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upgrade old pc with a new HDD (Resolved).


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#16
phillpower2

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No problem and thanks terry :thumbsup:  me & PCPartpickers  couldn`t find it between the two of us  :headhurt:


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#17
percman

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Got the parts from Micro Center the other day - basically the ones I reserved with the exception of swapping out the motherboard. The advantage I believe in an actual brick and mortar store is not having the hassle of back and forth shipping if anything goes wrong. The motherboard coincidentally was changed to the exact same one Phil mentioned above - seems like the full ATX version of the other one. 

 

All important documents, downloads, etc are moved to a regular separate HD and the main SSD is ready to wipe. Have the Win10 setup jump drive ready. Just finding time to get the build done. 

 

Just to give you of an example of why I'm doing this - in creating the Win10 USB, my old configuration crashed to BSOD "Video TDR failure" about 6 times, necessitating starting over each time. Grrr... Here's to hoping the new config is MUCH MUCH more stable and faster.  

 

thanks for the help!


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#18
phillpower2

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From my reply #11;

 

After assembling the parts when you first power up you will need to access the BIOS and change the boot sequence to either DVD or USB first depending on the type of media being used as in DVD disc or USB thumb drive and in your case the SSD second in the boot order, you should also set the correct time and date while in the BIOS, these settings need to be saved before exiting the BIOS and this is commonly done by pressing F10.
 
Once Windows has been installed you need to install the drivers for the MB and by starting with the chipset drivers first, once the MB drivers have been installed move onto the GPU drivers and finally check for Windows updates.
 
It is most important that before assembling inside the case that you test the hardware outside of it, this is referred to as a bare-bones set-up or bread boarding, this is advised as you can identify any possible DOA components first hand which would not only save you time and trouble but also remove any doubt as to whether you did something wrong such as shorting out the MB with an incorrectly placed stand off etc.
 
The system build link that I included above is all you need for assembling inside of the case and for the bare-bones set-up see excerpt from my canned text for troubleshooting new builds below;

 

 

 
I suggest that you remove the MB and do a bare-bones set-up on a piece of cardboard (make sure it is larger than the MB) only connect the PSU, the GFX card, screen, 1 stick of Ram and the keyboard.
 
IF your MB doesn`t have a power  test switch you will then need to short out the 2 power on pins on the MB header to get the PSU to activate, you can use a small flat bladed screwdriver or a paper clip bent into a U shape, this is perfectly safe if you do not touch anything else, the idea is to see if we can get a BIOS screen if you do you can then add one component at a time until you find the problem component, you must power down and remove the power cord from the wall before adding another component

 

 

In addition to the above;

 

For computers that have UEFI as opposed to legacy BIOS, to be able to boot from your USB device you may need to disable secure boot and change UEFI to CSM Boot, not all computers and BIOS are the same, please refer to your user manual if you have one as the following steps are only one such example. 

 

Power up the computer and continually tap or hold down the key that will allow you to access the BIOS on your computer then do the following;
 
Select Security -> Secure Boot and then Disabled.
Select Advanced -> System Configuration and then Boot Mode.
Change UEFI Boot to CSM Boot.
Save the changes and Exit the BIOS, commonly F10.
 
You are welcome  :)

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#19
percman

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Pictures attached are from Day 1 of the build. Got everything done except the cables from the PSU to the components (ran out of time). The case already had stand offs and the drives in there, so it was relatively easy. One thing I noticed right off the bat, especially after removing the old MB and video card was the incredible difference in weight 8 years makes. Feels like the box is 1/2 of what it used to be. Plus the MB took up a lot less room as well.

Question about fans. Currently there are 3 that were already there - one on the side panel, one on the top, and a recently added one on the back (venting out as far as I can tell). Plus of course the PSU, GPU, and CPU fans. In reading a couple articles it indicated that there are usually some up front. The old config never had them, and in fact the front panel is NOT perforated. It does however have the slots for 2 fans and a slight gap at the bottom of the panel for what I would presume would be airflow to get it (see pic). So:

--- what size are those fans up front? Do you think they're needed? The old config ran for years without them but if they help?
--- is there a limit to the number of fans a case can/should have? My old config it looked like they were just daisy chained off of one or two Molex connectors.

The bread boarding aspect was done in house at Micro Center. They installed the processor, heat sink/fan, and RAM and tested. All I had to do was drop the MB in and add the video cards and a couple older expansion cards.

As to the first boot, won't the system automatically try to find the USB? A YouTube of a build showed that, but I'm not sure. I know how to point to it in the old BIOS so I imagine it wouldn't be hard in the new.

Would there really be much more to set in BIOS after it starts to read the jump drive and (hopefully) clean install Win10? And once on the Desktop re: the driver installs you mentioned above - wouldn't that just be the CD that came with it? Does it necessarily need to be in an order of some sort? Most install disks I've seen just do their own thing...

thanks again'

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#20
terry1966

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what size are those fans up front? Do you think they're needed? The old config ran for years without them but if they help?

xpost-408886-0-80592200-1459357559_thumb

judging by the picture it looks like you can fit 2 80x80mm fans side by side up front.

do you need them? no not in my opinion, you have enough airflow with the 3 fans you have.

