Windows 7

debitcardmayhem

melbury wrote: »

Please can anyone answer the last big of my original post, which was:

Also, if I did buy a new computer is there any easy way of transferring the data over from my existing one or would it be more sensible to pay a computer person to come and do it for me?

As some of you already know, I am a complete technophobe and just don't really understand anything much about computers.

From what I read on here I think it will have to be a new computer.

I didn't download the free Windows 10 version when it was available because I thought it would cause problems - some people seemed to having some issues with it. My work computer is on Windows 10 and I think it is horrible, nowhere near as good as Windows 7:( I hate change, it it ain't broke don't fix it.

Sadly new PCs are going to be W10 (generally) ...

elsien

Do you not back up your laptop at regular intervals? If not, you should.
If yes, then you have the data all ready to transfer.

EveryWhere

VoucherMan wrote: »

I couldn't say for sure, but..

I had a quick look on my browsing history, and https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/ was the last related page I visited.




I got it as a cheap eBay refurb. I doubt it would be powerful enough to run a later version, plus I'm not aware of any free upgrades. It's still potentially useful for offline stuff like spreadsheets & watching videos, so I hang on to it 'just in case'. One day I'll have a de-clutter & take it to be recycled.

You are quite wrong. The specification of your device is still good and is ripe for upgrading with the fitting of an SSD.
But if you aren't willing to go it a go, there is no point in discussing it.
You can hand it over to someone else to do it for you, if you don't have any family members at hand.
Many people have the same misapprehension because of the combination of their old and slow mechanical hard drives together with bloatware and years of clutter. They think their devices are incapable.

But your Intel Core i3-2120 with it's 4 GB RAM will fly with the addition of a solid state drive.
Your CPU is more than doubly powerful than the CPU that I'm using now and this laptop is ready for use in less than half a minute from switching on. That is because of the use of a solid state drive.

Your old mechanical drive is dragging everything else down to it's level. With an SSD and a clean install of the operating system, you too will be surfing within thirty seconds of pressing the power button.

VoucherMan

EveryWhere wrote: »

You are quite wrong. The specification of your device is still good and is ripe for upgrading with the fitting of an SSD.
But if you aren't willing to go it a go, there is no point in discussing it.
You can hand it over to someone else to do it for you, if you don't have any family members at hand.
Many people have the same misapprehension because of the combination of their old and slow mechanical hard drives together with bloatware and years of clutter. They think their devices are incapable.

But your Intel Core i3-2120 with it's 4 GB RAM will fly with the addition of a solid state drive.

How about my Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz with 1GB of RAM?
I'd have no problem swapping the SSD if I felt inclined. I added one to my last PC. The obsolete OS is more of an issue (and no, I'm not willing to try Ubuntu/Linux again).
With respect though, I only stopped by here to try and offer a little encouragement to the OP. Better, I feel to try & deal with his issues.

VoucherMan

melbury wrote: »

Please can anyone answer the last big of my original post, which was:

Also, if I did buy a new computer is there any easy way of transferring the data over from my existing one or would it be more sensible to pay a computer person to come and do it for me?

What do you have / use on the old computer that you'd want to transfer to a new one? What do you use it for besides browsing the internet?

When I did mine I just copied a few files across with a USB stick. (imagine the sense of achievement when you've beaten the machine, done it all yourself, and of course saved a lot of money:money:) No? Not you? May as well pay someone then.

melbury wrote: »

My work computer is on Windows 10 and I think it is horrible, nowhere near as good as Windows 7:( I hate change, it it ain't broke don't fix it.

I too dislike change / Windows 10, but decided that I'll have to use it sooner or later, and the sooner I start, the easier it will be. Doing it now Could be a simple upgrade. Later is more likely to mean new PC/laptop.


