Compaq Presario 5460, circa 1999-replace Hard Drive?

Some time ago I posted a question on the feasibilty of getting the
QuickRestore disk for this 7-year old Compaq 5460. It came installed
with Windows 98, 96 RAM memory, 8 gig hard drive, & I forget what
processor(Pentium II or equivalent?). Turned out I could no longer
order a QuickRestore disk directly from HP/Compq(they claimed they
don't offer the disk for such an old computer). But my sister's
boyfirend DID have a QuickRestore disk for his Compaq 5700-series
computer, and that worked in this unit. Problem was that someone had
loaded XP on it & I didn't have a password to log on, etc. So now it
has Windows 98 once again, & seems to run pretty well(offline). I
haven't tried it for the AOL 4.0 it has on it; I'm thinking I could get
it to use an old AOL 7.0 disk I have.

Should/could I install a larger hard drive on this? I can get an 80 gig
Western Digital or Seagate for about $70 at any Walmart, but the online
tech support at HP/Compaq rattled off some specs that say it can't take
anything bigger than a 17 gig HD. Yet these new HDs state "for Windows
98" on the box. What's the answer? I'm figuring that if the processor,
memory stick, & motherboard have no moving parts to wear out, replacing
the hard drive should keep this thing going indefinitely. Seems like it
would be a decent 3rd computer for the spare bedroom here, good enough
for web-surfing & basic data entry or letter writing. Can someone
offers pointers on this unit? Thanks.

Dennis Forkel

Odds are that a computer this old will not provide native BIOS support for a
large capacity hard drive. The 17GB response from HPaq tech support may be
accurate, though it is a little unusual. Old Pentium I systems mostly have a
BIOS limit of 8.4GB, and Pentium II systems often have a 32GB limit.

If you want a larger capacity hard drive, you should also get a 3rd party (e.g.
Promise) hard drive controller to expand the limits of drive capacity. But, to
be realistic, you would be investing more money that the system itself is worth.

Two final observations:

If the system has a large 5 1/4" Qunatum Bigfoot hard drive, get rid of the
damned drive. They have possibly the worst reliability record of any model of
hard drive ever.

CPUs, memory, and motherboards do last a long time as a rule, but power supplies
often weaken over time, and power supply fans fail when their bearings wear out.

.... Ben Myers

On 16 Nov 2006 15:20:07 -0800, "Dennman6" wrote:

Some time ago I posted a question on the feasibilty of getting the
QuickRestore disk for this 7-year old Compaq 5460. It came installed
with Windows 98, 96 RAM memory, 8 gig hard drive, & I forget what
processor(Pentium II or equivalent?). Turned out I could no longer
order a QuickRestore disk directly from HP/Compq(they claimed they
don't offer the disk for such an old computer). But my sister's
boyfirend DID have a QuickRestore disk for his Compaq 5700-series
computer, and that worked in this unit. Problem was that someone had
loaded XP on it & I didn't have a password to log on, etc. So now it
has Windows 98 once again, & seems to run pretty well(offline). I
haven't tried it for the AOL 4.0 it has on it; I'm thinking I could get
it to use an old AOL 7.0 disk I have.

Should/could I install a larger hard drive on this? I can get an 80 gig
Western Digital or Seagate for about $70 at any Walmart, but the online
tech support at HP/Compaq rattled off some specs that say it can't take
anything bigger than a 17 gig HD. Yet these new HDs state "for Windows
98" on the box. What's the answer? I'm figuring that if the processor,
memory stick, & motherboard have no moving parts to wear out, replacing
the hard drive should keep this thing going indefinitely. Seems like it
would be a decent 3rd computer for the spare bedroom here, good enough
for web-surfing & basic data entry or letter writing. Can someone
offers pointers on this unit? Thanks.

Dennis Forkel

Ben,
Fortunately, the 5460 does NOT have a Bigfoot drive. It uses a 3.5"
Quantun, WD or Seagate drive.
I agree however that sinking any money in a K-6/2 machine would be a
waste. It shipped with a K-6/2 475 mHz processor.

HH

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
Odds are that a computer this old will not provide native BIOS support for
a
large capacity hard drive. The 17GB response from HPaq tech support may
be
accurate, though it is a little unusual. Old Pentium I systems mostly
have a
BIOS limit of 8.4GB, and Pentium II systems often have a 32GB limit.

If you want a larger capacity hard drive, you should also get a 3rd party
(e.g.
Promise) hard drive controller to expand the limits of drive capacity.
But, to
be realistic, you would be investing more money that the system itself is
worth.

