[rjam420]

Hey, I recently decided to upgrade the "performance parts" (by that i mean the stuff that makes it run) of my computer. I came to this forum to get advice on components to buy, and found a good build within my price range. The parts arrived today and i was reading some installation guides and never came upon one for upgrading using my old tower and "non-performance" parts. By that i mean I am using my old; tower, dvd drive, and harddrive. I purchased a new; MoBo, processor, videocard, PSU, and memory. My main concern isnt so much with the installation as the guides cover that part quite well, and I plan to remove everything from the tower, clean it, and then install it as if it were new. I guess mainly what i want to know is if there is any special actions that should be taken when i go to put it all together using this mix of new and old (and by old i mean a couple years, not OLD). And last, but MOST importantly! ...after all of these new parts and old parts are re-installed, will i need to run any special programs other than the ones provided on the CD's that came with the hardwear...or will my UI (Windows desktop and stuff) be the exact same as it was before the new parts? will i still need to run BIOS on my 1st startup? blah blah blah blah

wow...that turned out to be more than i tought...so thanks for getting through it and if you still feel like giving me some help then thanks that much more! I am so amped to see my games in all their visual glory that i wanna have this installation thing all good to go for when i get my hands on these components after Xmas.

Thanks for your replies, and i will be checking this thread regularily so post any questions you may have about things i never covered or anything like that.

here's the stuff i bought...

Processor - NCIX.com - Buy Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 Dual Core Processor LGA775 2.0GHZ 800FSB 1MB Retail Box - BX80557E2180 In Canada.

MoBo - NCIX.com - Buy Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775 P35 1333FSB 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard - GA-P35-DS3L In Canada.

Memory - NCIX.com - Buy OCZ Platinum XTC REV.2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL4-4-4-15 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit - OCZ2P800R22GK In Canada.

Video Card - NCIX.com - Buy Diamond Viper Radeon HD 3850 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDCP HDMI HDTV Out Video Card - 3850PE3256SB In Canada.

PSU - NCIX.com - Buy Silverstone Element ST50EF-PLUS 500W ATX12V 24PIN Power Supply W/120MM Fan Active PFC 80PLUS RoHS - ST50EF-PLUS In Canada.

Happy Holdays...thanks again

[Peter.Cort]

i believe since you upgraded a ton of parts you might have to do a clean install of windows, in which case you will have to do a format of your hdd.

but what you can do to save that is make a partition in the xp or vista, and install it on the new partition leaving the old partition alone and then just move everything over onto the new partition, then get the trial of partition magic 8 and remove the old partition and add the empty space to the new partition.

[rjam420]

ummm, not 100% sure what that means haha. I am not really that computer savvy, but i can usually figure things out with decent enough instructions. Does that mean that i am gonna lose all of my files on my hard drive? because i have a lot of downloaded content that i would prefer to not have to re-download and then re-seed to keep a decent ratio @ my torrent tracker. Also, I have games that i have installed and updated that i dont have the disc for anymore and/or they are damaged and will not work...also I have games i downloaded legally online that took days to dload, patch and install. So if there is any way i can keep my files as they were that would be great...because transfering everything on my near full 250Gb harddrive onto DVD's and/or some other means of transfer makes me want to just return my stuff and deal with the old build i got now.

oh yeah...I don't have the Windows disc i am sure of that...and i am pretty much just as sure i have NONE of the documentation or discs from when i first got my computer....moved recently and who knows where the stuff went, but i am sure it is not here. so yeah....any way to keep my harddrive or at least a good chunk of it would be nice. thanks

[thirdshiftdj]

what he's saying is take your 250 and partition it (splitting it into 2 harddrives). ie: 100gb for one partition and the other being 150gb. Then do a clean install of windows so you can get at your old files you want to keep. The only thing I can think of is if you have another computer so you can take YOUR HARDDRIVE out of and connect to the other computer so you can access your files and get something like partition magic or Acronis disk director suite to partition it. I'm sure you know where you can dl windows xp and burn it to a disk. Put your harddrive back in your computer and do a fresh install of XP on the empty partition. Also the only other thing is go into your bios and press ctrl + f1. Now go into M.I.T and make sure you ram timing is set to 4-4-4-15.

[rjam420]

so lemme see if i got this straight...I gotta partition my harddrive into two parts...(i downloaded partition magic 8 and am gonna do it when i am sure what i need to do). The new partitioned side of the harddrive is gonna be completely empty?, and the other side has the files i wish i keep on my new computer?. Was the reason for doing this on another computer so i can delete all the windows and system files and just have only the files and programs i wish to keep on the storage side of my harddrive?

my other question is, i read while google searching that if i am replacing memory and mobo, that there is something special i need to do involving using someone elses CD Key and Windows CD, and then illegally changing it back to mine...? That was only if i do not have my specific Windows CD that was installed on my system, which I do not, but...i did dload a program to find my CD Key on my system, so I do have that. But I didnt think this website i was reading made sense, because i am basically reinstalling Windows fresh on the clean partitioned harddrive, and unless I am wrong, I thought that the CD Key wasnt tied to the specific Windows CD, and thats why the computer stores dont give you the disc but rip it to your harddrive, because they just use a master disc to save everyone money. So can I use a friends Windows CD and my CD key for my clean install?

so...if i am right so far, then after all my hardwear is installed and working, I will clean install windows, then after windows is up and running and i have download and installed drivers and everything...I can go into the storage side of my partitiond harddrive and just xfer the files over easy as pie?

haha...its gotta be pretty obvious that i dont know too much about this stuff...should i just take it into a shop and pay someone to do it or can me and a slightly more computer savvy buddy sit down with his computer beside us and noob our way through it using the instructions and online guides? cause i dont wanna break anything, and i definately dont wanna have to spend any more money because i did something wrong or deleted the wrong thing haha. Thanks so much again everyone!

happy holidays

[thirdshiftdj]

you got it bro. Its not hard to partition a drive. Partition magic will walk you through it. I assumed your parts were already installed on your new rig thats why I suggested switching drives to another computer, instead of tearing your rig down to put your old parts just to partition your drive. Since you haven't yet your all set.

[Ste]

People need to learn how to back up information BEFORE installing a new motherboard. That way you can just wipe the entire drive and not have to worry about anything.

[rjam420]

cool...i did download a backup program because Partition Magic recommended that I backup my haddrive before starting to partition, incase of a power failure or anything like that, which could screw up my harddrive. So from what Ste. just posted above..if i backup my entire harddrive, can i format the whole thing and then just use the backup image to get everything back after I install all the new stuff?

this is awesome guys haha, i was just gonna pay someone to do it, but being wihtout my PC for a few days isnt really an option haha...all this help is just great guys...gotta love the Xmas spirit.

I am gonna get @ it on Boxing Day most likely, gonna do it @ a buddies house on his kitchen table (not carpeted), and his PC is in the basement so we can look stuff up if we are stuck. Appreciate it guys, thanks alot