Windows 98 to W2K upgrade

[Sambo]

Just joined pcmech last night and have a question for you guys. I have an older Compaq 5140 Model. Bought it in October of 98. It has Windows 98 currently on it and I would like to upgrade to Windows 2000 PRO. Before I get started does anyone know if this pc will handle it? Any suggestions/help will be appreiciated.

Sambo

[glc]

Need the following info:

Processor speed
Ram quantity
Hard drive size
Amount of free space on hard drive

[ghost2003]

Minimum Requirements Computer/Processor 133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible CPU. Memory At least 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM; more memory generally improves responsiveness. Hard Disk 2 GB with 650 MB free space. CPU Support Windows 2000 Professional supports single and dual CPU systems. Drive CD-ROM or DVD drive. Display VGA or higher resolution monitor. Keyboard Required.

[Sambo]

Hard Drive is 4.0 GB
Ram is 128
Pentium II 256 MHz
Plenty of hard drive space

[andyms18a]

win 2k will work well on that system first go to the compaq hp web site and get all the 2k drivers you can the modem is the importent one and save them to cd if poss then a clean instal wood be bettery than a upgrade if you have access to another computer you can link the laptop to it and save your data befor you format the hard drive even if you deside to just upgrade make a backup as it can go wrong and you wood lose all your stuff

[Sambo]

Thanks Andy,
I'm going to attempt this install today. Will let you know how it goes.

Sambo

[Sambo]

W2K installed with no problems and is running great. Thanks for the help Guys.

Sambo

[andyms18a]

nice one

[glc]

Be careful though - a 4gb hard drive will fill up fast, pay attention to your housekeeping!

[Sambo]

So true glc not going to do much downloading on it, just use it for keeping records, surfing the net a bit, may upgrade the hard drive at some later date.

[mb26]

i would check that win2k supports all your hardware before upgrading.. u can do so at the MS site (aslong as u can figure out what is it), perhaps a compaq site could help with that?

biggest offenders are usually onboard sound or modems.. but then if either dont work then you can pick up either cheaply.

just a suggestion;
is that a slot 1 CPU? (looks like a cartridge and sticks up away from the motherboard).. if so,
u can get a 350mhz CPU for $7, (or a 233 for free!, plus shipping) from dumpinggoods.com .. u could also add another 128mb ram for (a comparitively expensive) $33.. either/both of which would make using it less painful.

[Sambo]

Thanks mb26 I'm checking into those. Great website!!!

[glc]

If that's a 66 MHz front side bus board, a 350 MHz processor will not work in it. Processor upgrades are going to be so limited it's not worth it. More ram will definitely help, but proprietary SDRAM is quite expensive - Compaqs need proprietary ram. 128mb modules are 60 bucks at Crucial.

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpar...140.&submit=Go

[mb26]

not worth it? how can seven dollars not be worth it? i would pay $7 even if it meant an increase of only 50mhz at that level.

'Any PII between 233 & 333 MHz is running 66MHz FSB, anything higher and they are 100MHz FSB'.. [i am assuming from what u said that u have a slot1 (cartridge) PII 266, right?]

u have a couple of options regarding processor upgrade, the closer to a), the cheaper and easier they are.

a) get a PII 333mhz which is $6 + shipping. it would give u a 66mhz increase which may not sound like much in modern terms, but its a 25% increase on the 266 (i think) you have.

b) get a Slot1 - Socket 370 PPGA card* (under $15 shipped from ebay).. then u could get a 500mhz Celeron (under $10 + p&p)

c) get a slot1 - socket 370 FC-PGA card* (under $15 inc p&p) and u could get a 700mhz celeron but these are about $35

there is also a possibility your motherboard supports 100mhz fsb, in which case you could ;

d) get a 800mhz PIII ($40-$50), or 1.1ghz Celeron (both must have 100fsb)

you would have to figure this out by looking on the internet about your motherboard/ computer or read up in the motherboard/PC manual. someone will help u out if u want/need it

*some cards support both PPGA and FC-PGA, probably all FC-PGA ones support the older PPGA, but there are some which only support PPGA which may be cheaper

all things above other than the Slot 1 PII 333mhz are from ebay. (although i expect you could get them from other places also)

u may also have to consider the cost of any heatsinks or thermal paste you may need. perhaps others could elabourate if u want to know more. i dont think with the slot 1 333 you would need to bother about this however (?)

