Generic PC (Intel Pentium 4 2.60GHz)

ID: PCD06

HISTORY

This is an older computer tower that was given to me by a neighbour for spare parts. The inclusion of a floppy disk drive speaks it's age but as it was complete, I decided to see if it could be made into a usable system instead.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: None (Generic Desktop PC)
Year of Manufacturer: 2003
Motherboard: ASROCK P4VM900-SATA2 (REV G/A 1.01)
Chipset: VIA P4M900
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.60GHz 32-Bit (Socket 478)
RAM: 2GB DDR (2x 1GB 184-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 250GB 3.5" SATA
Optical Drive(s): DVD-ROM 5.25" PATA, CD-RW 5.25" PATA
Graphics: Integrated (VIA)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (100Mbps Ethernet)
USB: 1 Front, 6 Rear
Power Supply: TRUST 420W ATX
Other Features: 1.44MB Floppy Drive
COA: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Added)


INITIAL INSPECTION

It is difficult to accurately age this system, as it has clearly been rebuilt at least once. The optical drives date from 2002, but the current motherboard was not on the market until 2007, and the hard drive is much newer as well. ASRock often keep boards that use legacy sockets in production far longer than any other manufacturer, so are popular for repairs (pcupgrade.co.uk still stocks the classic K7S41GX socket A board originally released in 2003). I suspect the original motherboard failed and was replaced, so at least it's a little more modern than it might have been. A number of minor problems were found during the testing phase, but nothing that couldn't be sorted out without major component replacement.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• The fans in the power supply were lubricated as they were both very noisy at startup.
• Several missing slot covers were replaced.
• A problem with the hard drive activity LED was resolved by re-arranging the master / slave configuration of the optical drives.
• Resistors were installed to reduce loudness of processor and case fans.
• The case speaker wire had broken off and was re-soldered.
• The rubber drive belt in the DVD drive was cleaned and boiled to stop the drawer sticking.
• The rubber drive belt in the CD-RW drive was replaced to stop the drawer sticking.
• The USB ports at the front didn't work, and killed a mouse that I plugged into one of them. I replaced this front panel USB hub with a card reader with a built-in USB port.

PREPARATION

The repairs were completed, and diagnostics run. No problems were found with the hard drive or RAM, so it was now time to go onto configuring the software. 

SETUP

A customer kindly gave me a genuine copy of Office 2003 Professional plus a COA for Windows XP Professional (the disk turned out to be a fake) so as they matched the age of the system I used these to prepare and setup the computer. There were no problems with the setup, and subsequent burn-in and cold start tests ran through easily.

CONCLUSION

This is yet another system that cannot feasibly run anything greater than Windows XP, but for Google (running through Opera), E-Mail, music etc it runs fine. The bundled Microsoft Office 2003 should be of value as well, as this is still a very usable office suite.

PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 2215

This PC is available free of charge as of 23/07/17.
If you would like it please send a message to 78453316rpm@gmail.com

ID: PCD8

HISTORY

I acquired this computer around the same time as it's identical twin, the Packard Bell B2217. That one went off to it's new owner earlier in the month and had a slightly better specification. Nevertheless, this could still be a viable system in it's own right when coupled with a suitable operating system.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: PACKARD BELL IMEDIA 2215
Year of Manufacturer: 2009
Motherboard: ECS MCP73VT-PM (V1.0)
Chipset: NVIDIA NFORCE 610I
Processor: INTEL CELERON E1200 1.60GHz 64-BIT Dual Core (Socket 775)
RAM: 2GB DDR2 (2x 1GB 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 250GB SATA 3.5"
Optical Drive(s): DVD-RW SATA 5.25"
Graphics: Integrated (Nvidia)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (100Mbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 250W
Other Features: None
COA: Windows Vista Home Premium


INITIAL INSPECTION

Apart from the lid not staying on properly, there didn't look to be too much wrong with this system. I was not surprised to find bad capacitors in the power supply, however, as Packard Bell had used the exact same unit as in the B2217 refurbished earlier. Surprisingly, it was the 2200uF capacitors that had failed rather than the 1000uF's in the B2217. I removed some of the 1000uF capacitors to check their values but my ESR meter showed they were within range, so I put them back.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• 2200uF/6.3v Power supply capacitors replaced
• Minor repairs to the tower casing

PSU with new capacitors fitted

Repair to casing

PREPARATION

With diagnostics complete, it was time to install the software. I initially considered Windows 10, which ran adequately on the B2217. However, the 1GB less of RAM and the slower processor proved too much and I decided that performance was not adequate. The options were therefore limited to an earlier version of Windows, or Linux. After trying Ubuntu unsucessfully (unstable graphics) I decided to give 'Lubuntu', the lightweight version a go.

