That is a common sight inside of that computer for me. Seems like the dirtiest people come into my shop to have me risk my health with working on their machine. I have had some so full of animal hair coming out of the fan vents they look like Chewbacca was stuffed into the case
I love these repair, recovery videos. One of my greatest joys in life is repairing computers. Especially ones slated for the big PCB in the sky. However I can no longer do it for two reasons. One: I have no room for spare machines laying about until they are donated. Two: I was threatened with a law suit by someone I donated a repaired unit to. They assumed getting a free computer meant I was going to be their personal 24 hour I.t. guy and in addition to that, they demanded a new copy of widows, with full version of office, and a professional antivirus installed for free, because the version of Linux the free computer came with was not up to their computing standards. Living in California people can tie you up in court for months for this, so I retired the hobby. These videos help me get my fix without all the drama. Thanks Bill.
There is something really satisfying about getting a old machine and bringing it back to health, especially if you can give it a purpose afterwards, those old Dells are very hardy. Great vid Bill :)
Look at the description of the video ^^ Considering the filthy state of this computer and that it have a 3 Ghz Prescott P4 in it, I think this thing has been thrown away because it was making the sound of several planes taking off xD
When you popped open the side panel on that pc I verbally said some sort of augh sounding noise! In my months of trying to run a computer recycling and repair business at a preteen age, I have never come across a computer in this bad of condition. Tomarrow I am recycling two pc's at a church. One is a pentium 2 with 256MB of ram and one I haven't checked yet. I saw them at a robotics camp and they asked me to take the hard drives out and they would be mine. I had five minutes so I pulled the first hard drive from the Pentium 2 pc and left it on top of the pc. Surprisingly it had not a single bit of dust inside. Because there is literally no airflow inside! It was the cleanest I had ever worked on.
Back in the late 90's I worked at a manufacturing and retail company as I.T. Manager. One of the things we had to do was once a year - usually in spring we'd open the garage bay door, take all the systems, covers off and blow them out. We had filtered, chilled, moisture removed air throughout the building. So that was nice.
Two things that I've noticed about the computers I've worked on are 1) most PC owners don't know that the inside and vents of the computer box require periodical cleaning, and 2) (MS Windows OS) most don't know anything about defragmentation. I've opened too many PC cases that contain and inch or more of layered dust blanketing the motherboard and clogging the ventilation intakes. About 60% have never, ever, defragmented the hard drive. Great video BTW.
The dustiest machine I ever ran across was an old PC in a Masonry vo-tech class. I stuck a black floppy into it and it came out white. We opened up the case and blew out enough plaster dust with an air compressor to replicate the Taj Mahal.
I'm here enjoying your shenanigans on an older HP-Compaq DC7100, picked it up for $60 at a suplus outlet, threw Ubuntu on it & it's been running happily ever since. Glad I pestered my father to drive me all the way to Parma for a parts run. :-)
Bill, you should see some of the Optiplex desktops in McDonalds break rooms. The cooking environment really helps the dirt stick. Amazing some of them even operate with almost no air flow.
That was an awesome find, Bill!! I've only had one instance where blowing out a very dusty computer led to a problem. For some reason when I tried booting up the computer, all it did was beep. Turns out one of the RAM modules either went bad or something happened to it in the cleaning process. It worked fine when I took it in and then had to replace it after the cleaning. Never had an issue like that again so I don't know why it happened at that time.
Vacuum cleaner, then hit it with the compressor outside with a mask on till it's sparkling clean. Remove and clean the RAM. Remove the CPU and apply new silver thermal grease. One machine I worked on was just full of cat hair which stopped the CPU fan and it led to crashing/instability. The cat culprit was allowed to sit on the PC... The stains are often spilled coffee, or drinks, can clean them up with Spray & Wipe and/or isopropyl.
My last two skip finds have both been none runners. Nothing physicaly wrong just will not boot. So probably a fried capacitor some where or just dead boards. Nice find though. I too wish people would just still say, yeap if you want to go digging through that vast pile of sharp and pointy things for whatever you want you can. I miss those days.
I pulled a computer out of the trash bin behind the second hand store, used to be you could find lots of cool stuff. Last time I went by there it's all fenced off now seems someone cut their hand on some glass going through the bin.
