Want to Modify PC, Curious if I can ?

Hello,
I want to modify a Dell computer: here are the stats ..
Dell OptiPlex GX150
Service Tag: BNNXY01
1000 megahertz Intel Pentium III
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A09 11/07/01
Slot 'DIMM_A' has 256 MB
Slot 'DIMM_B' is Empty
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2/TNT2 Pro
Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM AC '97 Audio Controller - 2445
Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
Intel(R) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2444
3Com 3C920 Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller
250W PS dell oem

I want to take OUT the 250W PS, Replace with 350W PS.
Take out the 40GB ST hd, and Install 120GB WD Caviar (IDE) - NO Raid

I'll be cloning a different hard drive's data & system onto the Caviar - once Bios , etc. Install, Initialize, and such with DataLifeguard Tools. USB transfer method.
My thought IS: the Processor and speed are a touch too low/slow for the large hard drive and it's speed/support compatibility altho it lists a P III as 'acceptable' .

End result : above stats with higher wattage PS, CD RW, and 120GB hd Running XP PRO, SP2 + updates to all drivers ,system, and applications.

My instincts say it will operate just fine (nobody's gaming on it - ever) basic use for music handling (copy, burn, store, download).

Thanks for input. I've done my research on Mobo, (increase RAM, of course), and Caviar's specs & requirements. Just don't wanna waste my time and fail.

Nan

 

I can't see why there'd be any problems (famous last words when it comes to anything to do with computers though) except... I'd check all the power connectors just to make certain there's not some odd Dell proprietary power connector that a non-Dell power supply (assuming you're not buying the new PS from Dell) doesn't have. My girlfriend has an old Dell desktop and I don't think there's any problem with the power connectors, but that's the sort of stuff I'd be looking out for -- anything connecting the hardware you're replacing that doesn't appear to have standard connectors or mounts. Otherwise, I think it will work fine.

If you're concerned about your CPU speed you might see if WD has an email support link on their website and ask them if that particular drive will work with your CPU and other hardware.

 

also if the power supply is proprietary I believe pc power and cooling makes a replacement BUT as eezak said check with dell first to see if its standard or proprietary

 

Well, Thank you both. Research proved out - all connectors are available, in good order, and nothing proprietary, all are good matches. I'm building away from a proprietary Compaq EVO machine that just will not take any other PS than the wee 220W that came with it. So, I had already checked sizes, placement, my available adapters if needed, etc.
New PS is antec...not dell. I'm not devoted to any branded items, but the dell is sitting here doing nothing, and I'm up to my whazoo in headache with the compaq - so my creative mind started churning possible solutions to keep moving forward - instead of constant parts errors w/ the compaq case design.

I appreciate the bit of extra 'go ahead, no flaming problems appear eminent'. I know about PC repair 'surprises'. lol

I've already had a special amount of Murphy's Law this month with repairs ! LOL

Will post in about 48 hrs., once I get time and effort completed in the switching. Let ya know how it went.
Nan

 

Back Again....Ok.
Installed the WD 120GB drive into the Dell GX150. Used the WD DataLifeg. disk. Then, set the old compaq's Maxtor 40GB as cableselect/slave - and it was all immed. recognized in Bios.

Restarted PC with DataLifeg. in machine, did the clone. Prog. stated that clone was successful. Using DataLifeg. I checked all the hardware configs. and it stated the Old was bootable, and it said the WD was bootable.
Took OUT the Maxtor. Left WD 'in' as Master.

Tried to boot. Came to the dos Last Good Config screen.

Do NOT have a WinXP Pro cd, and the cloning would be SP2.
I only have an old, previously used XP Home cd. Didn't want to get too deep into that, since KEY won't match, anything. and it's sp1.

Recovery Console - Sees a Windows installation ON C:\ ..............and the WD had been Empty before the clone, so the installation had to BE the cloned drive's data. there was only One drive in the machine at that moment. So something made it 'over'.

