My XP Machine is dying - HELP

[jcage]

My Dell is about 6 years old and suddenly started acting up. I might
think it was a virus or something if the fan hadn't noticeably started
changing pitch and speed (was always fixed speed and quiet prior to
the last few days). With the HDD being about 6 years old (XPproSP2),
I thought I'd replace the hard drive (though I'm wondering if the
power supply might not be the immediate risk) and have a few questions
that I'm hopeful someone might be able to enlighten me on.

I'm thinking a Maxtor HDD and am considering adding it as a secondary
drive until I can get the data from my existing 6yo drive mirror
copied over. I'm told that Maxtor has software with it's drives to do
this or are there other utilities I should consider for the task???

Onto the power supply - anyone know where Dell get's theirs? I really
don't like dealing with Dell where I can avoid it. If for no other
reason than just an inability to understand the people I end up
speaking with.

And then RAM, I have a gig and am thinking about adding another gig
when I upsize/replace the HDD. I don't know if 'more is always
better' with ram but.. Guess I'd dang near have a new machine with a
new power supply, HDD and RAM.

I guess finally, strategy is something I'm still kicking around.
Would it be better to try and back up the existing HDD using some USB2
external drive (yet to be purchased) or give it a shot and install the
second drive - format, copy the files from existing drive, etc. ???

Thanks for thoughts and pointers,
john

 

[Jan Alter]

My Dell is about 6 years old and suddenly started acting up. I might
think it was a virus or something if the fan hadn't noticeably started
changing pitch and speed (was always fixed speed and quiet prior to
the last few days).

Which fan are you referring? There are usually several. In a 6 year old
machine fan bearings start to get dry. They may need oiling to get a little
longer life or just replacement. Have you been cleaning the dust out of the
fans regularly?

With the HDD being about 6 years old (XPproSP2),

I thought I'd replace the hard drive (though I'm wondering if the
power supply might not be the immediate risk) and have a few questions
that I'm hopeful someone might be able to enlighten me on.

More importantly you should be backing up your data on a regular basis.
Whenever the drive fails you'll be covered. Some drives last 10 years or
longer, but lets say your power supply went out and took the mb and hdd with
it. If you've backed up regularly you're pretty much covered. Or consider if
you simply get corrupted startup files and the computer won't boot, or you
get a virus that disables your system entirely. So you should be considering
negative events beyond a hard drive failure.

I'm thinking a Maxtor HDD and am considering adding it as a secondary
drive until I can get the data from my existing 6yo drive mirror
copied over. I'm told that Maxtor has software with it's drives to do
this or are there other utilities I should consider for the task???

Most hdd manufacturers have clone software for free that one can use to copy
their drive verbatum to the new drive. It would behoove you to do the
research for whoever's company your thinking of purchasing their drive to be
sure it's available. Consider companies that have a long warranty period
such as Seagate. Western Digital hdd's are a couple of years shorter in
warranty but their quality is usually very good.

Onto the power supply - anyone know where Dell get's theirs? I really
don't like dealing with Dell where I can avoid it. If for no other
reason than just an inability to understand the people I end up
speaking with.

Can't help you here. Sometimes Dell uses propriatory PS's, so
it's tough not dealing with them.

And then RAM, I have a gig and am thinking about adding another gig
when I upsize/replace the HDD. I don't know if 'more is always
better' with ram but.. Guess I'd dang near have a new machine with a
new power supply, HDD and RAM.

I think you're on the right track here. It sounds that with all your
concerns about noisy fans, hdd's, and PS's that you might do well to get
yourself a new machine, so you needn't worry about it, and use your current
machine as long as it lasts as a secondary unit. The most imperative thing
to do whether or not you keep current or buy new is to embrace a backup
strategy. One of the easiest is backing up to an external hdd via USB and
using a good software program, such as Acronis True Image, which is rather
intuitive.

