New Desktop PC: helpful advice welcomed

Brecon_Beacons

Please can I ask for suggestions?

My (hated, ghastly) Dell Dimension 3100 is on its last legs after 4 years. It groans, it's slower than Chinese Water Torture, and I loathe the huge hulking size of the bloody box.

I have to admit here, the kickings I have given it probably haven't helped.

I would like to keep the monitor and keyboard, but just replace the base unit. I would like to spend between £300 -£500. I'm not a gamer or heavy user in any respect - I use the PC for Microsoft Office applications, and surfing the net.

Any (constructive! i know that kicking the computer was wrong!) ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Knarf44

A supplier that gets a regular mention on here is Dino PC.

At the moment they have a Summer Sale on and you could get a very good Home/office system for less than £300 incl VAT plus delivery. Take a look and let us know what you think.

Brecon_Beacons

Thank you, I have had a look at the sale offers and they really are reasonable.

But it looks like they are enormous boxes again. I was hoping to get something smaller than the eighteen inch monster I currently keep stubbing my toes on - or does getting a smaller, lighter box mean paying more money?

Knarf44

The Stego AMD 550 comes in a box measuring 415mm x 182mm x 420mm - not exactly huge.

Maybe somthing like this or
this

Lokolo

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/227353

Something like this?

Product dimensions (W x D x H)
18.5 x 41.6 x 38.5 cm

Brecon_Beacons

Thank you, Lokolo and Knarf, I will give those units some serious consideration and compare the specs.

I like the look of the HP Compaq 600; but the Pro 3125 looks pretty good, too. Ah, decisions, decisions!

Very kind of you to help.

closed

reinstall windows, or post a hijackthis log, and physical ram/commit charge from task manager, and it won't be slow anymore. It's a perfectly usable machine, if you can get past the looks.

Brecon_Beacons

sorry Closed, couldn't follow the instructions - any translation available? I wouldn't know how to reinstall Windows, this machine was supplied with Windows XP pre-installed and I have no disc. What difference does it make, to re-install it?

I have tried doing the things that I know about - defrag and cleaning up the registry. Didn't make it any quicker. It makes a lot of noise and seems to have to 'run' (it whirrs and chunders away) very hard to do the simplest thing.

I've never liked it. I have a favourite daydream of taking a heavy mallet to it, as soon as I have a replacement.:)

The_Grandmaster

Reinstalling windows would mean you get the computer back to original conditions although by removing everything then putting windows back on (more or less). So you would have a computer with a speed like when you bought it.

Hijack this:
Download HijackThis 2.0.2 - FileHippo.com
Install the program, then DO A SYSTEM SCAN AND SAVE A LOGFILE. A notepad will appear, copy that log onto here for us.

closed

registry cleaners and defragging won't help, slowness is down to what you have running at startup, your installed ram and your commit charge (how much ram you're using)

run ccleaner, startuplite, full scan with malwarbytes (fix anything found), post hijackthislog and installed ram, current commit charge, peak commit charge figures

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2436849

if you're using mcafee/avg/norton/rapport/spybot/defender/adaware/superantispyware etc, uninstall then replace with avast5 free
if you're using a 3rd party firewall, uninstall and switch windows firewall on.

Alternatively, it comes with a factory restore partition, backup all your data to dvd or external hard disk, make sure it's readable, then factory restore it, 10 minutes later it will be fast as new (after uninstalling the mcafee trial and replacing with avast), instructions on how to do it are in the manual page 56, which is available on the dell website if you've lost it, in a nutshell, boot and hold down CTRL and F11, then do restore, this will wipe all your data and programs installed since purchase!

Don't hit it with a mallet, if you really don't want it, restore to factory settings, wipe free space with ccleaner, then ebay it, it's a good pc worth money.