Gman, I thank you for your time and expertise! I'll print this information out for the time when I will be able to read it thoroughly. The only USB port on the back that is being used is the printer. Then all I really have to look for is an external drive that will use the USB 2.0? Now, just to make sure, will my system be able to handle the external drive that Sir Troth found? "Maxtor 500GB OneTouch 4 External Hard Drive http://tinyurl.com/49wa9x " however this one ends soon, as I recall. Seems like there was another mentioned, but I haven't re-found the link for it so far. I'll look around a bit before I decide. Thanks so much for all your help, Sammi GuitarMan wrote: > Sammi, > No SATA, eSATA or Firewire support, but it does do USB 2.0, which > will > put you at the speeds enjoyed by most of us with external hard drive > connections. There are two front panel and four back panel > connections, so > you should be alright for locating an usused one. I will mention > that the > ones at the back of the system are hardwired to the mainboard, so > they will > be more reliable for connecting an external drive. The cable from > the front > ones is more prone to picking up noise as it travels through the case. > > > As for replacement RAM, the mainboard's chipset can most likely > handle > the 4GB that SIW showed, but the rest of the board would also need to > support it before it would work. The 2GB limitation is caused by the > number > of memory slots (2) that were installed on this particular mainboard > since > each slot can only handle up to 1GB.. Just one more reason why I > build my > own systems. > > Your board supports DDR-333 & 400Mhz. rated memory. The > marketing names > for these two types are PC2700 and PC3200 respectively. I noted that > there > is a serious speed limitation created when running a Celeron-based > CPU, but > that's not the case here. So, your best bet is to go with a pair of > PC3200 > sticks. The board does not include support for dual-channel memory, > but it > will still be cheaper to get the two as a matched set. It will also > allow > them to later be reused in a system that does support dual-channel, > if the > opportunity should arise. > > According to Newegg's Memory Configurator, the memory found at the > following link will work fine with your system. I took the liberty of > specifying 2GB of PC3200, but that can be manipulated if you wish to > look at > something designed to run a little slower. The main differences in > prices > you'll see are usually the result of different CAS latency limits of > the > different RAM offered. While it's a bit more complicated than this > summation, the lower the CAS number, the faster the RAM. Most power > users > will spend the extra for CAS2 without thinking twice, while the > majority of > RAM available on retail store shelves is more likely to be CAS3 (and > may > cost just as much as the CAS2 if bought there). Pay particular > attention to > the number of reviews each item has (next to the egg rating just > below the > pictures for each). It will tell you how popular the RAM is for the > Newegg > crowd. Finally, the one with the award (G.SKILL @ $75 w/ free > shipping) is > the one I would most likely recommend. > > http://tinyurl.com/3qs62f > > Peace, > Gman > > "The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked" > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sammi" <sammi@xxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 5:51 PM > Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Burning question--Lil > > >> OK Gman...you got me. LOL. I was fairly sure that it was, but >> thought I should ask and make sure. AND...I see that the 'memory >> capacity' is 4096, does that mean I am wrong about the 2Gb maximum? >> Or does this refer to something else? >> >> Here is what SIW says about the motherboard: --------------------------------------------------------------- Please remember to trim your replies (including this sentence and everything below it) and adjust the subject line as necessary. To unsubscribe or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/ To contact only the PCTT Mod Squad, write to: pctechtalk-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ---------------------------------------------------------------