Looks like the same basic case as the Precision 380 of similar vintage that my parents used to use until a short while ago (with, incidentally, similar transport damage and fixing thereof). That one had a long and fulfilled life, saw the original Quadro FX 3400 (I think it was) and two 512 meg RAM sticks give up the ghost, and was finally equipped with 6 gigs of RAM and 1 TB and 640 gig harddrives. It would have held out for a while longer had it not developed USB-related issues (errors in Memtest86+ when inserting/removing devices) and eventually failed to transfer a map to the car navigator without CRC errors. I presume some electrolytic capacitor(s) eventually packed in but don't have an ESR meter. That plus the speed (or lack thereof) and heat of a P4 640 and a power draw not under 100 W even with a modest Geforce "G210 inside" 8400GS. It never was exactly silent either. I obtained a cheap Fujitsu-Siemens Celsius W370 complete with Win7 license to replace it - also BTX, btw (actually the next generation, W280 / W380 / W480, socket 1156, have to be about the very last BTX formfactor machines ever). That one took all the DDR2 memory, harddrives and graphics card, has a nice and cool C2D E8400, runs pretty quiet, and draws all but 42 watts in idle (if you were content with only one 160 gig harddrive, 2 gigs of RAM and onboard graphics, it would only be 30 W even) and only a fraction of a watt in low-power soft-off. Given this computer's usual luck, I had to replace the PSU mere weeks in, seems the electrolytics for +5V and +5Vsb on the secondary side may be a bit of a weak spot (they're not crap quality at all but the supply is more adequate than overbuilt).
I actually just picked up a Dell Dimension E320 that looks just like that from my local thrift store. When I went to boot it, the floppy drive and the 2 & 3 code lights were lit. Popped the system battery, held down the power button, and just like that it works.
We got some new Optiplex 7040's at work, and now Dell offers a secure drive erase function in the BIOS, along with a newly enhanced diagnostic procedure that has a photograph of a desktop and laptop displayed on the screen when you run the ePSA. Just thought you'd find that interesting.
Dells. I love it. It think the same motherboard was used through the optiplex gx520-900 dimension 9100-9200 but I am not sure about the 9200 because that is an amd based machine. And I think bazaar furhead loved dust in his jeep known as a heep.
Wow! That was dusty! Something tells me that it might have been in some type of shop or dirty work environment. I hate to see what the computers we use at work look like inside! I have a Dell Dimension 5100 that uses the same case, that I am typing on right now. Bought it from Maxxarcade. I'm going to have to consider changing the OS soon, since it is still running XP. It's still running great!
I thought the 9100 was the last of the BTX Dimensions, last as I've understood it could take a core 2 duo, maybe via some hacking or XPS? Well that said a Pentium D 925 will do most jobs very nicely, and use less power (95 watts). I tend to enjoy Dell hardware. My Precision t5500 pounds threw anything I could do. My m4700 does as well. But there's a place in my heart for old hardware and I am a sucker for the cool factor. I just love your videos. I am a fan.
I really like these older machines because they have a lot of other wide uses such as installing Floppy Drives or IDE Based Drives, especially the ones where they were just introducing SATA and they came with IDE Compatibility. I just recently came across a Dell Dimension 9100 that someone just threw away and it was not picked apart and my hope is to install a Intel Pentium D Processor 950 and a EVGA GeForce GT 610 as well as an Internal Floppy Drive and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. Might consider putting a PS 2 port Connecter on it so I can use a Genuine IBM Model M.
I so happen to have the Dell OEM Windows XP Professional Disk for a older Dell OptiPlex PC that I bought at a flee market and I took one of my hard drives and I installed it on the computer until I can install another one preferably a PATA based 250 GB Western Digital OEM Hard Drive and the standard SATA based 320 GB Western Digital OEM Hard Drive that the computer would have came with as well as a LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drives GH24NSC0B. I'd rather install the Sapphire Radeon R7 240 rather than the EVGA GeForce GT 610 considering the performance range of the Radeon R7 240. I will eventually install a LG Electronics 14x Internal BDXL Blu-Ray Burner Rewriter WH14NS40 to go along with the LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drives GH24NSC0B.
The dirtiest computer that I ever cleaner out came from lime stone gravel plant. When I started to blow out using a vacuum that can blow. It made a huge gravel dust cloud that I had to stand back while finishing up the job.
Im sure a nice spray of antibacterial will make the outside safe again. Then your own personal dust can take hold and cause you no problems :-) Its a known fact that our world of "over cleaning" affects a growing childs immune system, so a little bit of muck is required, but some people just go mad lol :-)) Hmm that jeep looks dusty he he :-)
I totally agree. Some call BTX a dead end, But I don't believe that at all. That's rather short sighted. Imagine for a moment the modern motherboard and case. Even though that's an ATX standard the elements of BTX clearly remain as in Dells other designs. These are very decent machines. I love my Dells. Sure self built are more open and overclockable there is still many advantages to owning a Dell. That said I love your posts. I enjoy and admire your finds.
My Dimension 9100 came from the factory with the serial and PS/2 card that plugged in to the header on the motherboard. I can't remember if it was an option, but it sure has been useful.
Oh yup, and I always replace the CMOS battery with an Energizer Lithium CR2032. I wouldn't put the effort in if the machine wasn't worth saving though, must have a decent processor, or architecture or be unique in some way to justify it, or give it to someone else that needs a basic machine.
My father is still using a Dell Dimension 9100 with Windows XP Media Center Edition, 1GB ram, and a Pentium D processor. It still browses the web and plays HD video fine, but it is slowing down considerably.