I guess finally, strategy is something I'm still kicking around.
Would it be better to try and back up the existing HDD using some USB2
external drive (yet to be purchased) or give it a shot and install the
second drive - format, copy the files from existing drive, etc. ???

You certainly could do what you are suggesting, or you could take the old
hdd and install it in your 'new' machine and copy the contents to your new
hdd.

 

[Toolpackinmama]

My Dell is about 6 years old and suddenly started acting up.

Well, of course. It's OLD.

I might
think it was a virus or something if the fan hadn't noticeably started
changing pitch and speed (was always fixed speed and quiet prior to
the last few days). With the HDD being about 6 years old (XPproSP2),
I thought I'd replace the hard drive (though I'm wondering if the
power supply might not be the immediate risk) and have a few questions
that I'm hopeful someone might be able to enlighten me on.

I'll try.

And then RAM, I have a gig and am thinking about adding another gig
when I upsize/replace the HDD. I don't know if 'more is always
better' with ram but.. Guess I'd dang near have a new machine with a
new power supply, HDD and RAM.

No, because the motherboard is the most important part of a computer,
and that would still be old and destined to fail any second. Maybe a
guy can change genders in mid-life, but you can't put new tits on an old
boy and call him a young woman.

Don't bother upgrading it. The machine is old. Things are going to
start failing on it left and right. It's like you are in a rowboat that
springs a new leak every time you plug one.

If you get a new hard drive, spend and extra 20 bucks to get an external
enclosure for it. Use your new external drive to copy the contents of
your main hard drive to.

Then take the rest of the money you were going to spend and buy a new
computer, instead. If you take my advice it will save you a lot of
heartbreak.

Let me tell you why i say this: you need advice about how to copy
files, and how to choose a vendor for a new power supply. You are not
the kind of guy who can keep upgrading a 6-year-old machine and actually
hope to save money. Someone like you will make mistakes, and those
mistakes will probably be very costly, financially and psychologically.

I am not being mean, I am trying to be kind and save you some pain.

 

[jcage]

Thanks guys - appreciate your help. What do you know about the
backwards compatibility of Windows 7 ? Seems that's mostly the op sys
available on newer machines (store bought) and I have tons of software
that works fine on my XP that I'd prefer not to have to buy upgrades
for.

John

 

[jcage]

You have not expressed your immediate problem nor your exact
goals.  Backing up data can be done several ways, it depends
on what that data is and when or where you'll need it again.

It seems others have half talked you into buying a new
system.  If the current one has a major part failing like
the motherboard that may be a good option, OR if it's
overrall performance is just too low for your tasks, but
otherwise it would be better to back up a bit and forget
everything except exactly what the system is doing *wrong*
now compared to when it was ok.

For example, if the system is instable don't hook up a new
hard drive and expect a good data backup, an instable system
could corrupt the data and if it is only a personal data
files you need, pulling the drive and copying it while
connected to another system might be the better option.

As for chosing between a USB2 external or internal drive,
either will suffice to copy data while running windows.  The
internal drive will be a little more compatible with many
3rd party cloning programs that boot to their own OS, though
many versions over the more recent years can work with USB2
external drives too, so ultimately the choice could be one
of which type you have more use for in the future.

If you're set on buying a new system you have no need for
either, just network the two systems together and copy the
files over the LAN.

Thanks for the response... Until a guest moved in temporarily and
started using this computer, it was running a bit slow and I knew it
had been a while since I'd defragged the HDD so had plans on doing
that soon. Suddenly, the loudness of the cooling fans (though COULD
BE the HDD) changes pitch and this machine starts to sound similar to
another Dell we have which is newer, slimline and the fan sound
fluctuates on a regular basis. At about this same time, some files
programs all but stop opening when clicked, my PCTools Spyware Doctor
won't run (thought perhaps through this guest, I may have picked up
spyware or a virus of some kind). A scan of my AVG turns up nothing
so what a puzzle.

