What should I buy?

[GreenXenon]

Hi:

I have 300 GB Maxtor DiamondMax HDD with Windows XP installed on it
and I'd like to build new PC around it.

I'm looking for the least expensive PC system to buy and connect my
HDD to. What should I purchase?


Thanks a bunch,

Green

P.S. More info about my HDD can be found below:

Cache: 16 MB

Model: 4D080H4

HDA: 24A

PCBA: 05A

Unique: 41A

Code: DAH017KO

Cylinders: 168383

Heads: 16

Sectors: 63

Extrenal Transfer Rate: Up to 100 MB/sec (Ultra ATA/100)

Buffer Size: 16 MB

Interface: ATA/EIDE up to 100 MB/sec data transfer rates

Spin speed: 7200 RPM

 

[John Doe]

I have 300 GB Maxtor DiamondMax HDD with Windows XP installed on
it and I'd like to build new PC around it.

I'm looking for the least expensive PC system to buy and connect
my HDD to. What should I purchase?

That depends on what you will use it for. What applications?

I would consider buying a prefabricated PC and adding to or
replacing the hard drive (HDD). Having two hard drives can be very
good to easily keep your data safe by keeping a copy of important
data on the other hard drive.

You probably will not save any money by building your own around
the hard drive unless you use hand-me-down parts. If all you want
is cheap, without concern about applications, just find out where
to buy a used PC. The idea that homebuilding is cheaper seems to
be popular, but mistaken. Or maybe you want to buy a piece at a
time?

 

[Jan Alter]

That depends on what you will use it for. What applications?

I would consider buying a prefabricated PC and adding to or
replacing the hard drive (HDD). Having two hard drives can be very
good to easily keep your data safe by keeping a copy of important
data on the other hard drive.

You probably will not save any money by building your own around
the hard drive unless you use hand-me-down parts. If all you want
is cheap, without concern about applications, just find out where
to buy a used PC. The idea that homebuilding is cheaper seems to
be popular, but mistaken. Or maybe you want to buy a piece at a
time?

It is a crap shot to think that you can easily drop a harddrive with XP
installed into another computer and think that everything will be honky
dory. The XP installation on your hard drive was configured with the drivers
for a specific motherboard and peripherals. Sometimes it works but more than
not software/hardware issues eventually emerge that often necessitate having
to reinstall the OS from scratch. If at all possible do a clean install of
XP onto your new system with the old hdd.
I've come across a program called Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 with Plus
Pack, that allows one to make a backup image of their XP installation and
then restore that image to a completely different computer and then add the
drivers for it. I've tried it and it does work. In your case though an image
was not backed up and you don't have the hdd connected to the original
installation computer. There may be, at this point in time, another software
program that will smooth the transition of moving a preinstalled
installation onto another computer and someone else may know of it.

 

[Jan Alter]

wrote:


It is a crap shot to think that you can easily drop a harddrive with XP
installed into another computer and think that everything will be honky
dory. The XP installation on your hard drive was configured with the
drivers for a specific motherboard and peripherals. Sometimes it works but
more than not software/hardware issues eventually emerge that often
necessitate having to reinstall the OS from scratch. If at all possible do
a clean install of XP onto your new system with the old hdd.
I've come across a program called Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 with Plus
Pack, that allows one to make a backup image of their XP installation and
then restore that image to a completely different computer and then add
the drivers for it. I've tried it and it does work. In your case though an
image was not backed up and you don't have the hdd connected to the
original installation computer. There may be, at this point in time,
another software program that will smooth the transition of moving a
preinstalled installation onto another computer and someone else may know
of it.

Thought of a way to do what you'd like. If you nstalled Acronis with Plus
Pack on another working computer with the old hard drive attached to it it
you might be able to make an image of the old hard drive and then restore
that image to the eventual computer you are planning.