I keep wanting a Handycam like yours. My Hi8 is broken, and my Mini DV Canon camera is also broken. That for the most part just leaves my digital cameras, which aren't my favorite, because I have a hatred for taking up gigs of hard drive space just to keep from losing all of my video files. If you just keep a tape dust free, it will usually survive a very long time.
Ha! That PC is CLEAN compared to a Compaq a guy was trying to sell at a market place. This Compaq was filled will disgusting brown dust and smelled like smoke :-/
Just like you I went to Harbor Freight and bought a small cheap air compressor to blow out computers.I don't if you have ever heard of him but has anyone told you that you sound like Dr. Demento?
its because windows isn't loading the two dynamic link libraries associated with the PS/2 port. I have the same problem when I plug my IBM model M into my newer gateway computer. I would try fixing the battery, and then go find the device manager in the system32 folder, and see if it's even being discovered.
I would completely restore this thing and build it up. It's a 9100 so it can use a Core 2 duo cpu and while the BTX platform it's self is problematic for massive upgrades, pushing the ram a limit a little isn't impossible. I liked the BTX design myself for the most part. It's inspired ATX motherboard makers to rethink their own standards and way better positions for cable management. Intel however was too late to be useful really. Besides some weak points this is a good computer too.
ah man, wish mine worked! When it fell I had just finished cutting out the backplate so I could fit a motherboard from another dell computer that was core 2 duo capable. Thankfully when it fell it only had the psu and optical drives in it which were both fine. It's too bad the ebay seller sent me a bad motherboard. Now my poor dell just sits until the ebay seller gets me a different (and slightly less capable, only 1 pci slot) motherboard to me.
I used pull stuff out of the Thrift Store bin, found a good computer one time and fixed it. But then one day it was locked and they told me not to go in there, seems someone cut their hand on a piece of glass and so now the bins are fenced off and locked..
Lucky me! I'm sitting here watching UA-cam from the keyboard of a Dell Dimensions e310 after my Q6600 equipped computer burned a hole through it's motherboard. ( currently building a replacement) This beast has a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 521 processor 512Megs of RAM and no way for my to update the graphics! While it plays any UA-cam videos below 720P flawlessly, anything above brings the system to a grind and FPS drop to about 6! I'm glad my sister let me "get the thing out of the house" for her!
I don't need more dust in my house, so I do all my dust blowing outside with a weed blower. I choose the blower, since I've heard some air compressors send out static charged air.
Just got one of these at a garage sale and it lived, for about 30 minutes. When I was testing the sound card, it shut off and gave me a blinking amber LED. Just like any other $2 toy, it broke really quickly.
You think that's bad, you should see some of tv's that used to come into our shop with tons of dust inside. that dust will kill you, I always take them outside to the parking area and blow them out. The worst electronic stuff that came in would also have bugs inside sometimes.
Hey Bill, how about a follow up on this one? I just picked up one of these myself with the exact same specs as yours. I was not familiar with this breed of Dell beforehand, but having owned it for two weeks now, I have really grown to appreciate the extra bit of engineering (over the e510 etc. which I believe it (d)evolved into). I guess it was simply too much metal to justify at the time, as it was a good bit taller than the Dimension/Optiplex modles that followed it - The extra front fan for the hard drives/case was a really thoughtful touch. I'm running Linux Lite 1.0.6. on mine with 2 gigs ram and it has become my "go to" machine... Thanks for many fine evenings of entertainment -
***** Glad to hear you found a good use for it. I'm currently using mine to make OEM images of Linux Mint 13 for an organization I volunteer for (I'm actually a board member) that refurbishes "e-waste" computers for people who otherwise might not be able to own a computer. I think of you quite often when I look in the huge donation bins! I live in a University town, and I'll never get used to what most people call e-waste -
LukeF240 p.s. I used the word "devolved" simply because my 9100 is stamped 2006 and my e510 is stamped 2007 - I should have clarified that it was only an assumption on my part that the 9100 preceded the e510. I share your assumption that the E series followed the 2400/4600 as well. Of course, in the time it took me to type this, I could have looked it up and given you an authoritative response - but hey, this is the internet. Let's enjoy reveling in speculation for a bit first - Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours -
I, like you, probably wouldn't come even close to winning the organizing award. BUT We do keep our things clean and well cared for even if they might be in what some might call a cluttered mess.
I tried using DBAN once, but it seemed very slow. If I'm reading that screenshot correctly, it looks like this machine took 7hrs to wipe, so I guess the slowness might be normal. As an alternative, you could use a bootable linux CD and use the command 'dd' to zero fill a drive. Appropriate parameters required, and make sure to set blocksize to something large. I've found that works much faster, presumably because it uses high speed DMA, while DBAN, it seems, does not.
