Brian V wrote:
I read an article below about External Hard-drive purchase. I got aa lot out
of it, and will read more later, but it is along the lines of what I need to
ask.

If you need any info from me, please ask and tell me where to find it.

I plan on installing as much RAM and hard drive as I can in the shorter-term
so I can archive my music collection and dvd's. I actually would like to
install what I can internally instead of externally.

I have 32-bit XP, 1GB ddr2 memory (RAM?), and AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
Processor 3800+ 2.01 GHz, 768 MB of RAM on an Acer ASE380-ED380M.

I opened my computer up last weekend. I saw the SATA hard-drive and 3 other
potential spots for more hard-drive. I want to fill 2 or 3 with SATA, but saw
PATA drives. I don't know what PATA is, but it's bigger. Can my system handle
it? I'm going to start getting 2 or 3 terabytes (or more). I have lots of
music, dj for fun, but I also make music and need space.

I noticed that there was a certain kind of small black plug connected to the
hard-drive from the back of the computer with lots of wires comming out of
that. It was split (connecting to the hard-drive there) and one is free for
one spot (not the three like I want). I noticed on web-sites there are
certain kinds of power cords for sale and in my computer tower it appeared
that my dvd-drive was connected to a white plug (not the small black ones,
but that bigger white connection went into the back of my computer too), on
that white plug it connected to the dvd-drive and could be dissattached. But
the dvd-drive connector did not block any more connections, it continued it
(something else can be plugged in still). Can the small black plugs do this
too (connect to each other and keep the chain going)? Or am I limited to the
two connections for hard-drive?

For the RAM There are 4 ports, in two there were 2 - 512 chips, the other
two were empty. Do I have to have a specific kind of RAM? I know sometimes
some computers can only handle some amount or kinds of it.

What is in the back of my computer tower? It's where the plug-in for the
electrical outlet goes, and everything in te tower connects to. Is this my
ADM Dual Core Processor? Or is the processor the motherboard with all those
diodes, and ports (it's on the side and covers it. It's the big thin piece).
Can this thing in the back of the tower be replaced? Are they usually left
alone?

What can I put in the back of my computer where these PCI local Bus ports
are? I have 4 slots. 2 large ones, one small and one square (I think, or two
smaller ones). One has a modem in there I don't use (a line in can be seen),
the other three are free. Can this make my system 64-bit, or is it needed to
install stuff to accelerate my computer? Can I put more memory or a graphics
care there or something?

Lastly I figured I can fit a small drive and another dvd/hd burner/reader of
some kind in front. But that can wait a bit.

How can I find out the lmitation on what kind of computer I have (what the
motherboard can handle, or the processor, etc. Eg: Some items cannot be
installed into older computers (mainly due to not having the right
connectors, ports, etc). I don't want to buy something that is too advanced
for my computer to read or run with.

I just want to learn and to install what I can myself.

I "Googled my ass off" for that machine (E380 with EM61SM/EM61PM motherboard).
There are a few things I've learned. First, that few E380 owners have anything
other than a cell phone for taking pictures :-)

http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/5561/dsc00315ys7.jpg

That picture shows one spare SATA connector. You could buy a 3.5" SATA internal
drive and install it. I wasn't able to determine if the machine has a spare
15 pin SATA power connector. You might also need to buy a SATA data cable
(7 pin data). So there is a small possibility of adding one more drive.
Motherboards using chipsets of that era, came with two or four SATA
connectors. And that picture suggests you have a total of two,
of which one is used by the current hard drive.

The picture here, is too fuzzy to determine if more SATA connectors are present.
You seem to have a lot of storage bays in that machine, but I don't know why
they are there. Yes, you could use IDE ribbon cables to connect hard drives,
but you may only have one of those. Again, the pictures aren't good enough
to count the connectors available. The 3.5" bays are just wide enough to
slide a standard 3.5" drive into it. I presume the green plastic
things, are the retention mechanism (computers use a variety of mechanisms,
and I don't know how that one works for sure).

http://www.geeks.com/imageshare/A/30...22A-R-soft.jpg

You can see the 7 contact data connector, and 15 contact power connector
for the SATA drive, in this picture. The power connector comes from your
power supply. The data cable runs from the motherboard, to the back of
the drive.

http://www.hardwarezone.com/img/data...connectors.jpg

*******

Crucial shows 4x1GB max configuration for memory upgrades. The idea would
be, you'd remove the 2x512MB and install 4x1GB in the available slots.
But the problem is, one owner of an E380 tried that. Their machine
came with 2x1GB and they tried to add 2x1GB more. They found that
any memory above 2GB quantity, didn't work! 2GB was the max that
would work.

