Adding a dial-up modem to a new computer

[Eric the Grey]

After all the advice given here RA, I'll only offer one more.

Go to a computer shop and buy your modem there. If you can find a small mom & pop shop, all the better, because they tend to know their equipment better than BB and their ilk does.

Anyway, look at the boxes and make sure whatever you get supports Windows 7. If you cannot find one that does, look at the Vista compatable ones, and go home and check them out online. Hardware that supports Vista are more likely to support Win 7 than older ones are.

I also agree that USB modems are your best bet. You won't have to crack open the case then. Just plug it in and let windows load the proper drivers for it.


Eric the Grey

[dalesys]

I paid close to three hundred dollars for my 14.4 modem

Okay, it was, what, 1990. But still.....


Gak! That was _20_ years ago! I think I will go quietly sit in the corner and feel old now......

$400 for the new high speed 1200 baud (the 300 bauds were $200-$300)

<older than dirt>

My first "PC" had 256 bytes of RAM.

[Racket_Man]

$400 for the new high speed 1200 baud (the 300 bauds were $200-$300)

<older than dirt>

My first "PC" had 256 bytes of RAM.

paid like $400 or $500 for a 300 bps modem for my Apple][+ (64k RAM) back in 1982

[Retail Associate]

Well, here's what I've done so far. This morning before heading off to work I opened the old Compaq and removed the modem card then looked at the slot it came out of and compared it to the slot where the modem would go in the new emachines PC. They look identical so I installed the modem card into the emachines.

I haven't powered up the emachines PC yet because I haven't had time and I want to do some research to find out if this modem is compatible with Windows 7. Since it's from an older machine (that had Windows Me as an OS) it probably won't be and I don't want to mess up the new PC.

I think I'd feel better taking it to someone who knows what the heck they're doing. It will have to wait though because things are really tight right now. I'm anxious to fire the thing up. Guess I could still try it out even though I can't get online with it.

Damn dial-up!



Edited to add: After doing a bit of surfing it's highly unlikely this modem will work with Windows 7. I've looked at the USB modems and I'm thinking that might be the way to go.

[Der Cute]

Hey! Good job!
The way to find out if it's compatible is get the DRIVERS for the modem.

You'd need a hardware name/ mfg for it.

But, go ahead and do the USB modems if you feel better doing that. But you opened a case and did it by yourself, which IS GREAT!

Oh, why dialup...no broadband @ all in your area? Check Clearwire.

Cutenoob

[Retail Associate]

I've opened the Compaq many times to clean it, etc. This thread tells the tale of the time I had to reset the modem and all the fun I had doing it. I really didn't want to open the emachines PC because I figured it would void the warranty.

Verizon is the only game in town as far as I know and I'm too far from the exchange to get DSL. I've never checked into Clearwire though. Comcast is available here but even if I could afford it, I refuse to ever do business with that company again.

[Eric the Grey]

Since you've installed the card, powering it up and seeing if Windows recognizes it and has a set of drivers included that will work is really the best way to tell.

If it doesn't work, it'll ask you for a driver disk. If it does, it'll tell you it's installing the drivers and then be done.


Eric the Grey

[lordlundar]

Since it's from an older machine (that had Windows Me as an OS) it probably won't be and I don't want to mess up the new PC.

Usually, the worst that will happen is the machine will say it won't work and leave it at that. Honestly, I have had bigger issues resulting from something being compatible than not.

[PepperElf]

there's another option too if you can't add a card to the computer
you can buy a USB connector that can hook up to a phone line
i bought one for my mac laptop because mom was on dialup for a while.

[Retail Associate]

I decided to boot up the new PC with the V.90 modem in place and it is not compatible. Got a message telling me so. That was pretty simple!

It seems a bit slow, takes a few seconds just to open a folder. One thing I was really impressed with is the new monitor. The resolution is just gorgeous!



ETA: I just spent the last 5 hours online trying to find an internal modem that is compatible and I cannot find one. I found some that are compatible with many other eMachines, just not this particular model. I'm giving up for now.