[geauxsaints]

I have a PC that was built for my mother, she got a new one and gave me the old one. I believe the hard drive is going to need to be replaced soon. My computer just recently started making a lot of noises while im using it, typically when watching videos. Even if its not the hard drive, I would like to start to upgrade this computer. I know that it is a SATA hard drive, and thats about all I know. Im just now forcing myself to learn about my PC so I can take care of it properly, so I dont know a lot in regards to the hardware yet. What I need to know is can I replace the hard drive with any SATA hard drive? And if not, how do I found out which ones are compatible with my PC? I would like to get something better than what I have. But I really don't even know what I have lol Any help would be much appreciated. thanks in advance

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Download and run System Spec:

http://www.alexnolan...are/SysSpec.exe

Then copy and paste the important information here. Specifically the information below:

OS
RAM
CPU Info
Display Adapter
Monitor
Motherboard

Also, we'll need to know the make and wattage of your PSU. You'll have to actually open your case and read that information off of the power supply though. Once we have that information then we can see what potential upgrades you can make.

[kidnova]

Download and run System Spec:

http://www.alexnolan...are/SysSpec.exe

Then copy and paste the important information here. Specifically the information below:

OS
RAM
CPU Info
Display Adapter
Monitor
Motherboard

Also, we'll need to know the make and wattage of your PSU. You'll have to actually open your case and read that information off of the power supply though. Once we have that information then we can see what potential upgrades you can make.

[geauxsaints]

Ok, here is the info I think you were asking for. I couldn't figure out how to copy and paste it for some reason so I just typed it in. Hope I didnt mistake any 1's for L's or something like that. If it doesnt look right let me know and ill go back and check it. And If theres anymore that you need off the System Spec let me know.

OS- Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
RAM- 1012 MB
CPU Info- Intel® Pentium® Dual CPU E2200@ 2.20GHz
Display Adapter- Intel® G33/G31 Express Chipset Family| Net Meeting Driver| RDPDD Chained DD
Monitor- 1x; Plug and Play Monitor
Motherboard- Intel Corporation DG31PR

I opened up my PC and the sticker on the power supply read:
Power Man
Model# IP S350AQ2-O
350W Output.

I took a picture of the sticker on the power supply just in case you need different info, I wont have to open my PC back up. I am not expecting to upgrade my PC to be top of the line, but I would like to know what all I can do to it. I dont have the cash to really do a lot out of pocket, but I have lucked out and ended up with a ton of Amazon gift cards and am getting more soon. So I was hoping I could fix it up over the next few months using my gift cards. I would like to do it all myself. Like I said previously, I am worried the hard drive will need replacing soon. The noises are coming from the tower. I try to keep up with cleaning the dust out of it. So I dont think thats the problem. But regardless I would like to upgrade to the best I can afford, and need to know if theres other hardware I should upgrade first. Any guidance is greatly appreciated. I also need a new monitor because the cheapo one I have right now has lines running down it most of the time and its not nearly big enough, but I figured what good is a new monitor if my hard drive craps out lol. But as far as monitors go, do you have a reccomendation on a decent quality monitor that isnt too too expensive?

Edited by geauxsaints, 12 August 2012 - 04:00 PM.

[kidnova]

Unfortunately there's not a whole lot you can do as far as upgrading that system goes. You could put some money into upgrading it, but it's still not going to be very viable for a gaming system. To make it useful for modern games you'd basically end up building a whole new PC anyways. Are there any specific games you want to play? One thing you can do which would make a pretty drastic improvement is increasing the RAM to 4 GB by replacing what you have with:

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231207

You could also try a relatively low power GPU, but I'm not sure how far you could stretch that power supply. Beyond that you're looking at replacing the Mobo, CPU, and PSU, which basically means starting over from scratch.

Oh, and as to your original question, yes any SATA HDD should work to replace your current harddrive, but before you do that make sure you understand how to backup and restore your files.

Edited by kidnova, 12 August 2012 - 07:24 PM.

[iammykyl]

If you do decide on a new HDD, and you have an XP OS installation disk, I recommendatory you do a clean install. If you do not have an OS disk, you can clone your existing C: drive and copy it to the new HDD.

[geauxsaints]

I'm really not worried about gaming too much anymore these days. I am a recovering WoW addict lol. But when I play games now its usually on a console. I just want my PC to be faster. I never watch tv anymore, we watch everything on my PC and I just want to do whatever I can to make things run more smoothly whether I'm watching streaming video, just surfing the Internet, or whatever. I will be upgrading and getting a completely new PC eventually, but as of right now I have to settle for what I have and do what I can with my amazon gift cards. I plan to replace the harddrive soon and add the RAM you suggested. When it comes to replacing my harddrive, do you have any suggestions? And what difference will a better harddrive actually make? Sorry to keep bugging you, but I'm detrmined to learn how to work on my PC myself and there's still a lot I need to understand.

[kidnova]

Well, upgrading your RAM should result in a very noticable improvement to the everyday tasks you mentioned. You could also look at adding a discreet video card like the one below which should help with some of your video tasks and allow for casual gaming if you do that at some point.

http://www.amazon.co...o/dp/B005VULT2C

You're not going to see a whole lot of improvement by adding a new harddrive unless it's a SSD, and that will mainly just improve boot and load times. However, if you HDD is failing then changing it is the obvious choice. There are several programs out there designed to allow you to clone your HD and restore such as Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost:

http://www.amazon.co...image home 2012

http://www.amazon.co...image home 2012

I don't have any personal experience with either program so I will let others chime in on their recommended method for creating a system image.