I can't believe your goodwill lets you buy those. They wouldn't let me take any even without the hard drive. I read on goodwill's website that they are supposed to resell the computers 5 years old or newer, but I don't know if they do that in the goodwills, online, or if Dell handles it. I remember a year or so ago there was a pc recycling day at my local goodwill. There were truckloads of old ataris and others. I saw a guy chuck an old suitcase pc which busted into a billion pieces. :/
Something I keep wondering myself: Do you have to prevent the fans from rotating when blowing out dust? (Because it would generate AC on the main board). Or is this something that doesn't cause any harm?
I have a problem with an IBM ps/2 model 30 286 and since you have a ps/2 collection I thought you might be able to help. I recently bought a floppy drive for my ps/2 because the old one was scratching my floppy disk. But the new one would list the contents of the disk as normal but when I tried to run a program or write to the disk it would try to read the floppy but comes up with the sector not found error. The clock battery is dead and I get the 161 and 163 errors but i do not think that has anything to do with it.
Was it intentional to blow all the dust in the direction of your brothers' two immobile vehicles? And that was a surprisingly quick auto white balance correction at 10:34...
Speaking of PS/2 ports, I'm working on a VAIO PC w/ dying CMOS battery. Keyboard PS/2 works but mouse PS/2 doesn't in Windows. USB mouse doesn't either. Both work in Linux. Will the new CMOS fix that, or do I need to re-install Windows? I am a Mac guy, so mostly used PCs with USB mice.
00:15 -- Is that an APC SurgeArrest in the lower left corner? There's a product recall on certain models of those, so you might want to check that out if you haven't already.
the Dell Dimension series is a good computer... the hard drive in mine is making a high-pitched whine- do you know what could be wrong b/c i think it is going bad.
I need a little bit of help, if you can spare the time. One of my recent computer finds, a Gateway 6400 Server, doesn't seem to work at all. The system won't give any kind of output or signs of life, save for the fans coming on and the processor getting hot (Intel Pentium III Socket 370 Coppermine 800MHz) and burning my finger in the process. The parts I installed into the system (RAM, PSU, etc) are known-working parts. This is a really nice motherboard (An Asus CUR-DLS) that I do not wish to replace, as that's why I bought the system in the first place at all. I've even tried to replace the BIOS, CMOS battery, RAM, PSU, etc. I've tried everything I know to get this system functioning again but nothing seems to have worked. By the way, when I say doesn't seem to work, I mean it won't give video or POST. Even with no RAM installed, it does nothing at all.
Sorry, I don't really know how to send Private messages, though I do know they exist. I've simplified the configuration as much as is possible, I've removed and tried different RAM, tried different cables and power supply units, and tried interchanging the BIOS with the only compatible system board I have, which is a SOYO-Branded Slot 1 RAMBUS motherboard. That didn't seem to change anything at all. I've tried replacing the clock battery and fans. Still nothing. I, unfortunatly, don't currently posses a new Socket 370 Pentium III Processor to attempt to replace the current one with.
That is a common sight inside of that computer for me. Seems like the dirtiest people come into my shop to have me risk my health with working on their machine. I have had some so full of animal hair coming out of the fan vents they look like Chewbacca was stuffed into the case
I love these repair, recovery videos. One of my greatest joys in life is repairing computers. Especially ones slated for the big PCB in the sky. However I can no longer do it for two reasons. One: I have no room for spare machines laying about until they are donated.
Two: I was threatened with a law suit by someone I donated a repaired unit to. They assumed getting a free computer meant I was going to be their personal 24 hour I.t. guy and in addition to that, they demanded a new copy of widows, with full version of office, and a professional antivirus installed for free, because the version of Linux the free computer came with was not up to their computing standards. Living in California people can tie you up in court for months for this, so I retired the hobby.
These videos help me get my fix without all the drama. Thanks Bill.
There is something really satisfying about getting a old machine and bringing it back to health, especially if you can give it a purpose afterwards, those old Dells are very hardy.
Great vid Bill :)
That port to provide p/s2 ports! - That is something I did not know! I can't stand how most modern PC's don't have any goddamn P/S2 ports.
i thought it was ps/2 and also theres no point having them as usb is better. if you want theres a usb to ps/2 on ebay somewere
I didn't know carpets were an option for these computers.
Look at the description of the video ^^
Considering the filthy state of this computer and that it have a 3 Ghz Prescott P4 in it, I think this thing has been thrown away because it was making the sound of several planes taking off xD
When you popped open the side panel on that pc I verbally said some sort of augh sounding noise! In my months of trying to run a computer recycling and repair business at a preteen age, I have never come across a computer in this bad of condition. Tomarrow I am recycling two pc's at a church. One is a pentium 2 with 256MB of ram and one I haven't checked yet. I saw them at a robotics camp and they asked me to take the hard drives out and they would be mine. I had five minutes so I pulled the first hard drive from the Pentium 2 pc and left it on top of the pc. Surprisingly it had not a single bit of dust inside. Because there is literally no airflow inside! It was the cleanest I had ever worked on.
