quick question on upgrade

[piff263]

ok i have been wanting to upgrade found this great deal so heres the specs
im reusing alot of parts
PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817182016
ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227125
motherboard and processor are a combo deal so
processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116255
mothor board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127005
so far i know all of this will work no problem
i have a cd drive
video card is a vision tek 9200 radoen pci
i have all the periherals
but i only problem is
can i reuse my operating system and my hardrive the hardrive is a Seagate Ultra Ata 100 and im not sure if ata 100 is the same and i have windows xp home editon service pack 2
so far i see nothing wrong with this so
one more thing is there any way how to tell if current mother board size or i will measure it

[newbuilder14]

PSU: Not the most reliable, I'd pick up something like the Xclio 450bl or the FSP 450w if you are trying to keep the cost down. If you have more to spend than that by all means do so.
RAM: Cannot guarantee compatibility - I'd highly suggest you get the Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 667 if you will not overclock, and at least 1gb nowadays.
Processor: If you can spend $10 and get a Core 2 Duo it'd be really worth it. If not, drop down to the Pentium D 915
Motherboard: Alright, but I still trust the Asus P5B much more - worked for me flawlessly.

You can only use one OEM copy of Windows XP per computer.

That hard drive should work fine, but then I cannot be 100% sure.

What motherboard is it?

[piff263]

ok so i can't reuse the operating system even though im just upgrading processor and motherboard and for the ram that was to get me started i picked it fast and im trying for 300 for mother board and processor thats why pentium d see i only got $400. 300 right know
and my current mother board is asus; i don't trust most the parts right know in my computer except for the parts i already upgraded but its a model you can't find i spent days trying to find info everest home edition knows it but not the actuall company so why can't i reuse operating system is there a special reson if so i have to tell my friend right a way
because i guess some guy at a local computer repair store said my friend could reuse his and his isn't oem
ps my current computer that i might be reusing parts is a compaq
how can you tell compatiblity of parts becuase the ram i choose is right speed and # of pin

[blue60007]

Is the operating system (the copy in question) originally from an OEM (such as Dell, HP, etc)?

The $10 more for Core 2 Duo is more than worth it...

What do you want to do with this computer? The video card you have now won't be playing games very well, but it'll work fine for an office machine...

[newbuilder14]

Oh wait, if you are using the same hard drive you can definately reuse your operating system if it is on the hard drive.

[glc]

No.....not if it's a Compaq preload.

ps my current computer that i might be reusing parts is a compaq

Honest advice? Leave it alone till you can afford to build a whole new computer.

[piff263]

ok i play pc games like fear and my cpu and graphics card are having a hard time with them thats why i got that puzzling restart and its a compaq preload (not happy with compaq know they were a good company untell i got this computer 3rd computer by compaq)
so i can't even do it with the system restore from the recovery parition of the hardrive?
because what i was going to do it was upgrade it little by little by current mother board only has pci and thats the fastest graphics card i could get

[glc]

Can't upgrade that little by little.

[piff263]

ok what i meant was get processor motherboard and memory and stuff and upgrade ram and graphics card later when i got the money but i guess i will save my money tell i come up with a grand or so; so i guess i will go back to trouble shooting drivers and modules
so i got another question my friend is upgrading mother board and processor like i was going to and he is going to use same os and it isn't oem because local computer repair shop said he could (im so confused)

[blue60007]

You'll be wasting your money on the mobo/CPU/memory upgrade until you can also upgrade the graphics...in terms of gaming performance anyways...

If the OS came from a Compaq, HP, Dell, etc you can only use it on that computer. You can use a copy/license that was bought seperately on any system (provided it's just on one system).

[piff263]

ok then i will wait i will tell my friend to double check his upgrade before he continues

[rwest]

Originally Posted by blue60007 If the OS came from a Compaq, HP, Dell, etc you can only use it on that computer.

So if the one of the major components(mobo,hdd,processor) die after warranty, you would have to buy an OS also? Did I just read that right?

[piff263]

i think its just the motherboard and processer i know its not the hardrive because you can use norton gost to copy the harddive and put it on a new harddrive
i hered it has to be same exact type of mother board and processor
i would like to hear the answer on that question

[rwest]

That really blows a golf ball thru a garden hose if it's true.

[clroberts]

If he was using the same exact motherboard that came in the computer from Compaq (And was just upgrading the processor on it, or if he was upgrading any other component other than the Motherboard, then I would say that he could use the OEM version legally. Since he is changing out the motherboard, he is basically getting rid of the Compaq computer even if he decided to use the same case.

[glc]

It's the motherboard, rwest - if you don't replace it with a Compaq motherboard it's no longer a Compaq computer.

[rwest]

okay, that makes sense. I feel better now,

[piff263]

well i just went to a local computer repair shop and they said i could use the OS for upgrade for motherboard and processor without buying another os its just easyer if i buy a new os because you have to tell microsoft that you upgraded and go though a bunch of junk

[glc]

Yes, that is possible, but you cannot use the Compaq restore CD to do a repair reinstall, which will most likely be needed. I even had to call Microsoft and do a "mother may I" to replace a motherboard in an eMachine with a board with the SAME chipset - which booted right up into Windows. It did not have an eMachines bios - and Windows went nuts and would only let me log in with safe mode till I called and played 20 questions to get it reactivated. I had to tell them where the eMachine was originally purchased - exact store - and on what exact date.

[piff263]

ya sounds like its worth 80 dollars for a new os instead of 20 questions and hope you get a hold of microsoft thanks you gave me more info that the one guy at the local shop