PC tower & monitor shopping around

cisko65

debitcardmayhem said:

You could connect your laptop to a tv

Thanks, but I need to work in a different room. I'll try and connect the laptop to the PC monitor and take it from there.

GDB2222

cisko65 said:

GDB2222 said:

What I would do is take the hard drtive out of your old PC. (I can explain how if it's not obvious.)

Then put it into a 'caddy'. Like this one:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RSHTECH-External-Enclosure-Portable-Support-Black/dp/B07CNZLFGZ

Then you can connect the caddy to your laptop, and hopefully just copy across any files or folders you need.

And, for goodness sake, do a virus check. That windows 7 installation is wide, wide open!

 

Thanks GDB2222 
Your advice seems above my abilities (from opening the hard drive, even with instructions). And it still needs to be checked if it's a hardware problem or not. For now I'll try and connect my laptop (Windows 10) to the PC monitor.

If you want to get your data back from the tower pc, someone is going to have to open the pc case and take out the hard drive. A computer store can do that very easily, and it’s the sort of thing that can be done whilst you wait. 

The store can sell you a suitable caddy and install the hard drive for you. It only takes a minute or two. 

You don’t need to diagnose the problem with the tower computer, if you just want the data. In fact, a pc that old is junk, really, so I would not recommend trying to fix it. 

400ixl

cisko65 said:

Thanks SimplyBetter. I'm afraid it doesn't sound too easy. I don't even understand where to find SSD and  HDD in the PC.

It is poor advice anyway IMO (and others).

That Desktop is not suitable anymore and trying to resurrect is just not worth doing even on a money saving site. If you want to stay with hardware you have, then the laptop is the choice and just connect it to your existing monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. That in itself is pretty low spec so with Windows 11 and 12 coming it really is better to replace both with a newer laptop that you can use for mobility and with the monitor. You can as pointed out get something that will be future proof for anything from £250 upwards, with something in the £350 range more than optimum.

Recovering the data will depend on the hard drive status and depends if it is the drive which is faulty or the PC.

If the PC is locking up (freezing and becoming unresponsive) then it would well be the hard disk is dying and as soon as it starts to get warm then the disk stops working. This will mean that even swapping it to a caddy as mentioned will not resolve the issue as it will continue to do the same.

If however the lock up is memory related then the caddy work idea will work. Same if it is a processor issue. Both of these also add more cost to the SimplyBetter resolution and you could be chasing parts all over the place. It could be disk, memory, processor, motherboard, power supply etc etc.

How important is the data on the hard drive that is not on your Google drive? If it is important and you know a PC guy, then ask them to see if they can recover the data for you. If not then have a go yourself, but let it go if it doesn't work.

Heedtheadvice

Have sent you a p.m.

Cisco001

Cheap PC at CEX

HP 290 G3 SFF/i5-10400/16GB DDR4/256GB SSD/W11/B £115

Monitor - Cheap £24" is around £66
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C66CFQRV?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=pepperugc03-21&ascsubtag=ppr-uk-2772654502

27" is £84
https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/iiyama-g-master-black-hawk-27-full-hd-ips-gaming-monitor-100hz-1ms-freesync-speakers-free-fr-tec-ghost-headset-with-code-4482122

SimplyBetter

400ixl said:

cisko65 said:

Thanks SimplyBetter. I'm afraid it doesn't sound too easy. I don't even understand where to find SSD and  HDD in the PC.

It is poor advice anyway IMO (and others).

That Desktop is not suitable anymore and trying to resurrect is just not worth doing even on a money saving site. If you want to stay with hardware you have, then the laptop is the choice and just connect it to your existing monitor, keyboard, mouse etc. That in itself is pretty low spec so with Windows 11 and 12 coming it really is better to replace both with a newer laptop that you can use for mobility and with the monitor. You can as pointed out get something that will be future proof for anything from £250 upwards, with something in the £350 range more than optimum.

Recovering the data will depend on the hard drive status and depends if it is the drive which is faulty or the PC.

If the PC is locking up (freezing and becoming unresponsive) then it would well be the hard disk is dying and as soon as it starts to get warm then the disk stops working. This will mean that even swapping it to a caddy as mentioned will not resolve the issue as it will continue to do the same.

If however the lock up is memory related then the caddy work idea will work. Same if it is a processor issue. Both of these also add more cost to the SimplyBetter resolution and you could be chasing parts all over the place. It could be disk, memory, processor, motherboard, power supply etc etc.

How important is the data on the hard drive that is not on your Google drive? If it is important and you know a PC guy, then ask them to see if they can recover the data for you. If not then have a go yourself, but let it go if it doesn't work.

It's the HDD. You are over egging the pudding. It will be usable with a cheap SSD. £15 would cover it. PC would be good up to October 2026. Future proofing is just nonsense. Anything from 8th Gen will run Windows 11. OP isn't simulating a moon landing in 3D. The 10th Gen suggested by Cisco001 is more than adequate. You are just getting carried away. Calling 10th Gen 'junk' is just childish.

Intel Pentium N3700 @ 1.60GHz Benchmark 1255
Intel Celeron G530 @ 2.40GHz Benchmark 1126

There is little difference between their laptop and PC. Though both can be made usable with the addition of SSD. But better to buy a cheap device as suggested by myself and Cisco001. You've had your say....

victor2

Beginning to feel sorry for the OP. Came here with what seemed (to the OP at least) a simple question, and has stirred up lots of conflicting "advice" about alternative things to do...

SimplyBetter

victor2 said:

Beginning to feel sorry for the OP. Came here with what seemed (to the OP at least) a simple question, and has stirred up lots of conflicting "advice" about alternative things to do...

Nonsense. Most are in agreement and that includes the OP's friend.
Devices can be refurbished, but the general advice is to buy an inexpensive PC, as initially suggested by the OP's friend. Cisco001's suggestion exceeds the specification and the price is right. I illustrated that you can get a Windows 11 PC that far outperforms their current device for £55.
No conflicts other than a single poster going off at a tangent. 

A friend said the following would be enough:

- a 2-3 old model, like a 10th generation processor intel core i5

- 8 gb

booneruk

It's more than likely the hard drive failing, but hard locks can be from any component that's failing really.

It's either a case of diagnosing the fault by swapping parts until it all works great, or biting the bullet and getting a MSE style cheap replacement that will do well years into the future (Windows11 support being a factor). One of the Dell / HP OEMs with Intel 8thgen+ as mentioned in this thread would do great.

To be honest, I'd get the replacement PC and try to get someone in the know to copy whatever can be salvaged of value from the old drive onto the new. Doing this saves a potential diagnostic nightmare.

cisko65

Thanks everybody. I got a cable and connected my laptop to the desktop screen. It works! Hopefully it will last for a while. In the next few days I'll re-read all the comments as there are many suggestions to consider, particularly the kind offers to help recover the folders. Thanks again. Sleep tight.