Computers suck

[DSkip]

So I have been wanting to build a computer for my grandfather for the last 2 months or so. I went over there and tried to pull up something on this site, and 30 minutes later I had finally gotten to the main forum page. Thats what started the whole schebang.

I ended up spending 40 bucks on two "complete" computers that a guy was selling on craigslist. All they really needed was a hard drive and OS to complete. It was a good deal as the cases were what I needed, and they were antec sonatas ($100 or so cases). The leftover case is going to become a computer for my kid when he gets older. Its got a lock on the front so he can't access any cds or dvds.

I got one up and running, but the motherboard severely limited my CPU and it browsed the web well enough. I jumped on youtube to check it out and it struggled, so toss that idea.

I went to frys and got everything I needed to run a solid internet machine for another 80 bucks. New cpu, motherboard, updated memory, and a connector i needed.

In the process, I accidentally put something called DDO on my hard drive and made it completely useless. 250GB HD that's no use to me now. I CAN fix it I think, but I don't have anything old enough to run the program to fix it. So tomorrow I am taking it to my IT guy at work and see if he can get it to work in his spare time. Its either that, or I have to invest another 50 bucks in a new hard drive.

All I want is for my grandfather to be able to enjoy a computer and not have to complain about it day after day. If its a computer my parents and I invested in, then nobody can screw with it and I can fix it if something does happen. The family is what screwed up the computer because he didnt set himself up as the admin. I wouldve just reloaded windows, but hes still running an original P4 in it and it just doesnt cut it anymore.

Long post I know. Sorry, I just had to vent. This is the one thing I want done before my kid gets here and was trying to do it as cheaply as possible. My therapy session is concluded. :o

[mrbigbluelight]

Isn't DDO a Dungeons and Dragons Online program ? Seems kind of strange your grandfather would be into D & D.

Rule of thumb about building computers for relatives: Don't.

Steer them into buying an inexpensive desktop/laptop and help them in their buying decision.

(If they're into heavy gaming ("Chrysis"), then they probably already know enough to know what kind of heavy gear they need.)

If they're just into word processing and web access ( your grandfather ), than Dell makes a nice, cheap laptop for $299.

[bigaudiofanatic]

First never buy hardware that is over a year old.

Second you can build a decent computer now a days for around 400-600 bucks add 300 for a good graphics card.

Third install this to protect your computer from malware which virus software does not.
This stuff slows down your computer and brings it to a crawl so make sure you scan for this stuff at least once a month.
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

[DSkip]

I dont think you understand how much I have in the system right now. As it is, I will have a total of $50 invested and my parents matched that. A new hard drive pumps it from $100 to $150. I bought the cases for the cases, not the rest of the junk in them. The hard drive is one I have had for years and I own a couple of copies of XP, so "throwing" one together is a lot cheaper than would be.

I built mine for $400, including a 20" hp LCD. Its running an e5300 at 3.4 ghz right now, 4 gb of 1066 mhz ddr2, 200 gb hd, wireless networking, and a 500 watt psu. Unfortunately I'm still using XP, so gaming is out of the picture. That is my biggest limiting factor right now.

I knew I would be able to get him a pretty nice desktop built for about $100 out of pocket, but since I ****ed the hard drive, the price went up some. I was able to get him an AMD sempron 140 + mb + 1 gb 800 mhz ddr2 for $45 using fry's bundling. I like the CPU purchase as it is a dual core w/ the other core locked, so hopefully later on I can get him a mb capable of unlocking the second core if it needs the extra help.

It was something I could do for cheap and I didn't want it to get too much into the triple digits. I'm hoping that IT has the tools (and the time) to fix it for me so I don't have to go through that extra expense.

EDIT: DDO is Disk Drive Overlay, and it has something to do with using a hard drive with more space than the OS can handle. On newer machines, it evidently makes the hard drive inoperable. I hit something to put it on there on accident and now its kaput.

[Sherardp]

No offense OP, but I hope your not planning to run Windows 7 or Vista on 1gb of ram. You mentioned XP for your machine, so I'm thinking you'll do the same for the one your building correct? I would have built something with a little more power though as mentioned, but that's just me. I built a new rig for my 8yr old with Phenom II X4 2.8 (@3.2 ghz oc), 4ddr3 gskill, 550psu, nvid gts250, 500gb WD HDD, HP 22" screen, gigabyte micro ATX board in an Antec 300 case.

Something similar would do everything under the sun and last quite some time.

[DSkip]

XP is what he is getting. If I had the kind of money to spend that I wanted, he would be getting my current setup and I'd be building an i7 machine for myself. The older cpu/mb I had tried at first wouldve been perfect if not for the stuttering on youtube and hulu.

What I have right now is all he should need for a long time. All he uses his computer for is web-browsing and maybe some generic mp3 use. I'm going to be installing a lot of older games I don't play that this build could breeze through just for kicks.

[Squidmon]

DDO ruined your HD? Insert Win XP disk, boot(from the disc), delete partition, create partition, format partition, hard drive is fine. Install XP n off you go. Building a system is a piece of cake nowadays, I build at least 5 a week, its a great side biz.

If, for some reason, you cant boot from the cd, drop the HD in an external case and format remotely

[DSkip]

DDO ruined your HD? Insert Win XP disk, boot(from the disc), delete partition, create partition, format partition, hard drive is fine. Install XP n off you go. Building a system is a piece of cake nowadays, I build at least 5 a week, its a great side biz.

If, for some reason, you cant boot from the cd, drop the HD in an external case and format remotely

I've reformatted it about 4x in different ways each time. It still wont read. It shows up in BIOS but says disk read error each time now. When I throw it in my other computer, it sill shows a DDO on it. I have no idea what else to do.

[Squidmon]

Did you FDisk it? The partition needs to be removed.

[Squidmon]

The DDO resides in the MBR (master boot record), the most efficient way of removing is FDisk. If all else fails, DL a low level formatting tool to write 0's to every sector.

But the LL format tool will most likely be ignored by the drives internal controller.

[Squidmon]

You're making me dig deep into the cobwebbed recesses of my brain, been a long time since I played with DDO's, but it can be done

[tcrossma]

I've reformatted it about 4x in different ways each time. It still wont read. It shows up in BIOS but says disk read error each time now. When I throw it in my other computer, it sill shows a DDO on it. I have no idea what else to do.

try fdisk /mbr

[NotaSuv]

Buy gramps a Mac and be done with it ;)

[LessisNevermore]

Buy gramps a Mac and be done with it ;)

For the mac he can buy for ~100 bucks, Gramps should LOVE this.....

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/05/phaidon/image/9_843-apple-macintosh.jpg

:rolleyes: There's always at least one.:p