Donnie ready for new computer,need opinions please.

[LadyGrey]

Ok, here we go! First build for me, new computer for Donnie. Heaven help us!:rolleyes:
We are working on a budget of course-$500-$600 maybe. Don't know if anyone remembers what he has now so.... IBM Bomb, 300mhz,on-board video,audio. 52x CD ROM,floppy disk,running Win 98, no idea the amount of RAM but it stinks for sure.
He does not need a super computer. He will not be using it for gaming or video/audio editing, just surfing and maybe listening to music clips that he likes.
I will need a new case/PS, would like one the size of mine,plenty of room to work,at least 800-900mhz processor I think, but if anyone catches a good sale on something faster I will consider that. I think at least a 30 gig HDD that I can partition, would love for him to have two drives but I guess it depends on the almighty dollar amount of them. I have an older video card that should work for him GForce 2, but will spring for a newer one if necessary. Will need a sound card also. I have a SoundBlaster but not sure if I like it or not. I do want to get him a DVD ROM drive. He does not need a burner of any sort. I do want to be able to upgrade as time goes by and I want him to run Windows 2000. Of course all the RAM I can get, want to max it out from the start.
It would probably be a good idea for me to have the MB and Processor together, I am leaning toward MicroStar products so any sales you come across send my way. I would like to have an AMD chip as I am a firm believer in them. Just need plenty of fans in the case as they do tend to run hotter. Cables and all are of course included in my plans and a floppy drive, don't know if I want to use the one out his old computer or not but they are a dime a dozen so that is not a major worry.
If you all can figure out what I just said(which you should be able to do after all this time:D ) then let me have opinions and links and whatever else you think I can use. He needs a new computer so badly but I don't want to go overboard with it, just a nice simple system that he can get some good use out of and is not freezing up and shutting down all the time. I would like to be able to start ordering the components and getting things together by next week I think as Donnie's birthday is the 13th of November and I would like to be able to present him with a new working computer by that time. Thanks very much!! LG;)

Oh pooh forgot, will need a printer also, Donnie insists. But I need one that is very cost effective as to ink. I like my Canon that has the separate tanks but Donnie does not need an all in one, just a plain old simple printer. Thanks!!!

[Jhorner1]

Try this for starters

Case Antec SLK2600AMB with 300watt PSU $64
Motherboard MSI KM4ML 200/266/333 FSB $64.50
CPU AMD AthlonXP 2100 Retail $70
Memory Crucial 512mg PC 2100 $86
Hard Drive Seagate 40gb OEM $57.50
Sound Creative Labs PCI 128 $19
DVD Lite-on XJ-HD166 $31.99
O/S Windows 2000 $150
Total Before cables, floppy, fans,and other misc. $522.99

All the above items are from Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/app/catalog.asp?DEPA=1) and include shipping. This should give you a good place to start.
Have fun!!

Newegg has printers starting at $39

[gwallen4]

Don't forget to include a wired/wireless network so you can share files, printers, and your internet connection.

Also, shop the sales at BestBuy/Office Depot/Office Max/Staples for good prices on hard drives (40 GB <$40, 60 GB $50, $80 GB $60 - I like Western Dig.), memory - get PC2700, and DVD drives. I just got a MadMax DVD drive for $20 after rebates.

Your video and sound cards will work unless he wants to play games.

Using Win98 will save you a bunch and won't make him have to learn a new operating system.

[Budfred]

Do you have the usual chain stores within reach there?? I check the ads out each week and can probably let you know if there are any really good deals, especially for printers, RAM, hard drives and optical drives. You can get a better deal on most other stuff online. I know there are a couple of 40 gig hard drives on sale this week for $40 after rebates for instance.

[sleddog]

Another take... it's a birthday present so it's gotta be a little kick-*ss and cool :)

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton @ 333Mhz (Retail Box) $134.99
Asus A7V8X-X, Socket A, Via KT400... On-board Lan and Audio $89.99
256Mb DDR SDRAM Ram Module, PC3200 $54.99
ATI Radeon 7000 64Mb AGP TVO SDR Video Card OEM $54.99
Sony 16X DVD-ROM Drive - 40X CD-ROM Reader $44.99
80 GB Seagate Barracuda IV ATA-100 7200RPM 2048k 9ms OEM $99.99
Enlight 360W ATX Power Supply - Supports P4 $54.99
Nest Mid Tower ATX Case (http://www.pccanada.com/info/nest.html) w/ 7 Bays w/ Window, w/o Power Supply $84.99

That totals $619.92 .... but the good news is, those are Canadian prices :) At the current exchange rate that's US $471.01

Yes, only 256mb RAM. Fact is, Windows 2000 is just fine with 256mb unless you're doing something quite heavy. (And a 256mb RAM upgrade later on is cheap and easy.) If the onboard audio isn't good enough, add a sound card (the Creative Labs one listed by jhorner1 for $19 would be fine).

