[CJ1985]

I was just thinking about it a while ago today and I'm not sure if it's possible to do, or if it's not technically needed. I am not sure if it'll be able to be done. But I have an old HP computer, which has Ram and what not in it. The computer isn't being used at all. It's actually just sitting in my closet, now that I have this new computer. My computer was bought from HP, as well as the old one. Now my question is, how would I go about knowing whether I can add the Ram from my old computer in with my new computer? Now the thing is, would it matter that my old computer had windows XP on it, and my new system has Windows Vista on it? I wouldn't think so, but you never know anymore when things are getting more advanced and changing almost always.

Also, in my old HP tower. Would the hard drive, be able to go into my new system as long as I reformatted it, and if I were to be able to do that and what not what would I be able to use it for? Would it make my computer even faster? As the ram being added from the old to the new computer, would that make it faster? I hope all these questions I have are making any sense... lol So basically I'm wondering this....

1. Can I take and put hard drive from old tower into new tower?
2. The ram in the old tower, can I add that into the new tower?
3. Would adding more ram to my new computer, make it faster?
4. How do I know if I have a extra spot in my new tower for another hard drive?
5. What can benefit me, when adding another hard drive to new tower?
6. Is ram basically memory, or is that a whole nother thing?

I appreciate any helpful information. Thanks in advance!

[Taima]

1. If the hard drive is the same type (IDE or SATA) then yes. If you do decide to put it in there then make sure you set the jumpers on the hard drives accordingly.

2. Same as #1...if the RAM is the same type (DDR, DDR2 etc) then yes.

3. Yeah, sorta...it won't be as slow if you have multiple things open

4. Unless you have like 5 hard drives in there, you should have room.

5. The biggest thing I can think of would be storage space. You won't have to put everything on your main hard drive

6. Well yeah, memory is another term for RAM...although by memory I think you mean hard drive space. Memory is what's used to run the applications (along with your CPU) and the hard drive is what stores all of your programs/applications/documents, etc.

I hope I was able to help you, and to everyone else, sorry if I didn't get something right while trying to explain things.

[samjohnson]

Ok so Taima is pretty much right on the hard drive. If they are both SATA then yes you can. I am guessing your new computer is SATA. Your old could possible be IDE. Depending on how old it is. But the only way to know for sure is either post the models of both computers and we can check it out. Or you can just open up both computers and see what is what. With SATA you don't actually have to set the jumpers for master/slave. If I am not mistaken.
Yes adding another hard drive to your system will only allow for you to put more stuff on your computer.

Now as for the memory. Just because its the same type (DDR, DDR2) doesn't mean you wanna stick it in there. They are most likely running at different speeds and timings.
So say your new computer has faster memory than your old. And you stick your old memory in there. The memory will then run at the lowest speed. Thus not making a difference at all in the way your compute performs. Maybe even making it slower.
RAM stands for Random Access Memory. And as Taima said memory is just another term for RAM.

Oh and nope it doesn't matter if one system was XP and the other is Vista. As long as the motherboard can use that memory than all should be good. Same with the HDD.

[sho-dan]

Hello cjrbond

Post your old and new HP computer model numbers for comparison dealing with your questions. ok

[Taima]

Thanks for clearing things up a bit there Sam. I forgot about RAM speed/timings and whatnot. I'm still happy that I got it right for the most part, since I don't give advice very often (usually cause it's regarding something I know little or nothing about, or because someone beats me to it).

But like Sho-dan said, you should post those computer models.

[samjohnson]

No problemo Taima. You had pretty much everything right.

Ya as they guys said, post those computer models and we will give it a look see.

[CJ1985]

I will do it as soon as possible. I really don't feel up to dragging out my tower of the closet. Ha! lol

Edit: I'm not exactly sure if this is going to help or not. But I looked up on HP site and this is what it says about the Ram I have:

4 GB (4 x 1 GB) DDR2 PC2-6400

Also hard drive is:

Actually, let me just post an attachment of what I see so you can see. lol

It's a *.pdf file... I hope you can read that?

Okay, nevermind it exceeds the limit. Let me put the file into a zip folder. lol

Okay nevermind, that exceeds as well. LOL! I don't know... I'm going to post another post, with copy and paste... I know it's a long post... So if you can quote what is all needed I'll edit the post and take out what isn't needed.

