Intel Easton 2 D815EEA2

Computer Hardware
#1

Friend has Intel Easton 2 D815EEA2 motherboard, and I recently installed some new ram for her, in an attempt to stop project crashes caused by “insufficient memory”.
Stopped for a while, but it’s started again.
I quite simply have very little time to fool with it and research this problem, was wondering if any of you fine people could give some quick pointers. Is there any truth to the theory that replacing the processor might help?
Or should she just gut the thing?

Here are her specs, generated by Everast - after an eternity:

Operating System                                  Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date                                              2008-05-15
Time                                              16:08

--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
  Operating System                                  Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  OS Service Pack                                   Service Pack 2
  DirectX                                           4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
  Computer Name                                     RHENDAGRAY
  User Name                                         default

Motherboard:
  CPU Type                                          Intel Pentium IIIE, 866 MHz (6.5 x 133)
  Motherboard Name                                  Intel Easton 2 D815EEA2  (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 3 DIMM, Audio, Video)
  Motherboard Chipset                               Intel Solano i815E
  System Memory                                     512 MB  (PC133 SDRAM)
  BIOS Type                                         AMI (04/02/01)
  Communication Port                                Communications Port (COM1)
  Communication Port                                ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
  Video Adapter                                     Intel(R) 82815 Graphics Controller (Microsoft Corporation)  (32 MB)
  3D Accelerator                                    Intel i752
  Monitor                                           Dell E173FP  [17" LCD]  (D542857JFFJS)

Multimedia:
  Audio Adapter                                     Intel 82801BA ICH2 - AC'97 Audio Controller [B-1]

Storage:
  IDE Controller                                    Intel(r) 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller
  Floppy Drive                                      Floppy disk drive
  Disk Drive                                        WDC WD200EB-00BHF0  (18 GB, IDE)
  Optical Drive                                     CREATIVE  CD5233E  (52x CD-ROM)
  Optical Drive                                     SONY CD-RW  CRX215E1  (48x/24x/48x CD-RW)
  SMART Hard Disks Status                           OK

Partitions:
  C: (FAT32)                                        19083 MB (1347 MB free)

Input:
  Keyboard                                          Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
  Mouse                                             HID-compliant mouse
  Mouse                                             Microsoft PS/2 Port Mouse (IntelliPoint)

Network:
  Network Adapter                                   Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection
  Modem                                             SoftV90 Data Fax Voice Modem

Peripherals:
  Printer                                           Auto HP PSC 750 on KODAK
  Printer                                           hp LaserJet 1012 (Copy 1)
  Printer                                           hp LaserJet 1012 (Copy 2)
  Printer                                           hp LaserJet 1012
  Printer                                           hp LJ 1010 Series - 2 Driver
  Printer                                           hp psc 2200 series
  Printer                                           Intuit Internal Printer
  Printer                                           Lexmark 2500 Series
  Printer                                           LexmarkFax
  USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801BA ICH2 - USB Controller 1 [B-1]
  USB1 Controller                                   Intel 82801BA ICH2 - USB Controller 2 [B-1]
  USB Device                                        Linksys Wireless-G USB Network Adapter #4
  USB Device                                        USB Human Interface Device
  USB Device                                        USB Mass Storage Device

Problems & Suggestions:
  Problem                                           Disk free space is only 7% on drive C:.

Thanks, guys!
Lara

#2

You might want to invest into a bigger and faster HDD. IDE HDD’s come in 8MB and 16MB cache. Upgrade to the 16MB cache say example: from an ATA 100 to an ATA 150 or 300 plus going from a 5400RPM to a 7200RPM will boost your speed. Also when reinstalling OS XP Pro, use the NTFS file system for better performance. Also how big is the drive you have in it now? If you have a 30GB in it now then I would upgrade to an 80 or 120GB for under 60 dollars.

#3

The PC is very old, and the HDD is pretty much full, as suggested getting another HDD should fix the problem. It doesn’t look like that MB will support a SATA HDD, so get somthing like this LINK this is a retail drive so it should come with a new cable. The new HDD should fix the insufficient memory error. There should be a utility at the HDD manufac. web site, that makes it easy to move all the old data onto the new drive.

#4

Increase your pagefile size … or let windows manage it automatically.

I doubt it’s worth upgrading this old beast.

#5

As they’ve mentioned earlier lack of ram (if using memory intensive programs) and lack of free space on the HDD. Could be a software error if it occurs randomly.
//Danne

#6

She specified it happened when she was trying to upload digital photos from her camera, or writing long bits in either a word processor or the internet.

Yeah - I never thought about her HDD cache. I thought her processor might not be fully exploiting the new ram, but because of the motherboard’s ram restrictions, I can’t get her anything different.

Thanks!

#7

This motherboard may be before SATA was available - ATA150/ATA300 are SATA and are not the same connectors as the old ATA133/ ATA100.

Also be aware that because it is an older motherboard, there may be limitations on the capacity of the HDD that the bios recognises.

I’d recommend updating to the latest bios available for the motherboard and then replacing the HDD with a new IDE HDD, something less than 200GB should be satisfactory.

Keep in mind that if reinstalling winxp, the winxp installer does not recognise most SATA (ATA150/ATA300) controllers as IDE controllers (but as scsi controllers) & you need to make a 1.44MB floppy disk driver for the the SATA controller … and then load the driver when starting the install.

It’s also a pain if something goes wrong & you want to re-install/repair windows XP.

#8

It’s way before SATA, its a P3/Celeron…
HDD cache size has nothing to do with this, its most likely a software error.
If she runs out of RAM the computer will get very sluggish (more than it is already) and if she runs out of disk space it’ll nicely tell her that. If it occurs randomly I’d say the some application is leaking memory or have one or more corrupt files.
…and people have been slipstreaming drivers for the last 3 years (at least), no need for a floppy at all.
//Danne

#9

The memory error is becuase the OS is out of working HDD space, page file + running software + MFT.