[LadyGrey]

You all are just awesome!! Thank you so much. This is what I needed, a place to start. I've been online all tootin day and have looked at all kinds of stuff but I really didn't know what I was looking for!:confused: There is so much out there.
Budfred I have all the major chains around here, I'm about 50 miles outside of D.C. so I have access to a lot. I have a Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples, Wally World, Target, and that's just on one side of Central Park Shopping Center.:D Anything you can catch, you are so good at knowing what a real sale is and what is just a bunch of hamburger. I look at the sales too but I'm just not knowledgeable enough yet to really understand what I'm looking at. I have a feeling I'm about to learn a whole hecht of alot tho!
I'm gonna go check all this out, be up all night I'm sure!
Thanks very much again!! LG;)

[LadyGrey]

After hours and hours I think I've come up with some things for you all to check me on.
F/S-Free Shipping

Codegen 6082L-C9 350W PS 39.00 15.00Shipping Donnie likes it. It's a midsize too, like mine. Plenty of room.
MSI KT6 Delta-LSR(6590 V 2.0) 74.00 F/S
AMD 1700 Thoroughbred 49.00 F/S
Sound Blaster Sound Card 19.00 F/S thanks jhorner, real good deal.
Maxtor 40GB 6E040L0 53.00 F/S
Samsung Black Floppy 7.50 5.00shipping
Crucial PC2100 512MB 88.99 F/S
Lite-On Black CDDVD XJ-HD166 30.99 F/S thanks to jhorner again here.
For the time being will use the GForce mmx400 I have already.
Grand Total except for cables and fans and Arctic Silver paste-381.48 US$
I'm going to do some more research on video cards, want to look real good at the one that Sled mentioned. All this is at the Newegg site but I really think I can get fans and the round cables I want cheaper somewhere else, they want almost as much to ship them as they cost. Crazy. Oh yeah, which cables do I need? DUH:rolleyes: Please take a good look at these for me and let me know if I'm making any mistakes or if you all see something that isn't right. I opted for the KT6 MB as it will hold more RAM and has more PCI slots and some day when Donnie is much older if I'm still breathing the MB will handle up to an AMD3200. If you all think it looks ok I'll place the order either tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks very much everyone for all your help!!! LG;)

[BigBlue66]

Lookin good LadyGrey.

For a video card, I would choose one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?catalog=48&DEPA=1&submit=property&mfrcode=0&propertycodevalue=4795

For cables, you will need:

1 - Single Device Round IDE ATA66/100/133 (10" or 12")
1 - Dual Device Round IDE ATA66/100/133 (18")
1 - Single Device Round Floppy cable (10" or 12")

I buy all my cables and other modding parts at:

http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/index.html

Their prices are dirt cheap. They used to have a few problems, mainly because they grew too fast and couldn't handle the growth, but now they are doing fine. Fast shipping usually. Priority mail doesn't take very long.

Do you have a keyboard and mouse already? If not, Newegg has some good deals on those.

Have fun.

[saphalline]

Actually, that mobo has onboard sound, so you won't need the separate Sound Blaster. That saves a whopping $19! :p Funny thing is, the KT600 onboard sound is probably better quality than that SB PCI 128. :rolleyes: ;)

I agree with BigBlue66 on the Radeon 9200's, but if you can wait another few months (maybe 'till Jan '04) the next wave of video cards will be out. Then you'll be able to buy an even better video card for the same price. Maybe a Radeon 9300. That seems to be their trend...

Just for the record, Newegg charges less and less per fan/cable the more you buy at once. Still, that Yahoo store link looks to have even better prices. I'll have to delve deeper into that one...

I think Newegg has the Logitech Optical Desktop for about $30. Includes multimedia keyboard and optical mouse, high quality, too!

[Budfred]

I'll check some ads in a little bit, but I wanted to comment on SVCompucycle now. I ordered from them about a year ago and they messed up my order, then didn't really respond to my attempts to straighten it out. I won't be doing business with them again, but it is possible they have improved since then. Newegg will combine the shipping so the cost goes down when you order several items as saphalline said...

Preview: As I said earlier, 2 stores have a 40 gig drive on sale for $40 after rebates. I post the details later.....

[Budfred]

It is a bit of a slow week for computer deals, but since you want to order now, I will tell you what looks good this week. There will be more on Sunday of course and these expire on Saturday.

CompUSA has a 40gig Maxtor 7200RPM for $40 after $30 rebate and Centon 256 Mb PC3200 DDR RAM for $40 after $25 rebate.

