replaced harddrive

[Yousuf04]

ok i got this old computer its a windows 98 and its not even an se. its 533mhz and i dont' really use it anymore so it was at my cuz's house. my cuz took out one of the harddrives and while doing so he broke pins for the power wire slot on the other hardrive. i got another oldcomputer that i have no idea what the specs are except that it had 128mb sd ram and its a dell well i took that harddrive out and put it in my old comp and started the computer. well the computer starts and it comes up to the windows 98 screen and everything but after that it says while initializing device IOS: Windows protection error you need to restart your computer. it says that everytime so i got xp os i thougth i could install in there well i went into bios to change it to boot from drive rather than boot from hard drive. i restarted my comp and it won't read from my drive so i can install the new os. i went to circuit city and bought windows xp professional and the guy said that i cna't return it if i open it and i opened it so i really need to get this thing to start working. p.s. i also installed 64mb of more ram into the machine but it won't recognize it and it still says 128mb instead of 192mb. hope to hear from you guys soon

[edrod13]

I would check what board you have and see what memory it supports. I beleive that 533 runs on a 66Mhz FSB but the board might support PC100. You could be mixing ram with different speeds and that is why it is not being recognized. The reason why the new hard drive probably wont load win98se is because it was installed on the older dell box running specific drivers and what not for that machine. Go into bios and set the CDROM as the first boot device. Insert the XP cd, let the machine boot from the CD and follow the prompts to load the OS. If it will not boot from your drive then make sure that the drive is functional. You could always try the optical drive from the older dell to just troubleshoot. I have found that XP runs decent on at least 256MB of ram so don't worry if your system seems a little sluggish.

[Yousuf04]

ok so how do i check what board i have and what memory it supports? again i have no idea how to do this im still learning so anyting can help me.

[edrod13]

Best thing would be to pop open the case and look for any markings on the actual motherboard. Most brands have the model number next to the pci slots so its not to hard to see. I will try and post an example if possible. HTH

[edrod13]

Best thing would be to pop open the case and look for any markings on the actual motherboard. Most brands have the model number next to the pci slots so its not to hard to see. Once we know the model number, then we will now what ram it will support. I will try and post an example if possible. HTH

Edit: Sorry it was 11:30PM when the system slows down and I must have hit the submit button twice. At any rate here is an example of what a model number could look like on a motherboard:

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherbo...egroup-02.html

[Yousuf04]

ok i found something like that it was by my ram slots. its says its a 9951 camaro. that was a sticker stuck on there below it it said: pwa-pwa- camaro mother... i couldn't read the rest cuz the sticker was on top of it. is this infor sufficient? now how do i find out what type of sd ram i need? thnx for you help.

[Yousuf04]

i searched the specs for the mobo on google and i foudn this website this probably is the mobo das in the comp cuz it says its in this model comps lol well i went to the compaq website and this is what i found out. the type of ram i can stick in there is 100 MHz SDRAM, 168 pins. so next question how do i know wht kinda ram i got?

[edrod13]

Most likely the other stick that was taken from the dell is PC-66 or even a stick of EDO and thats why it does not show the right amount of ram. If you want to know what kind of ram you have then just right down the numbers off of the chips. Your sticks might also be labled as PC-100 or PC-66, maybe EDO. Can you give us the numbers on the ram module itself if there are any.

[GaryRouth]

Hi all -

Since the computer in question is a bit old, and hasn't been in use for a while, it might be a good idea to run a diagnostic on the hard drive to see if it's in OK shape or not (otherwise you might be running around in circles for quite a while, or run into trouble down the road). Check the label on that Dell hard drive, see if it's a Maxtor, IBM, Western Digital, Seagate, whatever - then visit the manufacturer's website & grab the diagnostic tool (the download usually creates a bootable floppy - you run the diagnostic from that). If the drive is less than 10gb, you may want to consider trying either Windows 98 or Windows 2000 on it (XP uses up a good deal of space, especially with System Restore running).

For the memory, Compaqs are fussy: it probably prefers single-sided low-density CAS 2 PC100 modules = if you can make out the model # on the Compaq case, visit crucial.com & use it's Memory tool to find the exact-match memory for that model/board, or visit the Compaq (now HP! = hp.com) website for exact-match specs. If the 64mb module that didn't show up was a High Density module, it probably wasn't compatible with your model. Sometimes a generic low-density CAS 3 PC100 module will do, sometimes not. Some PC133 modules are backward compatible & will work, but again: many will not. [There have been sales recently of some Kingston "ValueRAM" modules that are both PC133/PC100 compatible - at around $20 (USD) after rebates for a 128mb module. The 256mb modules tend to run around $50. XP runs OK with 256, but much better with 512mb. Win98 runs like the wind with 256mb. Windows 2000 can run well on 256mb, but will gain from the boost to 384mb or higher if much multitasking is done.]

