Ok Brian, ..things to remember, I've not had one bit of schooling on
any of
this. That alone says you CAN do it? Not trying to talk you into it,
I'm
more trying to remove your 'fear' of doing it>
When someone says to me 'wow you know a lot about PCs" I usually
tell my
biggest claim to fame is I've already made all the mistakes they're
afraid
to make?:)))
For the record, and this may not be by-the-book best
description..DriveSpace
was way they used to compact the data on a drive so it used less
space....kind of like making your data sit in a 'zip' folder, until
needed......kinda sorta..
And 'sys the drive means...In dos you could 'sys a drive to put the dos
system files copied to the drive. That way any commands you typed would
execute. When I 'sys'ed the drive' on that Pc, then booted with the dos
install disks, they saw the dos files now sitting on that drive.
Since it
was an upgrade version, and it saw the dos files sitting on the
drive now,
it would install just fine... In essence all I had to do once I got
to the
Dos c:\ prompt was type the dos command 'sys c:\' Pretty simple, but
when you've never had to do anything like that, And no
one living in my area (New Hampshire at the time) it took a couple
nights
for me to figure that out. I'd used a 'Mac' like computer in my
previous
job, Even figured out how to write simple programs in MacBasic on that
system... I say Mac like because it looked like a Mac and it was called
MacSym..or something to that effect, the older old timers here might
remember it... Ok I mean older PC-wise. I'm probably one of the
older people
on this list....:))))
Ok this is getting wordy, I HATE that, but I do it constantly. I LOVE
teaching newbies new stuff.:)) All I'm saying is don't let your
fears hold
you back....Follow a few simple rules and you'll be safe...And this
list is
always here if you need us.
I have a fre3ind from Kodak that ordered a kit from TigerDirect
based on my
recommendation...What I didn't' realize is the system wasn't
pre-assembled?
YIKES...This guy had the system all put together and ready to power
up...Once he mentioned he'd put it together last night, I
flipped!!:)))) INSTANT phone call.... before he hit the power
button.:)))) Good thing I
did, he'd put it together without using the standoffs that hold the
motherboard off the back side of the case?!?!? OUCH... He said He
wondered
why it seemed to fit so weird in the case? Fortunately he didn't
crack the
board by tightening it down without the standoffs. (Standoffs are
small 1/4
inch or so metal, usually brass, posts' you screw the post into the
case. In
alignment with the holes in the motherboard. Then you screw the
motherboard
screws into the top of the posts.) So he rips it all back off..
inserts the
standoffs and he's good to go... those little basics are all that's
needed.
PCs today are nothing like they used to be.. Jumpers used to be done
with
DIP switches? Want a nightmare....my 1st Reveal CDROM had markings
on the
top of it to show how to set the DIP switches..there were 6 of them
with 4
numbers on each switch, you set the numbers on each switch to match a
corresponding memory address? Yep, it didn't work.. then there was
another
diagram of those DIP settings in the manual, And still another
diagram on a
piece of paper in the box, saying this supersedes the manual? And
NOPE, none
of those setting worked at all...Took me almost a whole afternoon of
trying
every combo of those switch settings to finally get it to work.:))) Now
days? You might have to change a jumper from 1 to 3 places? BIIIIIG
difference. And if you go SATA, there's no jumpers at all. Plus you
can't
plug any of the plugs in backwards any more... ok, an IDE cable
could be put
in backwards , but that won't hurt a thing on the drive.
So all this all says is don't let it scare you. It's really not as
hard as
it looks. Especially with the newer systems. You might wind up with
driver
issues, but even that is coming to a slow down . MS takes a lot of
heat, but
they've also done a lot of things right and the drivers generally
get better
and better..
If you're still nervous, maybe buying a prebuilt system, is the way
to go,
then when you can scrape up the cash to 'play' take that older
system apart
and see how it's put together... then put it back together and boot it
up...That will give you some hands on experience building a system/
Just some thoughts....
Take care,
Bruce
-----Original Message-----
From: triadtechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:triadtechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of brian
Sent: Sunday, October 18, 2009 5:02 PM
To: triadtechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [triadtechtalk] Re: New Computer/ Win7 Upgrade
Bruce,
Thanks for your comments and it great to know of the great
experience you have accumulated learning about the ins and outs of
computer operation.
I would love to build my new system like you have done, but.......
when I read about this mother board not connection to this..., and
be sure to get this type of ... or it wont work with...
it reminds me of how my luck normally goes, " If in can go wrong it
will!" It sounds like you have a little bit on the same luck I have,
but have the knowledge to work around it!
I have installed ram, a new power supply, an internal and external
HDD, and a CD Rom 2 or 3 times.
But when I installed the first HDD and a replaced my Super disk had
a real time because of not knowing about the jumpers, the primary
and secondary designation and the like. luckily I finally got it right.
