Packard Bell Restoration | Testing & Cleaning Inside | Trash to Treasure Part 2

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● Episode Links
Part 1: • Packard Bell Restorati... - The Packard Bell Arrives
Part 2: • Packard Bell Restorati... - Testing and Cleaning Inside
Part 3: • Packard Bell Restorati... - Finding a Working Monitor
Part 4: • 1996 Packard Bell Rest... - Plastic Fantastic
Part 5: • Finally, a Home Fit fo... - A Home Fit for a '90s Packard Bell
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Episode Links! Part 1: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r52mhqiif8tgm6s - The Packard Bell Arrives Part 2: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6LMm6SVdpiNaKc - Testing and Cleaning Inside Part 3: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6i9fH-Nrch2eaM - Finding a Working Monitor Part 4: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZOac6eFn7BjeM0 - Plastic Fantastic Part 5: Coming soon

[@magoid]

Sometimes you think that labeling the box "fragile", is just taunting them to treat it the worst way possible.

[@MrBratalis99]

I hope karma hits them...grrr

[@dh2032]

@@paul.1337 but there only so much buffer padding before you might as well just higher van and stuff it packing peanuts, and transport that instead

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Couriers are typically not paid enough to care I expect. Its simply another parcel to drop off towards their quota for the day.

[@me0262]

Never EVER pack the monitor screen down! Pack it how it would normally stand and put all kinds of supporting material around the main tube (and if you can, detach the base or pack it upside down). If you remember opening one of these boxes from purchasing one, the handles were closer to one side, this is because all that weight from the monitor was heavy on one end.

[@brucetungsten5714]

Workers usually kick "fragile" items - kind of an inside joke.

[@edburke5731]

I worked tech support for PB here in the states. If you want to try and find drivers for the modem/soundcard, look for sound 2 drivers. Snd1 was 14.4, snd2 was 28.8 and 33.6 and the snd3 was 56. Trivia: the remote and IR were internally card Micky and Minnie. And the logo was "The face of technology", we referred to it as Randy Roadkill

[@MadPeteST]

As an ex field engineer, I lost track of the amount of times we were set CRT's out and they would arrived smashed to bits... they just don't travel well! As for that yellow keyboard, it is in so much distress it's got "SOS" written about the scroll lock 😄

[@MarkyShaw]

Hey Neil! I just so happen to have one of these monitors with the speakers attached. It's not in great cosmetic shape, mostly just severe yellowing and some scuffs, and I live in the States. If you're still looking for one, I'll pull it out of storage and send you some pictures.

[@philipcorner574]

When I shipped my monitor to Neil, I was afraid that it would get smashed like this, but luckily it was fine! You've really got to make sure that EVERYTHING is firmly wrapped in bubble wrap, otherwise the courier service WILL find the weakness. A also put a Lego baseboard over the screen in between layers of wrap to protect it against any sharp strikes in that area, which made for a funny unboxing video!

[@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse]

Yea the shredded paper doesn't really provide any impact protection as such.

[@draggonhedd]

You also usually gotta pack em with the glass side DOWN. They hold up the best that way.

[@jcardboard]

And I'd put the box inside another box with more bubble wrap. There's a good reason Amazon usually ships that way...

[@kyoudaiken]

@@Arachnoid_of_the_underverse The monitor probably was shaken down right against the cardboard, the shreedded paper behaves like a liquid when being shaken and thrown.

[@audreywinter4553]

Brilliant maneuver with the Lego plate!

[@jamesgillre]

Packard Bell was my first entrance into computing as a child, my dad bought one for my brother and I from Dixons. Brings back lots of memories.

[@waynenewark5363]

Showing my age here but listening to that floppy drive I started to sing "Sun arise, she bring in the morning. Sun arise, bring in the morning, fluttering her skirts all around. Sun arise, she come with the dawning. Sun arise, come with the dawning, spreading all the light all around."

