red arrow indicates where the RAM is, hence i cant see it. see how many slots you have. how much RAM do you have now? if you feel comfortable, remove the RAM you have now and tell me what it says on it, hopefully it will have size and speed listed. of course, it wont tell you it is, will just say something like 512MB 333Mhz. or something similar. also, if you can, find the model number of the motherboard (the mainboard) normally in between the PCI slots which are inside the blue box. model number should be big white numbers or something like PMV8 or K7T-266. this will tell us what the board is and all information regarding what it is compatible with.

oh yeah, while you are at it, right click on My Computer and select Properties. this will tell you how much RAM you have as well as your processor speed. the post it up.

[IMG]local://upfiles/5310/BB2103212ED74A828A82A28C7BABA966.jpg[/IMG]

 

See, I dont have any windows disks or anything. for some reason I didnt get any. Right now I have Windows XP, I wanted to get Windows XP Media Center, until I saw how much it was. haha. But do I need a CD to do what you are saying?

 

dang, too many of us trying to help at ONCE, literally....lol!

 

LOL. Its says 256 DDR 266, and the only white numbers I see say, PCI 2 CN13

 

Is this HD okay, or am I looking at something wrong?

HARDDRIVE

 

i dont like Maxtors, that one will work, but i only buy Seagates, but thats just me, never had one of theirs fail on me.

here are some seagate HDs.

http://tinyurl.com/2j4ohe

did you buy yor comp at a store? is it a name brand like Dell or HP or anything, doesnt look like it but still. see if there are any other numbers on the board anywhere, or alteast a manufacturer name. they might not be white, just have been in my experience. they should be bigger than most of the other text though.

 

That looks like a cheap/mid-range case... look at the hook enclosures.

Harddrives are something I'd buy from a local computer store... NOT Staples or a business store (recent I've been seeing 100% markup on drives at staples - a 250gig IDE for 169, instead of 88 CDN.

I've had a number of maxtors blow-up... luckily failures were detected early, backups were done properly, and so no data was lost.I too have gone to seagate.

Which version of XP - home I would assume, but it could be professional. Do you have a cd burner? What burning software do you have? Do you want the cd image for your version of XP?

Sorry Rasco - I'll try not to get in the way... I see a computer topic and I try to help... sometimes to the threads hinderance.

 

no worries woot, this is not my show...lol. im just trying to give the best advice i can, being in the IT world i get confused all the time, so i cant even imagine knowing nothing and trying to figure it out (not saying you dont know anything D2M...lol). i was just commenting on the fact all 3 of our comments posted at the same time. feel free to add your advice anytime.

 

Anything on the drive. Almost ever. The guys were I work bring the old hd's to me and we run a 1/2 drillbit right through them.(kinda fun)

 

Yeah it name brand. It is an HP a200n Desktop. But like I said, it 3 years old. Also, could I just by an external hard drive and run it on there? or will that not allow installations of programs and such. Also, I have Windows XP Home Edition. I bought it from Circuit City a while back like I said, I bought it new.

I have no idea what the hell is going on. I just want to have it up and running for my work., thats all. I do have a CD burner with Roxio on it I think. I havent used this computer in about 1 year, but like I said I turned it on and everything works for far. Also, I have wireless interent around because as of now I have only used laptops for work. Can I buy one of the USB Routers things for the wireless connection istead of having to buy internet service. Thanks for all your help guys!!!