need advice on building a computer

[thephreakshow93]

hey guys, first post, so please bear with me. i really need help with this. right now im running an HP pavilion 7960 (P4, 1.3GHz, 128 RDRAM)
was going to add a DVD writer, additional hard drive, and video capture cards to make DVDs from old VHS tapes as well as DVDs from TiVo using RCA (a/v) cables, but its now clear to me that, especially since RDRAM is so expensive, it would just make more sense to buy a new computer. but heres my thing: i already have the video cards (an ATI All in Wonder 9600 and a Pinnacle AV/DV deluxe), the DVD writer, WinXP on a CD with 3.5" floppy setup disks, a 200GB hard drive, keyboards, mice, and monitors, so i dont think i really need that much. it seems to me like if i just got a very basic setup (no software, not even a hard drive if thats possible) with a lot of RAM, a 3.5" drive, a DVD-ROM drive with an additional bay for the DVD writer, and a few free PCI slots.

so this gives way to my two questions:
1. assuming i was able to get a computer with no hard drive, would i be able to just open the case up, install the new hard drive, and then use the xp boot disks to install xp on the blank hard drive? or would it be better to install the hard drive now on my current computer as an additional drive, install WinXP on it while its in the old computer, and then take it out and put it in the new one? (would that even work?)

2. if you were me, what would you do? (where is the best place to get basic "skeletons" of computers like this, etc)

[sanjayk]

thephreakshow93,

Technically speaking you could have a PC with no HD. You could boot from CD or Floppy or a Network. But I really dont think its a good idea to have a new PC with no hard disk. Hard disk are also pretty cheap these days.

Yes you could install a new hard disk later on and load WinXP on it. But leagally you can load ONLY on one system. But I guess ...

No it would be better to install the new hard disk in the new system and THEN load Windows on it. Because during installation Windows reads ALL the hardware information and stores it. If you load windows in your current system windows will record the hardware details of the current system. And then when you install the disk in your new PC windows will give hardware mismatch warning and will rebuild the entire database. Possibly ask you for driver disks etc. That is like re-installation of windows again. So there is no point in doing this.

Therefore, once again - Buy your PC with hard disk or install disk and load windows straight away in new PC only.

[Febre]

What you're looking for is what's called a barebones system. Some vendors usually package/bundle together basic components (motherboard with case, motherboard with cpu, or motherboard with cpu and memory, etc.) and sell them at a very competitive price. I'm not sure where you're from, but here in the states you can find barebones at retail stores like Fry's, online stores like TigersDirect, NewEgg, or PriceWatch. If your lucky, check to see if there's a local computer show.

In regards to your first question, you can transfer your preformatted hard drive from your old computer to the new one, but you will still have to install the new drivers for your new motherboard and probably reinstall the drivers for some of your other hardware if Windows' hardware wizard has trouble locating them. I only recommend this route if your very confident with troubleshooting Windows and don't really want to have to reset all your favorite Windows' settings.

Final thoughts, since your P4 is using RDRAM, I'm assuming your P4 is a socket 423 (cpu form factor). Intel abandon that form factor and the use of RDRAM a long time ago, and so you may not be able to reuse your cpu and ram on current Intel base boards.

[bugster]

Moved to the Computer forum

/moderator bugster