GLC may be correct that u need to buy the ram from the place he suggested if u wish to get more. if the 128mb of ram you have is in one stick, then u could buy two more sticks of 128mb, which would help, giving you 384MB of ram, but it would cost $120 + the cost of any new processor, and your getting into the realms of 'buy a new (second hand) computer' there.

if u dont plan on spending much then i'd do option a) or b) with the processor and perhaps try that out.. and if u find it too slow then buy some ram

[glc]

mb: you are assuming that a Compaq is going to recognize a faster processor. This is a dangerous assumption.

If the thing does what he needs, maybe it's best to just leave it alone?

I have a friend with a 300 MHz Dell with 128mb ram, and it's running 2K just fine as a general use machine. However, I also have a friend with a 233 MHz Gateway with 384mb ram, and it's more responsive. Processor speed is nowhere near as important as ram with 2K and XP.

[mb26]

i agree totally that ram is more important, just that its also greatly more expensive.

i'm sure a 233mhz with 384mb ram would run better than a 300mhz with 128mb ram.. but also u must agree a 333 would be quicker than a 266, both with the same amount of ram.

weather it would recognise a faster processor? i dont see why not if they have the same FSB. companies like compaq don't use different motherboards for each processor do they? perhaps a bios flash might be needed, but i'd doubt it for a change from 266 to 333. again the likelyhood of it working increases the closer to a) if it doesn't work then u can always put the old one back and sell the 333 on ebay. even if u can't be bothered to sell it then its only $6 lost?

also, you can get 128MB from HP for $56.38, a little cheaper, also guaranteed to work with your 5140.. not sure if it would be as good as the crucial but i would expect so..

'If the thing does what he needs, maybe it's best to just leave it alone?' well it was initially only a suggestion, and one that sambo seemed to be interested in so i elabourated a little.. and ultimately its up to him weather to leave it alone or not.

[Sambo]

So far it's working flawless, I'm not in a big rush to do any upgrades to the pc at the present but adding more mem sounds like a safe thing to do first. My knowledge of pc's is not great so I'm taking it slow and learning as I go. This is a great place to learn.

[glc]

If the motherboard is not compatible with a Deschutes core processor, 300 is as high as it will go. The 233 through 300 are Klamath 2.8 volt core - the 333 was the first Deschutes 2.0 volt core. My point is - you have to do research, and getting info for an old proprietary machine such as that is not easy. The difference between a 266 and a 300 isn't even worth popping the case, much less buying something.

[budbd]

I have a PII and a P4 right now, but I favor the PII right now, it is so much fun to upgrade. The Gateway 333mhz system was a celeron, upgraded to a PII 333mhz 66mhz fsb processor with heat sink for $7.45 total shipped on ebay. The celeron was screwed and plastic pinned on place, but removed that to install a full pII, and the new used cpu just slid right on and has nothing latching it, but I don't care, it works.
I upgraded memory 128mb pc100 with the already present 32mb ram for only $18 shipped total on ebay. Have another 128 mb pc66 coming for $18.50 off ebay for a total of 256mb of ram and discovered tonight that my windows 98 supposedly may take up to 512mb of ram(wish I had know, I would have bid on 256 mb ram modules instead), just read that at Gateway.com web site.
Bought a 3d graphics accelerator at Walmart just the other day, a PCI Geforce2 MX400 64mb onboard ram, and it really improved the graphics, especially on the DVD rom drive, but always needed a 3d acccerator. Real funny, I never could get the dvd feature to work till recently when the system crashed and I reinstalled the windows and installed the new full PII chip, don't know why, but video playback is better than my new P4 dell, seemingly but likely not by much.
My dvd rom drive is as old as the computer, 5.5 years old, really gonna get my dollars worth now!
The computer seems fast right now at 160 mb of ram and that nice 3d accelerator card, and full PII chip set, plenty to get on the net and likely a little more.

I have an andover motherboard in that gateway 333 with two memory slots and four main pci slots(one strange slot for the modem that really negates the pci slot it is attached to), I might see if it could be used with 100mhz fsb PII chips sets, but it really doesn't matter much except for the occasional old game or application sold used locally that calls for something at 500 mhz. Likely I could upgrade to a 500 mhz celeron, but gosh, I just got away from celeron processors!

