[rshaffer61]

Well it sounds as if you may have a good working second system then. In this case I would suggest purchasing 2 gigs of memory for it since that is the max it will handle. That would be a welcome addition to your systems.
Now as a side note you could theoretically have both systems running an donly need one keyboard, mouse and monitor needed.
By purchasing what is called a KVM you could switch between which system to use without unplugging and plugging everything back in.

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2 gigs would be a revolution. With Xp and internet these days even 512mb calls for some patience. I now see that Crucial got european departments as well so there shouldn't be any problems in that direction. But the Compaq would be the best for upgrades?

Could I go with a single 1gb stick at a time - see how it works? Or does it need 2 at a time? Is it safe to look for the specifics from the Crucial page and try and look elsewhere for matches? Anything to be observant about in that category?

I didn't know about the KVM, even for this short period switching is quickly getting old. With my needs however I think sticking with and upgrading one of the two would be better. Could one take the HDD from the other or would that bring problems with compatability?

[oviedo7]

2 gigs would be a revolution. With Xp and internet these days even 512mb calls for some patience. I now see that Crucial got european departments as well so there shouldn't be any problems in that direction. But the Compaq would be the best for upgrades?

Could I go with a single 1gb stick at a time - see how it works? Or does it need 2 at a time? Is it safe to look for the specifics from the Crucial page and try and look elsewhere for matches? Anything to be observant about in that category?

I didn't know about the KVM, even for this short period switching is quickly getting old. With my needs however I think sticking with and upgrading one of the two would be better. Could one take the HDD from the other or would that bring problems with compatability?

[rshaffer61]

I would suggest two 1 gig sticks. I say this because if by chance you do have a faulty stick in the future you would still have 1 gig to work with.
The switching of drives is possible but in order to do this the best suggestion is to wipe the drive and reload the OS so that the new system drivers will load.
If you are going to use it for a secondary drive then compatibility should not be a issue. You would still need to format it so that you could use it as data storage.

[oviedo7]

Yeah you're right about the 2 sticks. Probably also wisest since I'm at it. And the incidents about the computer turning off doesn't mean I should fear anything more serious?

I imagined using the HDD from the Medion as a secondary in the Compaq - Would that be possible? What kind of equipment would I be needing for that?

[rshaffer61]

Unless one is a IDE and the other a SATA the only thing you would need is a ribbon that will accept 2 hard drives. You will have to set the jumpers on the back if IDE so one is Master and the other is a Slave drive.
With the Medion drive being used as a secondary drive the issue of turning off should not be a problem since the system will be running off the original drive.
Now to make sure I can give you the instructions for running diagnostics on the Medion hard drive while it is still in that system as the main drive.

[oviedo7]

Where can I find the info regarding what type the 2 drives are? What about the Medion that won't boot?

It was actally the Compaq that closed down a couple of times, that however was prior to the clean-up.

Yeah, by all means, I you don't mind it would be nice to check up the Medion drive before swapping it. Any lik to the ribbon for the 2 drives?

[rshaffer61]

Any lik to the ribbon for the 2 drives?

Yes if it both are IDE drives then you would need a dual ribbon to hook them up. Below I am including pictures of the different types of drives and of the IDE ribbon.
Top pic is of a dual connector ribbon.
Bottom picture top is of a IDE drive and bottom is a SATA drive. As you can tell the connectors are entirely different so no way to mistake them.








Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions


http://usasma.vox.co...iagnostics.html

[oviedo7]

Thank you for your assistance.

I will try and find the manufacturer of the hdd and then do a test. I'm gonna try and look inside to see which kind of connectors are used in the 2 systems. Hopefully they'll be the same.

About the RAM - since the computer was dirty as [bleep] when I got it, it's there a way to clean the empty slot before plugging the RAM? Any tips on cleaning the computer inside?

[rshaffer61]

About the RAM - since the computer was dirty as [bleep] when I got it, it's there a way to clean the empty slot before plugging the RAM? Any tips on cleaning the computer inside?

A can of air will get the majority of the dirt out. Warning do not turn the can upside down as the liquid will come out and that can be fatal to a system.
If the memory slots are still dirty you can use a Dry Q-tip to wipe them out. The ram is what is called Keyed so it will only fit correctly one way.

[oviedo7]

About the identifikation:

The Medion has this id: ST340810A - is that Seagate?

The compaq is WDC WD800AB-60CBA1 - that's Western Digital right?

Should I try and test the Compaq as well?

[rshaffer61]

Yes on both accounts and it may be a wise decision to do both systems just to make sure. I would suggest getting the cd ISO as it does make it better to test with since the diagnostics will be running from the cd and the memory instead of being from within the OS.
The instructions have the steps to make the cd and just to make sure you MUST burn the cd as a ISO or Image disk and not a data disk. This will allow the disk to be bootable as a data disk will not. You may have to change the boot sequence in the bios so let me know if you need instructions for this also and I will include them in my next reply.

[oviedo7]

Earlier I made a Memtest and a Linux boot cd - is it the same way around when downloading and burning the the hard drive-tests?

Both computers use the ribbon connectors so I guess they are both IDE. Actually ín the Compaq the ribbon going from the HDD to the motherboard has an extra one of the black input things (?) - could that be used to plug in the other HDD?

[rshaffer61]

Earlier I made a Memtest and a Linux boot cd - is it the same way around when downloading and burning the the hard drive-tests?

Yes exactly the same. Use the Iso or Image burning software and you should be up and testing in no time.

Actually ín the Compaq the ribbon going from the HDD to the motherboard has an extra one of the black input things (?) - could that be used to plug in the other HDD?

Yes that is a dual connector so you should be fine.
Just remember Master and Slave jumpers will have to be set on the back of the drives.

[oviedo7]

The hdd test of the Compaq went good - no errors after a quick and extended scan. Should I do more than one?

The medion test won't work? it says "copying files to ram drive D". Then it starts loading something called "cutemouse" (i think), then quickly is says "error: device not found" before the screen goes black. The screen just stays black and the monitor keeps making sounds - just like it's losing signal - a little "flash" sound...? Did I get the wrong file or is the hdd corrupt?

[rshaffer61]

When you go to the Seagate one the file you want is Seatools for Dos (ISO cdrom image)