Emachine T4697 motherboard replacement

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My son has an emachines T4697. The power supply destroyed his motherboard. We replaced the power supply but now have to replace the motherboard. The problem is, he is a musician and has his music stored on the hard drive. He has not backed up for a long time so much of his music would be lost.

We need to replace the motherboard but not reformat the hard drive. The old motherboard is an FIC VG33 that uses intel 845GE chipset.

Emachines and Tiger Direct sell the replacement but it comes with a new power supply included and they want over $300.

Can I replace it with another motherboard as long as it uses the same chipset? Will we be able to reload windows using the disks that came with the emachines or will we have to buy a copy of XP?
 
The motherboard just failed... it was not destroyed by the power supply, but likely the other way round... the failed motherboard created a condition that destroyed the power supply.

The problem you will have is that although the hard drive is good, Windows will detect the change in hardware and will not load.
The 845GE is a good board, but the EEPROM is not tattooed to allow the eMachines recovery disc to work.

The best thing to do is get a decent WXPP system, then use the current eMachines drive as a slave to rescue the data.
If you wish to know more, I can send more details.
Otherwise, if eMachines still has the motherboard, that replacement will cost you $159.95 and will enable all to be restored. A decent power supply will cost significantly less. Measure your current failed power supply in millimeters, then find a new one the same size. Antec makes one that fits, as does Sparkle... both are excellent. There many be many others.
There are other ways to save a few dollars.
 
Thanks for replying. We already replaced the power supply. Apparently, the power supply that came with emachines has had lots of problems.

I'm not sure what you mean by WXPP system. Stand alone XP rather than the one that came with the computer? He has 2 drives already in the machine. His music is stored on one and his programs on the other. Many of the programs are old and he no longer has the disks, etc.

I can check with Emachines. As I said, I tried Tiger Direct, etc. They want a lot of money for the motherboard and power supply but since I don't need the power supply, it seemed excessive.

NewEgg used to have the replacement motherboard but apparently do not have in stock any longer.

In short, if I install a new VG33 motherboard (the Emachines replacement part for this computer) will I be able to boot the computer with no problems? Or will I still have to reload windows?
 
tried to e mail you

raybay said:
The motherboard just failed... it was not destroyed by the power supply, but likely the other way round... the failed motherboard created a condition that destroyed the power supply.

The problem you will have is that although the hard drive is good, Windows will detect the change in hardware and will not load.
The 845GE is a good board, but the EEPROM is not tattooed to allow the eMachines recovery disc to work.

The best thing to do is get a decent WXPP system, then use the current eMachines drive as a slave to rescue the data.
If you wish to know more, I can send more details.
Otherwise, if eMachines still has the motherboard, that replacement will cost you $159.95 and will enable all to be restored. A decent power supply will cost significantly less. Measure your current failed power supply in millimeters, then find a new one the same size. Antec makes one that fits, as does Sparkle... both are excellent. There many be many others.
There are other ways to save a few dollars.
You are putting too much thought into all this. Pick up a USB to ata/sata converter, let the drive install, and search for the music. (20.00) Thats that problem. Thats a crappy e machine, so ANY power supply will work, make sure it is a 20 or 24 pin power supply. Buy a wndows xp pro disc

You might want to enable e mail so people can e mail you, and help you out!!!

Best of luck

Joe
 
aloevera said:
Thanks for replying. We already replaced the power supply. Apparently, the power supply that came with emachines has had lots of problems.

I'm not sure what you mean by WXPP system. Stand alone XP rather than the one that came with the computer? He has 2 drives already in the machine. His music is stored on one and his programs on the other. Many of the programs are old and he no longer has the disks, etc.

I can check with Emachines. As I said, I tried Tiger Direct, etc. They want a lot of money for the motherboard and power supply but since I don't need the power supply, it seemed excessive.

NewEgg used to have the replacement motherboard but apparently do not have in stock any longer.

In short, if I install a new VG33 motherboard (the Emachines replacement part for this computer) will I be able to boot the computer with no problems? Or will I still have to reload windows?


AND 159.00 is WAY too damn expensive, but a dual core and a ecs cheapo motherboard, with 2 gigs of ddr2 ram and be done with it. Since his music is on one disc you dont have to worry about data recovery. UNPLUG THAT DRIVE TOTALLY BEFORE YOU START MESSING WITH THINGS!!!!!
 
Windows XP Pro

I would just get XP Home, as it is $40 less and all you would miss is the backup utility and some other stuff you might not use.

Does your power supply have a 24 pin main connector or 20? Or is it both? A.K.A. a 20+4 pin connector, a 20 pin with a DETACHABLE 4 pins? It would help if you had the web page of it.

From the looks of the Mobo it's socket 478 so there will be some trouble involved in finding a good processor. I recommend just doing a value build since it's better than hunting for an old socket 478 motherboard. Just state your budget and I'll find some stuff for you.

And about what raybay said, he told you to install the drive in another desktop pc and move the music to that drive and burn it to disk or something before you reformat.
 