 

read your motherboard manual thoroughly, everything is explain in there about bios/uefi settings, boot order, etc,

you'll probably just leave everything at it's default settings, except maybe the boot order of your drives.

the main thing is put the usb stick in the pc before powering it up.

then if you didn't change anything in the bios/uefi just tap whatever key it says on screen to choose boot menu/order/options, probably something like f12, then when it shows your devices choose to boot from the usb stick this will start the boot and install process, from there you just follow windows 10 on screen instructions.

 

:popcorn:


Edited by terry1966, 30 March 2016 - 02:07 PM.

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#21
percman

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Thanks Terry. Just barely started to get the cables attached when I had to leave for work today but yes, the manual for the MB was very helpful in getting at least the cables hooked up and the BIOS aspect later.

One other question - I have an internal card reader that is in a slot below the Blu Ray drive. Does that connect to the USB 3 port on the MB? I didn't have time to see if the connector is even the same but I would think that would be it. If not, where does it go? There was a slot on the old MB but I can't remember what it was labeled. All the rest of the components - power, fan, MB are very straight forward but I was confused on this one
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#22
terry1966

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depends, i'd think it probably connects to a usb2 header though and not the usb3 port/header.

 

on the motherboard the usb2 headers may just be 9 pins in a line, 5 on top and 4 below and not have a plastic surround. again read the motherboard manual and check with the internal card readers manufacturers site to see what connection it needs if in doubt, even if it means removing the card reader first so you can get any needed details off it to do your research, but like i said it probably uses usb2 connection.

 

if it does require a usb2 header and if for some reason you want to connect it to the usb3 header anyway (people say connecting a usb2 device to a usb3 connection gives slightly better data transfer rates, can't say i've tested it myself though, or researched it.) you'd need an adaptor cable like this :- http://www.amazon.co...ds=usb3 to usb2

 

:popcorn:


Edited by terry1966, 31 March 2016 - 11:33 AM.

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#23
percman

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The MB had a USB1 header so I used that. The card is quite old. Couldn't test it though because....

Got the entire thing wired up, started, saw mouse keyboard and obviously GPU is working. Routed to Win10 USB, placed existing Win 7 key when prompted, and then came up to the point of install. I chose the Custom install because it seems that's the one to do to get a clean, formatted drive fresh install. Got the errors below, and I'm completely stuck.

Before placing the SSD in the system I did a NTFS format with 2 partitions, as I did the last time. After briefly looking for solutions online, they suggested deleting the partition and starting over. In doing so the same error came up. I know based on the free space amounts I'm pointing to the SSD, but even with a standard hard drive in there (which I wouldn't want to install Win10 on anyway), i STILL couldn't select that either.

Does this require a different type of format? I've never even heard of the terminology in the error. Does it require some other BIOS settings I'm not doing?

BTW I didn't see any problems with the Gigabyte version of BIOS - everything looked normal so I think I'm good if I can get the darn Operating System installed....

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#24
terry1966

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as the error says your creating mbr type partitions with whatever your using to create the partitions before installing the drive and trying to install the os, you need to use gpt type partitions.

so during the install select custom, just delete all partitions and let it do the install, you can always shrink the os partition later to add the second separate partition your wanting.

 

:popcorn:   

 

info on difference between mbr and gpt. :- http://www.howtogeek...ioning-a-drive/


Edited by terry1966, 01 April 2016 - 10:02 AM.

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#25
percman

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Took a bit of back and forth but that finally did work Terry. Win10 booted and finalized with the Win7 key, so I didn't have to call Microsoft.

 

First impressions - VERY fast. 16GB of RAM and a new processor will do that. Still have to install all programs, drivers, etc. but it looks like it was worth all the trouble. Thanks all!


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#26
phillpower2

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Great news and a job well done percman  :yes:

 

You are most welcome btw and thanks to terry for the additional assistance  :thumbsup:


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#27
terry1966

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your welcome.

it's always nice to have new faster hardware. :spoton:

 

:popcorn:


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#28
percman

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Ran Titanfall 1900x1200 pretty much maxed out. Navigating the Desktop and opening programs is impossibly fast. Also the Blu Ray ripper completed in 4 hours vs 11 and no crashes. Issue with that software not able to use CUDA acceleration but that's a whole other topic just for them....


Defintiely worth the time and effort. Thanks again.
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#29
terry1966

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4hrs vs 11 is a massive improvement. :spoton:

just curious what ripper do you use? being a lazy old so and so and using a linux os i use makemkv or handbrake to get my blurays onto my htpc so i don't have to keep getting up and inserting the disks to watch them. :rofl:

 

:popcorn:


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#30
percman

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PavTube Byte Copy. It works,just slow but again not as slow as it used to. The option to select CUDA acceleration is in the Options but I can't click it. Already emailed them. Frustrating...


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