Office Depot has a 500VA Uninterruptible Power Supply (for stability of the power source) for $50 after $30 rebates.

BestBuy has an 80 gig Western Digital 7200RPM hard drive with 8Mb cache for $60 after $50 in rebates, a Digital Research CDRW for $20 after $45 in rebates (I know you don't need the burner, but it will also just play, if you want DVD capability go with the Liteon) and they have SelectTek RAM on sale, but I have never heard of that brand, so I don't know about quality.

Let me know if you still need suggestions on Sunday and I will post anything that looks good in the new ads....

[LadyGrey]

Whew, this shopping is for the birds, so to speak! :D
Ok, I've had to revise a little as when I went back to Newegg the CPU was out of stock that I wanted. Sooo, we are now going with the AMD Athlon 2000 that comes with heatsink and fan! 68.00 F/S. Figure if I nix the sound card that will pretty much cover the extra for the CPU and it's more important. I saw that the MB had onboard sound but wasn't sure about the quality, thanks saphalline!!
I took a look at resellerratings about the SVCcompucycle store BigBlue and it has a pretty high rating there but there were alot of very dissatisfied people who's orders had really been messed up. Don't know if I want to chance that. Thank you very much for your help with the cables! I think I'll go into town tomorrow and look at Best Buy and Office Depot and see if I can't find the matching cables that I want and the other fans I need. I looked at Newegg but they don't have all the cables in the same colors or the lengths I need. Heavens don't let me forget a printer cable or the thermal paste. I'll look at printers too while I'm out.
Thanks Budfred for all your help I'm going to take a look at the sales you mentioned and then I think tomorrow afternoon I'll make a final decision and place the order. I want to be able to have it all here and not need to go out and get anything when I start building this. Oh Boy is that gonna be fun, don't know if I'm more scared or excited about this!:eek: Everybody get their coffee ready as this may turn out to be another one of the 7 day and night sessions that we had when I first joined the Guide over a year ago!:D :eek: :D
Thanks so much for all your help! LG ;)

[Jhorner1]

If you get the Athlon 2000XP the heatsink should come with a thermal pad on it. That should be good enough unless you are going to try to overclock and it doesn't sound like that is in your plans. Actually removing it and using thermal paste voids AMD's warranty!
For cables look here (http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/SearchProducts.asp?search=1ca&child=1ca58&curpage=2&ureq=y).
For fans look use the same web site.
Also if you already have a Win2000 disk you could buy a license here (http://www.9software.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?page=2)
to install it on anouther machine, and save about $70 .

Isn't this fun!!!!!
Jack

[LadyGrey]

Thank you soooo much Jack for the warning about voiding the warranty. Lord you would think I would know that but it just never even entered my mind. All I could think of was heat heat heat and how to dissipate it really well. But you're so right, this computer is not going to be over anything, clocked or otherwise!:D
Now I'm havin an awful time trying to find the cables I want. I want them all blue but it seems everywhere I go they have one or the other or two of them and not the third. I did find one place that had all three but they wanted darn near 28.00 with shipping. Do you think that's the best I can do?? It was called xpcgear.com (http://www.xpcgear.com) . Phooey! Of all the things to have trouble with.
I went into town today and that was a total waste of time. No body had nothing. I called CompUSA about the hard drive but they said that rebate had expired on the 11th of this month so that was a bummer. And the kid at Best Buy didn't even know what a hard drive was, I got out of there really fast!!:eek:
I was looking at that Maxtor HDD and it says DRIVE ONLY. Now, isn't there a power connector that has to be used?? I've got to go look at the systembuild 101 again I've gone brain dead here.:rolleyes:
Any way I'm on my way to Newegg to place the order as I really think it's the best setup we have come up with and should be a great computer for Donnie. Thanks everyone, couldn't have done it without you!!LG;)

[BigBlue66]

No need to worry about SVCompucable now. As I mentioned, about a year ago they were experiencing rapid growth that they couldn't keep up with.

They have come a long way since then. I order at least monthly from them and have never had a problem. They have the cheapest prices on the net for modding parts. How's $5.99 sound for a dual cold cathode kit complete with the dual inverter and the second tube? Can't beat that with a stick.

[Budfred]

CompUSA has that rebate on the front page of the ad this week and it clearly states it is good until Oct. 25, so the person you talked to there didn't know what he was talking about... If you buy retail, it will come with cables, but not OEM usually. I would take a close look at the Western Digital at BestBuy. It is only $20 more for twice as much room and WD makes a good drive....

