Would i be able to use an old hp computer for parts on a reletively old gateway?See details...?

Question

I just got a hold of this old hp.It only has a 4.3gb hard drive and 64mb of sdram,so im thinking its pretty much useless.I was wondering if i could use the ram for my girlfriends gateway.It too is also old,around 2004 or so.It has a 69gb drive with 39.2gb free.It has 248mb of ram.Also,it has windows xp.But,it needs RAM in a MAJOR way,and neither one of us have the spare cash laying around for it.I cant run more than one or two programs without it jambing up,AND/OR crashing.Especially programs like lime,adaware,ccleaner or any media players etc...Another problem i have is our internet(dsl).. every time we turn around we cant get on because we get the..."page cant be displayed" crap with IE,and nothing happens with firefox.(blank)So we have to restart the machine all the time.Anyways,could i do it,and would it help?Also,how could i utilize the old hard drive to work like an external for misc. storage,or something like that?ANY spare parts for that matter,like the ethernet card?thanks

Answer 1

You need to check the speed of the RAM (it should be listed on the RAM itself) and make sure it's compatible with your motherboard (this will most likely require some research)



I don't know how much 64mb will do especially since it will most likely be really slow RAM. But if you have a free slot on the other computer it couldn't hurt. Again with the HDD, if you have some use for a 4.3 gb drive use it, but otherwise chuck it.



But it sounds like RAM is your major problem. You should really try to get it up to 512 at some point; that should solve most of your problems. As such I would avoid firefox since it not only uses a ton of memory, but it leaks it. If you're only using firefox and not any other programs it should be fine, but otherwise as much as I hate to say it, I'd go with IE.

Answer 2

That depends on if they use the same type of ram or not. If it does you're good to go if the motherboard can handle that boost in ram. Some motherboards are built to handle only so much ram. As you stated that both are old I would check how much ram the computer was made to handle. Find the model number of the motherboard and google its stats. You might be able to accomplish this with the computer model number as well.



You may be able to get away with using the ethernet card...maybe. Does your girls computer have and ethernet slot first of all? That should be your first thing to find out. Look at the slot that it is in on the HP and see if the gateway has one just like it.



As for the hard drive as an external source you could. You can look on ebay for an external hard drive case like this one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-3-5-USB-2-0-EXTERNAL-HARD-DRIVE-ENCLOSURE-CASE-BOX_W0QQitemZ130103391610QQihZ003QQcategoryZ41911QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



However for 4.3GB do you really think its worth it? My suggestion is save the cash or use your tax return and invest in a better computer.



I also know what its like to hard up for cash sometimes. So things you can do to boost the POS. First check to see if the ram will fit. 2nd buy the external case and utilize the 4.3GB hard drive as an external to free up some space on the main hard drive. Verify that the case will work with the make of the hard drive first before you buy. Ask the seller. 3rd I would get someone who knows what they doing to overclock your computer. Other than that uh if you running lime and its downloading alot of stuff end other applications or run lime overnight. Schedule your scans and updates to run overnight as well so it doesn't tie up your resources as well. Also remove unneeded programs from your startup. The only things that should run at startup is essential programs, Firewall and computer condoms ( AV Spyware stuff). 4th, run your scans on an average basis, once a week once every 3 days, after and update.



Also as for browsers, it is dependant on preference. Fire has more security built in that IE does. IE is more succeptible to spyware, adware, popups and so on. I'd go with Fire, I have no problems with anything using fire. But thats just my opinion



Just read your additional details. Yes you should be able to find drivers and stuff online. You would need model numbers of the items to find them. I would just get a new ethernet card already. You don't even know if the old one works. That should be plug and play so you won't need a driver for that. Another thing, see what the max ram your computer can handle and search online for ram. Ram has gotten cheaper now. Make sure you get the right type of Ram.

Answer 3

You can get a 4gb USB flash drive for $70 or so, so using that HDD seems kind of pointless. If the PC was manufactured in 2004, it will most likely have DDR RAM, and therefore the older SDRAM will not work. I highly doubt you will see much of a difference with just an additional 64mb anyway. Windows XP needs 512mb+ of RAM to run smoothly. I prefer to have at least 1gb.

Answer 4

248 is not a lot of memory but not too bad like you canot surf on the Internet, maybe you should scan for viruses or spyware.





About your question , you could try to see if it works but it also depends if you have slots empty so you can add that memory.



Good luck

Answer 5

you can use the hard drive for sure. but the ram you might not. if her ram is not SDRAM then no it wont. you can not mix and match ram types. as for using it wisely just reformat it as an ntfs partition and you can use it for what ever you want. as for any other spare parts yeas you can use them hell its a pc if it fits in the slot it will work. but i don't mean force it in their if it doesn't go in with little or no force then it wont fit.

Answer 6

To see if the ram is compatible try http://www.crucial.com and yes most parts will be compatible, and you could always install the drive as a slave