i want to upgrade an old gateway given to me.....it's designed for window 98.........but someone tryed to upgrade it to xp.....and it works but its slow.....what i want to do is delete everything off...start over......and make it so i can upgrade it...not sure if i should ugrade it to xp though. would i do need to do is add alot of gb cause it only has 12gb


System

Intel Petium III Processor

448mhz, 128 mb of RAM

Gateway 450

if you know tell everything i may need to upgrade......or if i can ugrade (also space.... and what u would recommend i do)

Hello,

You can easily upgrade that to XP, I have seen xp put on a system half as powerfull as the one you have there.
Firstly, download cpuz http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php open it and click on the memory tab and the SPD tab, there you will find information on the RAM you have installed, (eg PC2700) from there, provided the system has room, you can upgrade the Memory increasing speed slightly.

Also in cpuz on the first tab it will give you info on processor, you might be able to buy a slightly better one on ebay or somewhere similar.

Regarding the Harddrive, I would just buy a new one from somewhere online, then keep the one you have now as a backup. I would get a 30GB one as the BIOS on the system might not support anything bigger.

Hope this helps

ok if it's not recommend to hold anything bigger then 30gb................could i also buy an external Harddrive? or is that too much? also is there more ways to upgrade the Memory or give it some more room?


thx for the info

Hello,

The reason I say it might be trouble with a large Harddrive, is because some older systems cant handle drives larger than 32GB. buying an external drive would be a good move storage wise, you might consider buying a new HDD installing that and putting windows on it, then converting the old drive into an external one.

(turn off and unplug the mains)If you open the case, and look at the motherboard.look for The ram slots are they both occupied?

what you mean by ram slots.........can you show me a pic of it?

Is this a desktop computer or laptop? Are you sure it is a Gateway 450 and not a 4xxx series?

RAM (memory) slots

it says 450 at the bottom of the towner below the Gateway sign.......and it's a desktop

thx TheTerrorist_75

they both aren't occupied nigglesnush85

Okay, it's a Gateway Select 450 Desktop. It has 2 slots that holds a maximum of 256MB of memory (PC100, 2 sticks of 128MB each).

You can use this memory http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Select+450

do u know an site that will take money order?.....i don't have a credit card

Amazon. You will pay a bit more but they take money orders.

Kingston 128MB Memory Module

thx

Edit:

i found this Harddrive on amazon

but what do u recomend for an harddrive at about 30gb

A couple of months ago I bought 2 PC100 256Mb of Ram of eBay £29.50 with postage from Hong Kong.


Yes but it doesn't say its PC100 speed.

External hard drive probably isn't a good idea because of old USB ports. If you have an old machine, more and more things are being made for USB 2.0 (or Firewire) and some won't work with the old, very slow 1.0. 2.0 is 40 times faster.

On such an old machine, I'd far prefer to clean install something like Windows 98. XP will be a dog on that machine. In normal use, XP without anything but background programs running will use more than 256 MB RAM, and the rest will have to be swapped to the hard drive, greatly slowing the machine. OTOH, 98 will run fine on 256 MB. But even newer graphical-interface Linux systems like more than that to have any speed.

ah sorry about that....is there another hardrive thats 30gb i can get that will macth my computer?

Edit: that what i though herk too......but will see.

If you have a USB card, you can get fairly good speeds, does the system have a spare PCI slot?http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-38,GGGL:en&q=pci%20slot&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

nope just 3 and 1 is occupied

i wonder can i add PCI Slots or do i need an better computer that can handle it?

or would that be a whole never story that only an expert can do?

nigglesnush what do you mean by USB card getting fairly good speeds?

A USB card is exactly that. It plugs into a PCI slot and gives you a USB connection
Mark

ah cool . well i guess i do have a spare PCI Slot for that. So a USB connection, with this how can i add PCI Slots?

If you are going to buy the memory from Amazon include this hard drive on your order. It is 40GB but will still work.

Western Digital 40 GB Caviar EIDE 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (WD400BB)

Sadly, you cant create new PCI slots, i'm in a similar boat, I'm just going to buy a new motherboard soon, to instal the USB card, its just a simple matter of putting it into a spare slot and then instaling the drivers for it. http://common.ziffdavisinternet.com/encycl...ages/MBOARD.GIF

Hope this helps

yea i though i couldn't add PCI slots

ok but what do i use the USB for the make it faster?....and where do i get this item from?....and i may do the same and buy another motherboard in a few months.....let me know whats good to get when u get ur yours...but rigth now i'm learning

and are u sure this 40 GB hardrive will work i though 32GB was the limit Terrorist?.......if so thx alot i will add that to my order!