For cables, if you can't find all in blue, another option would be to get the odd cable with clear or glow in the dark. I wouldn't clash and would possibly even add a bit of coolness through the window.... I wouldn't even bother to look at the stores for cables, they are overpriced and usually have an even smaller selection... $28 for 3 cables really isn't too bad, but they can be found cheaper.

[LadyGrey]

Thanks Budfred for all your hard work!!! :) I went ahead and ordered the Maxtor from Newegg. While I was in town I looked a little at some HDDs and the same drive that's 57.00 is darn near 90.00 around here so I figured I better just get the one from Newegg. That kid at Best Buy scared me to death, worked in the computer dept. and didn't know what a HDD was!:eek: I saw it tho at Office Depot and Infinity Computers and man what a price difference. The order at Newegg went just fine, the grand total with the little bit of shipping came to 381.00. Shoot that's amazing for what I got! I'm really very pleased with NewEgg. NOW, for the SVC place BigBlue. They had the blue cables I wanted just fine, really good price and so I ordered them. Now they have come back and told me my billing address is bad and my order is on hold. Mercy it's been the same address for 15 years. Oh boy, I sure hope they aren't gonna cause me any trouble, I've shopped online for nearly 4 years now and have never had any problems, Newegg had no trouble at all. If they mess me up I'll just cancel the order and do what Budfred said and try out some of the glow in the dark ones maybe. That would look cool and Donnie would get a kick out of that.
You all have been such a help with this thank you all so much for all the suggestions and input and the work you put in checking to see I didn't make any huge mistakes. LG;)

[Budfred]

I have found the salespeople in most tech stores to barely have a clue. I bought my first computer from a small local shop and later went there to buy a printer. I had done some research into it and read the brochure on it in the shop. By the time I talked to the salesperson about it I knew so much more than him that I almost didn't buy it. What I have learned is that you can get some good info from some of the tech people, but don't rely on the salesstaff. On the other hand, when the price is good I am not relying on the salesperson for tech support anyway, so I will buy equipment almost anywhere that has a decent return policy....:)

Have fun with your build....:D ;) :D

[pave_spectre]

I agree with Budfred about computer sales people, dont rely on them for info.
It can get very depressing when you ask for an IDE cable and the response you get is "Whats an IDE cable?". I only ever go into a store when I already know what I want or when I dont want anything just to see what they have.

[Budfred]

The one general exception to the rule around here seems to be MicroCenter. They have some actual geeks working there. One guy was so geeky that I lost track of what he was talking about when I asked him about getting an old junk computer to run Linux, apparently he prefers to run it at the level of the source code (or something to that effect)...:D

[sleddog]

Geeks running the business? I predict they'll be closed within the year :D

[Budfred]

I don't think they run it, they just work the floor.... They may make it after all....:D

[LadyGrey]

Ooohhh boy, most of Donnie's computer came in today. Day ahead of time. I already have questions so should I start a new thread,and if so, where? You know something like Ok Now I'm Terrified or should I just keep on with this one?? Let me know what to do as I can do the Terrified one in a heartbeat! LG;)

[Budfred]

You could go either way. If you start a new thread, you may need to start several as you deal with different parts of the build or you can just ask here and see if you get what you need. Either option is fair....:)

Newegg is fast aren't they??:cool:

[gwallen4]

At a recent computer show a contest was conducted to see who could build a computer in the shortest amount of time. The winner timed out at about 5 minutes (I think that included the boot time).

Anyway, my point is to not get your panties all in wad over this build. It is all very straight-forward. So stop worrying.

[LadyGrey]