Two final observations:

If the system has a large 5 1/4" Qunatum Bigfoot hard drive, get rid of
the
damned drive. They have possibly the worst reliability record of any
model of
hard drive ever.

CPUs, memory, and motherboards do last a long time as a rule, but power
supplies
often weaken over time, and power supply fans fail when their bearings
wear out.

... Ben Myers

On 16 Nov 2006 15:20:07 -0800, "Dennman6" wrote:

Some time ago I posted a question on the feasibilty of getting the
QuickRestore disk for this 7-year old Compaq 5460. It came installed
with Windows 98, 96 RAM memory, 8 gig hard drive, & I forget what
processor(Pentium II or equivalent?). Turned out I could no longer
order a QuickRestore disk directly from HP/Compq(they claimed they
don't offer the disk for such an old computer). But my sister's
boyfirend DID have a QuickRestore disk for his Compaq 5700-series
computer, and that worked in this unit. Problem was that someone had
loaded XP on it & I didn't have a password to log on, etc. So now it
has Windows 98 once again, & seems to run pretty well(offline). I
haven't tried it for the AOL 4.0 it has on it; I'm thinking I could get
it to use an old AOL 7.0 disk I have.

Should/could I install a larger hard drive on this? I can get an 80 gig
Western Digital or Seagate for about $70 at any Walmart, but the online
tech support at HP/Compaq rattled off some specs that say it can't take
anything bigger than a 17 gig HD. Yet these new HDs state "for Windows
98" on the box. What's the answer? I'm figuring that if the processor,
memory stick, & motherboard have no moving parts to wear out, replacing
the hard drive should keep this thing going indefinitely. Seems like it
would be a decent 3rd computer for the spare bedroom here, good enough
for web-surfing & basic data entry or letter writing. Can someone
offers pointers on this unit? Thanks.

Dennis Forkel

You never know when a Bigfoot will turn up. If they were absolutely circular
in shape, they would be good disci (discuses?) for a track team. And that's
about all they were ever good for.

There is still a hobbyist market for baby AT motherboards with K6-2 processors.
I don't know why, but I don't mind. Sold three of them on eBay recently, not
for a lot of money though. One buyer said the board replaced a blown board in a
numberical control computer. Go figure. But sinking good money into upgrades
for an AMD K6 system? No way... Ben Myers

On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:25:13 -0500, "HH" wrote:

Ben,
Fortunately, the 5460 does NOT have a Bigfoot drive. It uses a 3.5"
Quantun, WD or Seagate drive.
I agree however that sinking any money in a K-6/2 machine would be a
waste. It shipped with a K-6/2 475 mHz processor.

HH

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
.. .
Odds are that a computer this old will not provide native BIOS support for
a
large capacity hard drive. The 17GB response from HPaq tech support may
be
accurate, though it is a little unusual. Old Pentium I systems mostly
have a
BIOS limit of 8.4GB, and Pentium II systems often have a 32GB limit.

If you want a larger capacity hard drive, you should also get a 3rd party
(e.g.
Promise) hard drive controller to expand the limits of drive capacity.
But, to
be realistic, you would be investing more money that the system itself is
worth.

Two final observations:

If the system has a large 5 1/4" Qunatum Bigfoot hard drive, get rid of
the
damned drive. They have possibly the worst reliability record of any
model of
hard drive ever.

CPUs, memory, and motherboards do last a long time as a rule, but power
supplies
often weaken over time, and power supply fans fail when their bearings
wear out.

... Ben Myers

On 16 Nov 2006 15:20:07 -0800, "Dennman6" wrote:

Some time ago I posted a question on the feasibilty of getting the
QuickRestore disk for this 7-year old Compaq 5460. It came installed
with Windows 98, 96 RAM memory, 8 gig hard drive, & I forget what
processor(Pentium II or equivalent?). Turned out I could no longer
order a QuickRestore disk directly from HP/Compq(they claimed they
don't offer the disk for such an old computer). But my sister's
boyfirend DID have a QuickRestore disk for his Compaq 5700-series
computer, and that worked in this unit. Problem was that someone had
loaded XP on it & I didn't have a password to log on, etc. So now it
has Windows 98 once again, & seems to run pretty well(offline). I
haven't tried it for the AOL 4.0 it has on it; I'm thinking I could get
it to use an old AOL 7.0 disk I have.