To see what module is already in there: run a module tester like MemTest86: it will both identify (if it can) the module, and offer to test it for you. ( http://www.memtest.org ) --- or just shutdown Windows, power off, unplug, open the case & look at the label on the modules (remove them if necessary) --- take the usual precautions against static shock by grounding yourself before touching the motherboard or anything inside the case.

If the drive tests out OK, and you want to try Windows XP on it [it's scraping the lower edges of the System Requirements, but I just refurbished a 500mhz Celeron Dell Inspiron with XP for a friend, and with 384mb or 512mb of RAM, the system runs quite well - especially if you have discrete (not just shared-memory onboard) video]---> try running a zero-write of the drive, to completely erase the drive. Then exit the diagnostics, remove the diskette, insert the Windows XP CD into the cd-drive, and reboot. Let XP's Setup find, partition, and format the drive for you from within Setup - and then let it finish installing XP.

If the drive is just too darn small for XP, you always have the option of trying a new drive. You can get a brand-new 80gb hard drive for $40 these days, might be less of a headache, and will likely be whisper-quiet, too (I used a new hard drive in the Inspiron - now the laptop is completely silent - whereas before the refurbish it was a loud whiner).

Ask again if we've missed anything!
. . . Gary

[P.S. -- I'm not typing very fast tonight - just saw your latest reply edrod, hope I didn't repeat things too much ]

[Yousuf04]

ok i looked at the ram stick form the dell and its a pc100 64mb. then it should work in the computer right. and so ur saying that xp wont' work with 128mb right so i need more ram? and how do i run the diagnostics to test out hdd cuz the computer doesn't start at all? thnx for all your help

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

The diagnostics run from DOS. You start the computer from the floppy (enough DOS to get things started is on the floppy). Your hard drive can be completely dead, but as long as the floppy drive, power supply, motherboard, RAM, video, and cpu/hs/fan are OK, the computer will start in DOS.

What model Compaq is that? You mention a 9951 Camaro motherboard, which returns no hits on either Google or the compaq (now HP) website. There should be a marking or a sticker on the case.

I was rather hoping that when you mentioned a 533mhz processor, you'd be referring to a Pentium III, but it's also possible we're looking at a Celeron, which would be limited to the PC66 memory speed, a possibility edrod13 already mentioned. To match memory to a motherboard, you really need to know the model # exactly, or have the original manual handy.

You're going to want at least 256mb of memory for XP, especially to partially make up for not having the fastest processor around. 384mb would be a nice number, if the motherboard can accept that amount. Of course, 512mb is great, but also more expensive - and if you don't multitask much, the performance gain might not be that noticeable. You'll need the motherboard manual to know the maximum total memory as well as the maximum size memory module.

. . . Gary

[P.S. -- am I right in assuming that by 533mhz, you are referring to the speed of the processor itself, and not to the speed of the FSB (Front Side Bus)? ]

[P.S. #2 -- finally had a minute to check - and the only PIII 533s I saw on my cpu chart list a 133mhz FSB - which make it likely that they'd need PC133 memory - is that what the 129mb module is? -- and the Celeron 533s list as a 66mhz FSB, as mentioned earlier]

[Yousuf04]

its a compaq presario 7478 and are you sure u couldn't find out about the mobo on the compaq site cuz das where i pulled out the info for mobo from. and the ram is pci100. and yes 533 does refer to the processor and not the fsb lol i wish it was the fsb tho it be alot faster. thanks for all your help. now i know to jus get a new computer or build one cuz i didn't plan on spending any money on this comp my sister wanted to use it but since i've already spent money on buying xp, ill jus get building a new one for cheap or something cuz spending on this stupidy comp is stupidity in my opinion. i thought i was able to run xp on like 192 but now that i know i can't ill get to work on building a new comp thanks for all your help u helped me a whole bunch and i will be asking u guys when i have questions with the new comp ill build again thnx all i learned allot.

[GaryRouth]

Have fun with your new build. It should be fun two ways = for both the building, and then for enjoying how amazingly quick the new system is.
. . . Gary

[glc]

You CAN run XP on a 533 MHz with 192mb ram, it just won't be as fast as it would be with Win98.