Vintage PC missing HDD?

[Mateo18]

Hi,

I wanted to build a sleeper in this case but needed to get the pictures from it. It still starts but won’t find an operating system. Is there supposed to be a hard drive here (See picture 2)? Or where is the data stored and can I still get to it. Also the second CD-“slot” doesn’t work for a reason.

 

I got the pc from someone so don’t know a lot about it, except for it being a “Compaq Presario 5000.”Also, it was made before I was born so I don’t have experience with that kind of tech ;).

 

 

 

[Levent]

1 minute ago, Mateo18 said:

Also the second CD-“slot” doesn’t work for a reason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Multiple_devices_on_a_cable

Its not plug and play.

 

2 minutes ago, Mateo18 said:

Is there supposed to be a hard drive here (See picture 2)?

Probably.

[Average Nerd]

9 minutes ago, Mateo18 said:

Is there supposed to be a hard drive here (See picture 2)?

Yeah, that's probably where it's supposed to be.

 

I can't see any storage media in there, which is probably the reason it doesn't find an OS.

[thevictor390]

Well it doesn't really matter where the hard drive is, but it sure has to be somewhere. Looks like it was probably removed at some point. So there is no data to retrieve.

[leclod]

I'd place the HDD there, HDDs need to be held securely.

Your location hinders airflow (not that it matters much)

 

[Needfuldoer]

I don't see a hard drive in that computer. (It should be in that bracket you circled in picture #2; that was a very common mounting spot back in the late 90s and early 2000s.) You're not recovering anything until you find the drive and put it back in.

[YoungBlade]

That cage is likely where a hard drive should go, although if you get an SSD, you can mount it wherever you like - they have no moving parts and are very light. I'm not sure why you would want a HDD for a sleeper build in 2024.

 

For your build, you're going to need to gut all the components anyway - nothing in there is usable for a modern build. So take out everything and lay it out. If you can't find the HDD, it's likely gone.

 

Probably just leave the CD/DVD drives and floppy drive for aesthetic purposes. They wouldn't be compatible with modern parts anyway, as they use PATA connectors. If you want a CD drive that works, you'll need to either find a SATA CD drive, or get an adapter.

 

Unfortunately, the system probably isn't worth much, so you won't be able to part it out to fund your build. Given that Compaq was HP's budget brand at the time, it's likely that this computer has a Celeron as its processor. At best, it would have a dual-core CPU, but that's not likely unless it was upgraded. The position of the socket suggests that it's an old PGA socket, so where the pins are on the CPU. This would mean that it predates the Core 2 Quad era - not that many Core 2 Quads even sell for much these days.

 

That GPU looks potentially promising, though, given that it has memory modules on the back. So it might be valuable for some retro gamers and sell for a decent price (by that, I mean $20-50 depending on the exact model).

[Mateo18]

4 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

That cage is likely where a hard drive should go, although if you get an SSD, you can mount it wherever you like - they have no moving parts and are very light. I'm not sure why you would want a HDD for a sleeper build in 2024.

 

For your build, you're going to need to gut all the components anyway - nothing in there is usable for a modern build. So take out everything and lay it out. If you can't find the HDD, it's likely gone.

 

Probably just leave the CD/DVD drives and floppy drive for aesthetic purposes. They wouldn't be compatible with modern parts anyway, as they use PATA connectors. If you want a CD drive that works, you'll need to either find a SATA CD drive, or get an adapter.

 

Unfortunately, the system probably isn't worth much, so you won't be able to part it out to fund your build. Given that Compaq was HP's budget brand at the time, it's likely that this computer has a Celeron as its processor. At best, it would have a dual-core CPU, but that's not likely unless it was upgraded. The position of the socket suggests that it's an old PGA socket, so where the pins are on the CPU. This would mean that it predates the Core 2 Quad era - not that many Core 2 Quads even sell for much these days.

 

That GPU looks potentially promising, though, given that it has memory modules on the back. So it might be valuable for some retro gamers and sell for a decent price (by that, I mean $20-50 depending on the exact model).

I just want to use the case and am remove everything to build the new one (rx5700xt, ryzen 5 3600 i have lying around,... )Of course I’m going to use an ssd when building the new one . Just looking for the hdd to find the pictures I had to transfer of of it.

[Mateo18]

25 minutes ago, Levent said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Multiple_devices_on_a_cable

Its not plug and play.

 

Probably.

O hell no, thank’s for the info tho!

[Mateo18]

I’ve found the model, it’s a 5WV396 5000 series.

[thevictor390]

10 minutes ago, Mateo18 said:

I just want to use the case and am remove everything to build the new one (rx5700xt, ryzen 5 3600 i have lying around,... )Of course I’m going to use an ssd when building the new one . Just looking for the hdd to find the pictures I had to transfer of of it.

Yeah there's no secret sauce here. If it had an HDD you'd see it somewhere. And it would have that big fat cable attached to it. For maximum caution check what that bottom add-on card is and check the very top of the case to make sure there isn't a hidden compartment up there or something. But really it's clearly been removed from the front.

[Needfuldoer]

27 minutes ago, Mateo18 said:

Just looking for the hdd to find the pictures I had to transfer of of it.

It's not inside the computer, but you should just have to hook it back up if you find it in your house somewhere.

 

34 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

For your build, you're going to need to gut all the components anyway - nothing in there is usable for a modern build.

Could hook the optical drives up through ATA-to-USB adapters, for the sleeper effect. The top one can read DVDs!

[wONKEyeYEs]

52 minutes ago, Mateo18 said:

Is there supposed to be a hard drive here

Is not this the HDD in red?

[Alex Atkin UK]

10 minutes ago, wONKEyeYEs said:

Is not this the HDD in red?

That is the floppy drive.

 

For retro PCs, its probably easiest to get an IDE to SD card adapter.

[Mateo18]

8 minutes ago, wONKEyeYEs said:

Is not this the HDD in red?

No, it appears to be a floppy disk “player” don’t know the exact name but I hope you understand.