internal hard drive upgrade: Inspiton 531 desktop vista 32 bit AMD64 2core?

kr236rk

The 531 supports a second SATA HD, the directions for installing the hard drive are HERE.

You can install any size of hard drive, currently available.

There is a spare SATA power connector inside the case for an additional drive, but you will need to buy a second SATA data cable.

 After installing the drive enter the system setup and check that the hard drive is 'enabled' [on].

 For Vista to recognize the second hard drive, it must be partitioned and formatted.

Instructions for installing an second hard drive using Windows Vista Disk Management, check out the generic procedures HERE

Bev.

hi Bev - i bought the 531 as a bit of a potential 'barebones' so i have been thinking about adding things to it ever since. will update :)

thanks

Ric

kr236rk

You are welcome and good luck with upgrade.

Bev.

hi again

will a SATA II be okay?

are there any tips for the 531 back-up drive please - it only has 10GB and is full up - what are the options, bigger back-up drive? empty it to an external HDD? burn the info to disc then reformat the HDD?

many thanks

Ric

kr236rk

A SATA II hard drive will be fine, you will need to buy a SATA data cable, there should ba spare SATA power connector inside the case.

Personally, I would transfer the data on the 10gb D:/ to an external hard drive.

I use the following method to safe guard my data:

Using SATA two hard drives and an imaging utility, like Acronis, or Casper to image the C:/ drive to the secondary hard drive.

When there is a problem, all I need to do, is to swap the data cables and boot the system. 

Then image the new C:/  to the corrupted second hard drive, creating a corrupt free image again.

Plus make regular backups of the files and folders to an USB external hard drive.

Bev.

thanks Bev

this is great news :)  a month ago i  was actually being advised to get rid of the pc - my 2core to replace a P4! - but no way! - have managed to slot a new graphics card in and work around the struggling on-board nVidia integrated graphics, now i can finally proceed to upgrading the HDD capacity

you have lost me a bit on the back-up but i can certainly start unburdening the D:/ to an external HDD and just keep it for that; is it possible to specify only crucial information gets duplicated?

anything i am particularly interested in would get saved to other locations anyway - i run the risk of multiple-saved information otherwise?

guess the final upgrade would be from 2 to quad core but i do not know if the 531 would support that?

many thanks

R

kr236rk

You are welcome.

The Inspiron 531 does not support quad core processors, dual core only.

AMD Athlon 64X2 Kit, 6000+ 3.0G, 2MX2, Dual Core, 89 Watt is the maximum.

Bev.

thanks Bev

my system information tells me i am running a 3800 processor - is this a print error? - if not i have a way to go before i meet the 6000+ mark? might this also necessitate a new PSU though?

many thanks again for your help :)

R

kr236rk

I have no idea if it's a print error, go to Belarc.com and download their Free Personal PC Audit, to find what you have, in your PC.

No, there's no need to replace the power supply, for a processor upgrade.

Bev.

thanks but (grr) all it gives me is ...

2.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

?

940 pin cpu (Dell Manual)

kr236rk

Ok, then try THIS utility and see what the results are.

Bev.

 ok - one moment -  this says Windsor cpu's of 89W can run 3800 - 6000+ processors, so it looks like i can upgrade?

http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:TnsaCyyY59kJ:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlon_64_X2+amd+3800+specifications+Ghz+Mhz&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&ie=UTF-8

yea! it's a Windsor 3800 - so i can up to a 6000 - if there are any around still in town?

excellent - thanks! R