Regarding a DIY upgrade (do you have any family / friends who could do it for you?), would it help to watch a video of the process to help convince you? This one looks okay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2cpyAa7yj8

EveryWhere

VoucherMan wrote: »

How about my Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz with 1GB of RAM?
I'd have no problem swapping the SSD if I felt inclined. I added one to my last PC. The obsolete OS is more of an issue (and no, I'm not willing to try Ubuntu/Linux again).
With respect though, I only stopped by here to try and offer a little encouragement to the OP. Better, I feel to try & deal with his issues.

Saved by it being a dual core.CPU. You would need to increase the RAM to perhaps 3 or 4 GB at the same time. Example; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laptop-Notebook-Memory-RAM-PC2-5300s-DDR2-4-gb-2-X-2-gb-200-pin/153551709626

Of course I don't know if it's a laptop. You would have to confirm the exact model.

You can then run Windows 10 32 bit or Windows 7 32 bit, if you wish.

Frozen_up_north

melbury wrote: »

I didn't download the free Windows 10 version when it was available because I thought it would cause problems - some people seemed to having some issues with it. My work computer is on Windows 10 and I think it is horrible, nowhere near as good as Windows 7:( I hate change, it it ain't broke don't fix it.

You can buy a genuine Windows 10 licence key on eBay for £5...

It is easy to change the appearance of Windows 10 using “Start is back”, “Classic Shell” or “Open Shell” (the latter two are free). The operation then becomes very similar to Win 7.

If you hate the idea of Cortana, then go for Win 10 Pro (£5 as above), you can turn off Cortana completely.

Win 10 Home is OK for most users, with a little internet searching you can find step by step instructions on the additional tweaks to customise Win 10 Pro, but it does work just the same as Home if you don’t want to learn how to tweak it.

melbury

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

You can buy a genuine Windows 10 licence key on eBay for £5...

It is easy to change the appearance of Windows 10 using “Start is back”, “Classic Shell” or “Open Shell” (the latter two are free). The operation then becomes very similar to Win 7.

If you hate the idea of Cortana, then go for Win 10 Pro (£5 as above), you can turn off Cortana completely.

Win 10 Home is OK for most users, with a little internet searching you can find step by step instructions on the additional tweaks to customise Win 10 Pro, but it does work just the same as Home if you don’t want to learn how to tweak it.

Sorry I don't really know what you mean by Cortana - is that all of the pictures that appear when you click on the windows symbol? Although it is on my work computer, I don't know much about it, e.g. still don't know how to log off if someone else is going to use my computer. I have to use ctrl/alt/delete and do it from there or shut down and start from scratch again. I don't see why they have to change basic things like that and hide them away.

A few people have said to me that it isn't worth replacing Windows 7 with Windows 10 on an old computer and to just go for a new computer with it already installed. Just seems a shame when my computer still works pretty well.

melbury

VoucherMan wrote: »

What do you have / use on the old computer that you'd want to transfer to a new one? What do you use it for besides browsing the internet?

When I did mine I just copied a few files across with a USB stick. (imagine the sense of achievement when you've beaten the machine, done it all yourself, and of course saved a lot of money:money:) No? Not you? May as well pay someone then.







I too dislike change / Windows 10, but decided that I'll have to use it sooner or later, and the sooner I start, the easier it will be. Doing it now Could be a simple upgrade. Later is more likely to mean new PC/laptop.


Regarding a DIY upgrade (do you have any family / friends who could do it for you?), would it help to watch a video of the process to help convince you? This one looks okay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2cpyAa7yj8

Well it is mainly photographs and documents. I wonder if they would fit onto a USB, might give that a go in advance of making the change.

Online there is also a long list of websites that I use all the time that were imported from IE when I change to Chrome, plus loads of bookmarked sites, probably dozens! What would be the best way of keeping those sites that are actually online? Snipping tool and pasting into word and printing off perhaps?

Frozen_up_north

Cortana is the Microsoft version of “Alexa” or “Siri”, it’s an assistant that many of us detest.