Your episode with eMachines sounds like what happened to me with my
very first computer when I knew nothing about computers, (Before the
I found the TTT and learned something!) and after a year of working
with tech service they finally said the entire computer was junk all
along and finally replaced it. It made me very apprehensive about
the dependability of computer is general.
And the learning keeps going on and on...for example, when you speak
of these I am not sure what it meas:
"DriveSpaced to look like a giant 30 meg drive?'"
"I could actually sys the driveBruce"
So I had tentatively decided to purchase at least the main desktop
computer in a stare that it would be ready and I could add or
replace other items as needed. That way if I did happen to get a
unit that wouldn't work right I could hopefully get a replacement.
Howard, maybe with your day in and day out working with old and new
systems you could give us some of you wisdom about this matter.
BRIAN
**************
Eddy wrote:
Hi Brian,
I haven't ever owned only 1 prebuilt system in my life?:)) I've built
every
system I've owned except the 1st one...That was an oooooold IBM
case with
a
286/12 CPU, a half meg of ram and a half meg video card. Also had a
20 meg
hard drive, DriveSpaced to look like a giant 30 meg drive?:))) Running
windows3.1.....It was given to me by one of my kids' boyfriend at the
time..
Within the 2nd week I wound up messing it up
completely....formatted the
drive...that's when I found out the true meaning of the term
'upgrade=version?:))) Dos 6.22 wouldn't install because it was an
upgrade
...Took me 2 nights to figure out if I bypassed the install and got
to a
dos
prompt in the setup, I could actually sys the drive...THEN it would
install
just fine...That's pretty much got me hooked on the internal
workings of
PCs
and Windows in general..
Anywho..
As for systems I'd recommend..I won't really recommend
anything...there's
good And bad in every brand you get. Sometimes it's the system,
sometimes
it's the user...sometimes it's a combination of both...
My daughter's father in law. Had an emachine.. ran it for several
years
worked extremely well. One of my clients also had a much newer
Emachine
that
didn't work so swell...to the point we sent it back because the HD
kept
losing data..not just bits and pieces the whole drive would wipe
out. Sent
it back to Emachines...they sent it back to me.. I did 1 boot up..
installed
some windows updates.. on the 2nd boot up.. 'No operating system
found'
error?:))) I had to do clean install all over again. ..3 months
later it
happened to the guy again. This time, he bought an HP or whatever
it was
and
gave me the dead system...I played with it, finally found out the SATA
drive
cable to the mother board was funky. It's one of those cables with the
clip
on the end instead of just the normal push-type. I flipped it
around so
the
lip end was on the motherboard. Ran that for 2 months with no
issues at
all.
Sold it for $150 after telling the new owner what the original
issue was.
That was over 3 years ago? The point is, the original owner now thinks
eMachine is a terrible system. The new owner now thinks eMachines are
super?:)))
As for Win7, I'm not real sold on some of the layout changes, like
the way
they now do the Quick Launch.....doesn't mean it's bad, it's just a
matter
of getting used to it. Some of the hardest 'selling' points of
vista/win7
is
they made XP too good and it's been running too long. XP people
looking
for
add/remove programs will be scratching their heads a lot. For me it
still boils down to no compelling reason to upgrade. Aside from
it
runs better and maybe some security side issues. I'll have 2
laptops and 2
systems here running win 7 . but if I had to pay full prices for those
upgrades odds are hi I'd only have 2 of them running.
Oh yeah, as for buying local or online... that's a toughie. One of my
clients bought an HP laptop online thru eBay, runs real strong runs
great
good deal...He had one issue on OOBE when he 1st got it, called the
eBay
store owner and got a quick work around. No problems since. That
was about
4
or 5 months ago. Me, I bought an Acer low power laptop from
Wal-Mart early
this spring also with no issues at all. A couple months after that
I sold
that laptop to my daughter and bought a Toshiba higher powered
laptop from
Bestbuy. Within the 1st week it froze up completely 4 times. I did a
recovery back to day 1..then it happened again in the 2nd week and
I took
it
back and got a replacement instantly. That system hasn't had any
issues at
all ....so far.
You make the call on that one.:)))))
HTH
Bruce
-----Original Message-----
From: triadtechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:triadtechtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of brian
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2009 10:27 PM
To: triadtechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [triadtechtalk] New Computer/ Win7 Upgrage
Bruce,
Ok, thanks for checking in; glad you are still out there and can
offer a
helping hand.
I remember you were one of the group who switched to Vista and made it
work.
That experience should help other who have problems with Win7.
The first thing I would like to get some feed back on, is the pros and
cons
of buying a local computer or on off the internet.
What have been your experiences?
What are your recommendations?
If I get one local it would sure help is I have trouble with it,
but it
seems that with an on line purchase a person can get the items that
one
really wants in the computer.
What have you done in the past and how has it worked out?
BRIAN
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