New PC

[Rik]

There should be instructions for the BIOS settings, Malc. Many auto-detect stuff these days. Otherwise, ask the retailer lots of questions.

Thermal paste is a bit down to experience, though.

[Malc]

I know, a lot of it's trial and error, but to build a whole system, I'm not quite their yet.

I think the only thing I havn't attepmted to replace yet are the CPU and mobo, and I guess ther're the most difficult.

[Rik]

They are. The mobo because it means disconnecting everything, the CPU because it's easy to break one of you're a bit heavy-handed.

[Simon]

The building process can be extremely frustrating, although it's actually relatively easy, and as Rik said, only the right bits fit in the right places.  The annoying things are, when the right places, are in the way of other right places, as in the case of my graphics card not being able to seat correctly, due to another connector being in the way.  I don't understand why things are where they are on mobos, or why all the connectors for this, that and everything else, can't all be on one side, or in one corner or the other, rather than seemingly scattered randomly over the board.

I have just broken one of the SATA terminals on my mobo, admittedly due to heavy handedness and impatience, but why can't it just be easy to remove one component, without having to practically dismantle the whole thing back to scratch?

Oh, I found out where the network port is, and now, it's behind a bendy flap on the I/O panel at the rear of the mobo, which, if I want it to bend inwards, will involve removing the whole motherboard, just to bend this stupid bit of metal over the terminal.  Will I do that?  Nope - it's just about to be clipped off.

[Glenn]

Oh, I found out where the network port is, and now, it's behind a bendy flap on the I/O panel at the rear of the mobo, which, if I want it to bend inwards, will involve removing the whole motherboard, just to bend this stupid bit of metal over the terminal.  Will I do that?  Nope - it's just about to be clipped off.

Put a thin blade behind the tab, you should be able to tease it out then remove it.

[Sebby]

I've made that mistake before, Simon. Believe me, you'll never do it again.

[Simon]

Put a thin blade behind the tab, you should be able to tease it out then remove it.

Oh, it's already on the outside, Glenn, it's just that it should have been folded inwards before I installed the mobo.  Of course, the easiest way would be to remove the I/O plate, but they fit from the inside.     It's a conspiracy, I tell you!   

I've made that mistake before, Simon. Believe me, you'll never do it again.

No, Seb, I doubt that I will!  I will be sooo surprised if this thing actually works at all, by the time I've finished with it!   

[Simon]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!   

All up and running, infected with Windows, and now for the boring bit - updates and transferring files. 

[RA-1972]

Well done mate 

[Sebby]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!  

All up and running, infected with Windows, and now for the boring bit - updates and transferring files. 

And there was you saying it wouldn't work.

Well done!

So, how's it running?

[Simon]

It's so quiet, I have to keep checking it's still on!    Seems to be running fine.  Got all the boring bit to get through now, but I think I've got all the Windows Updates, and have loaded a few programs, but still loads to do, and I keep having to reconnect the old PC to retrieve stuff from it.  All good fun though, and I even managed to partition a drive! 

[Inactive]

Sounds like you have beaten it Simon, well done.

[Simon]

They don't work very well after being beaten, In. Tends to loosen the parts.   

[madasahatter]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!   

All up and running, infected with Windows, and now for the boring bit - updates and transferring files. 

that's fantastic Simon - well done 

[Simon]

Thanks, Mad.  I think it will be worth the aggro. 

[Rik]

Well done, Simon. Are you using the LAN to transfer files?

[Ray]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!  

All up and running, infected with Windows, and now for the boring bit - updates and transferring files. 

That's great news, Simon. 

[Simon]

Well done, Simon. Are you using the LAN to transfer files?

No, because I've only got one ethernet cable.    At the moment, I'm having to transfer stuff from the old main drive to the new one via an external hard drive, but for the storage drives, I'll piggy back via IDE, I expect.

[Rik]

Go buy a LAN cable, it will make your life a lot easier.

[Simon]

Is that the same as an ethernet cable?

[Rik]

Yup.

[Simon]

So, can't I just unplug the existing one from the router and use that?  If so, is it just a question of plugging it in, or is it more complicated than that?  I'd like to get it more or less finished tonight, so don't need another learning curve to deal with.

[Rik]

How many cables do you have? You'll need one for each machine. Other than that, it's as simple as giving each computer a unique name, then sharing the files/drives you want to copy, then using My Network Places to locate the shares.

[Simon]

  There's only one LAN / Ethernet port on each machine, so how can I use two cables?  Surely it would be just as easy to hook up the old storage drive to the new machine?  Might even just physically swap the drive over and that's that.

[Simon]

I've just realised what I've said.  Dohh!!  Use the router!  Sometime the penny gets stuck in the slot!