Computer people PLEASE help the village idiot

[Amanzi]

OK, I am completley moronic when it comes to computers. I have an HP pavillion 7920. The thing runs on windows ME and is completley hoky. Freezes, my cd writer, not longer reads let alone writes

This is my dilemma. We have put in more memory and upgraded the video card (umm husband likes to play games). I was thinking about getting a new processor to speed things up and if necessary a new hard drive. It goes without saying I will need a new cd drive as well.

I know a guy who will install the componants for me, but I would like some other opinions as to what I should buy to upgrade. Please help the village idiot... suggestions of what processor to go with etc. I dont even know what my hp has at the moment.

[kevin]

A processor, hard drive, and cd drive... not much more to a computer besides the plastic cover. I guess there is the fan....

[Amanzi]

Thanks for the suggestions...

[GalvestonDuck]

A processor, hard drive, and cd drive... not much more to a computer besides the plastic cover. I guess there is the fan....

In other words, buy a new one?

Not sure if that's what Kevin is saying, but it's what I've been thinking about for me, Bron. My old computer got zapped during a storm right before Allison. A friend was planning to buy her hubby a new computer for Father's Day and he asked her if they could sell their old one to me. So, it's the one I've been using since then. However, it doesn't have a CD burner and it's still running on Win98. For a little more than the cost of a burner and the software, I could just get a new computer, so that's what I'm planning on doing. Would it work for you also? I've seen ads for Dell machines with WinXP and CD-RW drives (heck, I don't think they even sell new computers without them these days since floppies are becoming obsolete) for under $500.

[Amanzi]

I guessed as much Duck..

My dillemma is that I need something that is going to last me at least 6 years. Im moving back to South Africa in 4 months and I need to upgrade before I do that. I cant afford a new dell, I can however get windows xp, a processor and a new hard drive for around $200.00 (Dont ask how Or ill have to kill you ) So I just need to know what componants people reccomend.

[gtalum]

Definitely just buy a new machine. Dell now has a decent system for $299.

[kevin]

Did the parts fall off the truck?

[drudd1]

That is a tough question to answer. Bear in mind that you have both a cpu and a motherboard, and there are compatibility issues. Simply replacing the processor may not be an option. Given the fact that you are going to also replace the hard drive, CD drive, etc., I would just go with another system. Shop around, and look for a good deal running at 2.6ghz or better, since your husband likes to play games. As time goes on, he may really get hooked, and at that point RAM and Vid cards become issues, but that is another topic altogether

[kmanWX]

OK, I am completley moronic when it comes to computers. I have an HP pavillion 7920. The thing runs on windows ME and is completley hoky. Freezes, my cd writer, not longer reads let alone writes

This is my dilemma. We have put in more memory and upgraded the video card (umm husband likes to play games). I was thinking about getting a new processor to speed things up and if necessary a new hard drive. It goes without saying I will need a new cd drive as well.

I know a guy who will install the componants for me, but I would like some other opinions as to what I should buy to upgrade. Please help the village idiot... suggestions of what processor to go with etc. I dont even know what my hp has at the moment.

what exactly do you need this computer to do?

And what are the current specs of it?

[yoda]

That is a tough question to answer. Bear in mind that you have both a cpu and a motherboard, and there are compatibility issues. Simply replacing the processor may not be an option. Given the fact that you are going to also replace the hard drive, CD drive, etc., I would just go with another system. Shop around, and look for a good deal running at 2.6ghz or better, since your husband likes to play games. As time goes on, he may really get hooked, and at that point RAM and Vid cards become issues, but that is another topic altogether

Please pause as I turn on my English translator...

JK... I understand what you said. The Vid Card you mentioned though can become a big issue in the long run depending on what games you play/have.

[kmanWX]

That is a tough question to answer. Bear in mind that you have both a cpu and a motherboard, and there are compatibility issues. Simply replacing the processor may not be an option. Given the fact that you are going to also replace the hard drive, CD drive, etc., I would just go with another system. Shop around, and look for a good deal running at 2.6ghz or better, since your husband likes to play games. As time goes on, he may really get hooked, and at that point RAM and Vid cards become issues, but that is another topic altogether

if he likes to plays games than i would invest into a GFX card..and more ram before I would invest into a CPU.

Than again i need specs on this system..

anything 1.4 GHZ or higher is consider good...

Another thing to do is overclocking.. However you need to be really expirence to do that..Than again HP has there BIO's cpu voltage settings govern to only a certain rate. You could used 3rd party tools but that could cause errors. So that opition is out..

[coriolis]

Yeah, Bron, da specs, da specs.