Studied the case and all the wires and hardware, the MB and it's manual,CPU and instructions all day yesterday. Started on it this morning. Decided that it would be safer for me to install the CPU and heatsink/fan before putting the MB in the case. You all were right the heatsink/fan came with a pad of thermal compound already on it so that was way cool. Followed all the steps to install and from the way everything went I think it's done correctly. Didn't have one hitch, went just the way the instructions said it should. Got the I/O shield in place no problem and the standoffs, did those by eye and prayed alot, and the MB just slid right on in with nary an adjustment. The screws I did like you would do a valve cover, and then went back and snugged them up good. I had read about people cracking the MB so I was careful not to go too tight on them. Then came the fun part, all those itty bitty wires for the case LEDs. There are two sets of front panel connectors on this board and all of the wires were marked very plainly except the wires for the speakers. I think I have all of them right but I am worried about the + and - . The board has everything color coded but there is no indication of which is + and which is -. For each set there are color coded pins. One of the pins has a solid color and the other a broken color of the same color. Which is which. Is the solid color + or -??? The first connector has Power LED,Power Switch, Hdd LED,and Reset Switch. The second connector has speaker and Power LED. I only have one set of Power LEDs, which one does it go on?? Right now I've got it on the first connector.
The next thing was two long grey wires with four little connectors on the ends of them. By tracing the wires back I found them to be to the front USB ports. Now, the little bit of info that came with the case had setups for 8,9,and 10 pin series. The problem is, is that on the MB there is technically a 10 pin but pin 9 is the key or missing. The MB states pin 1 VCC pin 2 VCC pin 3 USB0- pin 4 USB1- pin 5 USB0+ pin 6 USB1+ pin 7 GND pin 8 GND pin 9 key pin 10 USBOC. Now the wires I have don't say anything like that except for Ground which I take to be the GND on the board. My wires say +5V and D- and D+ and Ground so which way do they go??? The information that came with the case is no help at all as it tells me to use pin 9 for one of the grounds and I don't have a pin 9.
So far that's the only real trouble I'm having is those pesky wires. Everything else is going real well. I've laid out the way I want the drives to hook up and the fans. Installed a very cool extra fan that lights up blue and I can run that with the side panel fan. It has a top fan and the PS fan and of course the CPU fan so that should be enough fans I hope. If I can figure out the crazy wires I think I may be able to complete it by this weekend. Sure not any 5 minutes but as it's my first computer build I don't think it's too bad.
Gonna throw a party if I can pull this off:D Thanks so much for all the help and encouragement you all give me, I don't think I would have ever even attempted something like this without it. LG;)

[pave_spectre]

Is the solid color + or -???
I believe solid colours are usually used to indicate the positive terminal.

THe USB headers on the motherboard are usually odd numbered on one row and even numbered on the other so for one set of USB wires

+5 = VCC probably pin 1
D+ = USB0+ pin 3
D- = USB0- pin 5
Ground = GND pin 7

and the other set

+5 = VCC probably pin 2
D+ = USB1+ pin 4
D- = USB1- pin 6
Ground = GND pin 8

[LadyGrey]

Awesome pave, just what I needed explained. You're a dear, thanks very much! LG;)

[LadyGrey]

Got some trouble here. Finished the build, checked and double checked everything and then fired that bad boy up. Just beautiful!!:D Had to do a little fine tuning, switch some of the LEDs and reconnect a couple of case fans so they ran, but on the whole just wonderful!
Now got problems with getting the OS on. Everything is recognized BUT the CD/DVD ROM drive. That stinks. The light on the drive flashes during POST but after trying to run the boot disks for W2K it then tells me that no CD ROM can be found. I've checked the IDE cables, the jumpers, tried various configurations but no go. Any one know what I've done wrong here???? Thanks very much. LG;)

[Budfred]

I just want to add that for each of the builds I have done, the little wires and pins have been the biggest hassle of the process. The motherboard manuals tend to be vague and each case has different markings on the cable connectors. I was amazed when I hooked up the front USB ports on the computer I am using now and it WORKED!!!:D :cool: :D

Edit:

I just saw your latest post.... Is the BIOS recognizing the CD drive? If it is, I would try setting the CD to first boot and see if that works. If it doesn't still, I would use a boot disk with CD support to boot and then go to the CD and run Setup....

[gwallen4]

It sounds like the drivers for the CD/DVD are not being loaded when you boot.

Use a Windows98 Start Up disk (or another type Start Up disk) to boot the computer and select Start with CD-Rom support. That will load the proper CD-Rom drivers.

The start up disk will also add a RAM-drive to your computer which is a virtual drive located in RAM. When you finish booting the RAM drive will be assigned the next drive letter after your HD partitions. For instance, if you have a C: and D: drive, the RAM disk will be E: and your CD drive will be F: (one letter higher than expected).

Place your Windows installation disk in the CD/DVD drive and type: 'F:'.
That will take you to the F: drive. Type 'dir' to list the directory of your Windows disk (just to make sure it's there. Then type 'setup' to install Windows.

[Jhorner1]

Check in BIOS, and make sure that both IDE channels are set to Auto detect. If they are, then try experimenting with different jumper settings, particularly master and cable select.

[LadyGrey]

Checked the IDE channels in the BIOS and both are set to Auto.
Nothing seems to be recognized in the first standard BIOS screen.
Primary IDE Master Not Installed
Primary IDE Slave Not Installed
Secondary IDE Master Not Installed
Secondary IDE Slave Not Installed

That's just what it looks like. The computer will go through POST and will get to a DOS screen that says
Boot Failed
Insert Disk in Drive A
Press any key when ready

I've hit F11 on startup and it takes me to a screen that supposedly lets you select what drive you want to boot from but the only option is the Floppy drive. I'm going to play around with the jumpers, I thought I had them set right at first but maybe not. Failing that I will put the CD ROM on the secondary IDE channel and see what happens.

