laptop goosed...wanted cheap desktop.....

[wetdog]

...following my thread about my laptop it is now goosed. proper.
i plugged in a too powerful charger/mains lead and now it just blows which ever powerpack you plug in. following advice from here and a local shop which i trust.

does anyone have a cheap desktop local to me, reasonable spec please.

mick.

[SouthernComfort]

If you liked your old laptop there are a few cheap donors on ebay, look for anything screen damaged which would be the easiest method of replacement. Screen or MB are the most expensive parts to replace, screens being much easier.
For an old desktop try freecycle for your area, people give loads of old PC's and parts away, sure you'll find one on there. Might even find a donor notebook.

[wetdog]

thanks for the heads up dude.

[wetdog]

If you liked your old laptop there are a few cheap donors on ebay, look for anything screen damaged which would be the easiest method of replacement. Screen or MB are the most expensive parts to replace, screens being much easier.
For an old desktop try freecycle for your area, people give loads of old PC's and parts away, sure you'll find one on there. Might even find a donor notebook.

i have found a coulple of reasonably priced donor machines on the bay, wouls it just be a case of swapping motherboard and charging socket into mine?

then i could burn my pictures and return back to donor machine maybe. solving my windows validation problem ans other issues.

[SouthernComfort]

wouls it just be a case of swapping motherboard and charging socket into mine?

Sounds easy when you say it, replacing a MB can be quite difficult but yes, you can just replace the board, the socket is attached. Most parts should be interchangeable on same model but confirm before purchase/use. Replacing a screen is usually around 8 screws and two cables.

then i could burn my pictures and return back to donor machine maybe. solving my windows validation problem ans other issues.

You could perform a fresh install on donor HDD, if one is included, then transfer all your files over to fresh HDD. If you use your HDD, validation problems will still persist but easy to fix.

[oneman]

Easiest way to back up your documents and settings to restore after a rebuild is to use easy transfer wizard from microsoft. Its very good and we use a corparate version to do PC renewal at work.

I use a volume license key for XP, no activation required. If you dig around there are a few floating around the web. You can grab a XP cd with service packs and hotfixes integrated from newsgroups.