[@RacerX-]

The problem with reading that HD on your modern system could be down to the USB adapter you are using. I have found those adapters do not always work with older hard drives. It is much better to plug it into an older system that has an IDE port on board. I keep an older Windows XP Core 2 Duo for this purpose. It works great for imaging HDs. I am sure you have plenty of these types of computers in your collection, though. haha😉

[@cambo52s]

I too am almost positive this is the problem. Hopefully he doesn't scrap or perform surgery on that drive just yet. Nothing beats a proper older computer for these kinds of things that's for sure. Terrible luck with USB adapters.

[@catriona_drummond]

Absolutely, I have had no luck with these adapters either. I also use an XP system with a genuine IDE controller for them.

[@nickwallette6201]

That is correct. Those USB adapters are worthless for older hard drives, and at least in my experience, older optical drives as well. I keep a Core 2 Mobile Mini ITX system with hot-swap IDE and SATA bays for this purpose. Unload the sata_promise kernel module, swap in a drive, reload the module, Bob is your uncle.

[@catriona_drummond]

@@nickwallette6201 nice solution.

[@dh2032]

yes, the USB, thing, there not real hardware, and only see, what be told about, anything slightly funky just going to show as an error,

[@fhunter1test]

1Tb may be an issue with usb converter board. Older hard drives may cause issues with those converters.

[@cwells7285]

I had this Packard bell when I was a lad. Nothing ever brought me so much joy

[@Trenchbroom]

As someone who spent $3k in US dollars in 1996 on a PB P150 (the best machine a 22 year old could buy on his Sears card), I say: "keep up the good fight, Neil! Someone needs to love that POS!"

[@TheRasteri]

if you boot to the linux shell you may be able to take a raw copy of the partition with dd. Then you can examine with a hex editor and maybe even mount it as a loopback device.

[@VariXx]

Great work Neil. You're putting in one Packard Hell of an effort.

[@eformance]

I just had an idea come to me: What if you converted an old front-loader washing machine into a retro-bright machine? You could suspend a UV lamp in the middle of the tub and simply rotate the tub at a very slow pace to prevent damage to the articles. The tumbling action would ensure the parts see UV on all sides and the tub would submerge the parts in the peroxide solution. Obviously this would only work for smallish parts.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

Oooofff, that was heartbreaking regarding the monitor but kudos to the guy for refunding. This is definitely the range that was being sold during my work practice back in 1997. The only difference I can see is that the IR receiver was build into the mouse but I guess there were different versions of this. Also, back in this day I don't think FAT32 was a thing yet, and hard drives would still be using FAT16. I could be wrong but I have this feeling that FAT32 only came about with Windows 98 or maybe 95 OSR 2. Another great video, Neil. Really looking forward to the next episode.

[@DrSteveBagley]

I suspect it might be worth trying a different usb to ide converter with that hard drive. I used a similar device with an old Connor drive the other week and had no luck getting the drive recognised. I switched to a different converter (actually out of a mid2000s usb/fe LaCie drive) and it recognised the drive instsntly

[@doigan5462]

The hard drive will likely work just fine with a motherboard that has onboard IDE rather than using the USB to IDE adapter. I've had plenty of older hard drives act just the same with multiple USB to IDE adapter that infact works just fine on an onboard IDE connection :)

[@huubpeters7972]

It didn't. He tested it directly on the original board as well: 14:27 (Doesn't make your USB-IDE adapter tip any less useful though!)