Back in the late 90's I worked at a manufacturing and retail company as I.T. Manager. One of the things we had to do was once a year - usually in spring we'd open the garage bay door, take all the systems, covers off and blow them out. We had filtered, chilled, moisture removed air throughout the building. So that was nice.
Two things that I've noticed about the computers I've worked on are 1) most PC owners don't know that the inside and vents of the computer box require periodical cleaning, and 2) (MS Windows OS) most don't know anything about defragmentation.
I've opened too many PC cases that contain and inch or more of layered dust blanketing the motherboard and clogging the ventilation intakes. About 60% have never, ever, defragmented the hard drive.
Great video BTW.
This doubles as a great heater during the polar vortex days of winter.
Hahaha, I bet Furhead appreciated the dust in his Jeep. XD
*****
This is true. :D
a computer grade data hammer!? I AIN'T 'AVIN' IT!
So happy to see when machines like this are rescued.
The dustiest machine I ever ran across was an old PC in a Masonry vo-tech class. I stuck a black floppy into it and it came out white. We opened up the case and blew out enough plaster dust with an air compressor to replicate the Taj Mahal.
I'm here enjoying your shenanigans on an older HP-Compaq DC7100, picked it up for $60 at a suplus outlet, threw Ubuntu on it & it's been running happily ever since. Glad I pestered my father to drive me all the way to Parma for a parts run. :-)
Thats lumbridge :)
***** I know but I like his videos
GHG!
I normally don't give likes to videos, but I love your videos, Bill! Keep it up! :)
Love the video, Keep doing what you do man.
Bill, you should see some of the Optiplex desktops in McDonalds break rooms. The cooking environment really helps the dirt stick. Amazing some of them even operate with almost no air flow.
That was an awesome find, Bill!! I've only had one instance where blowing out a very dusty computer led to a problem. For some reason when I tried booting up the computer, all it did was beep. Turns out one of the RAM modules either went bad or something happened to it in the cleaning process. It worked fine when I took it in and then had to replace it after the cleaning. Never had an issue like that again so I don't know why it happened at that time.
Vacuum cleaner, then hit it with the compressor outside with a mask on till it's sparkling clean. Remove and clean the RAM. Remove the CPU and apply new silver thermal grease. One machine I worked on was just full of cat hair which stopped the CPU fan and it led to crashing/instability. The cat culprit was allowed to sit on the PC... The stains are often spilled coffee, or drinks, can clean them up with Spray & Wipe and/or isopropyl.
Those...dust...bunnies...holy crap.
Clever exposition and genuinely interesting subject material portrayed in a captivating manner. Subscribing was definitely a smart move, I feel.
My last two skip finds have both been none runners. Nothing physicaly wrong just will not boot. So probably a fried capacitor some where or just dead boards. Nice find though. I too wish people would just still say, yeap if you want to go digging through that vast pile of sharp and pointy things for whatever you want you can. I miss those days.
I pulled a computer out of the trash bin behind the second hand store, used to be you could find lots of cool stuff. Last time I went by there it's all fenced off now seems someone cut their hand on some glass going through the bin.
Well said on the house thing! My Dell was almost as filthy is that being on the floor but not THAT bad on the inside!
Those things are awesome. I've seen one at the place I volunteer at. Huge.
Looks like the same basic case as the Precision 380 of similar vintage that my parents used to use until a short while ago (with, incidentally, similar transport damage and fixing thereof). That one had a long and fulfilled life, saw the original Quadro FX 3400 (I think it was) and two 512 meg RAM sticks give up the ghost, and was finally equipped with 6 gigs of RAM and 1 TB and 640 gig harddrives. It would have held out for a while longer had it not developed USB-related issues (errors in Memtest86+ when inserting/removing devices) and eventually failed to transfer a map to the car navigator without CRC errors. I presume some electrolytic capacitor(s) eventually packed in but don't have an ESR meter. That plus the speed (or lack thereof) and heat of a P4 640 and a power draw not under 100 W even with a modest Geforce "G210 inside" 8400GS. It never was exactly silent either.
I obtained a cheap Fujitsu-Siemens Celsius W370 complete with Win7 license to replace it - also BTX, btw (actually the next generation, W280 / W380 / W480, socket 1156, have to be about the very last BTX formfactor machines ever). That one took all the DDR2 memory, harddrives and graphics card, has a nice and cool C2D E8400, runs pretty quiet, and draws all but 42 watts in idle (if you were content with only one 160 gig harddrive, 2 gigs of RAM and onboard graphics, it would only be 30 W even) and only a fraction of a watt in low-power soft-off. Given this computer's usual luck, I had to replace the PSU mere weeks in, seems the electrolytics for +5V and +5Vsb on the secondary side may be a bit of a weak spot (they're not crap quality at all but the supply is more adequate than overbuilt).
I actually just picked up a Dell Dimension E320 that looks just like that from my local thrift store. When I went to boot it, the floppy drive and the 2 & 3 code lights were lit. Popped the system battery, held down the power button, and just like that it works.