I haven't blown the machine out lately so will do that next but am
starting to thnk the power supply may be acting up but it IS, one of
the three (HDD failing, PS failing or virus, etc). Which is why I
came here for ideas. If something were just a little loud, I'd be
concerned about that alone but suddenly the machine is acting up with
that extra loud - although it does sound much like the slimline that
speeds up and slows down and has out of the box since I purchased it
about a year ago.

I'm not anxious to buy a new machine because I like my XP and also
have a pretty big investment in software that runs on my XP.

I'm thinking if the power supply is failing, perhaps the best step
would be to remove the old hard drive and add it into a new machine
where I'd like to clone it over to the new HDD. Regarding files, I'm
hoping to clone what I have from the OS up if possible.

thanks,
John

 

[shegeek72]

Thanks guys - appreciate your help.  What do you know about the
backwards compatibility of Windows 7 ?  Seems that's mostly the op sys
available on newer machines (store bought) and I have tons of software
that works fine on my XP that I'd prefer not to have to buy upgrades
for.

So far, I've had no problems with older software on Win7. MS Office
2003 installed fine, though I've only used Word and just opened Excel,
Publisher, Power Point and Access. Like Vista, Win7 has the
compatibility feature to help run legacy SW. I had to use it on Vista
to run an older version of Photoshop. If you want to be absolutely
sure that older SW will run in Win7 get the Ultimate version which has
'virtual XP.' IOW, a virtual sandbox in which to run older SW.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

My Dell is about 6 years old and suddenly started acting up. I might
think it was a virus or something if the fan hadn't noticeably started
changing pitch and speed (was always fixed speed and quiet prior to
the last few days). With the HDD being about 6 years old (XPproSP2),
I thought I'd replace the hard drive (though I'm wondering if the
power supply might not be the immediate risk) and have a few questions
that I'm hopeful someone might be able to enlighten me on.

I'm thinking a Maxtor HDD and am considering adding it as a secondary
drive until I can get the data from my existing 6yo drive mirror
copied over. I'm told that Maxtor has software with it's drives to do
this or are there other utilities I should consider for the task???

About every HDD manufacturer provides software to back up everything
to another drive, either with the drive or as a downloadable file.
The only restriction is that at least one of the HDDs has to be from
the manufacturer.

Onto the power supply - anyone know where Dell get's theirs? I really
don't like dealing with Dell where I can avoid it. If for no other
reason than just an inability to understand the people I end up
speaking with.

Specify Spanish because almost all of their Spanish-speakings techs
know English, and usually they're more knowledgeable.

The Dells I've seen had Delta or HiPro power supplies, but I've heard
that some were made with Bestec supplies, a brand you want to avoid.
If your Dell uses a normal-sized PSU with normal wiring on the big
connector (i.e., there are at least three orange wires on it, not just
one), then you can substitute a regular ATX PSU. Otherwise order a
Delta from Dell.

And then RAM, I have a gig and am thinking about adding another gig
when I upsize/replace the HDD. I don't know if 'more is always
better' with ram but.. Guess I'd dang near have a new machine with a
new power supply, HDD and RAM.

I guess finally, strategy is something I'm still kicking around.
Would it be better to try and back up the existing HDD using some USB2
external drive (yet to be purchased) or give it a shot and install the
second drive - format, copy the files from existing drive, etc. ???

I think you should first find the source of the flakiness of the
computer, such as by running a self-booting diagnostic (Seagate/Maxtor
have one, but HDDguru.com also has MHDD) to do a scan of all the
sectors. It also wouldn't hurt to use a digital meter to measure the
voltages from the PSU and also for the CPU, memory slots, and video
slots.

A lot of Dell desktops made 6-7 years ago contained faulty Nichicon
brand capacitors (Nichicon is normally an excellent brand) that would
fail in just a couple of years and usually bulge on top, but some
failed with no visible signs. Some of the motherboards needed only
six capacitors replaced, but earlier ones needed well over a dozen
changed. www.BadCaps.net has more information. The repair isn't
difficult or expensive if you can solder (BadCaps.net has lots of
detailed instructions).