The Acer support page shows one BIOS file. A couple people tried the
BIOS flasher (a pretty crafty looking flasher), and it bricked the
motherboard. They get stuck at "Verifying DMI" which is a message
coming from the BIOS, on the next machine startup. So whatever you do,
don't flash the BIOS! Flashing the BIOS would potentially be a way
to fix the memory issue, but not if it is going to brick the computer
and make it unbootable.

Desktop : Aspire : Aspire E380 - to see available info
http://support.acer.com/us/en/drivers_download.aspx

So if you're going to buy memory and are excited to try an upgrade,
buy 2x1GB. Try the 2x1GB by itself. See if the computer boots.
Next, install 2x1GB and 2x512MB, which should give a total of
3GB. See if that works. Put the 2x512MB in the same slots it used
originally. If it doesn't work, just unplug the 2x51MB
and you're finished with memory upgrades. Make sure all power is off
inside the chassis, before installing or removing RAM. You can buy a
wrist strap, to help prevent static discharge killing the RAM - this
keeps your body at the same ESD potential as the chassis.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2479151

If you do find the 3GB memory configuration works, now you can
go back to Crucial and buy another 2x1GB kit. Install 4x1GB and
test. That is, in theory.

I really don't see a reason to try to install 4GB in that system,
due to the addressing limitations of the 32 bit OS that may give
you around 3.2GB free. So if you go the extra mile, and try to
install 4GB, the incremental improvement is 0.2GB. Just a waste of
money. I'd use 2x1GB and 2x512MB. And with my action plan above, your
exposure is just the cost of 2x1GB of sticks first, to see whether
your motherboard is "bugged" like the thread I found. If the
system supports a 64 bit OS, then possibly your full 4GB would be
available to you.

Depending on whether there is something in the video card slot,
you could add a SATA controller card, to support additional
drives. That is, on the assumption there aren't enough spare
SATA slots for your disk expansion.

Memory expansion makes room for the programs you're executing.
3GB of RAM might be desirable for a Photoshop user working on
large images. Maybe 2GB would be good for a video editor program.
Many other uses of the machine may be happy some where between
1GB and 2GB. An OS like Vista, may benefit a bit more from the
extra memory, than WinXP would. In my tests of WinXP, I didn't find
the improvement from having more memory (going from 1GB to 2GB),
to be that big. It helped a bit with one game. But if you have
an application that runs real slow, or actually states it really
needs more RAM, then by all means, get some more. (Task Manager
can help you track RAM usage over the period of your work day.)

Hard drives are slow storage devices, for holding your files when
the computer power is off. Large drives can hold a lot of content.
I'd start with a single extra large drive to start with. I might
also purchase a similar drive in an external USB enclosure, for
backups. Occasionally, you'll want to make a backup copy of
that exceptionally large disk, because otherwise, if it fails,
you're going to be *very* annoyed. That is the problem with
monster disks. They're a pain in the ass to backup. But
backup you must, because if the drive fails, you'll have
lost hundreds of hours of work putting all the files there
in the first place. When drives are $99 a piece, if just makes
sense to be buying them in pairs, and using one for backups.
If the second drive is USB2, you can unplug it when not in use
and keep it safe.

1TB high performance internal SATA from WD, "Dead in a month", $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ize=100&Page=1

1.5TB USB2 drive for backups, has own power brick, $139, no on-off switch
Use "Safely Remove" icon, before unplugging drive while OS is running.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136505

There are a variety of backup programs, such as ones from Acronis,
that can help you with the backup task. If you have at least
one backup drive, even if the files on it are three months old,
that will save you at least some of the content on the internal
drive. Drives fail every day, so failures are something which
you have to plan for.

Paul