Salvaged Parts - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

AlphaFox830 · 06-28-2003, 07:16 PM

Question,

I salvaged an old PC from next to the dumpster earlier this week. All of the PCI cards were gone, but the disk drives, RAM, and hard drive were all still intact, clean, and dry.

What should i do if i want to reclaim some of this equipment and install it into my current desktop?

The HD is a Quantum Fireball ST. (Their website says 1.8~6.8 gig)

My Desktop is a dell dimention L8000CXE, WinXP-Pro , 258meg ram, ATI 7500.

Any advice you could give me would be great. I want to install the harddrive into the dell, but i want to format it first.

Can i plug it in, and use FDISK to format it?

FOX

cheerios · 06-28-2003, 08:10 PM

um, depending on hte age, the RAM is probably worthless. I'm assuming you have some basic knowledge regarding the innards of your PC... that said, you SHOULD be able to set the jumpers to slave, hoot it up to an empty IDE connector (preferably on the same chain as your current HDD), and boot. if you boot off a boot disk w/ FDISK on it, you can reformat it that way. It should show up as a D: drive, if you've just got a C: already, or the next available letter, otherwise. That's actually a really good idea. dunno what you're gonna do with 2 to 7 gigs of HDD, but have a ball w/ em.

mayhap check if the ram is compatible w/ your mobo and if you have a free slot... that box could use s'more ram! (the OS itself will eat all 256 you have now).

westothemax · 06-28-2003, 09:12 PM

Yep, just do as the previous poster said... just use FDISK to clear out whatever's there now and create a new partition. Then use format to make it usable. See here: http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1

Anyway, is there anything on the RAM (a sticker, or etched in, or otherwise) that tells what type and speed it is? You should be able to find all sorts of info on RAM by searching the Internet which could help you identify what you have.

AlphaFox830 · 06-29-2003, 08:27 AM

The Ram is made by Micron Technologies, SN: MT16d232M-6X. Their website says that its 8meg. I do have 2 empty ram slots, but i could just go out and buy a stick of 128 ram for less hassle then 16meg would give me.

Thank eveyone for helpin me out. Thats why i come here.

FOX

Konichiwaneko · 06-29-2003, 08:40 AM

it's probably 72 pin, you are propbablly using Dimms with are 168 pins....yeah the math doesn't work does it

Right now it's better use to buy 256 megs or ram, which in windows XP can make a world of difference

The_Dude · 06-29-2003, 08:56 AM

yaeh, dont put that 8mb ram in.

you can always use an extra cdrom drive.

put the current one on master (using hte jumpers) and put the new one as slave (using it's jumpers).

i'd just save the floppy drive

Antagony · 06-29-2003, 04:51 PM

Floppy drives make great projectiles! I keep one around in case I need to break a window.

cheerios · 06-30-2003, 12:56 AM

hell, for that matter, send one my way, the one we have no worky, and stupid profs want floppy disks w/ HW on em! :P I would honestly suggest you drop the cash and get a 512 of RAM for that beast. you'll be AMAZED at how much "snappier" things can get when you've got enough memory to run em.

good luck!

yotta · 06-30-2003, 02:30 AM

I'd personaly have a poke at the hard drive contents...

zer010gic · 06-30-2003, 05:47 AM

You could always do something charitable and rebuild the machine for a friend that can’t afford a pc or donate to a local charity.

merkerguitars · 07-01-2003, 12:06 AM

Put the hard drive in and use disk manager.....easiest way to do it. Would make a nice ghost drive. Then you can shut off xp's restore feature....

piscopo · 07-02-2003, 08:09 PM

Yeah the stuff in the computer sounds way outdated. 8mb is not worth your time.