[Budfred]

If they are on the same cable, they may need to be Cable Select. If the hard drive is alone, it may actually need to have no jumper at all. The optical drive may be better off on the secondary channel and jumpered as Master. Also, double check the cable connections to make sure they are in the right way and the right position on the cable. Good luck...:)

[Jhorner1]

How are your drives setup - Master, slave, cable select?

[gwallen4]

It's best to start with just one drive (HD/CD) on each IDE cable. That way both drives will be likely to be recognized no matter what their jumpers are set on. The HD jumpers should be left the way they came from the factory, i.e. master-alone.

Later, if you add another drive to that cable, you will change the primary HD to master with slave.

A CD/DVD drive alone on the cable may be jumpered any ol' way and still be recognized.

[Jhorner1]

Actually with the new 80 wire cables I have had to set all my drives to cable select. Also make sure that the correct end of the cable is attached to the motherboard (the longest section goes to the motherboard).

[gwallen4]

I've never used cable-select with 40 or 80 wire cables on about 30 drives that I've installed, but it sounds easy enough and might be the answer if you can't figure out the master-slave jumpers (which I will admit is occasionally difficult).

The other thing is that I've mainly used Western-Digital drives and they might be different from Maxtor's.

[LadyGrey]

After fiddling half the night with jumpers and cables I put the CD ROM on the secondary IDE channel,each set to master and BINGO:D Both drives were recognized! I tried just about every combination of jumpers you can imagine, I got so confused I forgot what I had tried and what I hadn't just nothing would work. I have that problem solved now and the OS went on just as smooooth as silk but I would really love to be able to understand why those two drives wouldn't go in the typical installation of HDD as Master and CD ROM as either cable select or slave. I even tried no jumpers at one point but it was just no go with them on the same channel. Really weird.
Budfred I think you are so right!! Those little wires and connections drove me nuts, that was the worst part of the whole thing. There has got to be a better way of doing that but it was a learning experience that I'm glad I got. It was a real test in patience too. I have to admit that when I saw all those tiny tiny wires my first instinct was to put it all back in the box and send it back, really overwhelmed me, I thought "good lord, I can't do this" but I waded in with the manuals and all the info I could find here and I love computers so much. I guess that's what kept me going. You should see this thing, it looks like something out of StarTrek with two lights on the front and the glowing blue fan I put in at the back,you can see that through the side panel, just awesome!! Donnie just had fits when he saw it turn on for the first time!:D I've got to do all the updates still, video card drivers and the service packs for W2K and various other small stuff. It's sure not helping with those dratted solar flares messing up everything, my dial up is slow enough but with that stuff going on it's down to nothing. I'm gonna go fire up Donnie's machine now, at this hour maybe it won't be as bad. Only crazy computer people are up at 5am on a Saturday!:D :D Thanks and thanks and thanks for all the help and support you all are just the best there is!! LG;)

[pave_spectre]

Definitely sounds like party time!:D

<img src="http://www.pcguide.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=150673">

[Jhorner1]

I'm glad you got everything working finally. Feels great doesn't it!!!!!!!!!!!

[Budfred]

Congratulations!!!:D :D

A side note: I think both drives have to be cable select for that to work, can't have just one on it and the other Master or Slave. If one is Master, the other probably needs to be Slave. Since you put them on separate IDE channels, it doesn't matter now, but if you decide to add more later it might matter than......:)

[Bullman]

Congratulations LG!!!!!

I have been keeping up on your progress, and you give inspiration to us "future" PC builders. I hope to start on my first here in the near future, so now maybe you can give me some input also.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/icons/icon14.gif I just knew you had it in you, congrats!

Now what to do with 'the bomb'? Linux?

Networking next?

[Jhorner1]

Here is some reading on Cable Select settings.
From PC Guide (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCS-c.html)
From Micro Firmware (http://www.firmware.com/support/bios/cablesel.htm)
Merit Computers (http://www.meritcomputers.com/lib/drvhelp/cable_select.html)
Hope this helps in the future. Also most of this info is a couple years old, and cable select is becoming more popular.

