should i bother??

sauv

hey, was just wondering if anyone could help me out, i got an old enough (maybe 3yr old) office pc that has all sortsa problems and errors and crap on it. dont know even what make it is, but it has p4 1.7ghz, the cd drive refuses to read anythind, has windows 98se but i lost the disc.

is it actually worth anything and if so is it worth the hassle of fixing it to sell it???

was thinking of just getting rid of it/recycling it anyway as i just got a class compaq.

Anyway, cheers in advance!

ShiverinEskimo

Salavage the parts that work and recycle the rest.

Plenty of people like to keep a little server running and would be happy to snap up the p4 and prob its mobo and ram.

Post up a full spec..

Static M.e.

Frag the frive and sell as is, for €100 or something, as was just said could be DIY job for a server / linux whatever

tba

yeah great chance to improve your skillz!

sauv

cheers guys.
to b honest i wouldn't have a clue bout how to even check what is working - I just can just about install a game and surf but nothin fancy!!
i'm sure though if i was to sell it that ther'd still b details of mine that someone who knows their way round a pc could fish out, how could i eliminate that??
- is EVERTHING stored only on the hard drive???

johnnyrotten

I'll take it off your hands. Looking to set up a PC for the Kids

cynos

Why the hell is windows 98se on a p4 1.7ghz????? :?

tba

It has better access to the internet, than windows 95

omahony99

sauv wrote:

hey, was just wondering if anyone could help me out, i got an old enough (maybe 3yr old) office pc that has all sortsa problems and errors and crap on it. dont know even what make it is, but it has p4 1.7ghz, the cd drive refuses to read anythind, has windows 98se but i lost the disc.

is it actually worth anything and if so is it worth the hassle of fixing it to sell it???

was thinking of just getting rid of it/recycling it anyway as i just got a class compaq.

Anyway, cheers in advance!

What I'd do is check the broken CD-ROM drive by installing it in your new PC or get a friend to test in theirs if you don't want to open up your new PC.
This way you can check if its really broken as it could be the cable.
If it is broken, you can buy a replacement on ebay for under a tenner.

Presumably your new Compaq came with Windows XP and you have the installation CD as well?
The Windows XP license is for two processors so you can install XP on your old machine as well.

Now you've a Pentium 4 XP machine which you could sell for €300 (or best offer) on Buyandsell. Make sure to say "as is" to avoid the buyer coming back looking for help if anything goes wrong. If they do, just recommend a memory upgrade.

sauv

thanks for all the help!!

ok say i was to sell it with xp on it, would the installation of xp delete evrythin i had on the pc wit 98 or if not is there someway of doing it?? would my details andd histories would still b on it??

thanks again

omahony99

Formatting the hard drive and installing XP will make retrieval of your old files extremely difficult but not 100% impossible. To be 100% sure you need to use what's called zero-fill software (it fills the hard drive with 1s and 0s before deleting). Each hard drive manufacturer provides it on their own website to be used with just their own brand of hard drives.
You can also get it at http://www.bootdisk.com/utility.htm under cleaners.
Note: When upgrading from one OS to another I sometimes have problems with video card drivers so it'd be wise to download the XP driver for your current video card now.

ShiverinEskimo

You cannot legally sell it with XP on it unless you are providing the cd and the cd key and then you will not be legally allowed to use it on your compaq once its sold.

I'm assuming you'd like to hang onto your copy of XP.

omahony99

ShiverinEskimo wrote:

You cannot legally sell it with XP on it unless you are providing the cd and the cd key and then you will not be legally allowed to use it on your compaq once its sold.

I'm assuming you'd like to hang onto your copy of XP.

legally schmeegally

sauv

would it be handier to just buy a cheap hard drive and take out the origanial one???

uberpixie

sauv wrote:

would it be handier to just buy a cheap hard drive and take out the origanial one???

not the worst idea in the world.
(in that you could install the new hard drive and do a fresh install of a new os,
plug in the old hard drive as a slave, pull off all your old info.)

Then use the old hardrive as a backup or get an external case for it and use it as an external hardrive.

You can pick up a 200 gig ide hardrive for little over 100 EURO*.

A new oem cpy of win xp home costs around 90 EURO*.

It's one option but a little pricey tbh.

*= off komplett.ie last i checked.

ShiverinEskimo

omahony99 wrote:

legally schmeegally

I know I know, I couldn't give a **** what he does with his XP copy, but if he plans on selling it on here the mods might.

Just friendly advice.

Gurgle

ShiverinEskimo wrote:

I know I know, I couldn't give a **** what he does with his XP copy, but if he plans on selling it on here the mods might.

And some difficulty might just arise with activation / updates :rolleyes:

ShiverinEskimo

Gurgle wrote:

And some difficulty might just arise with activation / updates :rolleyes:

True, True.

Although I've never had much difficulty with updates meself tbh.

omahony99

ShiverinEskimo wrote:

I know I know, I couldn't give a **** what he does with his XP copy, but if he plans on selling it on here the mods might.

Just friendly advice.

Would agree there - if you plan to sell it in boards.ie or ebay, everything should be done to the letter of the law and you might be better off buying a cheap OS e.g. Windows 2000 for under €20 on ebay and installing that.

Static M.e.

Easiest Solution

Take out the hard drive and take a sledge hammer to it

Sell as parts or give to johenny rotton

If you dont know anything about Pcs it will be more hassle than its worth to go and get it up and running again imo

sauv

thanks again for all the replies,
now i'm sure this is a REALLY stupid q, but will taking out the hd leave the pc wit nothing on it - i mean is there any other info stored anywhere else on it???

DemonOfTheFall

You're right there, there'll be no info on it at all with the HDDD taken out.