WXP Professional is worth the extra $40 on a troublesome machine, due to the repair installs and Repair Console stuff that is so helpful.
The motherboard from eMachines is $179.95 plus shipping. There are good Tiger Direct boards with CPU for $80 that will work better...
Shop all the big online sites... Tiger, NewEgg, Zipzoomfly, Directron, Outpost, TechDepot, Frys, CDW, PCConnection, Krex...
There are always deals with aged motherboard and processor combos... we buy a lot of them for as little as $45 to $55 a set, including CPU fan and heat sink... that makes the WXPP worth it, too.
Avoid PCChips and some of the low end Gigabyte boards... but most are ok.
The hard drive, and memory are good, but the memory may have to be replaced depending on what the new board requires.
All 24 pin power supplies I have seen have a way to split or insert only the 20 pins you need.
 
Obi-Wan Jerkobi I would just get as it is $40 less and all you would miss is the backup utility and some other stuff you might not use. Does your power supply have a 24 pin main connector or 20? Or is it both? A.K.A. a 20+4 pin connector said:
OK WHY would ANYONE use home edition? With windows xp, its becoming obsolete, so use the top grade, 40.00??? thats money worth spending!

BUt there are ways its cheaper!!!
 
also a 478 is WAY obsolete!! so a cheap dual core, with a 775 board and 2 gigs of pc800 ram, all he later needs to do is upgrade the hard drive with a 500 sata and he will have a great machine, that is capable of running vista as time progresses.

Honestly its CHEAPER to use new components and piece build than to try to salvage old technology.

Original poster:

1 intel or amd dual core 75-150
2 gigs or ram pc 800 look for REBATES! 35-65 after rebates
1 ecs or medium quality motherboard ( make sure bios supports a dual core with either an intel 775 or am amd am2 socket) ( make sure it has intergrated: video, audio, sata ) 75-125
1 500 gig ( seagate is what I am partial to) hard srive, sata 2 and PARTITION it to: 75 gigs as a boot sector
425 as a storage drive ( minus the swap files ) 100
24 pin 400 watt power supply, or a new case with power supply 25-75
1 dvd +/- 20x sata dvd/cd burner 20-45
1 windows xp pro 50 bootleg
There we have it folks here is a dynamite computer that wont break the bank. watch for shipping charges and put it together, use acronis to swap and upgrade and prepare the new hard drive, once windows xp is installed, as well as making an image to recover your system, in case of emergencies. Make your image AFTER all your software is installed, as well as an image after ALL updates are done. YES it IS that easy ( I CANT believe people pay me everyday to do this!)

I posted my number earlier if you need someone to build it, but im sure if you are able to research motherboards, and figure out whats going on, you can do this in 2 shakes of a rats tail.......may the force be with you!!!
 
Tsk, Tsk....

joeinchicago said:
You are putting too much thought into all this. Pick up a USB to ata/sata converter, let the drive install, and search for the music. (20.00) Thats that problem. Thats a crappy e machine, so ANY power supply will work, make sure it is a 20 or 24 pin power supply. Buy a wndows xp pro disc

You might want to enable e mail so people can e mail you, and help you out!!!

Best of luck

Joe

To the best of my knowledge there is no marketing on this site. So, why would you come blasting in with only 3 posts to your credit, and start selling things while explaining how little the rest of us know. At any rate, I'm not a moderator, but I'll see if I can find one to figure it out.
 
@ Raybay, I was asking about the PSU incase he bought a 20-pin one.

Seems kind of expensive but here's a Socket 478 mobo.

Although there are lots of board + cpu offerings with Tigerdirect/Newegg/etc. like raybay said. You can get some better hardware for the price you might pay for the replacement board.

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103258
Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138112
Ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134488

Keep in mind, this is just my suggestions conforming to how much you would spend on just a replacement board, if you offer a budget I can find better stuff.
 
captaincranky said:
To the best of my knowledge there is no marketing on this site. So, why would you come blasting in with only 3 posts to your credit, and start selling things while explaining how little the rest of us know. At any rate, I'm not a moderator, but I'll see if I can find one to figure it out.



I was doing some research on some other motherboard for jumper settings and I came across this thread. I join crap like this, Mainly because I speak geek, as well as normal English. I also said to him, that I felt he could do this alone, after thinking to myself. Really, computers are NOT difficult and I am an advocate of the KISS therory, Keep It Simple Stupid. I also said I build systems, as it's what I do for a living.
 
joeinchicago said:
I was doing some research on some other motherboard for jumper settings and I came across this thread. I join crap like this, Mainly because I speak geek, as well as normal English. I also said to him, that I felt he could do this alone, after thinking to myself. Really, computers are NOT difficult and I am an advocate of the KISS therory, Keep It Simple Stupid. I also said I build systems, as it's what I do for a living.
Your post is kind of off topic, were trying to help this guy replace his motherboard and such. Just though I'd remind you... >_< And captaincranky was relaying as it said in the rules you can't advertise your business on this forum.
 
E- machine

I had a problem like that with my friends,pc.Got another mobo,then the games begin.If its not identical, u r almost foiled.My solution was to buy a new mobo combo ,and a new drive.Then, put the old drive in a external case,then transfered the data
 
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