[LadyGrey]

I have been outside for the last 30 minutes, with my jaw dropped and the tissues at the outpouring of support I have just recieved here!!!
I think my Motherboard just got fried!:eek: :D
I have never said anything in the over year and a half I've been a member here and I never will again but I have nothing here at my house but degredation and criticisism so you all will never really know what your support and help means.
Now, onto more critical problems:p . I was able to update Donnies browser to IE6 and I have come within 40 minutes of SP3 but I keep getting an error that says, Connection was terminated abnormaly. Now what the devil does that mean?? I have tried for the last 24 hours now to update Donnies W2K to SP3 and it's just no go!! He has SP2 already so that can't be the problem. I know it's not the puter, I'm on it now and it's awesome, so anyone have any suggestions??:confused: Besides sending MircoMoney $20 to get a disk??? I know I have it on my computer, I tried finding it so I could burn a disk to install it on Donnies but I'll be darned if I can find the thing!
Bullman, you are an inspiration to me dear, you are just a little younger than my oldest son, you hang in there, with the help and support you get around here, and you just saw it in action, you can build or fix anything!!!!! Go and look up the thread about an IBM bomb with me and you will see what I mean. These people will stick with you no matter what. They stuck with me for 7 days and nights. I wanted to get that old computer running for my son and we did!!. It's still running now.

FTT, I was wondering where the dickens you were. I don't know about the bomb yet, I've been looking very closely at the sledgehammer here:D --- but I guess I'll do something with it, just don't know what yet?
Pave, Jhoner, don't know what I would have done with out you, you all gave me the info I needed and guess what?? it worked:D My heavens we all make such a great team don't we?
Budfred, you are just the most dear, you never once lost faith in me and I will never forget you for that. You always had an encouraging word, you found something somewhere in all my carrying on to let me know that I DID have the knowledge and that's why I'm on this puter right now!!!
All of you never get nearly the thanks that you deserve, all the posts that you answer so paiently, some you never get even a response much less a thank you, so that's why I try very hard to thank each and every one of you. To let you know that you really do make a difference, even if you don't know it.
LG;)
Just realized I don't have my IEspell on this yet, oppps!:D

[Budfred]

Thanks for the kind words LadyGrey, I am glad the support we offer is helpful on more than one level....:)

For the problem you are having, you could download the update on your machine in the whole version, burn it to disk and then install on the new box. I don't think you need to do each one separately either, I think SP4 has the updates from all the previous ones, so it could save you a lot of download time if that is true...

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Actually the SP-this's-and-that's are just a shell of some sort that needs internet access to complete and it gets so integrated to your OS that there IS NO folder to find it in. That's why you can't fiond it LadyGrey.

I have tried to do the same thing as Budfred suggests except with W98SE's service packs and was unsuccessful. This is where M$ has us by the ####'S! With support to end some day, it would be nice to have all the packs at your disposal but the only way 'round that I can imagine at this point is to make a ghost image of a fresh install with all the service packs. Use this instead of the Windows disk when reformatting and such. It can be used as an OS disk onto another pc but you would need to correct the MBR and video and such if possible to match the components on the alternate pc. Not an easy task to most of us and I assume M$ knows this.

Now madame, you mentioned how close you got to completion of SP3 but not how long you were successful like in time or percent. Could your ISP be having a time limit to inactivity? If you are not moving from page to page, it may 'think' so.

My suggestion is to periodically open another page while the download is in operation and though it will slow the D/L, it may sustain your connection and allow it to complete. Where there's a will (http://www.pcguide.com/) there's a way (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/). :D

[Budfred]

FTT,

If you download the versions for IT professionals, you get the whole program, not just the shell. Here is the Win2K Service Pack 4 in that form: HERE... (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1001aaf1-749f-49f4-8010-297bd6ca33a0&DisplayLang=en)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

But:
Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 is available for download from Microsoft for Windows Millennium Edition only. To download the file, visit the Microsoft Download CenterIs there an IT one for ME? Not that I can find... Just 2K and XP.
Standard support is no longer available from Microsoft for Internet Explorer 5.5 on other operating systems. As a result, Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 downloads are not available for other operating systems

That's my dilemna. There's few if any SP's that are offered for IT pros hosted by other sites like .edu's or others. If someone knows please link me there and I'll buy a round in the After Hours Club...

Microsucks is already putting the squeeze to us older OS users to force a "Pay 'Bill' mo' money" by forcing an OS upgrade if you want to 'play' kinda thing. :mad:

[Budfred]

Did you try HERE (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/security/default.asp) FTT??? I am pretty sure I downloaded full versions of the ME updates at some point, but I am not sure where they are stashed at this point. I only recently started renaming these things so that I could look for Win2KupdateOct03 rather than something like 39487384Uts.....

