to preface all this, ive never done any computer building or upgrading of any sort, however it looks like a lot of fun and im curious what all i can do. i have an old windows XP (windows Vista capable) desktop. not really sure how to put this, but i want to upgrade the hardware in it and i dont know where to start... its a Compaq Presario SR1903WM. i know i can get a better hard drive for it but i dont know if it would still work if i got a hard drive and installed windows 10 on it or not. sorry for the confusing mess here but any help is appreciated
Guinea Pig
- Thread starter muffinman
- Start date
dont mean to rain on your parade,but this is just too old to do any meaningful upgrades on.windows 10 would run so very painfully slow on this hardware and there is no upgrade that will change that.that having been said,post a budget and what you want to do with your pc and you may just be surprised at what you can build these days.
_Kyle_
Well-Known Member
If you want to get into computers for a reasonable amount of money I'd suggest picking up a Raspberry Pi kit. It isn't a full-fledged desktop but it would be a good intro.
Here is the official website: https://www.raspberrypi.org/
You can find tons of kits on online retail stores like Amazon and such.
However, if you are willing to spend ~$350-400 you can build a full PC from the ground up.
Here is a decent parts list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cfWDKB
I'd personally just get a new PC at this point.
Here is the official website: https://www.raspberrypi.org/
You can find tons of kits on online retail stores like Amazon and such.
However, if you are willing to spend ~$350-400 you can build a full PC from the ground up.
Here is a decent parts list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cfWDKB
I'd personally just get a new PC at this point.
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okay so to those who might be confused, i just want to use this as a learning tool, not as an actual desktop haha i have an HP pavilion i do all my work on. i got this computer for about 15 dollars at a yard sale and decided i could use it to get myself acquainted with pc parts and how things connect and work etc.
strollin
Well-Known Member
I agree that it's probably not worth your time/money to upgrade your old computer. The idea to look into the Raspberry Pi is a good one if your goal is to learn programming, robotics, automation and other hobbyist type things. The Raspberry Pi is a low cost computer but it doesn't run Windows, it runs an OS called Raspbian which is a lite weight Linux distribution. The Pi is a fun computer to tinker with but it's not meant to replace a Windows computer, it was developed to be a low cost computer to teach school kids about programming. One of it's strong points is that it includes a strip of GPIO (General Purposes Input/Output) pins that allow you to attach and control lights, switches, relays and many other sensors.
_Kyle_
Well-Known Member
Oh. Well, in that case challenge yourself to taking it apart and putting it back together. Get familiar with the individual components and their functions. You will find that putting together PCs is actually quite simple. If everything works out.
Upgrading though, not a good idea. If you want to mess around with installing OSs I wouldn't spend money on a Windows 10 key, instead go with a lightweight Linux distro like AntiX. @UnholyVision is very knowledgeable on Linux, if you want to know more about Linux I would suggest asking him.
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this is actually a great idea i hadnt thought of, however im not really interested in learning about different operating systems, however point taken lol and thanks bunches
UnholyVision
Active Member
If you don't want to learn a new OS extensively and coming from XP I would suggest just using ReactOS. It's designed to be a backwards engineered Windows. It looks and feels like Windows XP because it's had former Microsoft employees that contributed to it. It's literally based on Windows NT, but is so much more lightweight then Windows. The only real downside I suppose is it's considered, "Alpha", but it's been in that status for years while still being updated today.