Hi, The other day my neighbor got the bsod on his Dell comp that is 3 or 4 yrs old. He had a friend look at it and was told it was the mobo. I however think it is the hdd. Rather than mess with it he ordered just a new tower from Dell since everything else is ok. I don't know much about Dell machines because mine are Gateways. My question is, if I get ahold of his old tower, can I use an old Compaq monitor, mouse and keyboard to play around with this machine to see if I can get it running? If not, or if so, please educate me as to what I need to do. Thanks. Bluejay

Yes you can. Pretty much all mice, keyboards and monitors are universal because all motherboards use the same basic inputs PS/2, USB config. So you shouldn't have a problem plugging a Compaq keyboard, monitor and mouse in to that dell.

One person says it's the board, another says it's the HDD, nobody runs any diagnostics, so he buys a new machine?? Great troubleshooting...lol! FLATURIN - Hand-to-mouth goodness. It's good!

jam, Dell just loves that concept, disposable computers. bluejay, IF you get that tower, boot it up and post the EXACT message on the BSOD.

Thanks for the replies. I didn't even look at it myself, but that is the way they are. If it breaks down just buy a new one. I wish I had that kind of money. I just thought it would be fun to play with it if I can. I will return tomorrow as it is time to leave work. Bluejay

The only caveat when connecting an older monitor to a new machine is that the resolution or refresh rate might be set to more than it can handle - - if the display is scrambled or distorted, that would be the case, and you'd have to lower it via Safe Mode Censorship is the tool of those who have the need to hide actualities from themselves and others. Their fear is only their inability to face what is real.

A BSOD does not automatically mean a hardware problem. In fact, they are usually caused by a software problem.