need to upgrade hdd and memory

How easy is it to upgrade mem and hdd? Am I stuck with Compaq parts? We are overdue.
Thanks for any advice, Mike

Windows 98 SE (build 4.10.2222) Compaq Compaq PC
System Serial Number: 2H02DCT6J3PG
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
500 megahertz AMD K6-2 w/3DNow!
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Compaq 0648h
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
BIOS: Compaq 686S4 01/28/2000
Drives Memory Modules c
10.24 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
5.73 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

COMPAQ SC-140S [CD-ROM drive]
Generic floppy disk drive (3.5")

QUANTUM FIREBALLlct20 10 (10.26 GB) [Hard drive] -- drive 0 56 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 64 MB
Slot '1' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive 0) 8.19 GB 4.89 GB free
d: (on drive 0) 2.05 GB 833 MB free

 

It's not hard to upgrade either, and no, you're not stuck with Compaq parts.

 

Memory is easy...only trick is making sure you buy the right type for your motherboard.

hd is a little harder depending on the age of your machine as some older machines will not recognize the full size of newer drives without a bios upgrade or using overlay software.


general process is set the jumpers on the new drive (master or slave), bolt it in, connect the ide cable, connect the power, boot, let the bios recognize it, partition it, format it, install your operating system and drivers, then install applications.


If have basic mechanical knowledge you can easily handle a memory upgrade as its simply plugging the new chip in. The harddrive requires basic mechanical knowledge and a little more advanced knowledge of computers as you have to know what a jumper is for example and how to install drivers, etc.


i say go for it and if you run into any problems, post here and we can probably walk you through anything that confuses you.

 

I recently did both.

The memory was easy. Just get the right kind. Some store websites or your manufacturer could tell you what type by entering the model number. IBM or the Best buy site told which kind.

I installed a Western Digital HDD. The instructions were OK and the software came in the box to copy everything from the old HDD to the new one.

The Bios upgrade was not too clear but their helpline helped.

 

Looking at your orginal post and see that you have about 5 GB free on your HDD. If you're not having problems, you may try cleanup and defrag on the system tools.

 

I was mainly thinking of adding another hdd for backup purposes. Am I correct to assume that my d drive is one of two parts of my hdd. Could I use that to b/u the data on c? Could you recommend a good b/u program?
Mike

 

Compaq usually places a partition (D) for the setup files......

 

Backing up tp a secondary hard drive is not really a good practice if your data is really important to you. If the second hard drive were to crash it's all gone. A better solution would be a tape backup or even a CD-RW drive to archive stuff to CD. If you insist on doing it to a second hard drive you can run a batch file to copy your data to the other drive and skip the software altogether.

 

Not really set on any particular type of b/u. Just want to do what is best. Probably the cd/rw.

 

Just tossing in another opinion, you still have plenty of hard drive space on your machine. If you are looking only for backup, I would suggest a cd/rw. As Rockn said, the second hard drive could fail and all of the bu is gone. Even if the cd/rw fails, the disks can be read by a standard cd rom in most cases.
As far as memory, take a look here www.crucial.com
The selector will help with the correct type.

SeeYa

PS: Been using a 30GB drive for 2 years, still have 23GB free, all important info on cd