06-28-2003, 07:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
AlphaFox830 Tilted Location: Chicago	Salvaged Parts Question, I salvaged an old PC from next to the dumpster earlier this week. All of the PCI cards were gone, but the disk drives, RAM, and hard drive were all still intact, clean, and dry. What should i do if i want to reclaim some of this equipment and install it into my current desktop? The HD is a Quantum Fireball ST. (Their website says 1.8~6.8 gig) My Desktop is a dell dimention L8000CXE, WinXP-Pro , 258meg ram, ATI 7500. Any advice you could give me would be great. I want to install the harddrive into the dell, but i want to format it first. Can i plug it in, and use FDISK to format it? FOX

06-29-2003, 08:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
AlphaFox830 Tilted Location: Chicago	The Ram is made by Micron Technologies, SN: MT16d232M-6X. Their website says that its 8meg. I do have 2 empty ram slots, but i could just go out and buy a stick of 128 ram for less hassle then 16meg would give me. Thank eveyone for helpin me out. Thats why i come here. FOX __________________ Self Styled Pirate

06-29-2003, 08:40 AM	#5 (permalink)
Konichiwaneko The Dreaded Pixel Nazi Location: Inside my camera	it's probably 72 pin, you are propbablly using Dimms with are 168 pins....yeah the math doesn't work does it Right now it's better use to buy 256 megs or ram, which in windows XP can make a world of difference __________________ Hesitate. Pull me in. Breath on breath. Skin on skin. Loving deep. Falling fast. All right here. Let this last. Here with our lips locked tight. Baby the time is right for us... to forget about us.

06-29-2003, 08:56 AM	#6 (permalink)
The_Dude The GrandDaddy of them all! Location: Austin, TX	yaeh, dont put that 8mb ram in. you can always use an extra cdrom drive. put the current one on master (using hte jumpers) and put the new one as slave (using it's jumpers). i'd just save the floppy drive __________________ "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." - Darrel K Royal

06-29-2003, 04:51 PM	#7 (permalink)
Antagony Psychopathic Akimbo Action Pirate Location: ...between Christ and Belial.	Floppy drives make great projectiles! I keep one around in case I need to break a window. __________________ On the outside I'm jazz, but my soul is rock and roll. Sleep is a waste of time. Join the Insomniac Club. "GYOH GWAH-DAH GREH BLAAA! SROH WIH DIH FLIH RYOHH!!" - The Locust

06-28-2003, 08:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
cheerios Banned Location: 'bout 2 feet from my iMac	um, depending on hte age, the RAM is probably worthless. I'm assuming you have some basic knowledge regarding the innards of your PC... that said, you SHOULD be able to set the jumpers to slave, hoot it up to an empty IDE connector (preferably on the same chain as your current HDD), and boot. if you boot off a boot disk w/ FDISK on it, you can reformat it that way. It should show up as a D: drive, if you've just got a C: already, or the next available letter, otherwise. That's actually a really good idea. dunno what you're gonna do with 2 to 7 gigs of HDD, but have a ball w/ em. mayhap check if the ram is compatible w/ your mobo and if you have a free slot... that box could use s'more ram! (the OS itself will eat all 256 you have now).

06-28-2003, 09:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
westothemax Insane Location: Bay Area	Yep, just do as the previous poster said... just use FDISK to clear out whatever's there now and create a new partition. Then use format to make it usable. See here: http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1 Anyway, is there anything on the RAM (a sticker, or etched in, or otherwise) that tells what type and speed it is? You should be able to find all sorts of info on RAM by searching the Internet which could help you identify what you have.

06-30-2003, 12:56 AM	#8 (permalink)
cheerios Banned Location: 'bout 2 feet from my iMac	hell, for that matter, send one my way, the one we have no worky, and stupid profs want floppy disks w/ HW on em! :P I would honestly suggest you drop the cash and get a 512 of RAM for that beast. you'll be AMAZED at how much "snappier" things can get when you've got enough memory to run em. good luck!

06-30-2003, 02:30 AM	#9 (permalink)
yotta Irresponsible	I'd personaly have a poke at the hard drive contents... __________________ I am Jack's signature.

06-30-2003, 05:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
zer010gic Over caffeinated Location: One Step Closer to the Edge	You could always do something charitable and rebuild the machine for a friend that can’t afford a pc or donate to a local charity. __________________ Zer010giC

07-01-2003, 12:06 AM	#11 (permalink)
merkerguitars Buffering......... Location: Wisconsin...	Put the hard drive in and use disk manager.....easiest way to do it. Would make a nice ghost drive. Then you can shut off xp's restore feature.... __________________ Donate now! Ask me How! Please use the search function it is your friend. Look at my mustang please feel free to comment! http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=26985

07-02-2003, 08:09 PM	#12 (permalink)
piscopo Upright	Yeah the stuff in the computer sounds way outdated. 8mb is not worth your time.