My son just bought me a new computer

[ninjasfishh]

My son Just bought me a new computer. It's a quad-core, and he says it has two graphics cards, which I think is the problem. He wanted me to use the hard drive that was already in it, but I didn't want to lose any of my stuff, and so I had him put my hard drive from my Gateway 825GM in it. Except that I can't get anything to work right. My Ethernet cable is working ok, but My resolution is stuck at 800X600, instead of 1920X1080. He's away for a while, And I don't want to bother him (Especially since I've been sending his phone into spasms with questions like this one. Does anyone know what I can do to fix this?

 

[aznshinobi]

Umm well your son didn't really think when he stuck your old HDD into your new computer. Windows on any manufacturer computer like HP or Gateway etc. Always use OEM Windows so you can only use that OS with the original motherboard. In this case, that OS's Key would only work with your old 825GM. I feel like I'm not being very clear.

OEM Windows allows you to upgrade anything in the computer, so long as the HDD sticks with the same motherboard. Once you change the motherboard you need to buy Windows whatever again and reinstall. But in which case you lose all the information since you'll format it.

I suggest that you back up your stuff and either use the HDD that came with the computer your son built or back it up into the HDD your son gave you, buy a new OS and install the new OS on your old HDD.

 

[ninjasfishh]

Umm well your son didn't really think when he stuck your old HDD into your new computer. Windows on any manufacturer computer like HP or Gateway etc. Always use OEM Windows so you can only use that OS with the original motherboard. In this case, that OS's Key would only work with your old 825GM. I feel like I'm not being very clear.

OEM Windows allows you to upgrade anything in the computer, so long as the HDD sticks with the same motherboard. Once you change the motherboard you need to buy Windows whatever again and reinstall. But in which case you lose all the information since you'll format it.

I suggest that you back up your stuff and either use the HDD that came with the computer your son built or back it up into the HDD your son gave you, buy a new OS and install the new OS on your old HDD.

So If I bought windows 7, it should work? I have a copy of vista that I bought a couple years back, But I hated it, and I could never connect to the internet with it. Would vista work ok in the interim of my buying windows 7?

 

[kelthic]

Put the HDD back in the old pc and transfer the stuff you need to keep from your old computer to your new computer with a flash drive. This way the new computer isn't getting messed up by the old HDD. Here is a how to video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGcVO1fht58

I assume when you say that the new computer has 2 graphics cards in it, it has one that is integrated into the motherboard, and a separate card that plugs into the motherboard. You want to make sure that your monitor is plugged into the separate card (knows as a discrete graphics card, or just GPU) and that the drivers for this card are up to date. Here is a how to video for updating your drivers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=123EGBXnprA

 

[quilciri]

OEM Windows allows you to upgrade anything in the computer, so long as the HDD sticks with the same motherboard. Once you change the motherboard you need to buy Windows whatever again and reinstall. But in which case you lose all the information since you'll format it.

I suggest that you back up your stuff and either use the HDD that came with the computer your son built or back it up into the HDD your son gave you, buy a new OS and install the new OS on your old HDD.

That's probably your best bet, but isn't entirely accurate. You can prep a hardware-neutral image of windows from your old machine, but that's usually outside the scope of most enthusiasts knowledge.

If you know a computer tech that works with enterprise hardware (not just a geek-squad monkey), you could probably hire him/her to do it for $25 or so.

 

[aznshinobi]

^ Lol, well there's an idea. I haven't really messed around with OEM Windows since I know some people that work at Microsoft Redmond so they can just get Windows 7 full Home for about $30.

 

[ninjasfishh]

Best answer selected by ninjasfishh.

 

[ninjasfishh]

Put the HDD back in the old pc and transfer the stuff you need to keep from your old computer to your new computer with a flash drive. This way the new computer isn't getting messed up by the old HDD. Here is a how to video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGcVO1fht58

I assume when you say that the new computer has 2 graphics cards in it, it has one that is integrated into the motherboard, and a separate card that plugs into the motherboard. You want to make sure that your monitor is plugged into the separate card (knows as a discrete graphics card, or just GPU) and that the drivers for this card are up to date. Here is a how to video for updating your drivers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=123EGBXnprA

Thanks! I put the Hard drive back in my old one, and I copied my documents folder over. (It's still going, 7 years worth of stuff, lol!)

I'm not sure about the graphics though. There are 2 big boxes next to each other in the computer, which I think are the cards, since they look the same as some of the ads for video cards i've seen. But then again, The one in my gateway is tiny (and 7 years old).

I'll see if I can install vista on it, and then copy my stuff over to it.

Thanks for helping!

 

[kelthic]

ah sounds like you have a crossfire or sli setup. something like http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=sli+image&view=detail&id=10FC86F8788571EB0215D66256A8D6DCFDC719B7&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR ?

this makes both cards run together and perform better than just a single card. keep us posted on your results so we can help if this doesn't solve the issues!