And once this poor PC got cleaned it was a whole hell of a lot more happy.
We got some new Optiplex 7040's at work, and now Dell offers a secure drive erase function in the BIOS, along with a newly enhanced diagnostic procedure that has a photograph of a desktop and laptop displayed on the screen when you run the ePSA. Just thought you'd find that interesting.
Dells. I love it. It think the same motherboard was used through the optiplex gx520-900 dimension 9100-9200 but I am not sure about the 9200 because that is an amd based machine. And I think bazaar furhead loved dust in his jeep known as a heep.
funny because i sat down planning on having myself a tall glass of cold water and my water also found itself lost. lol
9:16 I love to think all the capacitors are screaming TWISTER!!
Wow! That was dusty! Something tells me that it might have been in some type of shop or dirty work environment. I hate to see what the computers we use at work look like inside!
I have a Dell Dimension 5100 that uses the same case, that I am typing on right now. Bought it from Maxxarcade. I'm going to have to consider changing the OS soon, since it is still running XP. It's still running great!
I find that s shop vac works very well for getting rid of dust (set it on blow)
Cedar Mill P4? At the very minimum Bill, you've got a new stove!
I thought the 9100 was the last of the BTX Dimensions, last as I've understood it could take a core 2 duo, maybe via some hacking or XPS? Well that said a Pentium D 925 will do most jobs very nicely, and use less power (95 watts). I tend to enjoy Dell hardware. My Precision t5500 pounds threw anything I could do. My m4700 does as well. But there's a place in my heart for old hardware and I am a sucker for the cool factor. I just love your videos. I am a fan.
I really like these older machines because they have a lot of other wide uses such as installing Floppy Drives or IDE Based Drives, especially the ones where they were just introducing SATA and they came with IDE Compatibility.
I just recently came across a Dell Dimension 9100 that someone just threw away and it was not picked apart and my hope is to install a Intel Pentium D Processor 950 and a EVGA GeForce GT 610 as well as an Internal Floppy Drive and a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS.
Might consider putting a PS 2 port Connecter on it so I can use a Genuine IBM Model M.
I so happen to have the Dell OEM Windows XP Professional Disk for a older Dell OptiPlex PC that I bought at a flee market and I took one of my hard drives and I installed it on the computer until I can install another one preferably a PATA based 250 GB Western Digital OEM Hard Drive and the standard SATA based 320 GB Western Digital OEM Hard Drive that the computer would have came with as well as a LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drives GH24NSC0B.
I'd rather install the Sapphire Radeon R7 240 rather than the EVGA GeForce GT 610 considering the performance range of the Radeon R7 240.
I will eventually install a LG Electronics 14x Internal BDXL Blu-Ray Burner Rewriter WH14NS40 to go along with the LG Electronics Internal Super Multi Drive Optical Drives GH24NSC0B.
Boot failure: too much dust on hard drive!
The dirtiest computer that I ever cleaner out came from lime stone gravel plant. When I started to blow out using a vacuum that can blow. It made a huge gravel dust cloud that I had to stand back while finishing up the job.
I would of loved to see another dish washer video... :(
Good find though I had one myself, infact it was my last PC before switching to an iMac.
Nice, I am thinking of using mine as a NAS since it supports RAID 1
My grandma use to have one with windows 7 on it and there is one at my dads marshal arts school running windows visa
Im sure a nice spray of antibacterial will make the outside safe again.
Then your own personal dust can take hold and cause you no problems :-)
Its a known fact that our world of "over cleaning" affects a growing childs immune system, so a little bit of muck is required, but some people just go mad lol :-))
Hmm that jeep looks dusty he he :-)
I was expecting a loud "GRSKHHHHHHH" when you said you'd start that compressor, not a dainty little "Pfffffffffff". :P
I totally agree. Some call BTX a dead end, But I don't believe that at all. That's rather short sighted. Imagine for a moment the modern motherboard and case. Even though that's an ATX standard the elements of BTX clearly remain as in Dells other designs. These are very decent machines. I love my Dells. Sure self built are more open and overclockable there is still many advantages to owning a Dell. That said I love your posts. I enjoy and admire your finds.
that is YOUR mancave!
My Dimension 9100 came from the factory with the serial and PS/2 card that plugged in to the header on the motherboard. I can't remember if it was an option, but it sure has been useful.
Oh yup, and I always replace the CMOS battery with an Energizer Lithium CR2032. I wouldn't put the effort in if the machine wasn't worth saving though, must have a decent processor, or architecture or be unique in some way to justify it, or give it to someone else that needs a basic machine.
I have a Dimension E521, I got for $12.99, it was ironically clean as a whistle, only some scratches on the top.
My father is still using a Dell Dimension 9100 with Windows XP Media Center Edition, 1GB ram, and a Pentium D processor. It still browses the web and plays HD video fine, but it is slowing down considerably.
