E-Machine rebuild

[sailer]

I've been using a 5 year old E-Machine in my office for a couple for a couple years and the cpu fan failed and burned the Intel chip. I have a spare motherboard with an AMD cpu and was wondering if simply transfer that board and chip in without problem.

I ask this because I've heard a couple times in the past that E-Machines somehow link their copy of XP to the BIOS of the original machine so that changes in motherboards/cpus can't be done. That doesn't sound likely, but I don't know for sure. Anyone know if this can be done, or do I just toss the old machine and turn the hardrive into a slave on another computer?

 

[monst0r]

sorry, intel and amd use different sockets for their chips. what you could do is do a little research on your specific model and try to find a cheap replacement cpu (should be that hard, i think its probably a socket 478 or something..)

how are you sure that the mobo isn't dead as well?

personally, i'd just scrap parts (pretty much everything i suppose) and rebuild the system, if the mobos in tact.

there are tools that can find your xp cd key (i just used it today, got my new gigabyte mobo =D)

heres a link

good luck

 

[sailer]

Yeah, I know that Intel and AMD use different sockets. What I meant was that I have a spare AMD cpu with its spare AMD socket type motherboard. My intention is to replace the Intel motherboard and cpu with a AMD motherboard and cpu. The XP CD says its for a E-Machine only, which made me wonder if its somehow linked to the specific motherboard/BIOS that came originally with the machine or something.

I don't know yet if the motherboard failed, but the cpu seems to be soldered to the motherboard, so if one fails, they both fail.

Thanks for the cd link. That can save me some time and headaches.

 

[yipsl]

You will not be able to use the E-Machines Windows CD with a motherboard that is not E-Machines. You'd need to get a new copy of Windows because the E-Machines CD looks for the components of an E-Machines system before installing.

You can compare the cost of a replacement motherboard from E-Machines, but they're pricey, you'd be better off just getting an OEM copy of Windows along with some RAM for the AMD system.

 

[sailer]

Ok, that confirms my previous thought that I'm pretty much stuck just transfering the hard disc as a slave to a different computer. Thanks for the info.

 

[monst0r]

by the way, if your not going to game, i'd recommend ubuntu linux. it would probably feel more snappy than xp on your old system, and would be sufficent for your needs. then again, if you'd prefer ms office and what not, go buy an xp home disc

actually (random thought) you can download a .iso image of windows xp and use your legit cd key. just a thought..

 

[derrickgingerich]

I've rebuilt 2 E-Machines for customers of mine. The first one did fine after doing a repair installation of XP on the existing installation on the hard drive. I installed a new motherboard, RAM, and processor using the rest of the components. I went from an Athlon XP to a Sempron 64, and the repair installation worked great.

However, I couldn't do that with the second one because I changed from an Intel chip to an AMD, and the repair installation couldn't update the drivers to work with the new AMD system. Your only real option is to use a generic OEM CD. If you have a CD, you can use the code on the sticker on the case, and it should activate fine. At least it did for me, so I didn't have to purchase a new copy of XP, simply use a standard XP disc instead of the E-Machines' discs. The downside is that you will lose the software that came installed with machine originally (ie. CD Burning software, etc).

You could also buy a cheap Intel MOBO and processor, and you might get away with just doing a repair installation.

By the way, one reason so many E-Machines get fried is because their power supplies don't have overvoltage protection, so if the power supply dies, the motherboard usually goes with it. That happened in both cases that I've dealt with. Their power supplies are pure trash. If it isn't dead already, I'd replace the power supply while you're at it to avoid future problems.