Desktop computer, time to upgrade

Happychappy

Hi, I would be grateful if anyone could post or recommend any good deals on a desktop PC, my Dell Inspiron is giving up the ghost, so time to change it. I just need the PC, I have dual monitors, a sound system, keyboard and mouse, just need a decent PC for surfing for LadyboysRus etc

The computer is mainly for using Microsoft office and a few low keys programs, not memory hungry or fast processing, doesn't need a super duper graphics card as I don't use it for gaming etc, I have a 2TB and a 1TB external drive for backing up photos with Acronis True Image

Any suggestions or sites to look at please ?

AndyPix

What is the spec of your inspiron ??

There is no reason it should be "giving up the ghost" for the usage you mention ..

What is it not doing that you would like it to do ?

Andy

no1catman

Happychappy - when I needed to change from very slow machine on 'XP' (getting on the internet could take 10 minutes), I checked a few PC magazines found whose machines did well in tests.
I chose Chillblast as a result - played around with what I wanted, and got the monitor elsewhere (old one was cathode tube one).


Happy with what I have - I do miss lack of floppy disk!

Happychappy

Hi, it's an Inspiron 530, over the last year it has got very slow, I.e. From switching on to loading the first page such as Google on either IE or Opera takes around 10 minutes, and then it has a few minutes where pages open, and then it will hang for another 5 or ten minutes before loading.

Yesterday, the sounds starting a loud buzzing followed by the screen suddenly going off then came back with a Blue Screen saying some data error had occurred and the computer had closed to save losing data ?, it was a dark blue screen which I thought would be it, but then I switched it off and restarted and although it took another ten mins + to load, it seems ok. Today the sound started the loud buzzing again like yesterday, so I immediately closed down the browser and restarted again, and so far ok

I update all the Microsoft updates, I run CCleaner, Windows defender, Spybot and Malwarebytes on a regular basis, I run regular scans with Avast and every now and then run a registry cleaner with Ccleaner ?

The OS is Windows 7 which I have the disc for, and I use Microsoft Office 2010 which takes a good ten minutes to load the first email ? I cleared out the add on's etc, but Outlook still takes longer to load then to write a letter and tie it to Speckled Jims leg like in the old days !

AndyPix

This sounds like a failing hard drive.. But also I suspect malware ..

If you boot to safe mode - is it faster ?

Andy

Cycrow

How old is the computer, and have you ever cleaned it ?
and i mean physically cleaning the fans out.

if not, its possible the pc is starting to get too hot due to lack of cooling causing problems.
This could also be why its running slower, as pcs will start throttling to reduce the heat

heat is probably one of the main reasons for hardware to fail

Happychappy

AndyPix wrote: »

This sounds like a failing hard drive.. But also I suspect malware ..

If you boot to safe mode - is it faster ?

Andy

Andy

No I haven't tried that ? Is that holding F8 on start up ?

Happychappy

Cycrow wrote: »

How old is the computer, and have you ever cleaned it ?
and i mean physically cleaning the fans out.

if not, its possible the pc is starting to get too hot due to lack of cooling causing problems.
This could also be why its running slower, as pcs will start throttling to reduce the heat

heat is probably one of the main reasons for hardware to fail

Cyclone

I will try that this afternoon and let you know, thanks

victor2

Happychappy wrote: »

Hi, it's an Inspiron 530, over the last year it has got very slow, I.e. From switching on to loading the first page such as Google on either IE or Opera takes around 10 minutes, and then it has a few minutes where pages open, and then it will hang for another 5 or ten minutes before loading.

Yesterday, the sounds starting a loud buzzing followed by the screen suddenly going off then came back with a Blue Screen saying some data error had occurred and the computer had closed to save losing data ?, it was a dark blue screen which I thought would be it, but then I switched it off and restarted and although it took another ten mins + to load, it seems ok. Today the sound started the loud buzzing again like yesterday, so I immediately closed down the browser and restarted again, and so far ok

I update all the Microsoft updates, I run CCleaner, Windows defender, Spybot and Malwarebytes on a regular basis, I run regular scans with Avast and every now and then run a registry cleaner with Ccleaner ?

The OS is Windows 7 which I have the disc for, and I use Microsoft Office 2010 which takes a good ten minutes to load the first email ? I cleared out the add on's etc, but Outlook still takes longer to load then to write a letter and tie it to Speckled Jims leg like in the old days !

I have just put an SSD into an Inspiron 530 and re-installed Windows 7 onto it. Very satisfying and it runs a treat now. Has MS Office on it amongst other packages. For a 2009 "vintage" machine, it gives more than satisfactory performance. 240GB SSD was under £70 on Amazon.

Happychappy

Victor, that's sounds like an option ? Was it easy to swap over from the standard hard drive to the SSD, also did you leave the old hard drive in, and how did you swap over the data ? I back up with Acronis, but have never had to use it, so really don't know how easy it would be, also worried about all the rubbish built up from the old hard drive copying over, or is that not how it works ?

victor2

Happychappy wrote: »

Victor, that's sounds like an option ? Was it easy to swap over from the standard hard drive to the SSD, also did you leave the old hard drive in, and how did you swap over the data ? I back up with Acronis, but have never had to use it, so really don't know how easy it would be, also worried about all the rubbish built up from the old hard drive copying over, or is that not how it works ?

Wasn't too painful. Had to change the BIOS settings and use the RAID option for the hard drive instead of IDE, but then not configure the RAID options. I replaced the current drive so I would have something to fall back on if there was a problem. I already had a 1TB drive in there as a backup drive, and it still works exactly as before (using the Windows 7 Backup utility).
Did a clean install of Windows 7, which of course meant I had to reinstall all my apps as well. I just copied data over from the old drive, which I put into a USB caddy I have. A week later I've almost got it sorted...
Figured it is a little faster because of the clean install, but can't get away from the improvement the SSD gives. At the login screen, hit enter after putting my password in and the desktop is there, ready to use, in about a second.

Had a minor issue with actually fitting the drive in, as it's 2.5" (I believe most are). A 2.5 to 3.5 adapter was no use as the drives are mounted vertically in the case and the screw holes don't line up with a 2.5" drive. Bit of a bodge, but got it held firmly in place eventually.