I keep wanting a Handycam like yours. My Hi8 is broken, and my Mini DV Canon camera is also broken. That for the most part just leaves my digital cameras, which aren't my favorite, because I have a hatred for taking up gigs of hard drive space just to keep from losing all of my video files. If you just keep a tape dust free, it will usually survive a very long time.
Cool PC
man at thing looks like you need a hazmat suit to get near it!!!!
Ha! That PC is CLEAN compared to a Compaq a guy was trying to sell at a market place. This Compaq was filled will disgusting brown dust and smelled like smoke :-/
Just like you I went to Harbor Freight and bought a small cheap air compressor to blow out computers.I don't if you have ever heard of him but has anyone told you that you sound like Dr. Demento?
its because windows isn't loading the two dynamic link libraries associated with the PS/2 port. I have the same problem when I plug my IBM model M into my newer gateway computer. I would try fixing the battery, and then go find the device manager in the system32 folder, and see if it's even being discovered.
I would completely restore this thing and build it up. It's a 9100 so it can use a Core 2 duo cpu and while the BTX platform it's self is problematic for massive upgrades, pushing the ram a limit a little isn't impossible. I liked the BTX design myself for the most part. It's inspired ATX motherboard makers to rethink their own standards and way better positions for cable management. Intel however was too late to be useful really. Besides some weak points this is a good computer too.
Are you still looking for the glass of water?
Haha, that response gave me a good laugh
+Composite guy i wonder.................
+Composite guy i prefer HDMI
So do i
then why are you composite guy
ah man, wish mine worked! When it fell I had just finished cutting out the backplate so I could fit a motherboard from another dell computer that was core 2 duo capable. Thankfully when it fell it only had the psu and optical drives in it which were both fine. It's too bad the ebay seller sent me a bad motherboard. Now my poor dell just sits until the ebay seller gets me a different (and slightly less capable, only 1 pci slot) motherboard to me.
Have a dell dimension 9100 that im attempting to out a xps 400 hard drive into. Any suggestions?
Dust Bunnies everywhere, I had to clean my sister-in-laws Dell but not with compressed air, I used a sash brush and took my time.
Vacuum's can carry a static charge that can instantly do damage to motherboard components if the static reaches the board
I used pull stuff out of the Thrift Store bin, found a good computer one time and fixed it. But then one day it was locked and they told me not to go in there, seems someone cut their hand on a piece of glass and so now the bins are fenced off and locked..
Lucky me! I'm sitting here watching UA-cam from the keyboard of a Dell Dimensions e310 after my Q6600 equipped computer burned a hole through it's motherboard. ( currently building a replacement)
This beast has a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 521 processor 512Megs of RAM and no way for my to update the graphics! While it plays any UA-cam videos below 720P flawlessly, anything above brings the system to a grind and FPS drop to about 6!
I'm glad my sister let me "get the thing out of the house" for her!
I don't need more dust in my house, so I do all my dust blowing outside with a weed blower. I choose the blower, since I've heard some air compressors send out static charged air.
+Ricky Ostrom I use a old Oreck Canister set to the blower function with the crevice tool on the hose and it works quite well.
Just got one of these at a garage sale and it lived, for about 30 minutes.
When I was testing the sound card, it shut off and gave me a blinking amber LED.
Just like any other $2 toy, it broke really quickly.
change psu
Yeah it was pretty dusty, once the dust was clear, difference was night and day.
Before I revived an XPS 410 someone gave me, I took one entire can of compressed air and cleaned out the system.
I want to know where in Los Angeles are there recycling centers that sell computers :) I would love to know
You think that's bad, you should see some of tv's that used to come into our shop with tons of dust inside. that dust will kill you, I always take them outside to the parking area and blow them out. The worst electronic stuff that came in would also have bugs inside sometimes.
He probably uses Darik's Boot and Nuke. It's free and works rather well.
Hey Bill, how about a follow up on this one? I just picked up one of these myself with the exact same specs as yours. I was not familiar with this breed of Dell beforehand, but having owned it for two weeks now, I have really grown to appreciate the extra bit of engineering (over the e510 etc. which I believe it (d)evolved into). I guess it was simply too much metal to justify at the time, as it was a good bit taller than the Dimension/Optiplex modles that followed it - The extra front fan for the hard drives/case was a really thoughtful touch. I'm running Linux Lite 1.0.6. on mine with 2 gigs ram and it has become my "go to" machine... Thanks for many fine evenings of entertainment -
***** Glad to hear you found a good use for it. I'm currently using mine to make OEM images of Linux Mint 13 for an organization I volunteer for (I'm actually a board member) that refurbishes "e-waste" computers for people who otherwise might not be able to own a computer. I think of you quite often when I look in the huge donation bins! I live in a University town, and I'll never get used to what most people call e-waste -
LukeF240 p.s. I used the word "devolved" simply because my 9100 is stamped 2006 and my e510 is stamped 2007 - I should have clarified that it was only an assumption on my part that the 9100 preceded the e510. I share your assumption that the E series followed the 2400/4600 as well. Of course, in the time it took me to type this, I could have looked it up and given you an authoritative response - but hey, this is the internet. Let's enjoy reveling in speculation for a bit first - Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours -
I, like you, probably wouldn't come even close to winning the organizing award. BUT We do keep our things clean and well cared for even if they might be in what some might call a cluttered mess.
