Merging two vintage systems for donation

[snowhiker]

I have two very old systems that I want to merge to make one "slightly-less-BS" computer. Computer will be for internet surfing and some "Lord of the Rings Online" MMO gaming. System will drive a 17" 1280x1024 LCD monitor (Oct'05 vintage) it's a crap TN, but still working monitor. Want to spend close to $0.00 to get a working machine that I will donate to a friend (who can't even afford $300 for a new/decent box). The only real expense I hope to have is a USPS shipping charge, as I plan to ship this box from AZ to OK.

The two systems, general specs:
1) 2.0 GHz P4 (Compaq) - 512MB - 40 GB HD - no video - shit PSU - bad CD-drive - WinXP.
2) 1.467 GHz Athlon XP 1700+ (home built) - 512MB -"iffy/dying" 20 GB HD - ATI 9600XP video - Antec 350w - CD burner - DVD ROM drive - Win'98.


I think the P4 would be a bit faster, but, accounting for the Compaq drivers and other misc bullshitware the custom built Athlon 1700+ system might actually be faster. The only problem is that I don't have a copy of XP on the Athlon system just win'98 and XP is required for the game. I don't think the OEM CD-Key on the Compaq will activate on the other motherboard? Suggestions? I guess I could just put move the PSU, Video Card, and CD-drives from system-2 to system-1 but will that bork the win-xp activation?

Anybody have a cheap/free legit XP License?


Any/All suggestions and advice welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[time]

For starters, you could overclock the hell out of that XP1700. It will probably hit 2GHz without even raising the CPU voltage. That's my recollection anyway. But have you checked all the capacitors carefully?

M$ will sell you a copy of XP (don't know what the restrictions are), but given that you've already paid M$ for the licenses, I'd probably put Tiny XP on it. That might help with the fact that 512MB RAM is not enough for a modern software environment.

I can't see anything worth salvaging on the Compaq.

 

[time]

Except the 40GB drive, duh!

 

[time]

Here's my 2003 post about overclocking the XP1700+.

 

[Howell]

Have you checked into what shipping it will cost? Consider if your friend might get more value out of a donation of the shipping cost combined with his/her own money.
I hate to see unused hardware go to waste too but sometimes it's just not worth it.

 

[CougTek]

The OEM license will activate on any other computer. By default, the license on the sticker isn't the one that's been used on the installation that came with the PC. Compaq, like most other major OEM, uses a general SLP key on all their machines. If you've installed and activated the one on the sticker, then that's another story.

The best possible combination you could get from the components you listed above is :

• Pentium 4 2GHz and motherboard from the Compaq box
• 1GB of RAM (assuming they are the same frequency and there's enough slot on the Compaq motherboard)
• 40GB hard drive from the home built
• ATI Radeon 9600 from the home built
• Antec PSU and optical drives from the home built

It is very possible that the motherboard of the Compaq doesn't even have an AGP slot to put the Radeon. It is also possible that its enclosure doesn't allow you to fit a standard size PSU like the Antec. Many of Compaq's motherboards only had two DIMM slots, so if your RAM is anything but 2x 512MB DDR of the same frequency, you won't be able to combine them to get 1GB.

Motherboards for Intel CPU in that era were a lot more reliable than those for AMD. I have three times more lonely s462 CPU than s478 CPU in search of a home. Be sure to test the RAM (Memtest 86+) and hard drive for error before wasting time installing the OS.

One last thing : the value of a computer made of the best components from the list above and in perfect condition is less than 60$. Keep that in mind when you'll evaluate the shipping cost.

 

[Santilli]

2) 1.467 GHz Athlon XP 1700+ (home built) - 512MB -"iffy/dying" 20 GB HD - ATI 9600XP video - Antec 350w - CD burner - DVD ROM drive - Win'98
Switch the hard drives, and install the XP from the Compaq.

If it doesn't work, you aren't out much. Time suggested trying to overclock, and, I might have a look at his results.

Having just gone through spending a lot of money trying to do something similar, I would not spend a dime on it, other then shipping, or, perhaps, a better cpu cooler, if you can find one used.

Old games do have a place, and, that system looks like something I might use to play Titanic, Tex Murphy, or some other old classics that still haven't been matched, as far as I'm concerned. For what it's worth, I wonder if you might be able to do a dual install, XP and 98, since, IIRC, some games would only play on 98? THAT would be trick.

 

[snowhiker]

Thanks for the quick replies. Lots to think about and mull over.

For starters, you could overclock the hell out of that XP1700. It will probably hit 2GHz without even raising the CPU voltage. That's my recollection anyway. But have you checked all the capacitors carefully?

I'd probably put Tiny XP on it.

Well hell, I was thinking those Athlon XPs didn't overclock all that well. Good to know. Maybe I should O/C my box (in sig) but I only have a stock HSF.

Don't want to mess with pirated software.

Here's my 2003 post about overclocking the XP1700+.

Nice, I'll check it out.

Have you checked into what shipping it will cost? Consider if your friend might get more value out of a donation of the shipping cost combined with his/her own money. I hate to see unused hardware go to waste too but sometimes it's just not worth it.

