How do I bring PC back To Life

[Verglo]

Good evening Bruce,
OK I think after all you said I will put this one on the back burner for the time being.
HOWEVER

Maybe this is a better proposition I have a DELL Optiplex 745 PC and want to try to at least and get this one back up and running . The PC ran Windows XP Pro from new according to the label - I originally purchased this PC from an official Microsoft refurbisher who had installed Windows 7 Pro on it. I was using Windows 7 up until the hard drive failed. So I was thinking to install Win 7 and then upgrade to Win 10 - good/bad idea ??? Anyway I have the Windows 7 installation disc which was provided with the PC with the reg key code. So I have installed a new 500Gb HDD drive , powered up the PC and inserted the installation disc. Windows now begins installation,and I get to the screen where I select type of installation - I select Custom then a prompt asks “Where do you want to install Windows” but there is nothing listed in the box. There are two options Refresh and Load Driver.When I click on Load Driver I get a window asking to insert the installation media containing the driver files - but i only have just the one disc? So I seem to be stuck at this point - However I can not see the new HDD listed in the BIOS . I am obviously doing something wrong so I thought I would ask the expert. There are two 1gb memory sticks in the PC at the moment Or should I try to install Win 10 and skip the Win 7 route? What do you think? Many Thanks Brian

[Bruce]

skip Win7.
even if it did work, my first suggestion after getting Win7 working would be to upgrade to Win10 anyway.
so let’s go straight to the end goal.

also, MS changed the way Windows addresses drives during install - can’t remember the exact change but yes, Win10 may have better luck as it auto-changes the settings to suit itself.

also check in BIOS you have the drive set to AHCI mode.
and to state the obvious, the drive shuold have two cables, the power one that goes to the power supply and a data one that goes to the motherboard.

[Verglo]

Hi Bruce,
Computer is recognizing HDD.
powered on and booted from USB with Windows 10 iso on it.
Went through several screen - got to chose type of installation - picked custom
Windows began to install - chose version Windows 10 pro ( my logic being previous OS was Windows 7 Pro)
So get to window asking where do I want to install - New HDD is showing in box highlighted as Drive 0 Partition 1 - with options below the box to Refresh / Delete/Format/or Load Driver(other options are greyed out).
So I chose > Next.
Then we get a window - if the Partition you have chosen contains files from a previous Windows installation these files will be moved to a file called Windows old
clicked >OK.
Then we get installing windows box. Status
Copying Windows Files
Getting files ready for installation
Installing Features
Installing updates
Getting Finished
After completing all of the above list successfully - Windows prompt says Windows needs to restart computer .
So went back into BIOS switched boot order from USB to Drive 0.
Restarted - then blank screen top left message floppy Disk seek failure press F1 to continue -
Windows 10 now installed and running.
So far so good. Now every time I turn on computer will I have to press F1 to get Windows to start ?
Should I now get two more 1 GB memory cards .
Will it be possible to get this PC enabled for WiFi - the only available network connection is for Ethernet ( don’t have an ethernet connection - other computers are WiFi).
Network adaptor is a Broadcom NETxtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller
Sorry for all the questions - can’t quite believe this Old PC is running again
At what stage will Windows ask for a key code ?
Brian

[Bruce]

well done getting this far.
almost there by the sounds of it.

to stop the F1, no floppy error - go back in BIOS and disable the floppy.
as to wifi, get a USB wireless adapter, cost about $40 for a good one.
and with he Product Key, go into Control Panel, change View By to icon and go to System.
down the bottom, if it says Windows is Activated, you’re good to go.
if it doesn’t, click Activate Now (or whatever it’s called)
I think you get 30 days without having to enter a code - and even after that, it’ll still work but with more in your face warnings.

and with the memory, check the motherboard make/model, see what sort it takes (DDR2 or DDR3 i suspect) and what each slots max capacity is (may be 2GB or 4GB depending of age). you may only be able to get 2x2GB’s or 2x1GB’s.

[Verglo]

Hi Bruce,
Could you decipher this for me :unsure:copied from tech spec of My Dell Optiplex 745
trying to figure out from this - what extra Ram sticks to get - as you know only two of the memory slots on the motherboard are used at the moment both 1 GB
so - should i go for another 2 x 1gb cards ?
[COLOR=rgb(251, 160, 38)]MEMORY
DIMM Slots Four
Type - Dual channel shared DDR2 SDRAM system memory. Unbuffered, non-ECC DIMMs only
Speed - 533MHz (4-4-4 latency), 667MHz (5-5-5 latency), 800MHz (6-6-6 latency)
Modules Types Supported - 512-MB, 1-GB, or 2-GB (800MHz not available in 2GB DIMM)
Minimum memory - Dual-channel: 1GB
Single-channel: 512 MB
Maximum memory - 8 GB (2GB per channel)
Bandwidth - 533MHz: Up to 8.5 GB/s in dual channel mode
667MHz: 10.7 GB/s with dual channel
800MHz: 12.8 GB/s with dual channel .

