Help to set up an old PC with no hard drive please.

TakeThis

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

Mmm, I took the psu out to put into my old pc and........didn't plug the cables back on!!

They are now working but linux isn't loading
I wonder if I have the bois wrong.

thanks for the help
dx

Perhaps Puppy Linux is not the one for you. Why not the original XP as before? It should already have an XP licence.

xxdeebeexx

TakeThis wrote: »

Perhaps Puppy Linux is not the one for you. Why not the original XP as before? It should already have an XP licence.

What do I load the XP onto?
Can I run it off an external hard drive?


thanks

dx

TakeThis

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

What do I load the XP onto?
Can I run it off an external hard drive?


thanks

dx

Why did I think that you were actually going to buy a HDD for that machine?

Anyway, click here for instruction on how to change the Boot Order.

In addition, it appears that the machine may have two SATA connectors, so perhaps you can connect your HDD to it in order to be able to retrieve your data.

TakeThis

Some more guidance for you here.

You can attach your SATA drive to the DELL(details within the link), use Ubuntu to help you retrieve your data and then run a clean install of XP to the drive. Top up the RAM to 1GB if not already and use for general surfing.

Only has an AGP 8x Port. Does it already have a graphics card installed? DVD Writer?

All quite cheap and easy to swap/upgrade.

For example; ATI Radeon™ 9550 £15.99 A DX9 card.

DVD Writers are as cheap as chips.

gonzo127

second silly question, your copy of puppy linux, have you burnt the ISO as a image or just copied the file onto a disk?

other ones to try would be Linux Mint LXDE or Lubuntu

silly question 3, now the disk drive has got power, have you checked that the data cable (IDE or SATA) is connected and have you tried moving it on the motherboard to any other slots? - can double check this in the bios to see if the disk drive is recognised

TakeThis

If you want to get a new IDE HDD for the DELL, this 80GB model should be adequate enough for £14.59.

If you need cables for your existing SATA drive, you can find them here for £1.

xxdeebeexx

Thank you so much for your suggestions and help.
I think I might be confusing you all.
This is what has happened......
My 6 yr old PC has broken down. I have been expecting it , so everything is backed up on an external hard drive.

I have received 2 PC's from freecycle, both with their hard drives removed. I was hoping to remove the PSU from one of them to put into my broken PC. Neither PSUs fit.

There are quite a number of issues with my PC and monitor... they are simply worn out.

I then thought that I could put my hard drive into one of the freecycle computers but the fittings are different.

I have managed to partially connect an old windows 98 hard drive but the freecycle PC really didn't like it.... the configuration was completely wrong.

This is what I wanted to do.
I thought that I could load PUppy Linux to access my external hard drive and boot up windows xp from there and run the hard drive from outside the machine.
Puppy Linux has worked brilliantly for me in the past. I have a perfect copy on cd

I have bought a hard drive enclosure (waiting for it to arrive)

This evening, someone on Freecycle has offered me a Dell tower......without the hard drive.

I wanted the PC to limp through the Ebay season so that I could buy a laptop some time in the New Year.

It all seems very confusing to me and I think I have taken on more than I can handle. My back room looks like a junk yard with bits of computers all over the place!!

Thanks so much for your help

dx

TakeThis

You are not confusing us, you are confusing yourself. Perhaps because you are so keen on refurbing your original PC, that you are ignoring the fact that it could be much easier to refurb one of the machines that you have been given.

Forget about your machine for now and decide which of the machine you have been given is your fave. Then we'll work with that. No need to cannibalise the thing. Just attach your HDD, save your data with a Live CD and then run a clean install. All done in one evening.

We have already explained about the 'fittings' and also supplied diagrams. If it's so difficult, just order the 80GB drive to which I have linked and attach that to the DELL.

Is the new DELL a more modern machine?

diable

Just plug the cables in to the hard drive as you don't really need to "fix" anywhere

xxdeebeexx

TakeThis wrote: »

You are not confusing us, you are confusing yourself. Perhaps because you are so keen on refurbing your original PC, that you are ignoring the fact that it could be much easier to refurb one of the machines that you have been given.

Forget about your machine for now and decide which of the machine you have been given is your fave. Then we'll work with that. No need to cannibalise the thing. Just attach your HDD, save your data with a Live CD and then run a clean install. All done in one evening.

We have already explained about the 'fittings' and also supplied diagrams. If it's so difficult, just order the 80GB drive to which I have linked and attach that to the DELL.

Is the new DELL a more modern machine?

Right.... got you...(I think!)
I'm going for the DELL.
It's older than my original PC and has the old type fittings for the Hard drive. The hard drive has the fine pin type fittings and the Dell has the fat pins and wide flat cable.
Will these cables convert in the right direction? here

Just attach your HDD, save your data with a Live CD and then run a clean install. All done in one evening.

Ok... will the clean install come from the partition on my old Hard drive? I dont have the original Windows XP cd.. Will this configure all the setings for me?

dx