Hello to all. I am a new guy with not alot of computer knowledge- YET! Looks like spending alot of time here will help.
OK here is my problem. I am putting together a new system for my brother. He had a 4 year old HP pavilion 6630 with only 500 Mhz. I had already installed a CD burner and a secondary hard drive, plus I replaced the modem because of a lightning strike. So instead of throwing it away I decided to build a new system using some of his stuff. I bought a motherboard/ cpu combo and used his CD drive, floppy drive, modem, and both hard drives. So, I bought a case with a 350 watt power supply, and a motherboard/cpu combo. Here are the stats:
K7 triton motherboard GA-7VT600
VIA KT600 chipset
256 mb DIMM RAM
Nvidia video card (low dollar)
I put it all together and fired it up. It starts up but anything I try to do locks it up. It still has Windows 98 and I can't get it to do anything. The instruction manual has a section on BIOS setup but it really doesn't explain how to do anything. Is there something I have to do in BIOS?
Windows 98 starts up but that is it. All the old icons are there but if i try to run a program it locks up. CTRL, ALT, and DELETE wont even clear it. I have to shut it off with the button and restart it. Also, upon startup I get a message saying MRTRATE.VXD is missing- press any key to continue. I think I am in over my head.
Also, the sound is very low and in the FAQ section of the manual it says that i should get speakers with amplifiers built in. Would a sound card do the job and be a better option?
So, I guess my question is what can I do to get it running, or would it be better to put on Windows XP instead of messing with it? Thanks in advance for any help. It is greatly apreciated.
OK here is my problem. I am putting together a new system for my brother. He had a 4 year old HP pavilion 6630 with only 500 Mhz. I had already installed a CD burner and a secondary hard drive, plus I replaced the modem because of a lightning strike. So instead of throwing it away I decided to build a new system using some of his stuff. I bought a motherboard/ cpu combo and used his CD drive, floppy drive, modem, and both hard drives. So, I bought a case with a 350 watt power supply, and a motherboard/cpu combo. Here are the stats:
K7 triton motherboard GA-7VT600
VIA KT600 chipset
256 mb DIMM RAM
Nvidia video card (low dollar)
I put it all together and fired it up. It starts up but anything I try to do locks it up. It still has Windows 98 and I can't get it to do anything. The instruction manual has a section on BIOS setup but it really doesn't explain how to do anything. Is there something I have to do in BIOS?
Windows 98 starts up but that is it. All the old icons are there but if i try to run a program it locks up. CTRL, ALT, and DELETE wont even clear it. I have to shut it off with the button and restart it. Also, upon startup I get a message saying MRTRATE.VXD is missing- press any key to continue. I think I am in over my head.
Also, the sound is very low and in the FAQ section of the manual it says that i should get speakers with amplifiers built in. Would a sound card do the job and be a better option?
So, I guess my question is what can I do to get it running, or would it be better to put on Windows XP instead of messing with it? Thanks in advance for any help. It is greatly apreciated.