Should/could I install a larger hard drive on this? I can get an 80 gig
Western Digital or Seagate for about $70 at any Walmart, but the online
tech support at HP/Compaq rattled off some specs that say it can't take
anything bigger than a 17 gig HD. Yet these new HDs state "for Windows
98" on the box. What's the answer? I'm figuring that if the processor,
memory stick, & motherboard have no moving parts to wear out, replacing
the hard drive should keep this thing going indefinitely. Seems like it
would be a decent 3rd computer for the spare bedroom here, good enough
for web-surfing & basic data entry or letter writing. Can someone
offers pointers on this unit? Thanks.

Dennis Forkel

HH wrote:
Ben,
Fortunately, the 5460 does NOT have a Bigfoot drive. It uses a 3.5"
Quantun, WD or Seagate drive.

I agree however that sinking any money in a K-6/2 machine would be a
waste. It shipped with a K-6/2 475 mHz processor.

HH

"Ben Myers"

If the system has a large 5 1/4" Qunatum Bigfoot hard drive, get rid of
the
damned drive. They have possibly the worst reliability record of any
model of
hard drive ever.

My brother brought this Compaq 5460 up to me from North Carolina,
having picked it up at a flea market for $40. It came with an NEC
MultiSync 17" CRT monitor. Hence my sparse info on it, no paperwork
came with it at all. I suppose I was lucky in getting it going with the
QuickRestore disk. Once the cover was off I could see that the hard
drive is a Seagate, which I believe has a good rep in the reliability
dept. Also, I could see that all 3 DIMM slots are occupied; somebody
added to the 64 & 32 MB slots & topped it off with a 256, totalling 352
MB of memory(verified added memory by checking system profile, which I
hadn't yet done before). Yes, processor is 475 MHz. There are two USB
ports on the back, I'm figuring USB.1 because of the age of the PC, or
someone added them later. So I will hook up a Lexmark printer to it &
we can use it for letters & printouts, at any rate. Wonder how long
this will last, as a 1999 model? Too bad whoever added the additional
memory(I assume they needed it when they put in Windows XP) didn't
upgrade the HDD while they could still get a compatible after market
hard drive of more reasonable size-say 20 gig. But it does function
now, for however long it will last! It makes more sense to just pick up
a cheap NEW Compaq or E-Machines at Walmart for $248-$300. Thanks to
both of you for the advice on this.

Dennis Forkel

At $40 with a good quality name-brand monitor and a good brand of hard drive,
the computer is fine for what you want to do with it. The USB ports are 1.1.
The USB ports on many older systems still function in a limited way with USB 2.0
devices. Speed is very obviously limited. USB thumb drives and external card
readers usually work OK, because they do not require a lot of power. However,
devices, such as external hard drives and CD burners without their own power
supplies, that draw a lot of power from a USB port will not work. A USB
printer is usually a no-brainer with an older port... Ben Myers

On 16 Nov 2006 21:10:39 -0800, "Dennman6" wrote:

HH wrote:
Ben,
Fortunately, the 5460 does NOT have a Bigfoot drive. It uses a 3.5"
Quantun, WD or Seagate drive.

I agree however that sinking any money in a K-6/2 machine would be a
waste. It shipped with a K-6/2 475 mHz processor.

HH

"Ben Myers"

If the system has a large 5 1/4" Qunatum Bigfoot hard drive, get rid of
the
damned drive. They have possibly the worst reliability record of any
model of
hard drive ever.

My brother brought this Compaq 5460 up to me from North Carolina,
having picked it up at a flea market for $40. It came with an NEC
MultiSync 17" CRT monitor. Hence my sparse info on it, no paperwork
came with it at all. I suppose I was lucky in getting it going with the
QuickRestore disk. Once the cover was off I could see that the hard
drive is a Seagate, which I believe has a good rep in the reliability
dept. Also, I could see that all 3 DIMM slots are occupied; somebody
added to the 64 & 32 MB slots & topped it off with a 256, totalling 352
MB of memory(verified added memory by checking system profile, which I
hadn't yet done before). Yes, processor is 475 MHz. There are two USB
ports on the back, I'm figuring USB.1 because of the age of the PC, or
someone added them later. So I will hook up a Lexmark printer to it &
we can use it for letters & printouts, at any rate. Wonder how long
this will last, as a 1999 model? Too bad whoever added the additional
memory(I assume they needed it when they put in Windows XP) didn't
upgrade the HDD while they could still get a compatible after market
hard drive of more reasonable size-say 20 gig. But it does function
now, for however long it will last! It makes more sense to just pick up
a cheap NEW Compaq or E-Machines at Walmart for $248-$300. Thanks to
both of you for the advice on this.

Dennis Forkel