[@kalsvtg5169]

When I fix these old machines, I like to kinda keep them in their current form, cracked plastic is something that I use superglue or resin on, depending on structural importance. It may sound stupid but I get a huge kick out of fixing something that just like in your case, people claim to be unsalvageable. Nice video btw

[@TheMegaross91]

That keyboard and monitor, many memories. I remember getting that era Packard bell as my first "own" PC (as in the first PC in my bedroom) when my dad bought one off a work mate for £20 as a birthday present for me, in the early 2000's. Got endless joy from that thing, superb I don't have the monitor or machine still sadly. Such a distinctive bit of kit

[@ryanmacewen511]

I was a Die HArd Amiga guy. My FIrst PC clone was a Packard Bell 166. I repurposed those speakers and screwed them into the sides of a random 15" VGA CRT. I got tons of use out of the PB, mainly Corel Draw 7.0/8.0. I kept it until 2000, when I built my first PC. AMD 900mhz machine. Awesome stuff! Then upgrading addiction began.

[@damiengu]

Gutting. I shipped mine from the US to the UK as part of my house move and literally wrapped it in pillows, put it into a box then put that box into another box that was lined with an old duvet. Screen was face up. Everything came through fine despite the 12 weeks it took to arrive.

[@gregor]

KZbin needs a ten hour edit of that fumbling with the mouse ball retainer.

[@blunderingfool]

That internet button loads the default web browser, actually really useful! :P

[@mesterak]

The monitor damage reminded me of Ace Ventura absolutely obliterating a box he was delivering. “Sounds expensive” as he shakes the box rattling around shards of glass and who knows what else 😂

[@oldschooldude8370]

"We're goin down town"

[@krnlg]

8:50 Thank you Neil, you had me laughing out loud there, proper belly laughing 🤣 I needed that!

[@xlerb2286]

Packard Bell was a pretty popular machine in the early 90's at the university I went to. They were cheap, descent enough, and the school bookshop had a pretty good discount from Packard Bell. I'd guess about half the students that had a computer (it wasn't so common back then) had a Packard Bell. I was building my own even back then. I remember when I got a 133Mhz Pentium machine, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I still have the bits and pieces in the scrap pile.

[@kev7345]

Might be worth looking out for one that's failed for parts not working in the hope that it's housing will still be intact and then just swap the internals over...

[@barnabas5688]

The power button on that monitor brings back bad memories of packard bell. My folks paid the best part of a grand for a packard bell PC for me when I went to uni in 1996. One of those all in one types with monitor and PC in the same unit. The power button got stuck inside the unit sometime during my first term, it went back home at christmas and back to the dreaded PC world, who, after a lot of protestation and "can I speak to the manager please" type conversations, agreed to replace it for us, with a far nicer Apricot/Mitsubishi desktop model (which lasted until after I graduated!)

[@studyguy.7660]

One of the best retro system channels!

[@KayakTN]

I remember selling these new at the time. I had no idea they would be a collectible item.

[@coffeecuparcade]

As soon as you tilted that box I heard it, and my heart did that flutter thing. AWWW poor monitor! Maybe you can recycle the internals and put it into an arcade cabinet or a retro box or something. Excellent video Neil, always fun to watch the Trash to Treasure episodes.

[@erinwiebe7026]

I've ordered and had a few CRT monitors shipped like this too. The successful ones either had the monitor stand removed, or was packed upside down with the stand on top. Putting all that weight on that stand when the box is being tossed around in shipping causes the plastics to flex and shatter. Or so my current theory goes...

[@kilotangosierra]

nicotine yellow. my favourite shade of colour from the 90's 😁

[@FrankWoodPhotography]

Absolutely terrific! Can’t wait for part 3!

[@gedmadden8857]

Keyboard- "A device that looks like it's been chain smoking for thirty years", that just made me laugh out loud thanks!

[@Ametisti]

I think relying on the original box was the core shipping error, and I can't imagine the paper shredding did that good a job realistically. That thing needed proper, squishy foam, everywhere. And probably around the entire box, placed into an exterior shipping box.

[@MPaans]

Yeah, absolutely packing it with shredded paper prolly made it quite rigid, causing every bump to be translated to the monitor casing. But I like your out of the box thinking (hue hue) for putting the whole box into an exterior shipping box! 👍

[@tookitogo]

@@MPaans Honestly, shredded paper doesn’t make very good packing material. It’s neither rigid nor cushiony.

