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Building Computer Questions

2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  Hamill 
#1 ·
Well....I am going to tackle building my own computer. After doing all the research I bought all the components from an online vendor. Including a Hard Drive.

I got a IBM Deskstar 60 HD w/40gb capacity. When it arrived, it was sealed in a static-proof bag which I have not opened yet and won't till I get ready to do the job, maybe Thursday. But there's no documentation or software with it. Did they cheat me? Do I need some software to set up the HD with? Do they normally come with a manual?

The video card and motherboard came with CDROMs and manuals.

This is how I think it will work, am I correct? When I install it and boot up it won't do anything but show me "missing operating system" message, then I will insert the floppys that i made that will allow it to access the CDROM drive in which the Windows XP disc will be, and it will begin to setup the OS. Is that the right sequence i should use for a new HD clean install?
 
#2 ·
You must have bought an oem drive(brown box/white box), pretty normal. The retail versions would have had all the manuals. You can download all from ibm's web site.

Just configure the jumper correctly on the hard drive for master, check the documents, they get a little confusing, probably already jumpered correctly.

You will need to boot the machine up and setup your bios options, your motherboard manual should tell you how. When doing this make the cdrom drive bootable, have it check cdrom, floppy, hardrive in that order in the boot up options. Once the bios are set up put the winxp cd rom in the drive and it should boot up off of it. You can then partition, format, and install your os.
 
#3 ·
When you first boot the system the first thing you want to do is enter bios. Set date and time and detect hard and cdrom,you should be able to do auto detect. Make sure the rest of your settings are correct, ie. video,memory,cpu etc. Set first boot device to cdrom. Insert your cdrom, xp os. Save settings and exit. When it reboots it should automatically find the xp cd and talk you through the setup of your system. XP is very user friendly and should be a snap.
Good Luck,
Hamill
 
#5 ·
What is the difference between OEM and REtail? OEM is what a computer maker would use in their machine, right? is there an actual difference in the hard Drive itself?

As for the order, I forgot to mention that i know that the BIOS setup is the 1st thing that awaits me when all is powered up. i was just referring to the process of "setting up" the hard drive afterward. I will check out IBM and see if they have any software I will need for it, since i didn't get a CDROM with it.
 
#6 ·
No real important different. The OEM version will be just strictly the drive in a plain box... nothing else (I'm pretty sure it doesn't include an 80-pin IDE). The retail version will have the whole setup. The colorful little retail box, the software (image software--basically just for upgrading your old drive) the cables, manual and anything else they can manage to spend your money on so they can put it in there. OEM will be cheaper than Retail.

Oh yeah... also, if you are just going to do a clean install of Xp then you don't need IBM's software. Xp will format it for you. There should be an 80 pin IDE that came with your mobo so use that one for the HD.
 
#7 ·
Here is a new question. My case does not come with a fan other than the P/S fan. On the lower front of the case, inside behind the holes in the metal, there is a square plastic thing that looks like a fan housing or protector. I looked at Case Fans at my local computer store and they all have 4 little holes in the corners where you'd screw them into the mounting.

But my plastic piece does not have holes to screw anything in. They told me that I could just thread a tie-wrap thru the fan's hole and around the corner of the plastic part to hold it down. The plastic piece looks like its held in by 4 plastic tabs in the metal front panel of the case.

Am I supposed to remove this plastic piece and put the fan actually inside of it? or just tie wrap it down to the outside of the plastic piece? Should I buy some other kind of fan mounting?
 
#8 ·
The fan should fit inside of the plastic housing and the tabs of the housing should hold the fan in place. If it does depend on the setup of the case though. You can usually mount the fan with screws to the case. Depending on the processor you are using and the size of the case you may want to add 2 fans. Most new cases call for 80mm fans. One usually mounts in front on the bottom blowing air in and then mount one below the psu blowing air out. You should also have a fan on the cpu and if it is possible one may be on the chipset of the motherboard. Cooling is obviously very crucial. If its hot it dies.
Good luck,
Hamill
 
#9 ·
Yeah, the fan I was looking at buying was 80mm and this enclosure is on the front of the case. The power supply does indeed have a fan to suck hot air into it and a opening to blow it all out the back. However, directly below the P/S there's a section with little holes (ventilation no doubt) but it's a rectangular shape from top to bottom, not square, so i do not think I can even mount a fan there.

Also, the 2 fans they had in stock were one w/a 3-pin connector to go right on the M/B and the other had a standard power connector to plug into the HD & drives. They're the same price. I think I should get the one that goes into the motherboard, right? (its a GA-7DX) that will allow the BIOS to monitor fan performance I think.
 
#10 ·
I just built my new system with that same motherboard. You did not happen to win it from amd did you?
I use the fan the connects to the powere supply connectors not the motherbaord. It really does not make that much of a difference. When you connect to the motherboard your sysem can monitor the fan which can be a benefit.
The cdrom that comes with that motherboard is not supported by xp. Do not fear, my system went fine with out loading it. I keep checking gigabytes web site to see if they have updated it yet,no luck as of now. Good luck and if you have a questions let me know.
Hamill
 
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