To tell you the truth, I bought my new Dell just so get familar with the new windows xp and I had just reinstalled windows after a crash and Dell was offering a free camera and printer so I ordered before I realized my system didn't have a hardware fault.
Really, before I started upgrading this old computer, I knew nothing much of the newer systems, didn't care much, have minimal needs, but now after a month of reading, upgrading, learning, I wan't to do more.
Actually, I just enjoyed a dvd burner/cd burner installation into my new computer, a slower 4x which will get rebates making that a $60 drive after rebates and perfect for my back up uses, and will try it out in the old computer maybe, or at least install a cd writer, new in my new system, into the old computer for kicks. Actually my kicks are getting more serious when it comes to using the older system for older games, and other such stuff not to be cluttered all over my new system from Dell.

I did alot of computer upgrading back in the 80's, back when you had to use dos, it was easier seemingly(cause you had a book with every system), and you had to install your own hardrives and floppy drives if you wanted those items at all.
Jeese, back then, it was cost effective to repair your own power supplies if the untrustworthy fans stopped working, I had to do that for two computers.

Whoops, sorry, I type fast and often, didn't realize I just typed so much.

[glc]

Nope, no 100 FSB support on an Andover, it's got a LX chipset. Only way to go faster than 333 is go back to a Celeron or maybe buy a Powerleap.

[budbd]

Thanks for the advice on the andover, and for kicks I will read about "powerleap", may need something handy someday just in case of purchase of a $2 used game or application locally. It really don't matter much cause it gets around on the net at lightening fast speeds now, but if I had an application that needed 500 mhz, maybe I will have a 500 mh, the highest compatible available used with 66fsb I believe. I figure that if it takes less time to go to a page than is allowed to take a sip of tea or coffee, that is a good thing, and actually, I plan on a test of both new and old machines when my new used pc66 128 mb of ram arrives to make the old machine 256 mb same amount of memory of my new Dell 4600 that has "dual channel" ram.

Hey, maybe for the principal of the matter, in another five years I will get on the net still with the Gateway 333mhz? I know my 1989 Ford Probe GT fuel injected turbo charged car has onboard computer and it's onboard computer likely will never fail.

Actually, I absolutely refuse to pay high bucks for computers anymore, the Dell 4600 with 533mhz fsb 2.8ghz cost me $744 and I got $200 worth of free items and supposedly $100 off, though the shipping/handling was $100 making it $844 shipped. I don't play all those games others do, I just get on the net and word process. I kind of wish computers were just the cost of a $200-$300 television to get on the net and then be modular upgradeable, an old idea that seemingly will never be, CAUSE NEW COMPUTERS ARE GENERALLY SOLD TO REPLACE OLDER MACHINES THAT WILL NOT RUN NEWER SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR NEWER BUYERS, CASE IN POINT FOR WINDOWS XP WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO RUN SOME OR ALL OLDER WINDOWS PROGRAMS. Haha, so seemingly one is comelled to buy new software, likely programmed by guys in India? not me. Only what I have to.
This kind of marketing strategy has always irked me, basically in the pocketbook.

[glc]

A Powerleap *may* allow you to put a 733 Celeron in there - but it costs $120.

[budbd]

Haha, yeah, $120 for a powerleap is kind of expensive, but I guess it all depends on what one wants to do.

[mb26]

powerleap is a rip-off;
here for Slot 1- Socket 370 converter, (~$14)
here for celeron 733. (~$39)

the celeron can be found cheaper on ebay i think, and possibly the converter also. prices are 'buy it now' and include shipping. tot $53.

[glc]

The Powerleap has the required voltage regulator - most slotket converters don't until you pay more than 14 bucks for one. Note that the description of that converter on Ebay says that the *motherboard* will autosense the voltage and frequency. A Celeron 733 is a Coppermine FC-PGA, a LX board doesn't support the lower voltage, it will only accept PPGA Celerons up to 533, and it also has to understand the high multiplier. The Powerleap also comes with a heatsink/fan and is a turnkey solution - IF your model of motherboard is supported.

[mb26]

you always ruin my crazy theories with too much sense GLC lol perhaps i should just shut up eh..

maybe there is one converter on ebay that will work somehwere? someone i know had one and it worked fine. i think it was even made by PC chips *gasp*. i'm sure they didn't pay top $ for it.

anyway it doesn't change the fact that the powerleap solution isn't worth it.