[@catriona_drummond]

The way these things are treated in shipping there is no amount of packaging that can save them. They ere dropped so hard that they collapse under their own weight, internally. You'd have to cushion them on the inside. I often recieved shipped CRT's until the pandemic and most were okay, but in the last 2 and a half years something changed across all shipping services and the heavier a package is the more abuse it gets. They hate these heavy packages and they deliberately try to break them so you don't ship heavy stuff anymore. Anything that is above 12 kilos I drive and pick it up personally. Or it WILL get destroyed.

[@bluehatguy4279]

The kinds of things they were derided for back in the day, is the kind of thing that almost every manufacturer has done even recently.

[@fensoxx]

Loved the video, these are why I subscribed! I know with your current goals you can’t do these all the time but appreciate them when you can.

[@fiordhraoi1]

Back in the day (~2000 or so) I was selling computers at Circuit City, and would offer services on the side to transfer data from the customer's old computer to the new one. Got to one lady's house and she had a Packard Bell. Don't remember the exact model, but it was probably from the same mid-90s period as this one, but a consumer model. Ended up having to go home to get my drill bits, because rather than using screws, PB had riveted the case shut. Had to drill them out to open it up and access the old hard drive. Needless to say I don't have fond memories of PB computers. :D

[@GeeFunk84]

This might be a slightly controversial take, but this video is a great example to why not chase old CRTs at any cost (unless you build a perfect museum piece like Neil does here). Yes, those old pieces of hardware and software were designed with CRT monitors and TVs in mind and they are certainly the best way to enjoy a period piece. However - unless the CRT is nearby -, I can't really advocate for dragging one across the country or countries. They are heavy, fragile, could develop loads of problems just during delivery and they are getting more expensive by the day.

[@galois19]

Bravo on the new witty script style!

[@tfksworldoflinux]

My first PC was a Packard Bell 486SX 25 MHz, 80MB HDD and 1 MB of RAM. Added a Sound Blaster 2.0 and a double speed CDROM drive when the Multi Media hype started. De CDROM drive cost me 425 and later and I had to shell out another 400 credits for 4 MB of extra ram in order to get The 7th Guest to run properly. Good memories...

[@PaulinesPastimes]

I just knew what was coming with the monitor. It's heartbreaking in many ways and I hope you have put it behind you. To see a rare vintage item reduced to junk like that and now you have to try to find another one, oh dear. I have seen monitors survive when shipped in custom plywood crates surrounded by masses of shock absorbing padding. Perhaps it's the only way to make sure. The trauma has really got to me! Oh no! 😄Anyway, it's all over now so onward and upward 👍

[@UpLateGeek]

RSVP that Packard Bell monitor. Shredded paper isn't the best packing material, it tends to compress rather than cushion, and once a part is compressed it won't absorb impacts as well.

[@acorredorv]

"Packard Hell", to be fair, it was a pretty rough time for most computers. Extreme levels of bloatware with marginal specs and there was a lot of propietary, and expensive AF, hardware still around. Most computers of that era were barely usable out of the box, a RAM upgrade and clean install of windows (to clear the bloatware) worked wonders.

[@helldog3105]

As much as it hurts to see, I am glad to know the shoddiness of parcel delivery is similar across the globe. I have given up on buying CRT monitors where they have to be shipped to me. The reason being that out of 12 monitors purchased, one has arrived safely. Three of those were new old stock in their original boxes and those were packed in additional boxes with more packing, and UPS, USPS, and FedEx have still managed to mangle, shred and completely destroy said monitors.

[@QuintusCunctator]

Exactly! Like every kind of enterprise in the latest years, courier employers are quite happy to apply the mantra of "rise the profit margin by hiring less people and giving them more work" to the extreme. In most cases, the couriers in my city drop their parcels in front of my condo, ring the bell and immediately run; they don't even wait for a signature, much less they ensure I've actually retrieved my package. It's maddening.