At the moment, you have old USB slots, Instaling a PCI USB card, will give you more USB holes at the back of the tower. These holes should be much faster transfering data than the other holes. getting one of these cards will allow you to have an external hard drive installed which will transfer data at an increased speed.

I'm going to get a new motherboard, because DELL decided in their infinate wisdom to remove my AGP (advanced graphics port) which means i'm limited to an older card. The new board that i am looking to get will take the same processor ram hard drives that I have at the moment. so the cost will be very little.

regarding the 40GB HDD, there is a chance that it will work, but with older systems they were not built to support hard drives bigger than 32 GB.

Hope this helps

it helps a great deal thx.......

about the external hard drive are there certain hardrives i have to get ?(like as far as space limit in one for this type of computer) and also can it work like an regular hard drive?

An external hard drive is basicaly a hard drive in a case that connecte to a USB slot on the tower. if you open up my computer you will see something like local disk C. haveing an external HDD will just add another disk that can be used as storage.

You can either buy a simple hard drive then fit it into a case, or online stores will sell an external hard drive which will cost slightly more.

ok i understand that part.........what i want to know is how much space has to be on the external hard drive or it does matter? cause i saw one that had 500GB for $160 something but i wasn't sure if it could work for this computer...i thinking that with this computer a 120GB one would work.....but what do you think?

I think that would be good, if there is a problem, it will say in my computer that the drive has only 32GBs. I know someone who is in a similar set up, and he has no problems.

about this? u say i could buy a slightly better processor?

and

THX SOME MUCH MAN!

so it ok if i go ahead and get the 500GB one? cause i may need to find a store that sells it cause the only on i know that sells it (besides a site online) is Dell...as for a 120GB there are stores all around to get those..after this i should be ready to get the parts for it

EDIT:
also an 2.0 USB Card........could it work for this computer? if not what kind would?

Yes indeed, The first tab in cpuz will give you info on your processor, if you post the info we might be able to find a slightly better processor.

With the Harddrive, you need the drive and a case for it, then it should work quite well, if it doesn't, then a bios patch will be required.

With the USB card, as long as you have a spare PCI slot, you should be fine.

i should have the infomation later on today i have to put the program on there cause it doesn't have internet yet...hope u don't need it to use it

and doesn't a case come with the hard drive?

and thx i'll add the usb card to my list

You can boost your P-III slot 1 intel to a 1.4Ghz Celeron using a PowerLeap adapter. Since Powerleap no longer makes that adapter you will have to buy one used. I have several and they work very well, and are plug and play. They need not drivers.
You will have to weigh whether or not the price it worth it for such and old computer. In my case I picked up a lot of adapters at a government auction. I highly recommend them, but they can be pricey.
Just remember the cost of a Powerleap board, new RAM, and a video card can be more than a new computer.

PowerLeap example

so ur saying that i can boost my processor? could i also buy a new one or are there any for this type of computer?

a PowerLeap adapter? well which one would i need that would fit this computer?


heres the cpu-z pics nigglesnush

That looks good, there are still a few of those processors out there...
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_techspe...masterid=229153
http://shopping.msn.com/prices/shp/?itemId=18930971

Both look like they are double the speed of the one you have at the moment.

According to the information you provided, with in the CPU-z image, you have a P-III 450Mhz slot 1 processor. The PowerLeap PL-i3P\T adapter with be the proper adapter. They also made the Slot Wonder, but it has also be discontinued.
I have provided an image of the adapter I am talking about. In the link provided there is a video showing how to install the PowerLeap adapter.

thx nigglesnush those processors are cheap


thx for the tut acklan makes it look easy.....even though i don't think i remeber seeing that inside my......are they really $3.00?


i hope both places take money order though.......i may have to call there

Hmm... I do not remember seeing the adapter for $3.00. You can find the adapter and chip for $75 tp $120 depending which processor you want, 1.1Ghz to 1.4Ghz Celeron.

o well i would take the highest one which i guess is 1.4Ghz Celeron.

ok....i'm going to recap real quick...........i need

- New Processor :The PowerLeap PL-i3P\T adapter

- Western Digital 40 GB Caviar EIDE 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive (WD400BB)

- Kingston 128MB Memory Module (2)

- 2.0 USB Card

- External Hard Drive


i believe thats it......i'm i missing something?......and is there anything else i can do?

That looks to be it, if you have problems, get back to us.

i will do cause this may take me a while to get the items