I tried using DBAN once, but it seemed very slow. If I'm reading that screenshot correctly, it looks like this machine took 7hrs to wipe, so I guess the slowness might be normal.
As an alternative, you could use a bootable linux CD and use the command 'dd' to zero fill a drive. Appropriate parameters required, and make sure to set blocksize to something large.
I've found that works much faster, presumably because it uses high speed DMA, while DBAN, it seems, does not.
I can't believe your goodwill lets you buy those. They wouldn't let me take any even without the hard drive. I read on goodwill's website that they are supposed to resell the computers 5 years old or newer, but I don't know if they do that in the goodwills, online, or if Dell handles it. I remember a year or so ago there was a pc recycling day at my local goodwill. There were truckloads of old ataris and others. I saw a guy chuck an old suitcase pc which busted into a billion pieces. :/
Holy crap!
i have that one it boots but gets stuck after a while
Lol keep em comeing
Please make more recycling rescue videos!!
***** Ok.
Something I keep wondering myself: Do you have to prevent the fans from rotating when blowing out dust? (Because it would generate AC on the main board). Or is this something that doesn't cause any harm?
i have a thrift shop just like that
I have a problem with an IBM ps/2 model 30 286 and since you have a ps/2 collection I thought you might be able to help. I recently bought a floppy drive for my ps/2 because the old one was scratching my floppy disk. But the new one would list the contents of the disk as normal but when I tried to run a program or write to the disk it would try to read the floppy but comes up with the sector not found error. The clock battery is dead and I get the 161 and 163 errors but i do not think that has anything to do with it.
OK there is no signs of dust on the drive so i will check the caps and hopefully that will fix it.
Luckily it wasn't a smoker pc! Then you had to dishwash it! I gonna dishwash a computer one day :D
The dvd drive on my Inspiron 9400 pops out randomly too.
I would tend to recycle it by that point
@@Rolatnor The laptop?Lol. I just replaced the drive a few months ago.
@@connorm955 no the bad drive lol
Was it intentional to blow all the dust in the direction of your brothers' two immobile vehicles? And that was a surprisingly quick auto white balance correction at 10:34...
I think KISS wrote a song called Blow Gun, but they had to change the title of it.
Speaking of PS/2 ports, I'm working on a VAIO PC w/ dying CMOS battery. Keyboard PS/2 works but mouse PS/2 doesn't in Windows. USB mouse doesn't either. Both work in Linux. Will the new CMOS fix that, or do I need to re-install Windows? I am a Mac guy, so mostly used PCs with USB mice.
I have one of those. Just recently it fell about 5 feet though :(
Hello,how i can make an update for the bios?
dell dimension 9200 found in uncle house turns on but nothing on the screen can u help
why don't you do a video showing us your PC (the one you use of editing and uploading to UA-cam)
00:15 -- Is that an APC SurgeArrest in the lower left corner? There's a product recall on certain models of those, so you might want to check that out if you haven't already.
I use boot and nuke on computers that I find then get rid of those dusty computers one time one overheated
I buy only used Dells. Have not bought a new computer since my IBM PS2/286.
too many in the house tho!
What do you do with all these pcs? or is it for many of them, for preservation? :o)
the Dell Dimension series is a good computer... the hard drive in mine is making a high-pitched whine- do you know what could be wrong b/c i think it is going bad.
i saw a water bottle
I need a little bit of help, if you can spare the time. One of my recent computer finds, a Gateway 6400 Server, doesn't seem to work at all. The system won't give any kind of output or signs of life, save for the fans coming on and the processor getting hot (Intel Pentium III Socket 370 Coppermine 800MHz) and burning my finger in the process. The parts I installed into the system (RAM, PSU, etc) are known-working parts. This is a really nice motherboard (An Asus CUR-DLS) that I do not wish to replace, as that's why I bought the system in the first place at all. I've even tried to replace the BIOS, CMOS battery, RAM, PSU, etc. I've tried everything I know to get this system functioning again but nothing seems to have worked.
By the way, when I say doesn't seem to work, I mean it won't give video or POST. Even with no RAM installed, it does nothing at all.
Sorry, I don't really know how to send Private messages, though I do know they exist.
I've simplified the configuration as much as is possible, I've removed and tried different RAM, tried different cables and power supply units, and tried interchanging the BIOS with the only compatible system board I have, which is a SOYO-Branded Slot 1 RAMBUS motherboard. That didn't seem to change anything at all. I've tried replacing the clock battery and fans. Still nothing. I, unfortunatly, don't currently posses a new Socket 370 Pentium III Processor to attempt to replace the current one with.