Very old system needs repair.

[mildgamer001]

I have a very old desktop (gateway 2000 i think) and i remember that it was freezing a lot when we had it at our house, but it was moved to the office at my mothers work, we may be getting ti back and i figure it would be a good rig to practice computer building on so it wont be my first build when im dealing with 800 or so dollars of electronics on the gaming rig i hope to build. but, i dont think it would help much if im trying to build a computer i know wont work (ill take it apart then rebuild) so i was hopong to find out why it froze so much. (also i put it in prebuilt because it was originaly a prebuilt [obviously if its a gateway]) any help i could get would be greatly appreciated, also i have another one running windows 2000 i cant remember what brand and it works fine but i may also be rebuilding that one as well. neither are used anymore they would have been thrown out so i figure, hey practice makes perfect. thanks.

 

[starravier]

What exactly are you afraid of happening when you build a computer?

The components aren't as fragile as they look. I was a noob at Pc building. Just take it apart, map out what goes where. Etc. Besides that. Its fairly easy.

 

[mildgamer001]

well, if you mess up and either dont put certain oarts on right, or touch soething you shouldnt, or not touch the case enough etc etc, my rig is going to be expencive i dont really like breaking things that cost so much, so i wanted to practice a bit on the older ones, because it didnt matter, but one didnt work correctly, so i wantedto fix it beforehand. i know its easy ive seen it done many times, i just dont want to say, kill a 220$ prosesor or short out something that costs a lto of money etc etc, i like to be cautious.

 

[starravier]

Ok well first off, dont build on a carpet - Static
When you buy your mobo, take it out find out what goes where on the mobo
Honestly there isnt a whole lot on a board that you can touch that will mess up your board.

Memory - is pretty straight forward. You will typically have 4 ram slots. Each with a notch to match which way the memory should fit.

GFX Card - Has a specific slot designated for it.

CPU - This i was suggest you be gentle with. The holder for it is again designed to hold the CPU in a certain way. You see two notches so line up ur CPU to match them.

Also what parts are you buying

 

[mildgamer001]

i know how to build it lol i was just looking for reasons why it has been freezing so much and how to fix it I KNOW HOW TO MAKE ONE i just didnt see the hard in using the computers for one more thing before they get tossed in the garbage (which is sorta a shame for functioning computers that were used for so much and for so long) but i was just hoping for some throubleshooting advice no0t pc building advice, ive seen and read just about every tutorial ever made on building pcs.

 

[mildgamer001]

but i also don't see the hard in talking about the build im going to eventually do either so here sthe current parts (i didnt include the gpu for a reason, which happens to be that i will be on a budget and the mobo has integrated graphics, but when i have more cash afterwards ill get a radeon 6770, then when i need to upgrade ill get a second 6770)

CPU: intel core i5 2500k-220$
MOBO:GIGABYTE GA-Z68P-DS3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s ATX Intel Motherboard: 110$
HSF:coolermaster hyper 212 hsf: 30$
HDD: samsung 1tb 60$
GPU:N/A?
PSU:550 watt antec bp550-55$
Case: CM HAF 912: 60$
RAM: crucial 4gb ddr3 ballistix sport- 30$
OS:Win 7 HP- 130$
extra fans: 2 coolermaster led fans 120mm- 20$
TOTAL- 715$ (not including tax/shipping)

i dont have any of the money for it yet, saving the cash is my progect for the year really, which i am aware that new hardware generations will be out by then but the i5 can be very versatile/long lived and i can upgrade the gpu without bottlenecking.

 

[starravier]

OHHHHHH LOL makes sense

Well your computer freezing generally isnt a result of poor hardware. More like file corruption or virus' from my own experience.

But does it freeze at a certain point?

And if your not reusing any parts. You have no need to be concerned about it freezing since everything will be fresh. You'll be more likely to run into the basic problems of new builds. No signal, no start up, not booting etc.

BTW i noticed you have no GPU listed. Are you reusing or planning on buying one?

 

[mildgamer001]

well. the old one is nto going to be reused, just a practice/hobby/test to see how well, and i wanted to be able to actually test it afterwards wothout worrieing if i did anything wrong, as a corrupted computer/etc may show idk...

but, no i do have a reason for the lack of a gpu. the first design for a computer i had was really high end, would have cost 1500$ waayyy more than i want to pay for a gaming rig without an actual job (im in high school) soo, i tryed an amd build to see if i could get a nice one with less cost.. came to 1000$, still to much, then tryed maybe 2 more configurations, all came to about 1000$ (with monitor and OS, which ill get back to later) so, i saw an article that mentioned that some z68 mobos have igp, *pop! IDEA!!* i would do a build with a z68 mobo with igp, then i can wait till later on when i have more cash (so i can build the rest of the computer earlier on and wont have to wait so long) i could buy say, a radeon 6770.

Once i get the cash to get the 6770 i ould wait longer until i have more money/need upgrade then buy a second 6770 and crossfire (im pretty sure the mobo has the features i need) which once i do all that it should be a very nice rig, and i will be able to get it much sooner initially. right now its about 750$ much much less than the original config i had. and the reusing one, holy crap no lol, even if ANY of my computers had a gpu it would probably be awful (my computers right now are an asus k52f-bbr5 [300$] with igp, and a compaq evo [6 years old pentium 4 cpu 1gb ram {after 40$ upgrade from 512 *such an idiot*}]). so yea, time for a new rig lol, just dont feel like waiting an even longer time for a good gaming pc.

 

[mildgamer001]

ALSO the old computer (the really old one not my compaq) from what i remember (havent used in years) was stored in the "shed chamber" for several years when i was a kid before my mother desided to take it out and try to get it running (no computer knowledge and didnt think that it was put out there for a reason) so she spent 2 hours getting some update or something, then let me use it, almost the whole way thru a solitair game and it froze. after that it froze sooner and sooner every time we used it, like one time it woul dbe a while after we started it the next it would be a little sooner and so on.

but then, they took it to her real estate office, which leads me to believe it may have been fixed or just set up in the night guys office for storage i hadnt seen it on in years so im just asuming. bu ti suppose ill have to test it first.

just a note, not trying to offend you, but you dont seem to like to read an entire post before commanting on it, because i already have said a lot of the stuff in this post and the last one that i have said before. lol.

 

[starravier]

well if it was in a shed for several years then, its one probably out dated and two, environmental damage has probably occurred. Extreme cold, and heat changes as well as moisture. But um IMO, you'll probably spend alot of wasted time fixing the comp that was stored in the shed. If its not already fixed by your moms tech crew. Its more likely to be dead end.

No offense taken, i was kinda skimming through your posts.

 

[mildgamer001]

oh, a shed chamber isnt like an outdoor shed perse, many older farmhouses like mine have a wood shed for storing firewood so it can dry for the winter. when these wood sheds have an extra room above connected to the second floor of the house that room is called the shed chamber. also i dont care about the toime, i have probably around a year before i can get my rig, this is more for fun, and of cource its outdated LOL it like 15 years old running on windows 95 or 98 i think. i wont be using it for my use i have a modern laptop for that.

and she didnt have a tech crew i think, closest thing to that may have been the semi local repair shop b ut i dont think she would have paid for it to get fixed, maybe the night guy did or something i dont know, ill have to test it first. also the heat/cold thing with how we stored it, the room isnt heated but it is insulated and also we hav another old computer that we used to use before it got hit by lightning or something and screwed up the max color/res so you cant change it back to what it used to be, and i think that sort of stil works. actually i think that one is newer than the one i want to take apart and rebuild... btu anyway even if it doesnt work WELL as long as it is possible to start it up then it can still be usful for my purposes.