[coastie65]

Oddly, The specs on the Presario is pretty close to those of the T2824 I had. It had the same processor Celeron D 325 (2.53 Ghz) and the same RAM ( Memory). The memory in the Persario is also what I thought PC2700, so in short, you cannot use the memory sticks from the eMachines. Out of the box it had 256 Mb. You should go to 1Gb. ( Get two (2) 512 Mb PC2700 sticks). The Presario was released in '04 the same year as the eMachines T2824 and is almost the same machine. Although it can be ramped up to some degree, there is only so much that can be done, and it definitely won't be able able to handle games such as Oblivion and some of the newer apps



As for the CAT5 ethernet cable. It is Yellow in color and connects from the Router to the ethernet port on the computer. The ends are identical and it doesn't matter which end goes where. As for the modem, if you install it then go to the windows update site, the site will scan your computer to see what is needed. If it sees the modem and no drivers and they have them, then that will be an option under Hardware and you can get them. You can also get them from the eMachines site. coastie

[ejames82]

coastie,

you've inspired me to give the memory stick in the emachines a "yank". i had to actually go the long route and unlatch both ends before removal. yes there is lettering on the stick "PC2100". i've got other computers. if i find one with PC2700, can i just bang it in there? do i just shut down the computer and unplug it from the wall, and the internet, then inset the sticks. if there are some kind of error messages, will i be able to remove the sticks without damage? once i lose contact with you, my goose is cooked. i would have to go to my sister's and use her computer. will i have to go into the bios, control panel, registry, or anywhere else to make sure the system "sees" the sticks. this could save me some bucks. i noticed on google that memory is not cheap. i actually considered this ram upgrade a long time ago, somebody told me to just put a stick in there. now i am glad i didn't do it.

i definitely don't care about games on the computer. i have nintendo, sega, and playstation for that. i just want the extra speed and function that more ram will give me.

is the cat5 cable always yellow? if so, then i definitely don't have one. i'm actually thinking about buying one. i hate that 30 mile drive, not to mention the money.

thanks for the reply, coastie.

[coastie65]

First, the cat5 cables may not be yellow, but will be clearly marked cat5. If you look closely at the closeup I did of the modem, you may be able to see the cat5 on the yellow cable. On the memory, If it says PC2700, then you can use it in the Presario, and yes more memory will help overall performance. Under no cicumstances should you work inside the computer with the power on. Shut down the computer and unplug the power cable from the PSU ( Power supply). It is not necessary to unplug your internet connections, unless you need to in order to get the computer into a posistion to work on it. Also, be sure to ground yourself, with either a wrist thing or by continually tapping the case and don't be standing on a carpet. coastie

[ejames82]

coastie,

i went out and bought a cat5e cable. both ends were able to plug into the LAN jack on the emachines. it was $4 plus tax at "big lots". at least $10 cheaper than staples.

i researched the computers i have upstairs and this is the list of them. i don't think any have the PC2700 i need.

1. presario EZ2605

2. pavillion 6623

3. emax A800

4. nova systems? i think this is a custom built machine. there is no model number on it, but i did get the motherboard number ABIT-BE6-II

if i saw a computer at a yard sale, that i knew had the memory sticks i need, that would be worth buying it for the sticks alone. i see at least a couple computers every time i go.

would a bare wire work as a wriststrap? one end could be wrapped around the frame somewhere, and the other around my wrist.

i have a biggie for you. could you instruct me on turning a hard drive to a slave (internal type)? i have a general idea how it's done, because i have read many tutorials about it. it's just the tutorial isn't going to take into consideration the error message, getting into the bios, and other unexpected hurdles. tutorials don't "cover everything". if i could, i would like to bang right through all four spare hard drives. i know that's probably not likely. there's the issue of NTFS and FAT. i wanted to treat them to the many security programmes i have, and make sure they're not infected. if that's too much, i understand, you've helped me enormously already.

thanks coastie.

[coastie65]

First, if you needed a Cat5 cable, your internet provider should have provided that if needed. I think one even came with my PS2 as well, as that thing does have an ethernet connection. I would suggest that you start a new thread on the HDD question in order to get as much input as possible from as many members as possible. We do have some very capable people in this community that will be glad to offer their help. I will check on the other stuff in a bit. You said you were no longer using Dial up internet, so I am assuming you are using a Broadband or DSL connection. As Isaid, you should have been provided whatever you needed when you connection was set up for, if you are no longer using dial up. As for the memory in the other computers, from what I could find, you have nothing usable in either the eMachines or the Presario. You will need either PC2100 DDR ( 184 pin 266 Mhz ) in one, and PC2700 DDR ( 184 pin 333 Mhz) in the other. PNY used to have a combo stick that would run in both. I had those things in the last emachines (T2824) I had, and they did fine. They are made to run at either the 266 Mhz or 333 Mhz bus speed. As far as I can tell, Roadrunner is a a Time-Warner Broadband internet service, so you should have been provided all you need to hook the thing up unless someone else did the the installation. I need to clear something up from one of your earlier posts. The drivers for the modem are not "emachine" drivers, but just drivers for the modem that is in there. It is not an eMachines modem, but rather just some cheap generic thing they put in there. coasyie
'Added Content 30 June 2008

