be confused with Dell's high end XPS gaming desktops and laptops being sold today:</b>
I've added both system RAM and internal hd before. Back then, I had a roommate with tech savvy to supervise me. He actually did both, but from my observations, RAM was quick and simple that I would know how to do it myslef in the future. hd was more complex. I could try this on my own later on, but unlike RAM, dunno if it would be problem free
For RAM, all he did was push it in (from Crucial.com), and made sure the 2 sides latches of the DIMM slot (where RAM is plugged in) automatically locked in place to indicate the RAM modules are fully seated. Restart Windows.... the initial BIOS screen plus System Properties screen when u right click My Computer and select Properties successfully reported the extra RAM
For the hd, while i wasn't sure if I could duplicate his success, i did get a lay of the land. It was an IDE hd (Maxtor) being attached, as opposed to SATA available now (not avail then), so the process involved seating the hd into an available 3.5" bay using the available mounting bracket, plugging in the power cord, and then the IDE ribbon cord into it. I remember being extra careful with those wires, as they felt fragile, but u don't need to be THAT careful. U can tug on them gently just fine. Just make sure u don't pull with enough force to pull cords out of where they were connected from. Mu roommate actually didn't get it to work the first time. IIRC, he set the primary hd's jumper settings from Master to Cable Select, and did the same for the 2nd hd as well. Extra hd didn't register. Went back and reset primary to Master and 2nd to Slave and then both drives regiestered
.
<b>On my Dell Dimension 8300 bought back in early 2004</B>:
RAM was a cinch. Went back to Crucial.com. I didn't know how to install the dual sticks of RAM to utilize dual channel memory, but Dell's user manual (dell still included hardcopies of them back then) told me whichj slots to plug in matching pairs.
my 1st hd, I didn't have winXP SP1, just plain WinXp w/o the service packs. I didn't have any issues with winXP acknowledging the hd, but i did have to call Maxtor's free tech supp and have them run me through to getting my full 160GB of space instead of just the 127GB i was getting
The hd was harder, but only somewhat. First off, the mounting brackets to the 3.5" bay doesn't fully fit snuggly, so it's somewhat loose. Someth i'll need to pay attn to when moving my tower unit. I've tried both combinations of Cable Select and Master/Slave. Nothing registered. This was a retail version as opposed to OEM, so it came with an install CD. Ran that utility on there and my hd finally registered
<b>My conclusions</B>:
Once u get the idea of installing RAM, it's only a few notches harder than popping a CD into your CD-ROM drive. Do consult your manufacturer or mobo manual for details on stuff like dual channel and any unique settings
If you're not too comfy with hd even with experience, may wanna spring for a retail version instead of OEM. The cables, manual, install CD, and tech support will liekly be worth the extra few bucks
Adding extra ram and hard drive
by rogers48 - 9/9/06 3:03 AM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoAdding ram is easy. Push back the latches where the ram chip is going. Line up notch in memory chip (ram) and push down. Sometimes it does seem tight. Pushing on one end and then the other helps get it started.
Hard Drive: Most computers with one drive are set, telling the computer it has only one drive. Be prepared to take out your original hard drive to change the jumper telling the computer this is the main hard drive and there is a second hard drive also.
The same thing needs to be done on the second hard drive. Jumper needs to be set telling the computer that this drive is a second drive. After changing the jumpers and plugging everything in, before putting the computer back together plug you mouse etc and turn your computer on to see if you have done everything correctly. Nothing chaps my rear end more then getting everthing put back together only to find you missed a step. Depending on who's hard drive you buy, I like to use the utility that comes with it to format the drive. This way I can control what happens to my hard drive. This is fun stuff.
