Fixing a Trashed Computer

[turtile]

I picked up a Dell GX50 that was about to be thrown in the trash truck. It said on the computer "makes a humming noise" so I thought I could easily fix it. The guy from the school said that the motherboard was "wiped" and it wouldn't work.

I replaced the fan and it works perfect but since I don't have a password I can't log on.

So I tried to install another OS on it. This is where the problem comes up.

The BIOS is password protected. So I pulled the battery and cleared it. It reconfigured it and it still can up with the password.

It won't let me boot from the CD. When I try to boot a (floppy) boot disc it says "1/0 read error"

I only have one idea left and it is installing the OS on a seperate computer since it will boot from the hard drive only.

Will this work?

It's ashame that it only cost $4 to fix this computer. I wonder how much they payed someone to make this computer unusable. They love wasting money. (thats where tax money is going)

Thanks

 

[Nitestick]

i'm not sure about transferring a drive setup on linux to another pc but if you are planning to use windows (i'm sure you are) then your best bet is to setup windows 98 on another pc transfer the drive across (it should work) then use an upgrade copy of XP. it is almost impossible to transfer a pre-existing XP install to another pc. you may be able to get a new bios chip from DELL that will be stock and as such have no password

 

[Lonewolf5460]

couldent he just reset the cmos find the jumper or take the battery out 4 10 min
hey if not maybe get a replacement mobo and reuse stuff oh its a dell so u would need a new case and power supply.
worst case u scrap it 4 parts

 

[EnigmaX]

What OS is it running? You should be able to boot up into safe mode, go into the user settings and delete the Admin password. Then you can log in as the Admin.

 

[turtile]

Windows 2000

Safe mode wouldn't work since the computer would have to boot from the CD which it can't. Thanks anyway.

Where can I get Windows 98 at?
Will Linux transfer from another computer?

I don't care which os I'm using since I'm only using this to go on the internet.