Totally something I didn't think about. I'm thinking it originally cost around $40 to get the machine from CA to AZ (I was going to use it at the time), but shipping from AZ of OK will surely be more. My friend has had many money problems the last few years and has no CCs or debit cards and doesn't even have a checking acct so money is realllllly tight.

The OEM license will activate on any other computer. By default, the license on the sticker isn't the one that's been used on the installation that came with the PC. Compaq, like most other major OEM, uses a general SLP key on all their machines. If you've installed and activated the one on the sticker, then that's another story.

It is very possible that the motherboard of the Compaq doesn't even have an AGP slot to put the Radeon. It is also possible that its enclosure doesn't allow you to fit a standard size PSU like the Antec. Many of Compaq's motherboards only had two DIMM slots, so if your RAM is anything but 2x 512MB DDR of the same frequency, you won't be able to combine them to get 1GB.

One last thing : the value of a computer made of the best components from the list above and in perfect condition is less than 60$. Keep that in mind when you'll evaluate the shipping cost.

Good to know. But shit, I just noticed that OEM sticker on the case if for Windows 2000, so at some time the machine was upgraded to XP and there is no XP sticker anywhere. XP-Key should be in registry, but probably not a SLP key? Crap.

Compaq MB= MSI (MS-6541) 1-AGP, 3-PCI, 2-DDR slots (1x512mb stick)
Homebuilt= MSI (MS-6380E) 1-AGP, 5-PCI, 3-DDR slots (2x256mb sticks)

AFAIK no bulging caps on either board.

And you are right, Crap, looks like the mounting holes for the Compaq PSU won't watch up with the Antec, even though the supplies are about the same size.

True, the resulting machine won't be worth much, maybe $60 like you say, but it will be a working computer and you can't get any computer for only $60.

I'm mainly worried about getting XP installed, working and activated on that different motherboard. I don't even have the XP-CD-Roms to install from and arn't CD-keys tied to specific XP installs and service packs?

Would 1x512MB & 1x256MB stick of ram work in the compaq?


THANKS AGAIN for all the helpful suggestions.

 

[CougTek]

I have Windows XP installation disks with SLP keys, but I think they are only in French. I might have one in English, but I'm not at the office right now so I can't say for sure. There are guides on the Net on how to make them. I did them several years ago and I no longer remember exactly how to. It saves me a lot of time when I need to do fresh installs on lease-return computers batch I buy and resale. Officially, you can only do an SLP installation on a box that has a genuine Windows sticker of the same kind, because Microsoft only makes about 2 billion a quarter in profits with Windows sales.

One 256MB and one 512MB sticks should work together, but run Memtest86+ to insure they do not generate errors.

 

[LiamC]

I think you'd be better off with the Athlon + 1GB RAM than the P4 with 768MB. If you go lean and mean (Tiny XP), then load Avast! you should be OK from a RAM use perspective. Avast! appears to be the least resource intensive AV at the moment. I've loaded XP Home and Avast! 5.0 plus a couple of other system utils and not used more than 170MB of RAM.

Magic Jellybean should give you the CD key on the Compaq box, and will tell you the version. You can do a fresh install of XP and try to activate it. Worst case, you get bumped through Microsoft phone activation and they say no. I may be able to scrounge an XP Home key if you need one.

 

[time]

I don't know if this is any help, but I wouldn't rule out using Windows 2000 if you can lay your hands on a CD. There's no activation on Windows 2000 - you can install it anywhere.

 

[Bozo]

If you install XP using the 'retrieved' key from the registry, you can call in the MS and ask for an activation key. Tell them it is a new motherboard.

 

[CougTek]

The key is supposed to be linked to the motherboard, isn't it? The last thing I would tell Microsoft would be that a new motherboard has been installed.

 

[Mercutio]

You can get away with it, usually at least once, without them complaining too much. You'll probably have to do a manual reactivation and you say something like "Well, I got my computer fixed and now it's doing this..."

 

[Santilli]

Isn't just saying the hard drive went out the best way to deal with it?

 

[Mercutio]

Isn't just saying the hard drive went out the best way to deal with it?

No, because Microsoft can tell from the generated activation code what has changed between activations.

 

[Santilli]

Thanks M. Didn't know that....

 

[blakerwry]

I've had to call activation after reinstalling XP on a couple of Dell's using a non dell CD and trying to use the OEM key on the case sticker. MS never asked me anything more than 'is this copy of XP used on any other PCs' or 'is this copy of XP already installed'. I answer No, and they give me whatever code is necessary for activation.

 

[CougTek]

Reinstalling with a generic OEM disc on an OEM box (Dell, Acer, etc) is not a problem because in that case, the key on the sticker might have never been activated before. So it's like a brand new installation to MS' eyes. However, reinstalling with the same key, but after a hardware change, now that's another story. As long as it's not the motherboard, you're ok. If it's the motherboard and you tell them, there's a chance that, if the f**ker at the other end of the line didn't like his breakfast in the morning, your license might be blocked.

 

[Sol]

Another possible OS option would be to chuck Ubuntu or Xubuntu or something on the box... LOTRO has a gold rating in Wine without resorting to crossover (And crossover is probably still cheaper than Windows if it came down to it) so if it's just that and browsing then it should do the job.

If you've got the time to blow trying to make it work then it's worth a try at least.