SETUP

Lubuntu installed very easily and I was up and running within half and hour. Performance was good and I was able to surf the web with ease using the Linux version of Google Chrome. I installed some other software such as VLC Player and LibreOffice for good measure.

CONCLUSION

There is definitely life left in this older PC. Lubuntu works much faster than Windows 10 and provides adequate performance for Internet use and similar, so it should be still feasible for the foreseeable future.

MEDION AKOYA X7330 D (MD 8339)

ID: PCD11

HISTORY

I have had this computer around for some time. It was originally going to be repaired, but the cost of a new hard drive was too much and the owner decided to buy a new laptop instead. Months later when I came to inspect it for recycling, I found it complete with an 120GB SSD installed. I must have installed it for testing purposes and forgotten all about it, but it was a nice surprise and should make this a system that can be thoroughly enjoyed by it's new operator.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: MEDION AKOYA X7330 D (MD 8339)
Year of Manufacturer: 2010
Motherboard: MSI 7366 (VER 3.1)
Chipset: NVIDIA NFORCE 630I
Processor: INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q8300 2.50GHz 64-Bit (Socket 775)
RAM: 4GB DDR2 (2x 2GB 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 120GB 2.5" SATA SSD
Optical Drive(s): DVD-RW SATA 5.25"
Graphics: PCIe (Nvidia)
Audio: Integrated (Nvidia)
Network: Integrated (1Gbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (3 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 400W ATX
Other Features: Card Reader
COA: Windows 7 Home Premium


INITIAL INSPECTION

The system appeared to be in reasonable condition inside and out, excluding a damaged front mounted USB port, but problems showed up later whilst running a Prime 95 'torture' test. The power would go off randomly, suggesting a problem with the power supply. I was surprised to find that the computer was fitted with one of the older 20-pin units without the extra 4 pins introduced in the ATX 2.0 specification, so may have simply been inadequate, especially considering the power hungry processor and dedicated graphics card.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• The front panel USB ports were replaced.
• I swapped the power supply for one in a much older system with lower power requirements.

PREPARATION

With the repairs completed and the diagnostics successfully completed, it was time to think about software. The obvious choice here was Windows 10. The computer should run this easily, especially with the SSD, and the Windows 7 COA would provide the necessary product key.

SETUP

Nvidia chipsets are not as well supported as their Intel counterparts, so it took a bit of driver hunting to get rid of all the yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager, using Windows 7 drivers where necessary. This is where the website Driver Pack Solution comes into it's own, hosting drivers for just about every piece of hardware and every Windows system they were written for.

CONCLUSION

As expected from a computer with an SSD fitted, performance was very good, though perhaps not quite as 'snappy' as a machine adorned with a Core i3 / i5 / i7 processor. That said, this would make a great upgrade for someone with an older, slower system, and should be more than adequate for any general purpose use for years to come. I also have a Canon all-in-one printer, an Acer monitor, Dell speaker system and keyboard and mouse to give away with this system, so hopefully this complete package will help somebody out and save another usable system from the dump.

PACKARD BELL ICONNECT 1100

ID: PCD15

HISTORY

This is another vintage PC I acquired with the objective of data retrieval. This objective could not be met - the original Quantum hard drive had failed in a strange way. Although making a clicking sound, it was detected by my imaging equipment and data could be read. However, only one platter / drive head was working, so only around 50% of the drive could be imaged, the other half being completely unreadable. Unfortunately this meant that all the data was corrupt and unusable. Aside from this, the PC itself looked in great condition, especially considering it's age, and was complete with it's original keyboard, mouse, screen and speakers. A new hard drive, and it could be back up and running, as good as new...