[ejames82]

coastie,

so are you saying that a company like emachines or hewlett packare purchases internal modems from a third party company?

to remove the expansion slot, do you just remove the screw in the cover plate and pull the expansion slot upward (like a memory stick)? i thought i would just give the expansion slot a looking at. i don't want to break it. i think every one of these spare computers has one.

what would you do if you found a modem in a box of junk and needed one? would you attempt to use it? what would you do first?

i will start a new thread about slaving the hard drives. i am going to do a little googling first. the part that scared me the most about that is the "jumper" task. when i think about this, i imagine using a wire with aligator clamps on each end, and clamping each end on a contact. is this "jumper" sort of like the "channel 3 - 4" selector on a VCR, where it's just a button that is slid to a desired position? what i'm hoping by googling is to encounter is the worst possible scenarios, and the persons problems being solved, and how they were solved. the bios is an area in particular that i have extremely limited experience in. i don't want to go into the bios, and can't get out, and be forced to pull the plug out of the wall.

i think i do have several of these cat5e plugs, but this new one is 15 foot long, so it may not have been a waste to get it. at least i didn't pay $20.

thanks for the reply coastie.

[coastie65]

Hey, Finding a modem in a box of stuff immediately brings two questions to mind 1) does it work? and 2) Where's the drivers ? Seeing as how you just want a modem for a Telephone connection at your desk, once it is installed in the PCI slot, Plug in the "Line" from the phone wall jack into the the one marked "Line" and plug the phone into the one marked "Phone". Pick up the phone and see if you have a dial tone, if so then you are go to go as far as making and receiving calls go on the land line. It is good that you are googling for info. I will try and see what I can find on your emachines computer. coastie

[ejames82]

coastie,

what i was getting at with the PCI expansion slot/modem question was, how important is knowing what brand it is, or the computer it came out of? if i bang it in there and no dial tone and it doesn't work, am i out of gas? once i had to go to microsoft for drivers for a printer, and they offered up a "generic" driver, and the printer worked. is this a possible scenario, only modem instead of printer?

i've been on google most of the morning researching the slaving the hard drive endevour. i must be the only person in history that just wants to run antivirus and antispyware scans. out of 20-30 threads, they are all about data retrieval. it came back to me the reasons why i was afraid to do this, not knowing if NTFS and FAT would be an issue, and if the different OS's on the drives would. also the jumpers, but i may be putting the cart before the horse on this one. maybe when i see the actual hard drive to be made slave, it may be self-explanatory. hearing that western digital and seagate/maxtor are exactly opposite didn't help. i was hoping for a massive picture, as clear as a bell showing the western digital hard drive and text saying "this is where the jumper goes" with a red arrow, and a separate picture for maxtor/seagate. i am also wondering if i have to actually secure the slave drive in the computer, or if i can't just wad up a cloth and set it on top of it outside the computer, so long as it's connected. it seems like this would be quite a short job. just pull out the ribbon cable, set the slave drive to slave, and put a power cord to the slave (of course, do this logged off with no power to the computer). then put the ribbon cable back on, and i guess it doesn't matter which terminals on the ribbon cable goes to which hard drive. that's what i've been reading.

thanks for the reply, coastie.

[coastie65]

Hey, actually it would probably be much easier to just consider getting a larger HDD. As far as the file system goes, The system used today is NTFS although you will the FAT 32 files at times on a HDD that has been partitioned with a recovery app on the partitioned part in FAT 32. Your first concern should be the memory as it is the easiest to deal with and can improve performance of your computer. Also, it is advisable to keep your free space on the HDD at 50% or higher as once you start going below that threshhold, you will start noticing some slow down, irregardless of how much memory you have. I am going to send you a PM with some helpful suggestions. Another thing with the HDD, if it is internal, it should be secured in the rack or just use an external HDD. coastie

[ejames82]

coastie,

i am going to bring this thread to a close. the magicjack has now worked several days in a row. there are no bugs, and it's loud and clear. i feel pretty confident that i can rely on it now on a permanent basis.

thank you for your support and expert advice. i am checking out your recommendation.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Ejames. I am glad that we were able to help you resolve your situation. As you mentioned, since you are going to close this Discussion, please select the two (2) posts that you feel were "Helpful" and the post that you feel was "Correct."