[@catriona_drummond]

The way these things are treated in shipping there is no amount of packaging that can save them. They ere dropped so hard that they collapse under their own weight, internally. You'd have to cushion them on the inside. I often recieved shipped CRT's until the pandemic here in Germany and most were okay, but in the last 2 and a half years something changed across all shipping services and the heavier a package is the more abuse it gets. They hate these heavy packages and they deliberately try to break them so you don't ship heavy stuff anymore. Anything that is above 12 kilos I drive and pick it up personally. Or it WILL get destroyed.

[@relo999]

3:13 retro rainmaker.

[@musicmoviesandgames2004]

Can’t wait for part 3!

[@TheVintageApplianceEmporium]

Honestly, just looking at this thing triggers PTSD from 1996 😵‍💫

[@thrjfi5360]

U mean PBSD

[@1967CougarXR7]

I bought an apple 19" monitor for an old power pc mac that was almost complete dust when I opened the box. The seller also refunded the cost. The thing does still work, just doesn't have a case.

[@ricardobornman1698]

LOL! I was wondering what happened to this episode. 🤣

[@Mani-aX]

Wow! Would love some in-depth cleaning tips. I picked up on the basic idea. but no way i want to try this until i see a walkthrough from beginning to end and everything needed.

[@needfortweed8734]

The first IBM compatible that I used a lot was a rather slim unit, a Victor 386 sx 20. Got hold of a Soundblaster 1.0 and at that moment I felt like that Amiga-folks had less of an argument in their favour. I would have loved to see that computer again, but I am afraid that is long gone. My father also got hold of a few "outdated" (at the time) 5.25" drives. He couldn't fit them inside the case (as I said, a rather slim unit), so he made a case for them to be mounted in outside. I am telling you, playing Dune 2 on that computer was something else!

[@audreywinter4553]

Gosh darn it, Neil, I should know better than to try to drink while listening to you talk. You made me spray my monitor *twice*. Excellent work with the Packard Bell -- my entry into modern Windows PCs was an IBM PS/1 486 SX 33 in late 1993, so I have a fondness for those and Win 3.1 wallpapers. Went from that to an Acer Pentium back when 1 GB hard drives were all the rage, in 1996.

[@leesmithsworkshop]

I think it was the plastics had dried out and was just brittle on the monitor. It did have to support the weight of the CRT tube inside and they are quite heavy. On my recent Amstrad PC2286 video I snapped all the plastic clips that hold the keyboard together, instead of flexing a bit they just snapped clean off.

[@bladesofseven]

Oh mah gawd, the gore! The horror! Nice work Neil, as always.

[@MonaroTravels]

LOL, I remember the exact same fight with that mouse ball cover :)

[@gigglesseven]

I've got the earlier model with the 486 knocking about with the original monitor and speakers

[@somethinggeeky]

If you think shipping a monitor is bad, try buying a laser cutter tube. Best shipping insurance purchase ever. The first tube arrived folded in half. Our UPS man let's call him "Honky Kong" had his way with the box. Fortunately the second one arrived intact

[@philiponicho]

A 486 Packard Bell that looked very similar to this was my first foray into home PC. An upgrade from an Atari ST. If I remember correctly the speakers didn't come attached when I bought it. I had do add them myself. The man from Dixon's who served me in the shop came and delivered it himself and explained about setting it up. You don't get that kind of service these days.

[@chriscrossan8034]

Thanks for a decadent slice of beige.

[@jamesmacintosh4009]

I was laughing so much at the mouse ball door. oh the memories thanks for that it brightened my day.

[@nickwallette6201]

I went through a very similar gag with a Microsoft serial mouse the other day. I just could not find the point where the plastic bits engaged. Haha

[@10p6]

Interesting video. In 1997 I had a Packard Bell Mini Tower with same monitor and speakers; it had a Pentium 233 MMX, I think it had 128MB Ram and 4GB drive. Worked fine other than having very slow 3D graphics, but that all changed when I installed a Voodoo Banshee 16MB GPU which made it fly.

[@lphillimore]

It's finally here 👌🏻👌🏻

[@saintuk70]

I bought the older 486 version of this a couple of years earlier, it was so bad I took it back to Dixons for a refund. After that I went to my local PC store, MSD in Stirling, talked to them about what I wanted, and then got help to build my first pc. So much more value for money - 486dx22, 8mb Ram, 300gb (**mb) hd, 512k Hercules video, and sound blaster card :)

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

300gb in a 486? Seems a bit overkill lol

[@saintuk70]

@@JohnSmith-xq1pz lol - oops.... mb of course... loads for Win3.11

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@saintuk70 lol I kinda assumed that was the case. Sounds like a nice little machine

[@mikewifak]

This thing is nearly identical to the Packard Bell I first played Myst on. Good times.

[@FogartyAvenue]

Magnificent.

[@runnerthemoose]

Blast from the past, I wrote the recovery routine for the Packard Bells supplied by Dixons/PCworld/Curry's in the UK. If you have issues installing the OS give me a shout, there is a CMD switch that is required when installing windows to pull the Tattoo license info.

[@SiaVids]

The last time I received a CRT monitor by courier (it was a 21" HP Trinitron) it was shipped in a box face down on a small pallet and arrived in perfect working order.

[@MrBreadoflife]

This was one of those rare Packard Bell's that had a standard chipset, standard bios, and standard components.

[@lootpack27]

Angry didgeridoo made me chuckle 😆

[@johnknight9150]

Wow, without the plastic bezels it really looks like an old telly!

[@mackal]

They still make DVDs, a bunch of Bluray releases come with DVDs too. (The newest DVD I have was releases in June 2020)

[@RockRedGenesis]

Damn, that courier "Ace Ventura'd" that monitor didn't he!

[@donclay3511]

You might have a goofed up sector or two on that drive. There used to be tools where you could read them, decode them, and then write them out. Peter Norton had some tools that would do it. Also, very early on there were BIOS' that required special characters different from other BIOS'

[@ArcadeAzrall]

Such a shame! I'll go digging in my parent's loft this weekend and see if I can dig out mine for you. I'd love for it to go to this project!

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Given the state of the monitor plastic, it is kinda amazing that the tube survived. 3D printing might be able to help with some of the plastic repairs perhaps? If you have all the pieces and it does still work, you may be able to use plastic weld to weld the plastic back together and repair it enough to be usable at least initially until you find another one to salvage the casing from.

[@espressomatic]

"a brush and a blowout" - that's getting archived.

[@mattjames6349]

oooh that water colour after you'd cleaned it!

[@dogodie717]

God wished shipping to the UK from the US was not so expensive... I have one of those monitors in my garage... bought it new in 96ish and it still works.

[@jimmyschmidt14]

glue the bezel back together with superglue and fill gaps with baking soda/super glue.

[@sandycheeks7865]

My mum and I went halves on a P60 Packard Bell the same as this. Little did we know that 8mb was never enough for Win95, the 600Mb hard disk was woefully inadequate and the combi ISA card was a driver hell. Plus the pentium 60 was a faulty PENTIUM 75. Saved up £90 and cycled down to Dixon to get another 8Mb and they didn’t bother to tell me that they have to go in pairs….didn’t work and had to ride back and get another one. £180 for 16mb ram! Did get my first 33.6 modem for it though. Immediately ran up a £100 phone bill on compuserve PLUS the phone bill to go with it. What a rip off it all was!

[@julienlazarewicz7413]

Great video as always ! Could you give us some details about the cleaning product you use ?

[@BIGSCREENQUIZ]

Holy God , I had one of these

[@molten_software]

I'm working on a miniature model of that monitor at the moment. I have a mini of the 486 you did a video on a couple years ago with a thinclient PC inside. Would be sweet to get the matching monitor to go with it.

[@trufflemustard7951]

regarding the bath you gave to the board, how do you ensure there is no trapped moisture under components?

[@mrjsv4935]

Maybe Photonicinduction was carrying this monitor, and his smashy sledgehammer :D

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

I can also highly recommend 'AF Advanced technology Labelclene Heavy Duty Label Remover'. It’s the best sticky label remover I’ve ever used.

[@volkhen0]

Try gluing the monitor back together :) but you need to retro bright it first

[@MixologistMilo]

I have that monitor but sadly located in Nashville TN, sure you’ll find one closer to home

[@hjalfi]

That mouse ball cover replacement sequence needs to be broken out into a KZbin short.

[@maniatore2006]

Our first Family PC was one of these PB PCs, with that Desktop, motitor with Speekers, Key board mouse, it was a 120 MHz Pentium, 32 MB RAM, 1,2GB HDD and Later with a Diamonde Viper V550 (TNT) I still have the Master CD

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Yep, these were Packard Hell for anybody who tried to do support for people who bought them at their local Circuit City (usually the first computer they ever owned). Ah, the 90s'. DANG!!!!! That poor monitor.

[@glenbeavis]

used to repair these things in the 90's, well known to have very cheap parts and refurbished mobo etc from new, DSG ( currys Dixon PC world ) would really push these and make a healthy profit

[@jason_a_smith_gb]

it was dubbed, “Clucking Hell”. My Grandad had one. For the full experience you want to update IE 6 over a 56k modem. That is one gross keyboard. More dedicated than I.

[@nickwallette6201]

I hope you have better luck with retro bright than I did. I usually get along pretty well with it, but the two PB systems I have, which were both in need of de-yellowing, proved to be quite resistant to peroxide. I tried intentionally going too far, and it over bleached some of it, and under bleached other parts. A mix of yellow and albino ghostly white where none of it quite matches properly with other panels. Very very stubborn plastic, that.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

What I wouldn't give for the chance to trash to treasure a AST 486sx/25 advantage pro like the one we once had.

[@kaliban4758]

I had a packard bell back in the day, bunch of propietary crap in the case and on the hdd(hardware and software)

[@StormieOfSmeg]

I remember having to do system restorations as tech support for old PB's many, many years ago. I hope Neil enjoys the TATTOO procedure. If memory serves me correctly the TATTOO info is stored in the BIOS DMI and basically links the OS with the specific system hardware, changing one or more pieces of hardware requires the system to be re-tattoo'd (basically re-listing all the hardware in the system, including any replacement parts). Once the TATTOO is done then the system restore disk is used to install the OS. If the TATTOO fails it can be retried but it can lead to systems being bricked (in extreme cases). I'm a bit rusty on the info but I think some systems had some TATTOO info stored on the HDD as well (I may be getting that mixed up with old COMPAQ's though). I believe tattooing was a prerequisite Microsoft forced on OEM's to stop piracy.

[@kyoudaiken]

I doubt it was MS, MS couldn't care less because piracy brought Windows to what it is today. Pretty sure it are just anti repair practices. Even in the 90s already!

[@robertt1983]

I worked for Dixon's Group doing consumer PC support back in the early 2000's and hated taking customers through the TATTOO process, the data is on sector zero of the HDD and required a lot of unpublished info to get it to work

[@StormieOfSmeg]

@@robertt1983 pcservicecall by any chance? I was there from 98 to 02. Soul crushing place to work!

[@robertt1983]

@@StormieOfSmeg That's the place on good old Lenton Lane, I was there 2004-2005. I agree that wasn't a nice place to work

[@Antireality]

@@robertt1983 We were probably stuck in that tin shed at the same time (2003-2005 I think for me) - I'd mentally blocked out having to tattoo Packard Bells and the endless amount of dead emachines due to capacitor failures... Thanks for the memory :)