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: PACKARD BELL ICONNECT 1100
Year of Manufacturer: 2000
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-6WMM7 REV 4.1
Chipset: INTEL 810
Processor: INTEL CELERON 633MHz (Socket 370)
RAM: 64MB SDR SD-RAM (1x 168-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 15GB PATA 3.5" (Replacement: 80GB PATA 3.5")
Optical Drive(s): CD-ROM PATA 5.25"
Graphics: Integrated (Intel)
Audio: Integrated (Intel)
Network: NONE
USB: 1.1 (2 Front, 2 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 145W ATX (Replacement: FSP 400W ATX)
Other Features: Floppy Disk Drive, Dial-Up Modem
COA: Windows ME


INITIAL INSPECTION

As expected from a PC this old, a few other problems showed up during testing. The power supply had bad 5v and 12v outputs, the power button was sticking and the CD drawer wouldn't open properly. Fortunately, the motherboard looked in good shape, and little dust could be found in and around the cooling fans.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• I had a power supply that worked but was not up to the job of powering the system it was in (too much demand from the processor and graphics card). This proved perfect for this purpose.
• Suitable replacement CD and hard drives were selected from a number of units that had been kindly donated.
• The power button was removed and the sides sanded down with emery paper to stop it sticking.
• The micro switch in the left mouse button was cleaned to increase it's effectiveness.

PREPARATION

With the main hardware items dealt with and diagnostics run, it was time to think about software. With more RAM, this computer could have run Windows XP, but I could see little point in this. Even if a network card was fitted, web browsing would have been very, very slow, and highly impractical. On the other hand, with Windows ME it would stay fast and original, and could still be quite useful as an offline PC, especially with the bigger, faster hard drive now installed.


SETUP

I was amazed at how easy and quick it was to get Windows ME loaded up to a working condition. Despite all it's criticism, I actually found Windows ME quite good, even when it was released back in 2000. I used it on my first self-built PC and it ran well. Likewise here, the operating system boots up in no time at all, making the desktop in a much shorter time than many Windows 10 computers do today. I initially did have a performance issue with mouse judder, but this was soon corrected by enabling DMA mode for the hard drive in Device Manager.


CONCLUSION


Packard Bell often gave away large software bundles with their systems, and this computer was obviously no exception. It was given to me a plastic wallet of disks, many of which would have come bundled with the computer when it was new. It was great to be able to have a quick go with 'Rayman 2' and 'Rally Championship', no doubt still as playable as they ever were. This system is by no means a practical substitute for anything remotely recent, but as a modern classic it would be hard to beat.

ACER ASPIRE T180-I97Z

ID: PCD01

HISTORY

This Acer desktop PC was given to me after I setup the owner's new machine running Windows 10. Aimed at the budget market, the Aspire T180 series was once very popular. Although not known for great performance, these machines were still in common use until a couple of years ago, their downfall being the drop in support for Windows XP.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower

Model: ACER ASPIRE T180-I97Z
Year of Manufacturer: 2006
Motherboard: ECS MCP61SM-AM REV 1.0
Chipset: NVIDIA GEFORCE 6100S
Processor: AMD SEMPRON 3200+ 1.8GHz 64-Bit (Socket AM2)
RAM: 1.5GB DDR2 (1x 512MB, 1x 1GB 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 250GB SATA 3.5"
Optical Drive(s): DVD-RW PATA 5.25"
Graphics: Integrated (Nvidia)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (1Gbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (3 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: Delta Electronics 250W
Other Features: Card Reader, Dial-Up Modem
COA: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005


INITIAL INSPECTION

There didn't appear to be too much wrong with this system, but a quick look inside the power supply revealed a blown capacitor. Elsewhere the system was in relatively good shape for it's age, although would be much too old to run Windows 10 reliably.

Blown capacitor inside power supply

REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• The failed capacitor inside the power supply was replaced (2200uF/6.3v).
• 512MB of RAM was added, bringing the total to 2GB.
• The DVD drive was replaced, as it would not read disks reliably, even after cleaning the lens.

After replacing the failed capacitor in the power supply

PREPARATION

With the repair on the power supply completed, I put some fresh thermal compound on the processor and heat-sink and put the system back together. There were no problems with diagnostics, but I made a silly mistake by updating the BIOS to the latest revision without checking to make sure that write protection was turned off in BIOS setup. The result was a completely un-bootable machine, sticking at a 'Verifying DMI Pool Data...' message on each attempt. Fortunately, a replacement BIOS chip could be obtained from eBay for a few pounds, and I was able to successfully flash this to the latest version with no problems. With the computer back to a bootable state I was ready to move onto the next stage of installing an operating system.

