Ive just been reading about upgrading the motherboard in my Dimension 2400... How hard is it really?

Question

I read, elsewhere on yahoo answers that a Micro ATX Socket 478 would fit sweetly into the dell... but ive never changed a motherboard before and Im not sure how hard the job would be..

Plus... once the job was done and all the bits screwed in... would my windows OS's (i run a tripple boot 2000,XP and Vista) have dificulies beyond my having to find a few new drivers?? Pls help!

Answer 1

I'm afraid you're being extremely over-optimistic in this endeavor.

Just getting a single OS booting PC to migrate to a new motherboard can be a challenge for even the most savvy technician, and frequently without success at all.

And, if you ask any tech-savvy computer user, they'll tell you that the cleanest method for an upgrade as major as a motherboard is to load from scratch onto an empty drive.

The Dell case takes mostly proprietary Dell hardware and most non-Dell hardware will not fit or work in their cases.

Dell does that on purpose so you have to buy replacement parts from them, instead of lower-priced readily available hardware from a local computer supply store like Fry's Electronics.

You would be better off building a new machine from scratch with a generic case, power supply and other components and installing all the drivers as you go, and transfering all your data when you're completely done with software and multi-booting OS's.

I speak from experience, and you do not want to take your computer apart, install the new motherboard, and corrupt all your OS's and lose your data when the adaptation process overwhelms you and you end up with a pile of smoking doo-doo.

Answer 2

you want to study what's starting up at the same time as domicile windows lots up, you are able to initiate through clicking initiate>run and variety in the run container msconfig>enter, from there you'll be in a position to make certain what's operating in the heritage and utilising up resources, you are able to untick courses this kind they gained't immediately initiate at the same time as domicile windows starts, maximum ideal no longer to end anti virus/antispyware/firewall, those are had to initiate to keep the equipment secure, yet you'd be shocked what's loading immediately, they sit down there taking on necessary memory, and hence sluggish the equipment down, you are able to also click the facilities tab once you're there, placed a tick in "cover Microsoft facilities" you'll then be left with non Microsoft facilities, which a number of them you need to disable, except for the regular anti virus etc, after that click practice, for variations to take impact think ofyou've got to restart the equipment, also do no longer end your internet connection, different issues to attempt is an effective defrag, disk freshen up, test for viruses/undercover agent ware etc, an infection can sluggish issues up, supply those a attempt, see if it speeds issues up, if no longer stick some more beneficial memory in there, through some distance the most inexpensive decision.

Answer 3

Very Good answer by the first person. I would start from scratch too. Most important - back up your hard drive before making any changes!!!

Answer 4

not recommended a new board could have problems with 2000 and vista i would leave that drive as it is really i would start from scratch get new case mb cpu hd ect....