[CJ1985]

Model Information

Model Name m9300z
Product Number KZ853AV-ABA
Software Build 83NAv6PcA6
Serial Number MXV82703QS



Operating System

Name Microsoft Windows Vista - Home Premium Edition (x64)
Service Pack Service Pack 1
Build Number 6001
DirectX Version 10.0
Windows Update
Automatic Updates Automatic download and install
Last checked 2008-09-17 14:06:01


Windows Experience Index
Base Score 4.0
Assessment State Valid Scores
Assessment Date 7/19/2008 9:11:20 PM
Processor Subscore 5.2
Memory (RAM) Subscore 5.9
Graphics (Aero) Subscore 4.0
Gaming Graphics Subscore 4.9
Primary Disk Subscore 5.7






System Information

Manufacturer HP-Pavilion
Total Number of Logical CPUs 1
Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB
Total Number of Optical Drives 1
Total Number of Hard Drives 1
Total Number of Video Cards 1
Total Number of Memory Modules 4
Total Number of DIMM slots 4
System Name BOND-PC




Login

Name Bond




Motherboard

System Board
Chipset nVidia MCP61


Base Board
Manufacturer OEM_MB
Product NARRA3


BIOS
Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
Release Date 06/20/2008
BIOS Version String 5.14
ROM Size 1.00 MB


AMD Phenom(tm) 8450 Triple-Core Processor
Name AMD Phenom(tm) 8450 Triple-Core Processor
Cores 3
Threads 3
Current Speed 1.05 GHz
Features MMX(+), 3DNow!(+), PSE36, x86-64, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, NX, SVM
L1 Instruction Cache 3 x 64.00 kB
L1 Data Cache 3 x 64.00 kB
L2 Cache 3 x 512.00 kB
L3 Cache 2.00 MB






Memory

System Memory
Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB
Free Physical Memory 2.32 GB
1024 MB DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Size 1.00 GB
Memory Type DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Manufacturer Samsung
Memory Manufacture Date Week 24, Year 2008
Memory Part Number M3 78T2953EZ3-CF7
Memory Serial Number 6360A81B
Memory Revision Code 4533


1024 MB DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Size 1.00 GB
Memory Type DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Manufacturer Samsung
Memory Manufacture Date Week 24, Year 2008
Memory Part Number M3 78T2953EZ3-CF7
Memory Serial Number 6360A783
Memory Revision Code 4533


1024 MB DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Size 1.00 GB
Memory Type DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Manufacturer Samsung
Memory Manufacture Date Week 24, Year 2008
Memory Part Number M3 78T2953EZ3-CF7
Memory Serial Number 6360A81C
Memory Revision Code 4533


1024 MB DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Size 1.00 GB
Memory Type DDR2-SDRAM (PC2-6400 / 800 MHz)
Memory Manufacturer Samsung
Memory Manufacture Date Week 24, Year 2008
Memory Part Number M3 78T2953EZ3-CF7
Memory Serial Number 6360A80A
Memory Revision Code 4533








Directories

Windows Directory c:\windows
System Directory c:\windows\system32




Local Disk

ST332082 0AS SCSI Disk Device
Model Number ST3320820AS
Firmware Revision 3.CH
Total Capacity 298.09 GB
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\disk.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006
HP - C:
Drive Letter C
Volume Name HP
Volume Serial Number AE33-4F61
File System NTFS
Volume Capacity 286.53 GB
Volume Free Space 207.70 GB
Volume Used Space 78.83 GB


FACTORY_IMAGE - D:
Drive Letter D
Volume Name FACTORY_IMAGE
Volume Serial Number 9CA4-6A86
File System NTFS
Volume Capacity 11.56 GB
Volume Free Space 1.55 GB
Volume Used Space 10.01 GB








CD-ROM Drive

Optiarc DVD RW AD-7201S5 SCSI CdRom Device
Model Number Optiarc DVD RW AD-7201S5
Serial Number 8549469L111
Firmware Revision 1H0B
Drive Letter E
Readable Media CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
Writable Media CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL
Write Strategy TAO, SAO, RAW, RAW-MS
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006






Display

HP w1907 (HP w1907 Wide LCD Monitor)
Mode 1440 x 900 (32-bit) (60 Hz)
Manufacturer Hewlett Packard
Serial Number CNC818KWSD
Manufacture Date Week 18, Year 2008
Signal Type Digital






Video Card

NVIDIA GeForce 9300GE
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
Driver Version 7.15.11.7556, 4-17-2008






Video Capture Device

ViXS PureTV Capture
Device driver file name ksproxy.ax
Supported video standards NTSC (M) 7.5 IRE black, NTSC (M) 0 IRE black (Japan)






Sound Card

Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000
Manufacturer (Standard USB Host Controller)
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\usbccgp.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