Steve Rogers
Yes you can do it yourself
by coolc_43 - 9/9/06 3:59 AM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoYou can add an extra harddrive and RAM yourself it is easy just know what kind of RAM your motherboard can take. If you buy a larger harddrive make sure you have
new IDE cables to hook to the motherboard and make sure
you designate whether you want the the new drive to be the master or the slave. I upgraded my old computer by adding a 200GB harddrive and putting in two 256 sticks of
ram my system is from quite a few years ago the max my motherboard can hold is 512MB of ram. I have an old E-Machines 1140 with a 1.1 GB processor and came with a 20GB harddrive. It came with no E-Machines systems disk
so I called the support number it got it in early 2003 when my system was his by a virus at that time. I am running Norton Antivirus professional with the firewall.
My operating system is Windows XP home with SP2.
Another way to get help is to look at CNET dot coms help guides that show step by step how to do things also.
the computer brand can make a difference.
by howjef - 9/9/06 9:38 AM In reply to: adding extra internal hard drive and RAM ; easy or hard ? by odeoSome computer manufacturers go out of their way to make acess into the machine easy. Others do not.
Three years ago i decided to add Ram to my hp pavillon. Had a friend over , who built his own systems. He had told me it would be easy, not a problem. He would just stand around for back up.
Almost an hour of trying to get the cover off aand gain access inside the machine and move the front forward. Some of it spent with both of us tugging in opposite directions. Both of us drenched in sweat. Hp website gave two completely different directions for the same task on the same model from different locations on their site.
His opinion was never to buy an hp.
That said it was slightly easier to open it the next time. but only slightly. And again a bit more the next time. Now it is a only woman task.
As for the hard drive. it required moving part of the front of the machine forward. And again required some physical strength. Some of the clips needing to be released were well hidden and had to be in release mode all at the same time. since there were more than two,we need four hands it meant a little fidgeting and repeated releasing.
That said ,opening the dell was a breeze the first time around and other than having to make sure i got the slave and master set up and the ribbon in the right direction and on the right pins, was only slightly tricky in reaching in to add a dvd write drive.
You might want to consider asking your question with your make and model stated so that someone who has worked on that one , can answer.
Wish you luck.
Paula
Ultra ATA HD compatible with RAID 0 HD?
by ghudgins - 9/30/06 4:16 PM In reply to: the computer brand can make a difference. by howjefI want to add an old Ultra ATA 20.4GB internal HD from a previous pc (Win 98SE) to my newer DELL (WinXP Media Center 2005) which uses a 320GB Performance RAID 0 HD (2x160GB SATA HDDs w/Native Command queuing). The old UltraATA drive has some files on it i'd like to save (jpgs & mp3s), but mostly I want it for file storage, and would erase most of what's on the drive (old programs that pre-date WinXP). Questions i have are:
If it's compatible, would i set the old drive's jumpers to slave mode? (I wasn't sure if the two 160 SATAs are set up as master-slave, or both considered part of the same master HD.) Would the Win 98SE os on the old drive try to kick in automatically for some reason before I could erase it? Or, on the other hand, would there be any reason to leave Win 98se on the drive (eg to run the old programs, like some games that don't work on XP)? I don't have a DiscWizard diskette to go with the old drive for partitioning and formatting, so is that a problem? Or will the WinXP system automatically detect the old HD, or be able to use one of the cds that came with the Dell to detect the old HD?
i have the same issue
by theevilbat - 9/2/07 5:41 AM In reply to: Ultra ATA HD compatible with RAID 0 HD? by ghudginsi too am trying to add an older harddrive (seagate 80gb) to a hp media center, if you come across ny solutions, please let me know.
What's your issue?
by Kees Bakker - 9/2/07 5:49 AM
In reply to: i have the same issue by theevilbat
For what problem do you want a solution?
Kees
giggity giggity.....
by theevilbat - 9/4/07 12:11 AM In reply to: What's your issue? by Kees Bakker
i need information on installing said drive (seagate 80 gb) from old computer, to my hp media center as a back up drive. would the easiest way be to install it in a usb 2.o hdd case? also, witthout the source/ start-up disc, how can i go about formatting the drive? any help will help....thnx
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