Hacking dvd drive installation question

[iza]

okay, from what i've gathered by looking, the pioneer 111D is a decent DVD burner for my future wii backups(if you know of any cheaper, just as good ones, please post those too!). but i'm a noob when it comes to computer internals. okay, i have a pretty old pc. its a dell with windows xp, pretty low speed and only like 256megs of ram. but anyways, to the point; does any of this matter when i'm upgrading my cd-rw into a dvd-rw? and also, can anyone point me to a pretty detailed instruction or faq about installing an new internal drive?
Thanks!!
Isaiah

edit; just know noticed where i posted this...if this needs to be moved, please do so if you have the ability.
edit again; i reposted this in the off topic thread. please dont respond here.

 

[niklasnyfiken]

It's so easy you don't need any instructions. If after trying yourself you still can't do it (I doubt that will happen), then go ahead and ask again.

 

[jaxxster]

Just plug the power cable in, plug the ide cable in and it will work. Mind you if you're keeping the old cd drive in aswell you'll need to change the pins on the back of one of the drives (but thats a 2 second job)

 

[iza]

thanks guys!!! nah, i'm just going to get a combo dvd/cd rw. so i'm gonna toss the old cd-rw.
thanks again!!

 

[adgloride]

If your using your cd-rw as a second drive don't forget you may have to change the jumper settings at the back of the drive. If your PC can run windows xp it should easily be able to burn DVDs. I would recommend upgrading your memory from 256mb to at least 512mb.

 

[iza]

nah, i'm planning on just using the DVD drive (it can still burn cd's right?), and i was planning on theiving a 256 meg stick from this computer in my office that hasnt been connected in about.... a year. its for testing, but no one's used it since i've been here...

 

[andreq]

your so evil ! ... hehe

I remember back in the day in highschool there was an open comp in our Webdesign class and I "borowed" a 256mb ram stick for the old family computer (was running 128mb of ram !)

...but....... I never returned the stick... ooops!

 

[iza]

well hell, if they were using it, it wouldnt be sitting under my desk not hooked up to anything collecting dust... i would take both the sticks if it would still run without them.

 

[shtonkalot]

It is quite an easy job but here is a tutorial aimed at those with little to no hardware upgrade experience.

Important points that may not be mentioned are.
Make sure you uses an 80 wire IDE ribbon cable. Many older computers will have a 40 wire IDE cable for their optical drive.
If you are replacing the old drive with the new you will want to set the jumper for Master/Slave/Cable Select in the same position as the old drive.
If possible install the new drive on it's own 80 wire IDE cable and set the jumper to master.

I'm sure you'll do fine.

 

[iza]

hey, the ram stick didnt fit!!!
the one i got only had one indention in the connector part, and the one i took out has two. when i tried to stick the new one it, i could only get one end connected without undoing the other end.... any suggetions? should i try to file down the second peice of plastic to make it fit, or is there a wire in there i shouldnt mess with?


also, i dont know what to search for on Newegg to pull up an 80 wire IDE one, all i see is 133/100/66/33.... whatever that means... any help?