Realtek High Definition Audio
Manufacturer Realtek
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\rtkvhd64.sys
Driver Version 6.0.1.5657, 7-3-2008






Network Card

NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
MAC Address 00:1f:c6:ec:42:4a
IP Address ###.###.#.###
Gateway IP Address ###.###.#.#
Current Speed 100.00 Mbps
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvmfdx64.sys
Driver Version 67.7.6.1, 2-19-2008






Printers

Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Model Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Path Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Driver Path C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\mxdwdrv.dl l
Driver Version 0.3.6001.18000
Default Printer true






Keyboard

Microsoft eHome Remote Control Keyboard keys
Manufacturer Microsoft
Driver Path c:\windows\system32\drivers\kbdhid.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


Microsoft eHome MCIR Keyboard
Manufacturer Microsoft
Driver Path c:\windows\system32\drivers\kbdhid.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


Microsoft eHome MCIR 109 Keyboard
Manufacturer Microsoft
Driver Path c:\windows\system32\drivers\kbdhid.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Manufacturer (Standard keyboards)
I/O Resources I/O Port : 0x0060h - 0x0060h, I/O Port : 0x0064h - 0x0064h
IRQ Resources Interrupt : 1 (Unshareable) (Edge Triggered)
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006






Pointing Device

HID-compliant mouse
Manufacturer Microsoft
Driver Provider Microsoft
Driver Path c:\windows\system32\drivers\mouhid.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


CTE-430-UV3.1-4
Manufacturer Wacom Technology
Driver Provider Microsoft
Device Version 3.1.4
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\hidusb.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


PS/2 Compatible Mouse
Manufacturer Microsoft
Driver Provider Microsoft
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006






USB Controller

Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller
Manufacturer (Standard USB Host Controller)
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\usbohci.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006


Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller
Manufacturer (Standard USB Host Controller)
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\usbehci.sys
Driver Version 6.0.6001.18000, 6-21-2006

[CJ1985]

I blocked out my IP address, just so you know. Don't need it floating around on internet. lol

[Hope Cassidy]

That's great but how about the model number on the old one. I mean the odds are there really will be nothing usable except for hard drive. Surely not ram....but we need the model of the other to be sure.

[Rik]

If you can't find any useful information on your old pc then google and get Everest Home Edition and run that on it. You can generate a report and post it here if you like.

[CJ1985]

Actually, I'm going to go ahead and just if I want more speed, or anything as far as harddrive. I guess I'll just have to upgrade, and then it should tell me what i need to buy. I know, but it's just so much easier that way. I took a look in the tower of my HP and was like uh huh and where is the hard drive. lol No thank you, ha ha!

[Hope Cassidy]

Originally Posted by cjrbond

Actually, I'm going to go ahead and just if I want more speed, or anything as far as harddrive. I guess I'll just have to upgrade, and then it should tell me what i need to buy. I know, but it's just so much easier that way. I took a look in the tower of my HP and was like uh huh and where is the hard drive. lol No thank you, ha ha!

Don't be a coward, it's easy, just open case and take out a few screws and unplug 2 wires...
as for system information, this standalone version is newer and up to date:
SIW | Download

[CJ1985]

Ha, I'm not a coward. I just figured if it's a new computer, new things should go into it if I want more hard drive and what not. I hope that makes sense? Besides, my old HP computer is like 7 years old.

[samjohnson]

lol 7 years old. The HDD on that thing is definitely gonna be IDE. And the RAM, well you already got 4 gigs of the stuff.
That is plenty IMO.

[Hope Cassidy]

Originally Posted by cjrbond

Ha, I'm not a coward. I just figured if it's a new computer, new things should go into it if I want more hard drive and what not. I hope that makes sense? Besides, my old HP computer is like 7 years old.

OK then nothing would be movable.

[CJ1985]

I kind of figured that after I thought about it. But I guess the more I think about it, that pc is "really" old. lol

[Joshuashawharvey]

My personal advice. What you have is already good You will get no performance gain whatsoever from using the parts from your old computer, that's if they are even compatible which I doubt . You have more than enough RAM for even the most demanding users, plus enough hard drive space for most people

[Taima]

Originally Posted by Joshuashawharvey

My personal advice. What you have is already good You will get no performance gain whatsoever from using the parts from your old computer, that's if they are even compatible which I doubt . You have more than enough RAM for even the most demanding users, plus enough hard drive space for most people

Yeah, Josh is right. You already have a bit of a speed demon. The only way it wouldn't be running fast is if you're infected with some sort of malware really...can I have it?