Acer Aspire 5251-1513 HD Upgrade

The upgrade this time is the hard drive:

Going from a:
Hitachi 250GB SATA 5400rpm, HTS545025B9A300, 8Mb Cache, 3GbS

To a:
Hard Drive:
Western Digital 500Gb SATA, 7,200Rpm, WD5000BEKT, 16Mb Cache, 300, 3Gbs.

While the maximum transfer rates are the same, the WD will perform much better than the Hitachi does.

Western Digital made the cloning process a snap with the use of the Acronis True Image software that is available for free at the WD website.
Cloning the drive was as easy as installing the software, attaching the new drive with an external enclosure and then running the software.
When Acronis is done running, you just swap out the drives, and you are DONE!
This was a VERY easy swap, program and all. It is up and running with no issues.
You can do this one easily!
Later all!

Me!

Linux on a laptop

So I was bored the other day and wondered what it would be like to run linux on a laptop? It was a tossup between Open SUSE and Fedora. Fedora was the winner (The Open SUSE disc was bad)

I have to admit, Fedora was an easy install? All of the components of the computer were recognized right away! and it connected wirelessly instantly!
Figurung out how to install
applications was something else! I know that all installations use "yum" but no one was explaining how to get to "yum". I figured it had to to with the Linux version of a command line, but again, no explanations on line?

The installation of applications is completely different than it is in Windows, not at all alike! But it is easier! And most all of the applications are free! I'll post more when I get to messing around with it. So many things to learn yet!

Later all!

Acer 5251-1513 Memory problems

So, I ran into a HUGE snag with this upgrade! It seems that if you upgrade the memory to 8Gb with PC 1333 the computer loses video resolution (Reverts to 1024X768) and you lose the HDMI output.
It seems that ACER has not yet discovered this issue, or they arent going to deal with it?
To fix this issue go to the AMD website and download the current Catalyst Control Center drivers. Install the drivers then restart the laptop. This will take care of the video resolution/ HDMI issue.
HERE is the updated driver that will fix the Issue.
I called Crucial, and Acer, only Crucial seemed interested in what I had found. Acer seemed to blow me off, when they transferred me to Level 2 support, they just weren't interested.
So, here we are, the first of three updates.
8Gb Crucial PC1333 memory, upgraded!


The next project:
Acer Aspire 5251-1513

Current Configuration:
Processor (CPU):
Type : AMD™ V Series Processor V120
Speed : 2.2GHz
Cache : 512KB L2 cache

Memory:
Up to 3GB (2GB + 1GB) DDR3 1066 SDRAM
Total slots : 2

Hard Drive:
250GB SATA 5400rpm, 8Mb Cache (Hitachi HTS545025B9A300) (3.0GbS)

Planned Upgrades:
Hard Drive:
Western Digital 500Gb, WD5000BEKT, 7,200Rpm, 16Mb Cache SATA 300, 3Gbs.

Memory:
2X Crucial 4GB DDR3 1333 PC3 10600 SODIMM

Processor:
Unknown as of yet, not sure as to how high I can go?

AMD Athlon II Dual-Core Mobile P340
AMD Phenom II Triple-Core Mobile P860
AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile P960

Some major research before I can make this change, I'm limited by the power rating of the AMD V120 that is installed now, 25W, and what BIOS will recognize, more research ahead!

Still here

I'm still around and kicking! Believe it or not, winter has not claimed my sanity as of yet!
One of the free-bee computers arrived last week, it is a Gateway GP7. It has a MASSIVE 20Gb hard drive (snicker) 512Mb of ram and a P-III processor, not a speed machine in any way.
I have it all cleaned up and ready to go, I believe I may have a home for it, just need to make the call.
I realize that this is no speed machine, but for someone who could not afford a newer computer this machine would be fine. It surf's the web quite nicely with Firefox installed, if I haven't stated it before, I will now! I can't STAND Internet Explorer! WAY too stinking slow to be of any value.
I'll keep this one short, things to do even though I am not working.....
Have a great one!

Me!

P.S. I watched all three Resident Evil movies! WAY COOL! You got to see them! LOL!

Project "Opie"

For now project Opie is setting in my closet. Being unemployed naturally supplies limitations, and for now Opie will have to wait.
Needs for "opie":
Keyboard
CPU Fan
Lid plastics
hard drive (40Gb would be acceptable for XP)
mouse pad (Basically the entire palm rest assembly)

My unemployment ended in early November, I am a "99er" I have sent out nearly 200 resume's since I graduated in August, with only 6 or 7 call backs. Things are tough here in Michigan, but I do see things getting better slowly.

The new UIA extension that congress passed was not for those of us who had exhausted our benefits, it only extended benefits for those who are currently receiving benefits (Limited to 99 weeks yet). Congress would need to add a new tier for me to receive any new benefits, and sad to say, I do not see that happening.

Michigan says that unemployment has gone down, what they are NOT telling you is that those of us who have exhausted our benefits are NOT included in the unemployment numbers. The real number is much higher, (seasonal jobs reduce this number as well) but they wont admit to there being a problem. We have just "fallen" out of the system and vanished, therefor we do not exist. Tell that to the bill collectors! LOL!

I have two desktop computers coming (Both FREE!) soon that I will go through and get ready to find a new home for. One is and older Widows 98 machine (Still works!) The other...all I know is that it is a Windows XP tower, no telling what it is that I might receive?

I'll try to keep this updated, I'm searching for jobs daily on-line. Some days I find ten jobs to apply for, the next none.

Life is hard, God is good!

Later all!!

Me!

Acer Aspire 5100-5840 Update AGAIN! AGAIN!! DONE for real!

After I did the system restore and updated the BIOS to accept the upgraded processor I downloaded ALL of the Vista updates, AVG Free, C Cleaner, Ad-Aware, Auslogics Disc Defrag, Registry Cleaner, and a couple of others.
As soon as I tried to get on line through my wireless I knew there was a problem. I'm going to spare you with all of the BORING details, my fix was installing the latest driver from Atheros "Click Here for site" The wireless card in my Acer 5100 refused to even identify my network with WPA/ WPA2 encryption, but connected right away if I set the network to open with no encryption. Installing the correct driver will instantly fix this issue.
The Acer has been running like a champ for the last week or so now, with all of the upgrades, and a clean install of Vista, it is running like a champ. Finally! I think this thing MAY be finished! LOL!

Later all!

Acer Aspire 5100-5840 Update AGAIN!

After the last of the upgrades the notebook ran fine for a day or so, then started crashing on me. After some messing around, I ran Disc Check, that found some errors on the disc and repaired them, I then restarted the system and all is well once again.

**Um YEAH! Done? NOT! The TL-62 that I installed was not properly recognized, this caused the computer to continually crash. I did a system restore figuring it would help, NOT!
I reinstalled the TL-52 and after a bit of research, decided to update the BIOS and see what would happen, THAT did the trick! I reinstalled the TL-62 and the system now sees it properly and it is stable. The system is now also completely restored and updated.
Kind of fun playing with this thing, and frustrating as well, but I won in the end!**

Computers, love to hate them! LOL!
At least this toy is all done!
Later all!

Upgrades on this machine in the last four years:
From 2Gb of ram to 4Gb (3.3 Recognized)
From a TL-52 (1.6Gb) Processor to a TL-61 (2.1Gb)
From a 250Gb, 5,400Rpm, 4Mb Cache Hard Drive, to a 320Gb, 7,200Rpm, 16 Mb Cache Drive

At least it is DONE! No more upgrades to do! There is a slightly faster processor, but 200MHz is NOT worth the cost of that processor, not now anyhow!
Later all!

Me!