One other option is to either reinstall the operating system, or wiping it and installing XP on the machine. That may make a remarkable improvement. that could make your CD writer start working again.

I am still fighting with ME, and it's got to be the most tempermental version of windows there ever was.

My work regularly auctions off used desktop machines as they buy new ones. At present, 800 mhz machines with XP are selling for like, $50-$60.

[CaptinCrunch]

OK, I am completley moronic when it comes to computers. I have an HP pavillion 7920. The thing runs on windows ME and is completley hoky. Freezes, my cd writer, not longer reads let alone writes

This is my dilemma. We have put in more memory and upgraded the video card (umm husband likes to play games). I was thinking about getting a new processor to speed things up and if necessary a new hard drive. It goes without saying I will need a new cd drive as well.

I know a guy who will install the componants for me, but I would like some other opinions as to what I should buy to upgrade. Please help the village idiot... suggestions of what processor to go with etc. I dont even know what my hp has at the moment.

First things first, get rid of windows ME it SUCKS!! Load XP pro if you can if not home will do, make sure it has at least service pack 1a included, that should fix allot of your issues right off.

Q. How much memory do you have right now? you should have NO less than 512 megs of at least pc 133mhz SDRAM.

Q. How much HD space do you have? XP will use at least 1 gig of the drive. 40 gig drives are standard now days

Q. How fast is the processor? If you upgrade go for at least 1.8 gig htz (AMD) all the way!! The faster the better.

Remember if you do upgrade the Processor you may need to upgrade the Motherboard and Memory (to DDR) as well, most all the NEW motherboards use DDR memory with the faster processors.

I hope that helps you, if you have any more Q's just ask.

P.S. Wal-mart has a Compaq AMD 1.8 gig, 512 DDR memory, 40 gig HD, cd/cdrw/DVD comdo, with 17" monitor, keyboard and mouse for $478.00

[Persepone]

I agree that if you get rid of Windows ME for Windows XP, that might fix your problems! Windows ME is cr*p!

However, given the cost of the software alone, it might just be cheaper to buy a new computer &/or buy one of those "used" desktop machines from some company that is upgrading their computers!

If you don't need the latest and greatest, you can get some really good deals if you buy from some company that is upgrading and selling off their old machines.

Shop around! Ask your friends who work for mid-size to large companies...

[DaylilyDawn]

I agree with the others, get rid of Windows ME. It was on my computer when I got it and I hated it. I upgraded the memory on it before I had had it 6 months because 128mb was not enough to run it. I now have XP on it with 512 mb of memory. If games are going to be played on it I also reccommned the NVidia GeForce MX video cards.

[Guest]

I suggest purchasing a Dell computer, but nothing that is pre-built. If your husband likes to dinker around with "POSSIBLE" setups, he needs to go to dell.com and customize everything from CPU/Memory down to the type of mouse!!!

[Meso]

It's all relative to what you want to do with the machine... I'd suggest building a new p.c and just transfering your current components that you don't feel the need to upgrade.

Documentational work / able to run new'ish' games I'd suggest :

Pentium 4 2.2 ghz
512mb ram
60-80gig hdd
dvd-wr (Quite cheap for what they can do)
Any p4 compatible decent mother board
Graphics card 64mb +


_____________________________________

I'm used to gaming where you hve to upgrade about ever year, and have high specs, But that should work for normal home usage..
IMHO

[Amanzi]

Thanks guys. You really did help me out here!

I never knew so many people had issues with windows ME. I guess thats why not many computers still run on that OS.

Daylilly that is the video card my hubby bought. Currently I have a celeron processor. We did install extra memory. Im not sure how much it was, I do know it was not a huge amount.

You guys have put my mind at rest, and now I know at least what to look for. I have the xp home addition software, but I did not want to load it untill I found out if I needed to upgrade other areas first. I need this machine basically to run a small home business as well as my husbands gaming addiction.

What drives me crazy is that I cant find out what this HP came with! Besides the celeron processor I cant find out anything else. I looked under my sytem properties and it says 255mb of ram, file and virtual memory 32-bit. Thats all I can find out.. told you I was the village idiot.

[CaptinCrunch]

What drives me crazy is that I cant find out what this HP came with! Besides the celeron processor I cant find out anything else. I looked under my sytem properties and it says 255mb of ram, file and virtual memory 32-bit. Thats all I can find out.. told you I was the village idiot.

Here is a link to a little program that will tell you everything you need to know about whats inside your PC.... It's FREEware

PC Wizard 2005.1.65

http://www.cpuid.org/index.php

More Info on PC Wizard 2005.1.65
http://www.cpuid.org/pcw.php

[Amanzi]

WHOOOOOO thanks so much Capin!!