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johnq86
12-30-2005, 10:53 PM
i am in a bit of a situation.my ant gave me an old pc that she doesnt use anymore.its an hp pavillion and it has windows 95.i was wondering if someone could send me a pm on how to upgrade the computer to a better os and what can i do to put a new hd and junk the old hd.please any help would be great!!

peat moss
12-30-2005, 11:10 PM
John , tell me your not still using Win ME ......... :naughty: But its a good way to learn by taking an old computer apart . I'd start by finding out what the system specs are, using say Belarc ? That way you have a starting point ,you know memory , cpu that sort of thing . Then go from there . Toms Hardware is a good site to browse for tips on installing a HHD.

One thing about HP is look at the back of your tower ther should be an sticker with the product # Believe me you will need it for drivers . :)


http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html


Belarc: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,8078,00.asp

johnq86
12-31-2005, 03:04 AM
the computer im trying to work on is running windows 95.will the Belarc Advisor v7.0m work on win95?and the c-drive has only 880mb of space.is there anyway i could upgrade to another os or do i have to get a new hdd?and also is there anyway that i could add memory to the current hdd?o0o0o by the way unfortunetly im still using me..lol

peat moss
12-31-2005, 03:25 AM
the computer im trying to work on is running windows 95.will the Belarc Advisor v7.0m work on win95?and the c-drive has only 880mb of space.is there anyway i could upgrade to another os or do i have to get a new hdd?and also is there anyway that i could add memory to the current hdd?o0o0o by the way unfortunetly im still using me..lol


Ya thats old p 100 or p133 ? But I would still try to swap out the HDD , its easy thats how you learn . :) You can buy an old 4 gb hhd at a swap meet and learn from that ? But till you share the specs it 's a crap shoot .

Virtualbody1234
12-31-2005, 03:32 AM
I stopped supporting Win95 about 6 years ago.

880 MB??? :lol: :lol: :lol:

About the upgrade... forget it. Whatever you do with that thing, it won't do much.

johnq86
12-31-2005, 04:13 AM
if i were to get a bigger hard drive could i take the old hard drive out and put the new one in?i know its not as easy as it sounds but please i need some help.lol this computer stinks!!seriously any help would be great!!!

Virtualbody1234
12-31-2005, 04:20 AM
If the HDD is only 880 MBs then the rest of the system is too outdated.

Probably a 486 or very low end P1.

johnq86
12-31-2005, 04:25 AM
ok im not understanding what that means.can you explain please?and what do you recommend me do without having to spend lots of money?

tesco
12-31-2005, 05:03 AM
Dont waste your money on anyhting more than 20gigs for that computer...chances are it wont work with anything larger anyway. :P

You take out the old drive and put in new one then install Windows on it (98se for something that old).

Virtualbody1234
12-31-2005, 05:43 AM
Dont waste your money on anyhting more than 20gigs for that computer...chances are it wont work with anything larger anyway. :P

You take out the old drive and put in new one then install Windows on it (98se for something that old).
How can you say Windows 98se will run on it? He hasn't told us the specs yet.

johnq86
12-31-2005, 05:45 AM
how can i found out the specs since the computer is running on win 95?

Virtualbody1234
12-31-2005, 06:28 AM
Open the case. Do some studying and then get back to us.

peat moss
12-31-2005, 11:17 AM
how can i found out the specs since the computer is running on win 95?



Read my lisp ! :D D/l Belarc or :

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000017.htm#02

johnq86
12-31-2005, 07:27 PM
ok i found out that the computer is an hp pavillion 5030.Pentium 75MHz processor, 8MB RAM and an 850MB hard drive.is there any hope for this computer?

Virtualbody1234
12-31-2005, 07:45 PM
No.



Edit: Hmmm. I wonder if it would work with potato?

Woody maybe...


2nd Edit: Come to think of it, how about being out in the potato field with a woody?

peat moss
01-01-2006, 06:41 PM
Before you throw it out strip, it down and see how everthing goes together doubt that you could save anthing other than an old net card which is probable ISA . Its a good learning tool tho .

Nice to see you found the specs tho good one .

zapjb
01-01-2006, 06:49 PM
Save the floppy.

peat moss
01-01-2006, 07:02 PM
Save the floppy.

Hey forgot that ! :D Its funny what people put in an old computer too . Found some old 16 , 32 mb video cards that I still got some use out of . Hey I'm Scottish . ;)

dodgy368
01-01-2006, 08:09 PM
Before you throw it out strip, it down and see how everthing goes together doubt that you could save anthing other than an old net card which is probable ISA . Its a good learning tool tho .

I'll second that, good idea to have a look inside and learn what all the bits look like and how they're connected, better than fiddling with a new one and cocking it up!:P

John, when you've finished fiddling with it, bung it in the bin, I wouldn't bother saving anything from it either unless you really want to upgrade it, then you'd have to go out and buy these bits;
Motherboard
Soundcard
Graphics card
USB card
Dvd rewriter
Hard drive
Power supply
keyboard and mouse
and a fan


Oh yeah, nearly forgot, and a new case to put them all in.:naughty:

Virtualbody1234
01-01-2006, 08:15 PM
John, when you've finished fiddling with it, bung it in the bin, I wouldn't bother saving anything from it either unless you really want to upgrade it, then you'd have to go out and buy these bits;
Motherboard
Soundcard
Graphics card
USB card
Dvd rewriter
Hard drive
Power supply
keyboard and mouse
and a fan


Oh yeah, nearly forgot, and a new case to put them all in.:naughty:
That won't work very well without a CPU and some RAM. :P

peat moss
01-01-2006, 08:29 PM
I forgot to add , I bought two computers from a swap meet both AMD K6-2 one 500 mhz the other 550 mhz, 256 mb in both for 50 bucks . Got home and did a Snoopy dance , one had a Maxtor 60 gb hd . So the moral of the story ? Never throw anything with out looking first !

dodgy368
01-01-2006, 08:34 PM
John, when you've finished fiddling with it, bung it in the bin, I wouldn't bother saving anything from it either unless you really want to upgrade it, then you'd have to go out and buy these bits;
Motherboard
Soundcard
Graphics card
USB card
Dvd rewriter
Hard drive
Power supply
keyboard and mouse
and a fan


Oh yeah, nearly forgot, and a new case to put them all in.:naughty:
That won't work very well without a CPU and some RAM. :P

Knew I'd forgotten sumfing.:lol:

zapjb
01-01-2006, 08:50 PM
Oh what about the case itself, the standoffs & all the fans. Oh maybe the IDE cables.

suprafreak6
01-01-2006, 09:17 PM
really though u could use alot from old pc's just because some of the stuff is still used today.

johnq86
01-01-2006, 09:17 PM
so in other words it would be less expensive to just go out and buy a new pc?

Virtualbody1234
01-01-2006, 09:21 PM
Yes.

dodgy368
01-01-2006, 10:30 PM
Yes.

clocker
01-02-2006, 04:50 AM
Definitely.

suprafreak6
01-02-2006, 08:29 AM
i would normally say obviously but as 3 or more people have said a synonym or an answer that corrilates to my answer i guess ill just say "What they said!"