help with a guinea pig?

[muffinmanbored]

so i bought an old windows XP computer (vista capable) with hopes in using it as a guinea pig, i have always wanted to try upgrading and/or building my own computer but i haven't had the time or the know how to do so, im hoping that this computer can serve as my guinea pig for a bit. i know what i can upgrade but i know nothing about compatibility or anything like that, and i know better than to buy some random pc part and think itll work. so where do i start? its an old Compaq Presario SR1903WM

 

[Alexoferith]

Hi, I hate to pour cold water into your enthusiasm. The Compaq Presario is a poor start as the inside is pretty much proprietary. Also, it is so old. In the computer world, old does not mean cheap because 1. they are out of production. 2. so you have to get at least 2nd hand stuff, i.e. you won't know how long the components will last. It is a money trap if you are tight on budget. However, you can use it to get to know what's on the motherboard, what is CPU, RAM, etc..
I wonder if you can get a refund and use the money to build up a budget to get the stuff you need to build a computer. There are very good videos on Youtube teaching you how to build one. And I think everyone here is ready to provide help.

 

[muffinmanbored]

Hi, I hate to pour cold water into your enthusiasm. The Compaq Presario is a poor start as the inside is pretty much proprietary. Also, it is so old. In the computer world, old does not mean cheap because 1. they are out of production. 2. so you have to get at least 2nd hand stuff, i.e. you won't know how long the components will last. It is a money trap if you are tight on budget. However, you can use it to get to know what's on the motherboard, what is CPU, RAM, etc..
I wonder if you can get a refund and use the money to build up a budget to get the stuff you need to build a computer. There are very good videos on Youtube teaching you how to build one. And I think everyone here is ready to provide help.

i was planning on using it as a tool to learn, i got it for 15 dollars at a yard sale, i dont expect it to work as an actual desktop for any reason as i have a hp pavilion i do all my work on, i just want to learn a little

 

[Alexoferith]

Hi, well then, $15 is a good price for tuition fee. But do keep in mind that Presario is not standard. But not in a bad sense. I was lucky to learn how to build a PC in a factory, a cowboy outfit. So, I had access to all sort of components. This was back at the "486" days. Just to make a point, the largest hard disk at those days was only 20 Mb or even smaller!!! Not even 100Mb and their size, like a brick! Hugh. Sorry, digressed. You don't need to know everything in detail but you need to know what is going on inside the box. But the first thing you need to learn is to EARTH yourself, i.e. avoid building statics electricity on your side. I was not electronically trained, but I always keep one word in my head if I come into new territory in computer, LOGIC. I don't know the detail of how a computer works electronically. I have also noticed that as CPU advances in technology, the major components inside of the computer are more susceptible to damage by statics. With that in mind, and armed yourself with some good videos from Youtube, you can learn what plugs into what and how. And sometime, why in that order. By the way, just let to you know. What I learnt in the factory could not be found in any university (I was studying a Master in computing at that time). So, to sum up, to learn, keep the word "logic" in your mind. To build, earth yourself before touching any computer components. Good luck. And it is fun to have something to think about. It makes one feel "alive" and "useful".