Solved installing Windows using the key that's on the PC case?

[ICIT2LOL]

Good luck with those Havoc hope they are reasonably large ones the small ones can be hell to solder in and I have wrecked the printed circuit on a few board too because the this conducting strips can be very fragile.
Plus I would make sure the voltage is correct on the new ones mate a bit over the top is better than exploding ones:shock:

Now is there no model numbers on those boards??.

 

[HAVOC]

I searched for the same rated caps and found them on Amazon. The caps I bought are made by Rubycon.

The board for the 755 has a Dell logo on it but I don't see a model number whatsoever.
There is a bar code that has: DS/N CN-0PU052-74431-81L-045F C/O CN

edit: it's a PU052

 

[HAVOC]

The board for the 320 is a UP453

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate the PU052 board the specs are here and it looks to support 64bit stuff https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/opti_755_techspecs.pdf
If you could you should get one of the Q type processors as at the top of the listing and up to the top speed DDR2 and also to 8GB RAM.
Now my tester machine has simsilar specs and a Q9650 CPU and with a SSD it really does work quite fast considering.

The UP453 is not as good and I ma not sure from this https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/opti_320techspecs.pdf if it supports 64bit it maybe does the good news is it can support a Pentium processor and 4GB RAM

 

[HAVOC]

I checked all the caps on the 755 motherboard. There aren't any that are bulging/leaking. So this will be my first rebuild while I wait for the caps to arrive, plus it looks like the better system. I might go to Microcenter this weekend and buy a HDD and memory for it. I'd like to install a floppy drive, I saw one on Amazon.

It also still needs to be cleaned. Blowing it out at work helped but there still are dirty parts.

Which OS should I install? I have Windows 98SE and XP Home coming in the mail. I also have Ubuntu on a thumb drive.

 

[HAVOC]

Ok mate the PU052 board the specs are here and it looks to support 64bit stuff https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/optix/en/opti_755_techspecs.pdf
If you could you should get one of the Q type processors as at the top of the listing and up to the top speed DDR2 and also to 8GB RAM.

It currently has A Core 2 Duo E6550 processor.

 

[HAVOC]

Another question. It says the computer (755) is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2. I have System Pack 3. Will there be issues?

 

[AddRAM]

No.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Another question. It says the computer (755) is compatible with Windows XP Service Pack 2. I have System Pack 3. Will there be issues?

That I couldn't tell you mate I suppose if you have a good back up of the system it would be worth a try. Myself am a fan of cloning a drive and using the clone to test out stuff like that and drives are not that expensive and can be wiped after use and used again.

The CPU is really quite a good one having a reasonable clock speed, 4MB of cache memory, supportd 64bit and the front bus speed very impressive for an older CPU (3/07). The only thing I would be checking would be the temp it runs at when pushed.
https://ark.intel.com/products/30783/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-E6550-4M-Cache-2_33-GHz-1333-MHz-FSB

This is a list of those type processors and depending on the board (I haven't checked) you could slip in a speedier processor - I think I mentioned a post or two back I have a Q9650 in a machine I was given and it is the bees knees for a 775 socket core.

You can see the specs if you click on the listings of the cores and once you know what the board will support maybe get another core. I did this when I first started out and it is just real good fun to swap out stuff like that. But it is your choice - and budget I suppose because some of the older cores you will find can be fairly expensive - for example I priced the Q9650 thinking a spare would be good and could only find two and they started at $398!! But it is a thought for you

 

[HAVOC]

That I couldn't tell you mate I suppose if you have a good back up of the system it would be worth a try. Myself am a fan of cloning a drive and using the clone to test out stuff like that and drives are not that expensive and can be wiped after use and used again

I can't do a backup or use any other software. Like I said earlier, the hard drives have been removed from the computers (to protect customer info) before I received the them.

I'm probably going to buy a Western Digital 500GB Blue drive for both computers. I'll install Windows XP on the 755 an Windows 98SE on the 320. Maybe install Linux on the 320? Who knows? I sill have to replace the caps on the 320, I don't even know if it works. It boots to BIOS and that's as far as I got.

 

[HAVOC]

No.

Thanks AddRAM, I was thinking that the computer and Service Pack 2 were released about the same time so that's why it's listed as compatible.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

That's good I knew someone would know

Now the drives sound like a good idea and maybe you could even dual boot the XP and a Linux based OS. I don't know if it would work but Zorin or Ubuntu would be my choices for a Linux based OS.