But of course, back to #1 - it is a clone off a drive that had been used in a compaq, and placed onto a new drive installed into a Dell.

I can go out tomorrow and buy an XP Pro, SP2......yoi !, but then I'd still have to move his files (but NOT system).. Again.....since reinstallation will wipe out the cloning. been there before. grrrr.

Can someone point me in the direction I oughta give a shot NEXT, without me wasting all weekend putzing with a possible failure of attempts to gather this clone together to a working drive considering it might take an afternoon of Dell and driver downloads and installs....? Since it came off of what had been used in a compaq machine.
I would need to touch-up all the needed DELL drivers....( i kno, very time consuming)......I may have a friend who has a dell driver disk, that might be handy ? from a machine purchased about three yrs. ago.
In her recovery envelope.

I have full cd versions of : Ghost 10, Partition Magic8, a copy of Ultimate Boot Disk, the DataLifeguard Tools cd, the old XP home sp1 cd (which only can get me as far as....) , I've read about Spotmau, and I had used Clone Maxx a couple times on my own machine.

the idea to buy XP Pro,SP2 and start completely over with the old drive's data once a new OS gets installed.
Too many open options I've worked before. But this one's gotta be hardware. I just know it.?

Lost right now, just brain overload, and I know I am missing something. If ya think I gotta do the Dell drivers thing....let me know. I'll start immed.

Nan the nut. <g>

 

Uh, this is quite a different kettle of fish. The fact that you're trying to clone a hard drive with a Windows install set up for one computer and use it in another computer raises several issues.

One is legality. I'm doubtful you can legally move the OS from one machine to another in this fashion since it's apparently an OEM installation. My understanding is that if you buy a full retail version of Win XP you can install it on one machine and then later install it on another if you remove it from the first machine (or that machine dies or you cannibalize it for parts, etc). But even that requires notifying MS and reactivation I believe.

An OEM copy of Win XP may only be used on the machine it came installed on and isn't transferable. What will you do when you have to activate Windows XP? It will surely detect that the Dell isn't the machine it was originally installed on and give you 30 days to activate, if you can get it to boot at all.

Putting the legal issues aside, there are more problems with attempting to clone a Windows installation set up for one machine to another set of hardware than just installing all the correct hardware drivers, I believe. I think there are some files that are created/modified as the installation routine looks at things like what type of CPU the system has. I believe the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) consists of some such info but now I'm getting in way over my head. But if I'm correct, there are more than just drivers that need to be changed and it's a rather difficult job to complete successfully.

I suppose, even with an OEM version of Windows, you could contact MS, explain the situation and arrange to pay for a second license allowing you to clone that Windows installation as you've done and set it up on another computer. But I think you'll have a lot of work and headaches to get it working properly if it's possible at all. I do think I've seen, somewhere, references to special software (legal stuff, not warez) designed to facilitate just the sort of thing you're trying to do. Sorry I can't recall where I saw that -- it may well have been here at MG or, possibly, at the Microsoft website.

That's about all I can tell you about attempting to move a cloned Windows OS to another computer. Maybe someone else will chime in on the legal and practical issues who knows more. Or, if I'm correct about the legal issues, the moderators may zap this thread!

 

I give up.
I have upgraded to larger hard drives before. Same machine to same machine. Thought this could be done.

Putting the customer's machine - weak parts and all, back together in a working fashion, putting all the extra 'parts' on ebay to recover my losses, and sending it back to them with the advice that they gotta look at a new purchase in order to increase their hd space, and what a new machine has to include to do so.

I suppose when the thermaltake tower/case arrives, that I ordered few days ago - I won't be able to make a switch there either - so that'll be going back as well.

Thanks for all the help. I have, in my day, read the MS license agreement. I don't want to be illegal.

Nan

 

Upgrading to a larger hard drive, and cloning from the old hard drive is usually relatively simple as you know from experience. But cloning and then attempting to use the clone with an entirely different hardware setup is another matter, both legally and in terms of the practical problems that have to be solved. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and for all the time you spent before abandoning this attempt. I take it there are just too many hardware problems in the old Compaq to make it worthwhile to replace/upgrade the hardware in that system (which would, I believe, be legal) or that it's just too old to risk spending much money replacing a few pieces of hardware?

But about the Thermaltake tower....Were you going to just upgrade your own computer (or someone else's for that matter)? i.e. Take out the motherboard, hard drive(s), RAM, and all other hardware and simply move it to the new Thermaltake case? I believe, even if this is an OEM Windows installation (e.g. name brand or built by a local shop/vendor) on the hard drive, that moving all the hardware, including the hard drive, into the new Thermaltake case may well be legal, since you're not cloning the OS to another hard drive and attempting to use it in another computer, just moving it into/upgrading to a new computer case. I.e. you're just taking the computer out of one box and moving it into another box (and maybe a different power supply also). (See last paragraph in this post.)

And if the old computer hardware (including the hard drive) that you're going to move into the new Thermaltake case, had the OS installed from a retail copy of Windows (rather than pre-installed by a shop/vendor/manufacturer using an OEM license) then I don't think there's any legal obstacle at all though you may need to reactivate Windows, especially if you also change any other hardware. (E.g. you decided to upgrade the RAM and add a second hard drive to this system.) But this assumes that you (or the person you're doing this for) legally own the retail copy of Windows that was used for the initial installation. That you didn't, for example, borrow it from someone else, or used it and then resold it to someone else.

Reactivating Windows, at least via the internet, can be quite routine, painless and fast as I found it to be recently.

I upgraded to new faster RAM, removed an old malfunctioning CD burner and installed an additional new hard drive in my computer. When I booted up after these upgrades I got a message saying I had to reactivate due to changes in my computer hardware. I clicked the button saying "Activate over the internet" (the message said I had 3 days to do so, before, apparently, Windows would refuse to boot) and within a few seconds I saw the message "You have successfully activated Windows" (or "reactivated") or similar words and that was it.

OEM copy of Windows XP -- typically can't be cloned and moved to another computer.

Retail copy of Windows XP -- can be installed to another machine, if it's removed from the first computer or the hard drive has gone belly up, etc., but requires activation and maybe some explanation or info declaring you aren't using that copy of Windows XP on the first or any other machine.

What exactly the restrictions are on other versions of Windows I can't say. My impression is they have similar provisions for OEM and retail copies of Windows. I think MS wanted to expand the OEM restriction of one original installation machine per OS copy even to retail purchased copies of Vista, but there was a lot of complaining (and maybe threats of lawsuits and legal penalties against MS in the European Union countries, I think) and so MS scratched that idea.

And that bring up one final point -- what I've said about the legal issues related to moving a Windows installation from one machine to another (or using the install CD/DVD to accomplish the same thing with the OS -- move it to another computer) was an attempt to describe the restrictions and legal issues/requirements on MS Windows XP that apply in the United States. I know nothing about the legal restrictions and requirements for Windows XP in any other countries.

I know the distinctions between what's OK and what's not legal may seem a bit arbitrary and even capricious (and I'm not entirely clear on all the issues myself as I'm not an attorney). I think it gets sticky when you're thinking of cloning a hard drive with Windows installed on it and then want to install it in "another system." What exactly constitutes "another system" and what qualifes as merely a "hardware upgrade" is the question. But I think that when you clone the hard drive and aren't merely replacing the old hard drive (or wiping it clean at least) in the same computer, that's when the red flags start going up.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the massive insights. I know the MS routine to validate, and have used the live human telephone call a couple times.

