I did something stupid

adamsplanet · 05-03-2008, 11:07 PM

So i have this really old PC i want to use (just for internet and because my LapTop starts really slow) but is only has like a 2GB HD. so i can't put XP on it.

so we also have these two other useless PC with like 10GB and 5GB HDs. so I (with out asking anything about it) opened them up...
switched the HD connector cords so i could plug both of them in...
and pluged the 10GB on into it...
so when i start up the computer...
there's no OS...
even when i tried to install the full version of Windows 98 it wouldn't work fore some reason.

I know I'm the dumbest person alive when it comes to Hardware so i need all the help i can get.

**Deleted090308** · 05-04-2008, 03:55 AM

Welcome to TSF.

So, you have 3 useless computers that you want to turn into 1 useful machine? Or?

Please post the brands/models of the parts you want to use.

Rob 1 · 05-04-2008, 08:32 AM

For the time being, you only want one hard drive plugged in.
For one thing, windows doesn't like seeing two drives during installation and you could wind up with the wrong drive letter associated to the C drive.

So plug the 10gb drive in by itself on the connector that was previously connected to a hard drive, and give it a go.

Note, if you've managed to unplug too much and don't remember which is which, you will need to look at the motherboard connectors. Find the one that says IDE 1, or Primary IDE.
That's the one that goes to the hard drive. The other one goes to the optical drive.

I hope that helps.

adamsplanet · 05-30-2008, 06:10 AM

thank you that worked... but now i can't get XP to install on the computer. it will go through the process but then somewhere alonge the way (it's different every time) it freezes up and i have to restart the computer. could anyone help with this?

Rob 1 · 05-30-2008, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamsplanet

thank you that worked... but now i can't get XP to install on the computer. it will go through the process but then somewhere alonge the way (it's different every time) it freezes up and i have to restart the computer. could anyone help with this?

It's hard to say, but if the pc was too old, XP might not run properly on it.

Do you know how much memory is in the computer?

You're not going to get XP to run on a pc with less than 128mb.

And even then, you would be lucky to get it to run.

adamsplanet · 06-04-2008, 05:36 AM

well i kinda lied. i only need 1 HD. i've got a 19 GB HD . but when ever i try to install XP it just gets... like stuck... and all frozen. but when ever i restart the install it starts back at the install part not the begining.

05-03-2008, 11:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
adamsplanet Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	I did something stupid So i have this really old PC i want to use (just for internet and because my LapTop starts really slow) but is only has like a 2GB HD. so i can't put XP on it. so we also have these two other useless PC with like 10GB and 5GB HDs. so I (with out asking anything about it) opened them up... switched the HD connector cords so i could plug both of them in... and pluged the 10GB on into it... so when i start up the computer... there's no OS... even when i tried to install the full version of Windows 98 it wouldn't work fore some reason. I know I'm the dumbest person alive when it comes to Hardware so i need all the help i can get.

05-04-2008, 03:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Re: I did something stupid Welcome to TSF. So, you have 3 useless computers that you want to turn into 1 useful machine? Or? Please post the brands/models of the parts you want to use.

05-04-2008, 08:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
Rob 1 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 309 OS: XP Pro	Re: I did something stupid For the time being, you only want one hard drive plugged in. For one thing, windows doesn't like seeing two drives during installation and you could wind up with the wrong drive letter associated to the C drive. So plug the 10gb drive in by itself on the connector that was previously connected to a hard drive, and give it a go. Note, if you've managed to unplug too much and don't remember which is which, you will need to look at the motherboard connectors. Find the one that says IDE 1, or Primary IDE. That's the one that goes to the hard drive. The other one goes to the optical drive. I hope that helps.

05-30-2008, 06:10 AM	#4 (permalink)
adamsplanet Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	Re: I did something stupid thank you that worked... but now i can't get XP to install on the computer. it will go through the process but then somewhere alonge the way (it's different every time) it freezes up and i have to restart the computer. could anyone help with this?

06-04-2008, 05:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
adamsplanet Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: XP	Re: I did something stupid well i kinda lied. i only need 1 HD. i've got a 19 GB HD . but when ever i try to install XP it just gets... like stuck... and all frozen. but when ever i restart the install it starts back at the install part not the begining.