Scratch
archived forums
#1 2011-08-21 23:36:06
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
My computer refurbishment mission
I recently stumbled upon an old Dell Dimension 8250 in my garage recently, and I thought to myself: "Hey! Why not try to upgrade it a bit! It's old and broken anyway, so why not try?"
And so my mission begins.
Progress Bar:
|| | | | | 5%
Almost done planning.
If you have any suggestions on what I should do with it, please do suggest.
And by the way, the specifications are here.
UPDATE 8/22:
I just remembered why we put the computer in our garage. For some reason, after starting it up, after about half an hour of using it, it would get the blue screen of death. However, it was just fine when we started it up again. Until it got the BSoD again. Does anyone recognize this problem? Is it with the OS? The HDD? The motherboard itself? I think it's because of the HDD being corrupted, but I'm not too experienced with these things. Does anyone know anything that could help?
UPDATE 8/23:
Blue Screen of Death problem resolved. Looking at some possible new parts. The computer itself uses RDRAM at a clock frequency of either 800 or 1066 MHz. I'm going to go with the 800 MHz because it allows the most RAM possible: 2 GB. Also looking at a faster Pentium 4 processor, preferably with the Prescott 90 NM technology. A video card upgrade is a must too. I would like at least 256 MB of dedicated memory. And of course, I need a bigger hard drive. So that pretty much sums up my plans. I hope this works out well 
.
Last edited by throughthefire (2011-08-23 20:59:47)
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline
#2 2011-08-21 23:47:03
#3 2011-08-21 23:48:47
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
veggieman001 wrote:
That's cool
It's XP, no?
Correct.
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline
#4 2011-08-21 23:52:23
- veggieman001
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2010-02-20
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
throughthefire wrote:
veggieman001 wrote:
That's cool
It's XP, no?Correct.
Cool. You gonna keep it that way?
Posts: 20000 - Show all posts
Offline
#6 2011-08-22 08:39:16
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
GLaDOS2 wrote:
Why does this make me think of Toy Story 2 when the guy fixes the penguin? XD
XD
And cool is this.
Yeah, I'm mostly inactive. I check in once in a while though. If you want to contact me, I have a contact form at my website, http://escratch.org
Offline
#7 2011-08-22 08:44:53
Offline
#8 2011-08-22 15:22:01
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
veggieman001 wrote:
throughthefire wrote:
veggieman001 wrote:
That's cool
It's XP, no?Correct.
Cool. You gonna keep it that way?
Nah, I'm thinking of changing it to Linux or Ubuntu.
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline
#9 2011-08-22 16:28:39
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
throughthefire wrote:
veggieman001 wrote:
throughthefire wrote:
Correct.
Cool. You gonna keep it that way?
Nah, I'm thinking of changing it to Linux or Ubuntu.
Yeah, Linux should solve your BSoD problems. I advise you to try Salix or WattOS. WattOS is Ubuntu based, so it has tons of software available, but Salix is more stable and a bit lighter because of it's Slackware base.
Last edited by urhungry (2011-08-22 16:29:19)
Offline
#11 2011-08-22 16:47:13
- veggieman001
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2010-02-20
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
throughthefire wrote:
veggieman001 wrote:
throughthefire wrote:
Correct.Cool. You gonna keep it that way?
Nah, I'm thinking of changing it to Linux or Ubuntu.
Oh that's cool. I like Ubuntu myself.
Posts: 20000 - Show all posts
Offline
#12 2011-08-23 20:45:02
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
veggieman001 wrote:
throughthefire wrote:
veggieman001 wrote:
Cool. You gonna keep it that way?Nah, I'm thinking of changing it to Linux or Ubuntu.
Oh that's cool. I like Ubuntu myself.
Cool. I'll install it as soon as I can.
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline
#13 2011-08-23 21:12:36
- jji7skyline
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2010-03-08
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
1. Get better processor... (optional if installing linux)
2. Install graphics card
3. Install Wifi card
4. Install larger internal HDD
5. Install Linux Ubuntu (or XUBUNTU for even more speed...)
Last edited by jji7skyline (2011-08-23 21:12:55)
I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello!
Offline
#14 2011-08-23 21:25:24
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
Install windows 7 for functionality
get a 2TB hard drive add-on
Install Linux
Get 16GB of RAM.
Get a super NVIDIA graphics card.
Get a super-awesome processor.
Get some more RAM.
Get a super video card.
Congratulations. You have a super-uber computer for about 800 dollars compared ot like 2500.
Triple-boot. You'll be fine.
Back in my day.... there were no laws that censored the internet... now, there are.... nah.
Offline
#15 2011-08-24 00:21:41
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
bbbeb wrote:
Install windows 7 for functionality
get a 2TB hard drive add-on
Install Linux
Get 16GB of RAM.
Get a super NVIDIA graphics card.
Get a super-awesome processor.
Get some more RAM.
Get a super video card.
Congratulations. You have a super-uber computer for about 800 dollars compared ot like 2500.
Triple-boot. You'll be fine.
Not possible.
First of all, the computer only supports the Ultra ATA/IDE hard drive interface instead of today's SATA. Well, I could use a USB external hard drive, but I don't feel like it.
Next, the RAM setup only allows a max of 2 GB at 800 MHz.
New NVIDIA graphics cards, especially advanced ones, cost a lot, and I only have a budget of about $150 at the max. Also, it uses an AGP 4X port for graphics, while most of today's graphics cards use PCI ports.
The socket for the processor is a Socket 728, I believe. It only supports single core Pentium 4 processors.
Of course, I'm using Linux, but most of those things I can't do.
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline
#16 2011-08-24 21:41:50
- throughthefire
- Scratcher
- Registered: 2009-07-09
- Posts: 1000+
Re: My computer refurbishment mission
bump
Back. For now. Maybe.
Offline