I just got back from stores and have purchased (ugh) a full retail XP pro sp2.
Set me back $183. Her Pro was OEM. But that was part of the problem...no recovery disks. That was so very helpful of the manufacturers. (sarcasm)

(altho, at this point I'm also running - a full set of DVD's with all his music onto DVD(s), in case while I throw this hissy fit, I cause any data loss to the 40GB).
I just 'love' how money gets spent so mindlessly.

Very tired. Very frustrated. now, also, very broke.
Nan

 

It's odd that she had no recovery disks, but I've seen that once when I needed a second computer quickly (I usually build/upgrade) and found a good deal on a Compaq. It had Win XP pre-installed, but no Windows OS install CD nor any recovery CDs. But it did have a recovery partition and software to burn a set of recovery CDs. But that's the sort of thing someone could easily overlook. I burned the CD's and tucked them away and when the day came that my hard drive failed on that machine, I replaced the drive, set my boot device to CD/DVD and fed in the first CD of a set of 6 or 7 and in 30 or 40 minutes I had the computer back exactly as it was when I purchased it (I didn't have any crucial data on that machine -- I just used it for some older games, online email and surfing the web).

My guess is the same thing may have been true of this machine -- a recovery partition on the old hard drive and the ability to burn some recovery CDs, but the owner either didn't realize that or just didn't do it and then forgot it was even an option.

Yeah, if you can't use an upgrade version of XP it is pricey. I'm not sure just whose machine you're installing the new XP Pro to ("her Pro" you wrote above and "all his music"), but no matter. Get some rest and then press on and hang in there. Tomorrow is another day...

Good luck!

 

The 'she' is mom to the 'his' songs. The family is a remote branch of my son's wife. They paid me up front $100 to transfer his stuff to a larger hard drive....they purchased the boxed hd from retail.

I pulled my back - lifting - other day - just cranky, that's why the tired .

This is my 214th repair. I got my MSCE back in 2004. (I had been over charged in 2001 for a virus removal and vowed never to pay thru the nose again. so I trained !!)
Out of those 214 PC's , I've only come across 10 that had media. The rest were shipped without cds. If I had an original, uncorrupted recovery partition - I use it, but often it's damaged in ways that prevent accesssing that option any longer (overwritten, user attempt to use a bad data recovery program, mis-used registry programs, many, many of the ""popup ad's"" software that did major damage, etc.) One guy went into admin options and disk mgmt. and accidentally erased the entire drive (he formatted).
Couldn't figure out why it did that, and called me. duh.

I get the 'winners' tho. Most of my customers see their PC as 'magical'. If that defines the technical knowledge they use.
I've seen coins shoved into the case from children who had too much time 'near' the tower without supervision.
I've seen what a teen boy did - pulling the monitor cable off without benefit of it's screws.
The repeat porn virus offenders. etc. etc.
How to get ants out of tower & keyboard after a soda spill .....how long was THAT ignored that it allowed ants to even get the scent ?!
I've seen a solid red bar in a defrag. way too often, and have cleaned as much as 4 GB of cookies outta a machine !! By the time I see some repairs, it's too late for the recovery partition. But I send it home with a backup - and instruct them how to even just use an online like carbonite - but at least try to do backups. AND, instruction how to avoid future repair by correct cleaning and download safety.

I work out of home, I'm on S.S., I make about $500 a month on just 2 or 3 repairs a week, and hubby's workplace bulletin board has my 'cards' and a one page instruction / tip sheet for keeping machine clean and fast. I have built four machines for guys, there.

This technology changes so fast, I keep up with learning, and I'm basically the local poor folks' repair lady. But word of mouth, my own intention to do my best, and fair, equitable costs. They always pay full (and shipp') for parts, but I don't charge a fortune for time. I make every effort to keep them thinking to use me and tell their friends. It's been great. But occassionally Murphy's Law plays into it, and I get a real pain in the ** on about one out of 100. Normally I have a technical licensed copy of OS to use, but just recently ordered new; it isn't here yet - so I went for the retail.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I always keep pluggin.
Nan