Hello everyone. I need some advice for an upgrade I am thinking of doing and I've heard you folks are the people to ask. Please be patient and forgive my longwindedness but I want to make sure I'm understood.
First a bit about me so you know what skill level I'm at. I've been using computers and the internet for 13 years now. So, while I'm not new to using computers, this will be my first time replacing components and tweaking. My current technical abilities are limited to reformating had drives and installing an OS and programmes. I do understand some of the technical jargon but please be patient if I use the wrong terminology or don't understand everything you say. My use is limited to internet and such, so I don't need a nuke powered and liquid cooled gaming rig like I'm sure some of you own. lol
Up untill now I have been using a Dell XPS-R450 PII with 128mb of RAM and a 14GB hard drive with Windows98. Yes, that's right. I'm still using a 13 year old computer with Win98. While this old girl has served me well, she's getting a bit long in the tooth and it's time to retire her. This computer has been bullet proof and hasn't needed any components replaced. I'd probably keep on using her if it wasn't for so many websites not working properly with IE6 anymore. I could probably just get away with loading WindowsXP on her but I feel it's time to move on.
I recently aquired a used ATX case with the following components already installed but with no OS yet installed:
*Intel D845EPI/D845GVSR motherboard
*Intel 2.4GHZ P4 CPU
*Apacer 512MB DDR333 RAM
*Apacer 256MB DDR333 RAM
*Western Digital 250GB 7,200RPM PATA100 hard drive
*LG 52X32X52 Rewritable 16X DVD
*Allied 300W PSU
*3.5" Floppy Drive (I installed this myself and sucessfuly configured the BIOS)
I would like to add the following:
*Iomega-100 Zip Drive.
*1GB DDR RAM
*1GB DDR RAM
*WindowsXP or Windows7
My questions are as follows:
1. I have installed the Iomega zip drive on the same IDE cable as the DVD player/rewriter but it takes over the master status and the BIOS does not recognise the DVD player/rewriter as being installed at all. The Bios does not allow itself to recognise the DVD player/rewiter and does not give me the ability to correct this to make the DVD player/rewriter the master and the Iomega zip drive the slave. Is there a fix?
2. I would like to add more RAM. I have researched the motherboard and found the maximum it will take is 2GB of either DDR333 RAM or DDR400 RAM. What is the difference between DDR333 RAM and DDR400 RAM, which should I use for this motherboard and will 2GB of DDR RAM be that much of an improvement over the 768MB of DDR RAM currently installed?
3. Which Windows OS should I install? My software experience so far has only been with Windows98 and a bit with WindowsXP. I have heard Windows Vista has problems, is that true? I would like to install Windows7 on this system but would it operate properly with the Intell 2.4GHZ P4 CPU this system has now and 2GB of DDR RAM I hope to install? And which version of WindowsXP or Windows7 should I use? Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate and 34bit or 64bit?
There really is very little or no additional money in my budget for this project. The 2 x 1GB DDR RAM and either WindowsXP and or Windows7 disks I think I can get from a friend for free. My greatest hurdle is to get this motherboard to accept the zip drive and set it as slave under the DVD player/rewriter. And I need to include the zip and floppy drives for now because of all the photos and data I have stored on them. I really would like to build or buy something much better but there just isn't enough money in the budget right now. I would greatly appreciate any and all help in getting this thing running the best I can and in the configuration I need.
Thank you in advance for your replies.
Cheers, lvlagnum.
First a bit about me so you know what skill level I'm at. I've been using computers and the internet for 13 years now. So, while I'm not new to using computers, this will be my first time replacing components and tweaking. My current technical abilities are limited to reformating had drives and installing an OS and programmes. I do understand some of the technical jargon but please be patient if I use the wrong terminology or don't understand everything you say. My use is limited to internet and such, so I don't need a nuke powered and liquid cooled gaming rig like I'm sure some of you own. lol
Up untill now I have been using a Dell XPS-R450 PII with 128mb of RAM and a 14GB hard drive with Windows98. Yes, that's right. I'm still using a 13 year old computer with Win98. While this old girl has served me well, she's getting a bit long in the tooth and it's time to retire her. This computer has been bullet proof and hasn't needed any components replaced. I'd probably keep on using her if it wasn't for so many websites not working properly with IE6 anymore. I could probably just get away with loading WindowsXP on her but I feel it's time to move on.
I recently aquired a used ATX case with the following components already installed but with no OS yet installed:
*Intel D845EPI/D845GVSR motherboard
*Intel 2.4GHZ P4 CPU
*Apacer 512MB DDR333 RAM
*Apacer 256MB DDR333 RAM
*Western Digital 250GB 7,200RPM PATA100 hard drive
*LG 52X32X52 Rewritable 16X DVD
*Allied 300W PSU
*3.5" Floppy Drive (I installed this myself and sucessfuly configured the BIOS)
I would like to add the following:
*Iomega-100 Zip Drive.
*1GB DDR RAM
*1GB DDR RAM
*WindowsXP or Windows7
My questions are as follows:
1. I have installed the Iomega zip drive on the same IDE cable as the DVD player/rewriter but it takes over the master status and the BIOS does not recognise the DVD player/rewriter as being installed at all. The Bios does not allow itself to recognise the DVD player/rewiter and does not give me the ability to correct this to make the DVD player/rewriter the master and the Iomega zip drive the slave. Is there a fix?
2. I would like to add more RAM. I have researched the motherboard and found the maximum it will take is 2GB of either DDR333 RAM or DDR400 RAM. What is the difference between DDR333 RAM and DDR400 RAM, which should I use for this motherboard and will 2GB of DDR RAM be that much of an improvement over the 768MB of DDR RAM currently installed?
3. Which Windows OS should I install? My software experience so far has only been with Windows98 and a bit with WindowsXP. I have heard Windows Vista has problems, is that true? I would like to install Windows7 on this system but would it operate properly with the Intell 2.4GHZ P4 CPU this system has now and 2GB of DDR RAM I hope to install? And which version of WindowsXP or Windows7 should I use? Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate and 34bit or 64bit?
There really is very little or no additional money in my budget for this project. The 2 x 1GB DDR RAM and either WindowsXP and or Windows7 disks I think I can get from a friend for free. My greatest hurdle is to get this motherboard to accept the zip drive and set it as slave under the DVD player/rewriter. And I need to include the zip and floppy drives for now because of all the photos and data I have stored on them. I really would like to build or buy something much better but there just isn't enough money in the budget right now. I would greatly appreciate any and all help in getting this thing running the best I can and in the configuration I need.
Thank you in advance for your replies.
Cheers, lvlagnum.