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DL.

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About DL.

  • Birthday 05/15/1983

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    Windows 7 x64

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  1. Welcome to the forums! Many (probably most) of the tweaks will work, but it's difficult to know exactly which ones that won't. Generally, where the gui is different, the tweaks may also be different. It's recommended to test each tweak, to verify they do what they're supposed to. There may be a list of obsolete tweaks somewhere.. Using an incorrect tweak will usually result in one of the following: -Nothing happens, the tweak doesn't have any effect at all. -Unexpected behaviour, the same value does different things for different versions. In many cases, running batch commands/scripts on W7/Vista will often require elevated privileges.
  2. If I understand you correctly, you are opening a computer store to sell and/or repair computers? Why as much as 20k? When computer parts are cheap in the US compared to many other places.. A similar system based on the prices of Swedish online retailers will be close to $ 2k. Why did you choose that particular CPU? Why 2x80 GB disks? Price/GB cannot be good when 80 GB-disks are hardly available anymore. You're not saving much compared to 320 or even 500 GB drives. Also, you should always try to have some extra free space in case you'll need it later on. An external hdd is a good idea yes, but keep it in a safe place away from the machine (off site) and only connect it when doing backups to avoid losing both your primary storage and backups in a fire/flood/burglary/other. Are there any specific reason why you need Office Professional? Access or Publisher maybe? Open Office is a great, and completely free, option if you just need an MS-compatible office suite. I like your idea of using older computers for basic tasks, they sure can handle it with ease. Nowadays people even throw away Core Duo systems because they'll rather buy new stuff than pay someone to reinstall the OS! May I ask which Dell model you've got? For a bit of a performance boost, consider adding a PCI or AGP graphics card (depending on support) to that machine. It makes quite a difference in 2D-performance compared to the built in graphics. Ebay, Craigslist, flee markets and others may be useful in finding cheap components. Make sure your router has the latest firmware, it sometimes helps with stability and maybe even performance. In case that old router cannot handle the load or has stability problems, you could use the Dell you've got as a firewall with pfSense (it's simple, just make sure the NIC:s are high quality, preferably Intel with dual ports). Foxit Reader is lighter and faster than Adobe Reader. What do you mean by "gotten my hands on" those different OS:es in the last paragraph? Always install genuine software for customers, but using those discs with the customers' own license is probably ok. Many of those OS:es are obsolete and you most likely won't need them. You're missing Vista x64 in that list. Good luck with the store, if you need any more help just check the forums
  3. I can't offer much help with specfic software, but tweaks can be found here. There are lists of security software elsewhere here at MSFN. Make sure the system is fully updated. A Linux-based OS may also be an option if you're willig to try it. I agree with bpalone on the backup, its very important.
  4. Either that or use as a router/firewall (easy to do), and it's almost overpowered for that. Compared to most comsumer routers it's rock stable and won't freeze/crash/drop connections with the right NIC.
  5. Not that easy with this one. A friend asked me to "tune up" a Compaq with the i810 chipset last year. The ram will have to be 256mb matching sticks of PC100. I found only Micron would work. The only pci graphics card that will work is a Matrox G45. The bios upgrade for XP has disappeared from the Compaq site. Officially the machine has to have ME installed and then upgraded to XP, although booting with an ME floppy and using a reboot utility to trick the cd into booting XP works. With all the upgrades the thing was more stable but no faster and for some reason the graphics were still fuzzy even with a Matrox card. All in all it's a lot of work and I had the parts lying around and didn't have to hunt or pay for them. Compaqs are not the friendliest of computers to work with, that's for sure. They are often picky with components. The BIOS upgrade doesn't have to be specifically for XP as you incorrectly said. Adding more RAM and a newer disk is a way of delaying the inevitable. But if you already have or can get those things for free/very cheaply it may be an option for a while...
