Possible upgrade but will it work?

shinester184 · 13 Apr 2009 at 18:44

My parents computer is running pretty slowly at the moment and an upgrade may be needed. They have a Dell Dimension 5000,

3.0GHz Pentium 4
A strange Intel/Foxconn/Dell board
1GB PC2-3200 DDR2
WD 250GB S ATA
XP Dell OEM

I can continue to use their case, PSU, GPU, HDD and only upgrade CPU, Mobo and RAM. But here is the problem, because they are using a Dell OEM copy of XP which are licensed to work with only one machine, is the OS tied to the motherboard? If I replace the motherboard with a new one, will the OS no longer work even from the HDD?

siumatfung · 13 Apr 2009 at 18:47

i think can just uninstall all the drivers and you change over the hardware then install the new drivers

KingZeddy · 13 Apr 2009 at 23:28

oem - It is tied to a Dell machine so no you cannot just use it with another motherboard.

Kennysevenfold · 13 Apr 2009 at 23:33

i would just pop a new set of ram in and clean up windows tbh

RJC · 13 Apr 2009 at 23:39

Will another board fit into a Dell case!

shinester184 · 13 Apr 2009 at 23:55

RJC said:
Will another board fit into a Dell case!

Should do, the Dimension 5000 case is pretty big!

Probably will just do a RAM upgrade possibly a new faster HDD and then wait until it's new PC time.

engstrom0304 · 14 Apr 2009 at 23:05

shinester184 said:
Should do, the Dimension 5000 case is pretty big!

Probably will just do a RAM upgrade possibly a new faster HDD and then wait until it's new PC time.

i dont think thats what he means. Its not that the case is too small but that the screw holes are not in the same positions as a standard atx motherboard.

I have a copy of xp x64 you can use just reformat, an upgrade is a waste on that pc.

Also is that the p4 ht or not? Because those hyper threading pentium 4's are pretty nippy on everyday apps. Windows can just clog up!!

OLDPHART · 15 Apr 2009 at 14:04

When’s the last time PC was checked and maintained for -

1.Spyware, etc install Spybot and run –

Spybot link - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

2. Install CCleaner and run –

CCleaner link - http://www.ccleaner.com/

3. Harddrive defragged install Defraggler and run –

Defraggler link -http://www.defraggler.com/download

All these above if not done regular can slow a PC DOWN, I would try this before anything else and see if this improve's performance