SETUP

I made Ubuntu 14 my first choice of operating system for this ageing computer. However, try as I might, I could not get it to work stably. After a few minutes, the system would lock up with distorted graphics. I initially thought this must be a hardware problem, but thorough burn-in tests run in Windows discounted this possibility. Eventually, I abandoned Linux and returned to tried and true Windows XP. This may not be a completely secure computer, but it should be fast enough for Google and other non-critical tasks.


CONCLUSION

This was the first old computer that I decided to bring up to speed, but due to the problem with the BIOS update it has only just been finished. With testing complete, it's ready for it's new owner. As with many of the computers recycled so far, the processor limits it's usefulness in the real world. However, it's still more than capable for word processing, storing photographs or music and for looking up information on Google with the Opera web browser.

PACKARD BELL IMEDIA B2217

ID: PCD7

HISTORY

The owner of this computer was experiencing stability problems and decided to replace the tower with a new model. This is a very typical desktop system of the later Windows Vista era, when multiple gigabytes of RAM and dual core processors became common. In some respects little has changed since, with many new models only coming with 4GB of RAM as standard. However, the processor is weak in comparison to modern machines, but it may still provide adequate performance for general use.


INITIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: PACKARD BELL IMEDIA B2217
Year of Manufacturer: 2009
Motherboard: ECS MCP73VT-PM (V1.0)
Chipset: NVIDIA NFORCE 610I
Processor: INTEL CELERON E1400 2.00GHz 64-BIT Dual Core (Socket 775)
RAM: 3GB DDR2 (1x 1GB, 1x 2GB 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 250GB SATA 3.5"
Optical Drive(s): DVD-RW SATA 5.25"
Graphics: Integrated (Nvidia)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (100Mbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 250W
Other Features: None
COA: Windows Vista Home Basic


INITIAL INSPECTION
The motherboard looked in good condition, but some bad capacitors were found in the power supply. These would have likely been the cause of the stability problems.

Bad capacitors inside PSU

PSU following recap

REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• 1000uF PSU capacitors replaced

PREPARATION

Once the repair on the power supply was completed, fans cleaned and CMOS battery replaced, the system fired up and completed diagnostics successfully.

SETUP

The system had been previously running Windows Vista Basic, but Microsoft and Google support has ended for this operating system. Unlike Windows XP, Vista was not well liked and is no longer widely used. Therefore, the options were Windows 10 or a variant of Linux. The loophole that allowed users of Windows XP and Vista to upgrade to Windows 10 for free has now been closed, but a working, valid key can be purchased from eBay for just a couple of pounds! Just how this works I am not sure, as Microsoft sells the same thing for about 50x the price. However, these cheap keys do work, and having used a few, both for Freecycle and to upgrade customer's machines, have so far not run into any problems with activation. With this in mind, I opted for Windows 10, which installed OK. Initially there was no graphics driver available, and performance was dreadful. However, the Windows 7/8 driver from the Nvidia website worked, and appears to be stable.

CONCLUSION

Performance is adequate, but not the greatest, mainly due to the slower Celeron processor. It's a good example of what a system needs to be to run Windows 10 properly, as minimum and even recommended system requirements are usually not realistic in the real world. The problem is that computers are often doing more than one thing at a time, even if the operator is only working on one task. A slower system might run OK most of the time but then slow to a crawl when Windows starts to check for updates, for example.

EMACHINES 3220

ID: PCD5

HISTORY

This computer was given to me because it was getting old and slow and being replaced by a laptop. Originally complete with CRT monitor, it certainly didn't look very new, but I wondered if anything could be done to improve it. This machine was part of a very popular series sold by PC World - well known for it's 'Bestec' power supply that often failed taking the motherboard with it.


INITIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: EMACHINES 3220
Year of Manufacturer: 2004
Motherboard: FOXCONN 946GZ7MA-8KS2H
Chipset: INTEL 946GZ
Processor: INTEL PENTIUM E2180 2.00GHZ 64-BIT Dual Core (Socket 775)
RAM: 1GB DDR2 (1x 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 80GB 3.5" PATA
Optical Drive(s): DVD-ROM 5.25" PATA, CD-RW 5.25" PATA
Graphics: Integrated (Intel)
Audio: Integrated (Realtek)
Network: Integrated (1Gbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: DELL 350W
Other Features: 1.44MB Floppy Drive, Dial-Up Modem
COA: Windows XP Home


INITIAL INSPECTION
The tower felt heavier than expected, but upon opening up the case I was not surprised to find that the motherboard and power supply had been changed. In fact, it was a much more up-to-date system than the initial appearance led to believe. However, I was disappointed to find several bad capacitors around the processor, so some serious repair work would be needed to bring the system up to scratch.

REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• 1000uF, 1500uF and 3000uF Motherboard capacitors replaced
• Extra 1GB memory module added, bringing the total to 2GB
• 80GB PATA HDD replaced with 60GB SATA SSD
• Power button secured with fixings to the front of case added

PREPARATION

After the repairs on the motherboard were completed, diagnostics and a test installation of Windows XP ran without a hitch. However, I realised that the hard drive was old (it was making a whining sound) and would not be up to running Windows 10 with reasonable performance, which otherwise this system would be fully capable of. I got a very cheap 60GB SSD from Hong Kong combined with a product key for Windows 10, and everything was set.

SETUP

Windows 10 installed and activated with no problems, and I loaded the usual combination of LibreOffice, Google Chrome, VLC Player and K-Lite Codec Pack.

CONCLUSION

Had this system still been fitted with it's original power supply and motherboard, it would have been living on borrowed time and stuck in the dark ages with Windows XP. However, with the upgrade that had previously completed combined with a little more RAM, some new capacitors and an SSD it has been turned into a viable computer, fit for some serious use. It won't be powerful enough to play games, but Google, Facebook, music, videos and the like are all on the cards. The original CRT monitor failed during the process of fixing this system up, but I expect you would agree this is probably no bad thing.

COLOSSUS 362-50-163

ID: PCD13

HISTORY

This is an ancient computer that was given to me for data retrieval. Of course, once the data was retrieved, the owner had no further interest in it. It is much too old to even think about installing Windows XP on it, and it would definitely not be fit for use in the modern, online world. What, then is the point in restoring this to a working condition? There are a few possibilities: It could be used to play old DOS based games, it could be used to run mission-critical, legacy software that will not run on modern operating systems, or it could be used as a word processor. I had not heard of Colossus before but believe they were related in some way to the famous 'Time Computers' brand.


INITIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: COLOSSUS 362-50-163
Year of Manufacturer: 1998
Motherboard: ECS P5ST-A REV 1.0A
Chipset: SIS 5598
Processor: IBM 6X86MX PR233 166MHz (Socket 7)
RAM: 64MB EDO (2x 32MB 72-PIN SIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 6GB 3.5" PATA
Optical Drive(s): CD-ROM 5.25" PATA
Graphics: Integrated (SIS)
Audio: Integrated (ESS)
Network: None
USB: 1.1 (2 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 300W (Replaced Power Win 250W)
Other Features: 1.44MB Floppy Disk Drive, Dial-Up Modem
COA: None


INITIAL INSPECTION
Due to the age of this PC, I was not surprised that a number of issues cropped up during testing. The power supply and hard drive both failed diagnostic tests and had to be replaced. Fortunately, I have a large stock of hard drives and was able to find one with the same capacity with no bad sectors. The CPU fan was also noisy, and lubricating it did not help. I got a cheap replacement from eBay which did the job nicely.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• Power supply replaced
• Hard drive replaced
• CPU fan replaced
• CD-ROM lens cleaned

PREPARATION

After the repairs were completed and the system cleaned and re-assembled, diagnostics on the memory and replacement hard drive completed successfully, so I was ready to install an operating system.

SETUP

Although no COA was present, I was able to extract a valid license key from the faulty hard drive for the original version of Windows 98, so this was the obvious choice here. With no updates to install, installation was very straightforward, and I was able to find drivers for the graphics and sound with relative ease. I did come up against a problem with a blue screen crash on startup after installing the graphics driver. It turns out that 597v113.exe (part of the driver package) needs to be added the 'Autoexec.bat' file in the root of drive C: to avoid this.

CONCLUSION

Whilst this will definitely be an offline PC, I still think it could have some value, somewhere. I was amazed at how fast Windows 98 was, even on such basic hardware, which is a reminder of how bloated modern software has become. Combined with a printer, this could make a great word processor system for somebody who has very limited computing needs. Fortunately, I also have a printer and monitor to give away with this system, so hopefully it will be put to good use.