How I Personally Refurbish a PC! | Tips & Tricks for the best customer experience!
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2023
- Hello there and welcome to my video. In today's video, I'll show you my process for refurbishing a PC and all the little tips and tricks that I use when I do. Most of these tips are related to making sure the PC is as good as it can be for the person who buys it, as a happy customer is very important! I hope you enjoy this video and maybe learn a new trick that you can use in the future. If you have any tricks that I didn't mention here that you like to use when refurbishing a computer, please leave them in the comments below! Have a great day, goodbye!
A FEW CORRECTIONS:
Some people in the comments here have had some good ideas and points that I missed in this video. Here they are:
@JustMe-in5jn says "You didn't mention to test or replace the CMOS battery. And I also update the bios if possible."
I should have tested the CMOS battery to make sure it wasn't about to die, and I should have updated the BIOS to the latest version. Good correction!
@advansafic1257 said that they've installed windows on many older PCs, and if it asks for a product key and they don't have one, sometimes you can say "I don't have a product key" and windows will activate later once you connect it to the internet. So, you aren't entirely out of luck if you get prompted for a product key and don't have one. Another good catch!
Music, in order:
Beyond by Patrick Patrikios
Soul Searching by Causmic
Sunday Rain by Cheel
Island Dream by Chris Haugen
Thank you for the video. Its allways interesting watching someone giving older computers a second life. Also, i want to say that i have installed Windows 10 on hundreds of units and when the installation asks for a license key. If you have luck. Sometimes you can just skip and it will get automatically activated later after you connect to the internet. You can allways enter a new key if it doesent work. But the chanses are big if the pc are oem or have a sticker from before.
Ahh I forget that it can do that sometimes. I don't have the ability to pin comments quite yet but when I do, I'll make sure to pin yours!
@@CompHwTipsAndTutorials 😊👍. I subscribed you aswell. Looking forward to your next videos. Cheers!
@@advansafic1257 you're right, PC's like these have OEM licence built on the board I belive so it should automatically activate Windows without typing a product key
@@jordanascroft4766 I think that older legacy PCs without licenses built in on the motherboard can be activated by skipping the key prompt during installation. If it was previously activated with an older OS, like Windows 7, Microsoft collects the motherboard's unique ID or network card MAC address to activate automatically when you connect to the internet.
That's just a theory of mine, so I don't know if it's true or works that way.
@@advansafic1257 As far as I'm aware, with Windows 10 at least, when the computer is activated, it stores the product key to the motherboard's BIOS somewhere and it'll bind that key to the serial numbers of some of the components in the system in Microsoft's servers. As for the ones that still ask for a license key and activate later when connected to the internet, I'm pretty sure that this may happen because Windows pings those activation servers and they recognize the computer by its serial numbers, so it reactivates the Windows license under the old key that it has saved up there. I'm not 100 % sure on this, but I think it may be a sensible theory and it's quite similar to yours.
You easily did a way better job than a lot of actual "certified" shops that sell used computers in my country lol. I got a PC from work that was considered as broken because it couldn't stay on for a full day and if it did it would be extremely slow. When i took it apart there was no thermal paste on the CPU at all they just cleaned the old one off and left it like that
Thank you! And wow, that's a pretty cool find from your work. Especially considering it seems like it was a pretty easy fix, nice one!
I would absolutely love a video on how you troubleshoot and diagnose a PC! I'm a hobbyist computer refurbisher/repairer and love seeing and hearing the different philosophies from other techs.
as of this comment i see your oldest video is only 3 weeks old, im really glad your building subscribers because your out here showing how easy it truly is to fix a pc that would be considered trash. im personally using an old 4th gen intel pc and other than gaming it does even i would ever need from a pc including 4k video with a simple gt 710 that can be bought for as little as 20 dollars. keep up the good work and ill be enjoying your videos for quite awhile
Thank you so much for you kind words and support! It means a lot to me :)
great video, with the price of PCs, its good to get tips that help
I change the cmos battery, specially on older systems.
I thought windows 10 was free now , no need to register . You are the product , at least your info is.
God, I sure wish it worked like that. Hate the Microsoft spyware that is windows. Shame that there isn't a seamless alternative yet. Hoping for more linux compatibility with my programs soon so I may be able to make the switch.
Well done. Keep it up 😎
Great content 👍
You might also want to work on hiding and organizing the cables. Visually it helps a lot.
I have to agree with you there, and I'd absolutely do it if it was a PC with a glass side panel. Since it's not though, the cable management doesn't matter all too much as it won't ever be visible, but I do understand your point!
Thanks for the tips and tricks. Back when Windows 8 was a thing you could buy it for $30 so I bought two. Recently I refurbished a Dell OptiPlex 7010 that I picked up off of eBay and was able to use one of those discs to install Windows 10, and the system automatically upgraded from Win8 and validated the install.
That's awesome! I wish that an OEM key was still only 30 dollars, that would be great for pretty much everyone except Microsoft.
Excellent! Do computer cases come in other colors, e.g. red, pink, green? Lots of good tips 😀
Generally, different colors don't come in OEM PCs from brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. But, custom computer cases can come in different colors! Thanks for your comment!
These machines were typically made for more serious environments like offices, where bright colors are not tolerated. You would probably have better luck with enthusiast cases, particularly ones from the 2000s.
Of course, if you wanted to there's always spray paint.
I stumbled across one of your videos, and since I'm always interested in watching content about older systems, I subscribed to see what you're going to come up with. Most of the other pc sites concentrate on GPUs, but I have little interest in them. So, I'll be looking for your videos going forward.
