calling all computer bufties...

[ade]

Well Parcel Farce finally delivered my new PC - Compaq Presario SR5219. 360gb hard drive AMD dual core Vista blah blah blah

Perfect for my photos (has built in car reader).

Anyway - re my old machine (60GB Compaq presario) I'm wondering can I take the hard drive out of it, format it and shove it in the new machine as like additional memory? Better to 420GB than 360GB

Also - the memory in my current machine - can I stick that in the new one as well and is it worth it (not sure what it is though)

Ade

[skidmarkz]

Yes to the hard drive, if it on the same bus line then set it to slave if your running scsi or sata then just plug it in a spare port :)

with the ram, make sure it compatible....

[CoolTiger]

it would be 10x easyer and it wont effect ur warranty if you buy one of these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-USB-2-0-SATA-IDE-HDD-EXTERNAL-HARD-DRIVE-CASE-UK_W0QQitemZ260335862933QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Coll ectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL?hash=item260335862 933&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1301|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318)

:)

its plug and play for vista make sure you format it first not too sure if u can do after cant remember what i did

[skidmarkz]

it would be 10x easyer and it wont effect ur warranty if you buy one of these (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-5-USB-2-0-SATA-IDE-HDD-EXTERNAL-HARD-DRIVE-CASE-UK_W0QQitemZ260335862933QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Coll ectables_HardDriveEnclosures_RL?hash=item260335862 933&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1301|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318)

:)

its plug and play for vista make sure you format it first not too sure if u can do after cant remember what i did
the "new" pc is off ebay mate...

[Jack]

if the new machine has the right connection (i.e. IDE or SATA) then yes, just bung the hard drive in.

Whats the model number of the old machine?

[ade]

presario 5146ea - its about 6 yrs old. amd 1.3mhz...

I'd like to use the drive - not to fussed about the rest...

[Dar]

Ade - Computers are as simple as feck. Just like lego. Open up the old machine and remove the old hdd. You might as well take the ribbon cable with it (It's bound to be an IDE drive). Then open up the new box and look for a place to put the new cable.

Infact if you open up both boxes and take a photo of each of the motherboards with everything connected. I can point out what to take and where to put it.

It really is as simple as that. I am guessing that the new machine is running SATA drive so you should have both the IDE interfaces in the new one free. If not then you probably have an IDE DVD in there, just use the other IDE interface. There is nowhere else on the new motherboard that will take that ribbon cable.

If the new motorboard only has one IDE interface, and it's being used. Then you will have to set your drive to its slave setting (check the other device on the ribbon cable to see if its set to master). It's just a case of changing the jumpers. The info on the drive will tell you what to do.

[Jack]

Dar, that's assuming the new mobo isn't a cheapo one with no IDE connector. I've seen a couple like that already.

I don't think the RAM will be compatible, anyway even if it was the 5146 ships with 128Mb PC133 DIMM, whilst the 5219 has 1Gb DDR2 PC2-5300 memory so it will be a LOT slower. Better off buying another matched pair of PC2-5300 RAM chips (will be either 2x 512Mb if you have 1Gb, or 2x 1024Mb if you have 2Gb RAM standard) as RAM is pretty cheapo these days.

[Dar]

Dar, that's assuming the new mobo isn't a cheapo one with no IDE connector. I've seen a couple like that already.


Aye but I am sure if he can't find an IDE connector, he won't plug it in :D