Disabled the floppy drive startup issue.
I had on old TP-Link wireless USB adapter - so after delving on internet found the driver - supposedly only meant for Win7/ 8/XP.
Anyway it worked ??? now connected to internet[/COLOR]

[Verglo]

Sorry Bruce last post cut off end of message.
Which was to Thank you very much for your ongoing help and advise - it is greatly appreciated .
Brian

[Bruce]

on the current sticks, the sticker will show the speed.
so make sure you get the same in the new sticks.
so if you already have 1GB stick at 533Mhz speed, get more of the same.
also nice to match latency timings too, so look at the CL number on the new ones and match it to the old ones.
OR - just get 4 new ones, all the same.

did you install Win10 32bit or 654bit?
if 32bit, only 3GB of memory is addressable.
to access more than 3GB, you have to install a 64bit OS which in turn requires a 64bit processor.

[Verglo]

Hi Bruce ,
looking in the System info -
System type - 64 bit operating system - x64 based processor
At the bottom of screen under Windows Activation
saying Windows is activated - how did that happen ???

Just took out one of the Ram cards ( both card numbers match except the long number beginning with M ) - details are
[COLOR=rgb(247, 218, 100)]Samsung 1GB 1Rx8 PC2 - 6400u - 666 - 12 - ZZ
Made in China M378T2863RZS - CF7 0841.
No CL number .

What would I need to look for to match existing RAM
Or would there be any benefit in putting in 2GB RAM cards ?

Many Thanks
Brian[/COLOR]

[Verglo]

Could I put say a 1TB HDD in as well as the 500gb.
Nearly there now - you will be relieved to hear
B

[Bruce]

Activation is an automatic thing if MS detects a valid Product Key and you pass all the requirements - which you obviously have.

as to extra HHD, yep no issues there, just need a spare power cable and SATA cable and SATA port on the mobo.

I’m a bit ‘nervous’ providing RAM suggestions because there is a good chance a new stick may not be compatible. what with the age of the system and the limited availability of DDR2 sticks.

yes 2GB sticks should work but I read somewhere for your mobo that if getting 800Mhz speeds than 2GB wasn’t an option - or something like that.

have you tried re-using all the sticks it originally came with or was there an issue with one of them?
a better option may be to take it into a PC store as they can install the sticks while you wait and if not compatible they can keep trying until a set does work. otherwise i fear it will be a suck-it-and-see exercise.

if you like, take a pic of your memory sticks, showing the label and we can look at those for you.

[Verglo]

Hi Bruce,

Please find attached pictures of RAM sticks - these are the two I removed from the PC as they were causing issues.
They are identical to the two in the PC - only difference is the long number beginning with M’ and the four digit number far right above the barcode.
On these two the numbers are 0803 and 0902. The two in the PC both have the number 0841.
There seem to be plenty of sellers on ebay selling DDR2 sticks.
I am not really near any computer stores - I live in the middle of the countryside in Northern Ireland - nearest buildings are farms with plenty of cows,sheep,and a few horses.
Many Thanks
Brian

[Bruce]

the long M number is the serial number, pretty much ignore that.
the top right series is the important one, it’s all the timings.
the 6400 is the speed and the 12 is the latency or CL number.
it’s those two numbers the really need to match up on all your sticks.

having not the same numbers can sometimes work, but the PC will use the lowest/slowest number as the baseline for the remaining sticks but over-arching all that, you start seeing incompatibility issues mixing up sticks that way.

so definitely those two identical sticks for the time being.
Win10 will be fine with that, more would be better, but with the age of the system and model of processor, it’s never going to be a blazingly fast unit anyway and i fear you may be wasting time and money on RAM that will not have a huge impact on overall performance.

but if the used DDR2 is at a good price, hell, be a worth while isolation/lock-down exercise if nothing else.

[Verglo]

Hi Bruce,
Originally there were 4 1GB sticks in this PC - When I originally turned it on I got a beep code and error numbers illuminated on the case.
Trial and error I ended up removing two of the sticks to get the PC to come on with no error codes.
So I assumed two sticks were OK and two not
I was thinking more about this RAM situation - Oh No - i hear you say .
So being of an inquisitive nature I took all of the RAM out.
I then put one of the two sticks that I thought were not working into DIMM slot ONE
The PC started.
So I removed that stick and put the other - bad ? - stick into slot one.
The PC started.
Then I put the second stick into slot 2 - we now have the two sticks I thought were bad in the PC (slots 1 and 2)
The PC started.
Hmm !!
Then put one of two known good sticks into Slot 3
The PC started.
Then put the last (good)stick into slot 4 - got a beep code and error numbers 3 - 4 illuminated.
Interesting - so I then swapped the sticks in slots 3 and 4 over.
So the stick that was in slot 3 was now in slot 4 and vice versa.

The PC started up OK
I then ran the internal Windows memory Diagnostic tool to check for bad memory.
The results said no errors were found in the memory.

PC started up fine this morning . System>Task Manager > Performance>Memory indicates 4GB of RAM.
Not sure what to think !
Brian

[Bruce]

welcome to the world of computers!
ours is not to reason why…

it simply may have been ‘dirty’ sticks - that is, either there was dust on the stick circuitry or they were making bad/no contact to the motherboard.
the contact points on the stick can oxidise and not make a good connection with its slot on the mobo.
removing, wiping the contacts and the mobo slot with a brush and reseating is sometimes all that is required.

let’s count this as a win and speak of it no more!

[Verglo]

Just a final note to thank you for all of your valuable help and patience with me.
So there is now a working PC that otherwise would have added to Landfill - a small victory.
Take care
Many thanks
Brian