Thank you! Since my budget is relatively tight, I mostly have to stick with older systems, and I don't mind that at all. I think you'll find some of the videos I have lined up interesting, or at least I hope you will!
Thank you for this wonderful video👍😁
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I install Astra system information as an easy way to check things like all the drivers are correct cpu temperatures are OK etc.
Thats a good idea, although I have never heard of Astra System Information. I have a little USB stick with a bunch of tools that I usually use just to ensure some stuff, and I generally use HWinfo64 just to ensure that temps look okay and that nothing is obviously wrong with the system. I left that out of this video in favor of a simple and quick "Run a stress test or two to see if it crashes", but it's definitely a noteworthy step!
Nice start to your channel bro! I'm onboard! Subscribed! 👍👍
Thanks for your support my guy! It means a lot!
I'm 99% sure the 1RX & 2RX is referring to the "rank" of the RAM. The extremely oversimplified description of this is that "dual rank" RAM is kinda like dual-channel, but on a single stick. The only real downside to this is the extra stress it can put on the memory controller, and weaker memory controllers can have problems with more than 2 sticks if they're "dual rank".
That sounds about right to me, but I had no clue about the memory controller stress that it could cause! I'll be looking into that, as that seems really interesting to me.
This is a great video about this topic!
Thank you!
The "RX8" thing, far as I know, is the rank. 2RX8 is 2 ranks of 8 something, I believe? And so on. I'm assuming contextually in this case a rank is basically a row.
Yeah, that seems to ring a bell for me. I heard about the importance of it first in a Linus Tech Tips video where they demonstrated the (surprisingly MASSIVE) difference in performance between 1RX8 and 1RX16 RAM. I remember their "librarian and bookshelves" model that they used to describe it and they did a pretty good job. Here's a timestamped link: ua-cam.com/video/R7CO9v9rpOk/v-deo.html
hi quick question in windows 11 to they have audit mode too when youre in out of box experience? btw amazing video
Yep, audit mode should work the same in Windows 11!
You didn't mention to test or replace the CMOS battery. And I also update the bios if possible.
That's a good point and I probably should have mentioned that, especially the BIOS update. I didn't mention the CMOS battery because, at least in my experience, if it's a problem the system won't boot. But, testing it just to ensure that it's not on edge and about to die after a month or so of usage is a good idea. I've added your comment to the description of the video as a correction. Thank you!
@@CompHwTipsAndTutorials I never update the Bios, i've had problems with stability after i have done this! Having said that i once had a pile of oem MBs that would only take a low end CPU i also had a pile of very similar MBs that worked with better cpu's the MBs looked the same but had a paper label over the model number so i removed the label and it had the same model number the bios reported the one on the paper label so i downloaded the latest bios for the better board and flashed the lower board. To my surprise it worked! As these machines were an OEM for schools i think they used the "custom" bios to prevent schools upgrading them!
Any “refurbisher” that doesn’t replace the thermal paste doesn’t deserve to sell pc’s.
5:10 I made this mistake with my server after repasting it XD
i have the pavilion p6 2220t
it might have a use as a file server or k3s node
I have an old Optiplex with a 3770 running as a NAS. Something like the HP computer here would definitely work wonderfully for an application like that. Even a DNS sinkhole ad blocker or a router could probably work pretty well with it.
I just purchased an HP Pavillion 510-P127C with an AMD A10-9700. It gave a CPU fan error on boot and I saw that it was struggling to rotate. I removed the fan and cooler. It is a Cooler Master 80mm x 25 fan. The air direction was pointing towards the CPU and motherboard. I think the fan was installed upside down and damage by a PO? I cleaned and repasted and installed the fan in what I think is the proper airflow direction, that is blowing air away from the CPU and towards the back chassis fan. I tinkered with the fan and got it to move more freely but still has the error and the RPMS that it shows in the BIOS are fluctuating from 800 to 2000 rpms. Can you please advise In your experience, Does HP or Dell install some CPU fans as a blower style? If so that seems counter intuitive to me.
If it's the same style CPU cooler as in this system, it should blow down towards the motherboard because the air from the fan will go through the heatsink, cool off the CPU, then spread out and provide a bit more cooling to the VRMs and RAM
@@CompHwTipsAndTutorials - Thanks for reply man, I appreciate it, and yep you're correct. I researched cooling fan directions and learned that blowing air on the CPU instead of sucking air from it is actually better. Love learning new stuff and thanks for your help.
I have a HP p7 1220 computer and I have tried to upgrade my hard drive to the SSD and Windows 10 and it works but then I tried to update the bios on the HP bios update software and I restarted my computer and it was long beeping long time and no post screen it has not worked since then 😭💔😤
And HP has taken the whole manual and driver's etc or any thing support page for my computer off their websites after 10 years and I can't find the BIOS software for it anywhere else
Did you restart it before the BIOS update was done? If so, there's a pretty good chance that the motherboard is cooked because the BIOS didn't load properly before the loading was interrupted (so it has an incomplete BIOS and can't boot). I'm not too familiar with how those BIOS updaters that run within windows function, so I'm not sure how much of a help I'll really be able to be here.
You should consider switching to a non-paper based wipe. They leave behind a lot of white bits and strands that don't look great imo. Also the clorox wipes leave a streaking residue you'll have to clean off after the fact, or else it looks like it was wiped with a dirty rag.
Yeah, I noticed that after the video. I think that I'll end up switching to a microfiber cloth and some water.
yes it is a good idea to use a well known brand, not a cheap Chinese knock off brand that is not known
I wish i can have a used pc or laptop because i cannot afford one😢
Hey man, keep working and keep deal hunting! Someday, you'll be able to get a computer like you want, stick with it!