Now the caps just where on the board are they sited? as it is at least a sign of some activity the machine booting to the BIOS.

 

[HAVOC]

That's good I knew someone would know

Now the drives sound like a good idea and maybe you could even dual boot the XP and a Linux based OS. I don't know if it would work but Zorin or Ubuntu would be my choices for a Linux based OS.

Now the caps just where on the board are they sited? as it is at least a sign of some activity the machine booting to the BIOS.

I was thinking dual boot also.I'll wait until I have final specs on each machine and see what would be a good OS.

The caps that are bad are just to the left of the black heatsink in the picture, the four slightly larger ones.
(picture downloaded from internet, not my board)

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok so if they the ones I have marked in the pic should be fairly easy with the right tools. Just make sure you stay grounded while you are doing it

 

[HAVOC]

Yep, those are the ones. The caps should be here next week. That gives me time to clean/rebuild the 755. I was at Microcenter last week and bought misc stuff including an anti-static wrist strap. I need to go there today and see if I can pick up a 500GB HDD and some DDR2 memory for this thing.

The memory spec sheet says Windows XP (32bit) can only use a max of 4GB. I'll be installing Windows XP Home. The motherboard has 4 DIMM slots. Should I get four 1GB sticks or two 2GB sticks? The memory I have might work but I'm not sure why these machines were no longer used. I also want to use 800MHz memory.

I have: one stick of Kingston 1GB PC2-5300 (667MHz) and two sticks of Samsung 1GB PC2-5300 (667MHz).

 

[HAVOC]

Stopped in to my local Microcenter. Picked up two WD 250GB HDD's, Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2-800 memory, a solder sucker, polyamide tape, and a USB external floppy drive. Now I have HDD's for both systems, not sure how much memory I want to put in the 320. I'll probably use the 2GB that I pulled from the 755.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok well I would be inclined to just use the two sticks just make sure they are installed in the correct slots - most boards usually use slots 1 & 3 as the ones to use first - you need to check if there are any specific slots for that board because occasionally boards specify slots 2 & 4. To find the right slots - they are counted going away from the CPU socket so slot 1 is closest to the CPU.

That speed memory (800 Mhz)I am not sure will be supported by the board - can you remind me which board you are going to try. If it was the PU052 then according to this Optiplex 755, maximum CPU and Ram? - General Hardware - Desktop - Dell Community it can support up to 8GB and some really nice CPU's

Plus picking Crucial was a good move I am a real fan of it and G Skill memory. Now I am beginning to envy you because it reminds me of when I used to do stuff like this and when it all goes right it is a real buzz

 

[HAVOC]

The Dell PU052 board from the Optiplex 755 supports a maximum of 8GB. I'll be installing Windows XP Home which supports a max of 4GB, my reasoning for getting 4GB (I can always add 4 more if I need to). The slots that I'll use are 1 and 2. The slots are numbered 1, 3, 2, 4 (1 being closest to the CPU). The original memory was also in slots 1 and 2.

DDR2-800 is supported, I have the spec sheet in front of me. I double checked it before going shopping.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

The Dell PU052 board from the Optiplex 755 supports a maximum of 8GB. I'll be installing Windows XP Home which supports a max of 4GB, my reasoning for getting 4GB (I can always add 4 more if I need to). The slots that I'll use are 1 and 2. The slots are numbered 1, 3, 2, 4 (1 being closest to the CPU). The original memory was also in slots 1 and 2.

DDR2-800 is supported, I have the spec sheet in front of me. I double checked it before going shopping.

Hmm that is an odd slot numbering - but if the manual says that is what they are then they are the ones to use. It matters because of the channels they use as you probably know.

Now I would as I said before after trying out the XP have a go with 7 as the specs you have are very close to my tester and it is jsut perfect for testing stuff out on. Having said that it does have that Q9650 CPU and an SSD though.

 

[HAVOC]

Now I would as I said before after trying out the XP have a go with 7 as the specs you have are very close to my tester and it is jsut perfect for testing stuff out on. Having said that it does have that Q9650 CPU and an SSD though.

That's something I could try. I have a SSD I could use (just need a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter).

The "fastest" processor that I see as compatible in the spec sheet is a Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 (2.66GHz, 8MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB).