How old is my computer?

[mnbvcxz]

I bought a Compaq PC years ago, it runs Vista, is there any way of finding out when I first used the machine, maybe creating the first file perhaps, how could i find this date?
TIA

 

[Chuck(G)]

You're asking two questions. If you want to know how old it is, the date codes on the ICs can give a clue. As to when you first used it, you might try to find the earliest dated file that you wrote.

In any case, it's younger than the bottle of Tabasco in my refrigerator.

 

[mnbvcxz]

I have many files on the PC , they all have a "date modified" which if I click on some of them, I get the "date created 01/01/2009", I doubt I created scores or hundreds of files on that date, I doubt if I bought the machine on that date.

 

[krebizfan]

That could be the date that the manufacturer installed Vista on the hard drive. The official build date should be embedded in the serial number. Given the approximate age of that system, there could be a 4 digit year code followed by a 2 digit week code.

If it isn't clear what the year is, check with the Compaq website which should have search on the serial to provide additional information.

 

[mnbvcxz]

Skimming through the documents on my hard drive, the earliest date I see that I might have created is Feb 2011, so this will be close enough, Thank you.

 

[mnbvcxz]

New question: would Vista still run if I replaced the motherboard and processor, with a B450 and Athlon 200ge?

 

[Hak Foo]

You'd probably have a hard time getting drivers for recent hardware. AMD only offers B450 drivers for Windows 7+.

If you *need* Vista, it probably makes sense to look for period-appropriate hardware, or maybe try running it in a Virtual Machine, depending on your use case.

 

[T-R-A]

New question: would Vista still run if I replaced the motherboard and processor, with a B450 and Athlon 200ge?

Newer (XP and after) versions of Windows tend to upchuck on hardware changes such as those (Google "hardware abstraction layer") If you're going to replace that much, may as well replace the entire system and OS as well. You'll have far fewer problems with shoehorning Vista to work and (as mentioned) driver support.

 

[oldpcguy]

I bought a Compaq PC years ago, it runs Vista, is there any way of finding out when I first used the machine, maybe creating the first file perhaps, how could i find this date?
TIA

From the Windows command line you can type "systeminfo" which will return, as part of its results, the original Windows installation date. Assuming this is the original installation on the system this would give you an approximate age of the system. If not then you'll need to get that from the hardware itself. As already suggested retrieving the information from Compaq based on the serial number is probably your best bet. If not then perhaps the BIOS revision date can get you a rough idea.

 

[mnbvcxz]

Thanks for all the replies, the machine is starting to show its age, slow responses, warnings of a faulty hard drive and recently boot time nearly doubling.
It seems a mother board replacement is a bridge to far, so I will install a faster version of the existing processor and install an SSD.
Thanks again.