[LadyGrey]

Howdy Howdy,
Things are going well here. I did as you suggested Budfred and tho it took 7 hours and 56 minutes I did get SP4 and I was able to burn it to disk and install it on Donnie's machine! Worked just great! I've got that now and AntiVir, Spybot, Adaware, and the Sygate Firewall and have even gotten a chipset update from MSI for the MB. Sooo, we are coming down the homestretch here I think. At least enough for him to start using it some as I go along and do the tweaks. I still have the rest of the security updates and such from Micromoney but I can set that for over night and it will go fine. After I got SP4 installed the computer ran much better and stayed connected.
FTT, I don't have a time limit with my ISP Earthlink. I switched from my old ISP because they all of a sudden started trying to do that. I've very very seldom been booted by Earthlink and never a busy signal, so I don't think it was that. I guess it really could have been just the updates and the SP that needed to be done and maybe even the chipset driver helped too but it seems fine now.
I made a big booboo I think when I set up the HDD! I partitioned the disk 20/20 but forgot to formatt the second one :eek: Now I can't figure out how to go about doing that. Do I need to get a DOS prompt and run fdisk or something like that?? Would the W2K disk be any help with formatting that partition?? What to do:confused:
You know I liked IE5.5 myself, ran it for the longest time. I don't understand why those idiots are always scraping the things that work?!
Dumb.
Well, I'm off to get IESpell for this. Let me know about the partitioning. Thanks much!! LG;)

[gwallen4]

Don't run fdisk! If you repartition, you will lose everything that you have on your HD.

Boot to DOS using a StartUp disk or whatever.

Type 'format d:' if that is the partition you want to format.

[Budfred]

I believe you can actually do the format from inside Win2K. I have it and just checked in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management. I believe it allows you to Format under Storage, Disk Management. I have a drive that is not even partitioned and it will allow me to create a partition, then on my other drives it allows the option of formatting...

When you get all that done, I suggest you also stop by Black Viper (http://www.blkviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm) and use some of his tweaks to streamline and turn Messenger off.....

[Jhorner1]

Don't use fdisk, and don't boot to a DOS prompt. To format from within Win200 - Start-settings-control panel-Administrative tools-Computer management-disk management. Then right click on the partition that you want to format, and select format from the pop up menu. This works very well.

[LadyGrey]

Whooohoooo, all formatted just as nice and neat and perty as ya please!:D I took a look Budfred and JH at the Admin folder and there is was disk management and the option to partition and format, just awesome!!
I make myself so mad cause I really don't know the capabilities of W2K, what it can really do! I've got to go get books on it and do some studying! By the time I figure it all out tho Microstinkers will stop supporting it and boom, all that knowledge gone to the birds.
I love Black Vipers site! I went there a long time ago and tweaked my brothers machine, very carefully of course, but it really did improve the performance! Just have to be very careful, if I didn't understand what it was and what it did or I didn't understand his explanation of it then I left it alone!!!
I've now got programs saved in Donnie's partition that I won't have to download again, just update if I ever need to and SP4 is on disk so that is just way coool!:cool: That didn't cost me anything but time and I just set it to download and went on about my domestic engineer duties, so Microstinkers lost that round!!:D

I've been eyeing the bomb here. I liked FTTs suggestion about Linux, I've been very curious about that as I've heard so much on it. I've got a feeling tho that the bomb is just not capable of running it. It's a 98 you know and has all of 6Gig HDD and 300mhz CPU, I think it only has like 64MB of RAM so I'm just not sure it would run it? I'll have to go look up the minimum requirements and all the info on Linux and see. I'm almost wondering if I can't just use the case, it's a microATX case I'm pretty sure, it's about half the size of mine and Donnie's and just build a very very cheap system in it to play with. I think we did real well with Donnie's, with everything that I needed, the computer components, cables,anti-static mat the grand total came in at about $435-$440 so we did really really well!! It would have been some more but I had the old Gforce2 MMX 400 that I used for him so that saved us some right there and the MB had onboard sound which is working quite nicely. I'm gonna keep looking around for a newer video card but Donnie just doesn't do any gaming on the puter, he just surfs around all the Disney sites and Movie sites, stuff like that so unless I find a huge steal on a video card I think I'll just leave well enough alone with that. In looking for all the components I needed for Donnie's machine I saw lots and lots of stuff at NewEgg (just love them to death) that would be just perfect for a small system like what I have in mind for the bomb maybe. It wouldn't be used for anything but playing on so I could really get away dirt cheap. I could go to the pawn shops around here too and get another monitor and keyboards and mouses are a dime a dozen so that wouldn't be anything to worry about. Ooooh I feel another system build coming on!:D Lord, once that computer bug bites ya you don't have a prayer! Thanks very much for all the help!!! LG;)

[pave_spectre]

That old bomb will easily run a linux distro, a few still specify their minimum requirements as being a 386 with about 500 MB hard drive and you could easily install on less than you have there.:eek:
Obviously you may not be able to install every package available to install but you shouldnt need to anyway.;)

[Jhorner1]

The thing to remember is that Win2000 is an improvement on NT, and both versions of XP are improvements on Win200, so most of what you learn about Win200 applies to XP.