HP Desktop M1188A upgrade of HDD and possible Memory Upgrade

[mustangshelly]

Hello,

I have a HP Desktop M1188A running XP Media Centre 2005.  The computer is running really slowly and only has 27.6GB free space left on the Hard Drive of a total size of 149GB.  It has 512MB of memory installed of a maximum 4GB.  The speed supported is PC3200 MB/sec.  Type DDR.  DIMM Slots 4.  Hard Drive 160GB 7200rpm SATA.  Does Hard Drive 160GB 7200rpm SATA mean it's a SATA connection? 

I want to upgrade the HDD as in doing this I hope the computer runs faster.  I'm a complete novice when it comes to the workings of computers.  What do I buy to upgrade the HDD? 

Will I also need to upgrade the memory installed?  If so, what do I get?

Anything else I need to know?

Thank you.

Cheers,

Michelle

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, Michelle:

The first thing I would do is to increase the memory. That should make the PC run faster.

My recommendation is to purchase 2 x 1 GB of PC3200 memory.

You would install the memory in alternate slots.

256 MB+1 GB + 256 MB + 1 GB = 2.5 GB total.

Use the free crucial memory scanner to scan your PC and it will report what memory you need and you can order from them as they guarantee compatibility.

http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/

Next, I recommend cleaning up your current HDD, and perhaps you can store some files you are no longer using on a portable hard drive and use the disk clean up and disk defragmenting utility to make the hard drive run better.

If you want a bigger hard drive, I recommend a 500 GB SATA II hard drive. Yes, the sata hard drive has a sata connection.

You will need to reload the operating system as well when you purchase a new hard drive.

I would see what the memory upgrade does for you and clean up your existing HDD and then decide if you want to upgrade to a larger drive.

Cheers,

Paul

[lasvegaswireman]

@Paul...

Not that I can find it this morning but last night I read that the m1188a comes with 2 X 256MB for the 512MB total. The best bet is to have the OP use the Crucial scanner to determine what is already in the system.

Frank

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Thanks, Frank:

I have edited my post above to suggest purchasing 2 x 1 GB of memory.

Best Regards,

Paul

[mustangshelly]

Thank you so much Paul and Frank for your help, I really appreciate it. 

I did the crucial scan and it came up with 2 x 256MB with two slots empty.  The upgrade of the memory makes more sense to make it run faster.  Just wondering if there's a website you know of in Australia to purchase the memory from? 

I've already moved everything over to an external HDD so I'm not sure why there's no room. 

Thank you again.  You have no idea how much I appreciate your help and getting a straight answer to my problem.

Cheers,

Michelle 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome, Michelle.

I would just do a search on the internet for "computer memory in Australia" and see what pops up.

When you did the scan of your PC's memory using the scanner, it came up with the memory specs you needed, correct?

Just make sure you get memory with the same specs.

I'm quite sure it needs to be non-ECC, and unbuffered.

Best Regards,

Paul

[mustangshelly]

Hi Paul,

Yes I got the memory specs I needed from the link you posted.  Will do an internet search and see what comes up. 

Now to fix my HP laptop charger and battery problem, lol.

Cheers,

Michelle

[lasvegaswireman]

Michelle,

What is the model and/or product number of your laptop??? You may wish to see if the battery is included in the HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program. Other than that, tell us what kind of problem you are having.

Frank

[mustangshelly]

Hi Frank,

The model no is HP DV6-1246TX and it's 2 1/2 years old.  The charger is a 90W 19V 4.74A Series PPP012H-S, HP Part No. 519330-002.  Replace with spare 463955-001, HP-AP091F13P 8SELF.  The battery  has series HSTNN-UB72, Replace with HP Spare 511883-001  7FO984, 10.8V, 4200mAh. 

The battery went about a year ago and I've just been using the charger/adaptor.  Now the charger has gone as well and just keeps beeping and the computer won't turn on.  I took it down to the computer shop and they got the computer to work no problem with a different charger.  They wanted $120 for a generic charger though and I wasn't paying that. 

Thanks.

Cheers,

Michelle

[lasvegaswireman · Accepted solution]

Michelle,

Try Bing Search for HP battery in AU, I found several online locations with chargers and batteries. BattDepot Australia appears to have decent prices... AU$ 24.49 for the charger and AU$ 37.49 for the battery. If you haven't checked the HP battery recall page yet, I recommend you do that first.

Frank