  6. For the simple tasks you mention you could maybe use the old computer for a while and save up some cash, just add more RAM and maybe a newer disk. You can probably get those things very cheaply or even for free, people throw away computers newer than that one. Installing some light Linux dist might give the machine new life. But if you choose to go the other route and get a new one... As others have stated, S775 and DDR2 are practically dead. Don't buy old stuff even if you need to go cheap, it's not worth it in the long run unless it's very cheap. Longevity and upgradability should be concerned on any purchase, since the computer will most likely be used over a few years. Find out how much you can spend, but don't just look at the price. Don't be afraid to try new things, everything you need to know can be found on the net. Built-in graphics is more than enough for those tasks, it can even decode HD movies as CoffeeFiend said. Mainboard: A 785G-based board for AM3, with DDR3 support (4 slots). mATX is often cheaper than full size ATX. CPU: AMD Athlon II 240/245/250, depending on which one you can find and at what price. RAM: 2x1GB DDR3 1333, you can simply add 2x1GB later if needed. HDD: The Seagate 7200.12 is a good choice. Case: There are lots of cheap generic cases, some better than others. Make sure it has sufficient cooling. PSU: A good quality brand name PSU is very important, going too cheap here might cost you in damaged components down the line. DVDRW: Any new DVDRW with SATA will do. Overclocking the CPU will give you some extra perfrormance for free, but that's probably not needed.
  7. The disk may be: -Formatted with a filesystem not supported by Win98, for example NTFS. -Larger than 137 GB. -Incorrectly connected or configured. Is the disk detected correctly in the BIOS setup?
  8. I think one thing he is saying that the "Press any key to boot from CD..." option is broken. No matter if he turns it on or off it always boots from CD without pressing a key. That is my understanding as well. The second problem he has is that he cannot remove all keyboard languages with nLite.
  9. You'll need a USB 2.0 controller to get USB 2.0, simple as that. The cables and brackets are compatible and can be used with either standard.
  10. The name of it doesn't quite say if it's a drive or a disc, "rewritable rom" is contradicting. Being a drive makes it even more of a bargain. You're welcome. I had to first search for the model number in order to find the product name and then check out www.soundblaster.com to find the info.
  11. It's a "Sound Blaster 5.1" (just search for the model number) and according to the product info it sure does.
  12. Just the sound card would probably be less than those 10 AU$ if bought separately, but not much. A total of 20 AU$ for all of those things is not very expensive. If you only need a sound card and have no use for the other stuff whatsoever, you could get a better card for the same price. Depending on which mainboard you've got you can probably connect that USB-bracket and get two more ports.
  13. So far i like Firefox but I've tried Opera, Safari and most IEs (except IE8). I'm a tweak-freak so I just have to tweak most aspects of the browser to my taste. I can do that quite well with Firefox (user.js, userchrome.css, add-ons) and that's the main reason why I use it. Opera is a bit more difficult in that sense and IE's more limited in what you can do.
  14. You get lots of stuff for little money, so yes it's ok. I'd get them if had that opportunity, can be useful for example as spares. Most of those things are obsolete, but would cost quite a bit more if you had to buy them one by one. If you need some of them, you basically get the other ones for free. 3 port Swann Lucent PCI Firewire card: Quite useless unless you use firewire a lot. Sound Blaster sound card - model; SB0680 (SB 5.1): Basic PCI sound card which is better than many older on-board chips. Realtek network card - model; 8139: Basic fast ethernet card, not too bad to have a spare card. USB port (2 port): Probably not USB 2.0, but ok if you just need more ports. 10/100MBps 8 port Ethernet switch; model SH-9008P with power adaptor: Useful for expanding a local network, even if only temporary. RAD SHDSL modem - model; ASMi-52 with power cable: If you cannot get SHDSL where you live it's useless. x52 speed CD rom; gigabyte: If you need a spare drive or want more than one drive at a time, then fine. Sony DVD rewritable rom: Not much to say, is it a drive or a disc? Hi-Speed 2.5" External HD Case USB 2.0 new in box: Good for making your own external HDD, just add a drive.
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