Do I need a new PC?
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tazwhoever wrote: »ChuckMountain, thanks.
Ideally I wish to take out HDD and put in SSD (Win7 and all the applications). Throwing away HDD in the bin.
Can I refer you back to reply #12 and #52, and ask why you feel the need to trash a perfectly good HDD?0 -
tazwhoever wrote: »ChuckMountain, thanks.
Ideally I wish to take out HDD and put in SSD (Win7 and all the applications). Throwing away HDD in the bin.
That's why I was asking is SSD 120GB equivalent to HDD 320gb, or do I need more on SSD?
My current drive is HDD 320GB -
Drive C: 64.4GB free on 288GB
Drive
3GB free on 10GB.
With brands, which is better Kingston, SanDisk or Crucial, and so on?
Thanks for advice on Ram.
Putting aside throwing away the disk for a second.
You have used quite a lot of the available space on the drive. Whilst a fresh install might well give you some space from unused programs if you have a lot of photos, music, documents etc. you still need space for it. You would need to double check this before proceeding.
120GB represents the size of the SSD, that's just a 1/3 of the size of your current hard drive.
Worst case scenario at the moment you have used 223.6GB as reported by Windows would be the equivalent of a 240GB drive so even a new one of that size would be full by your current consumption.
If you were to throw away the disk, the next size up is around 500GB which is around £100 to buy so you cost has gone up again.
Now if you don't throw the drive away you would have 440GB of total space for £25 which will keep you going for longer.0 -
tazwhoever wrote: »Thanks,
Could you kindly let me know which SSD drive and Ram 4GB/8GB I could buy from Amazon. I don't shop from eBay.
I already linked to the SSD and already asked twice about the Service Tag.
It appears that I'm not one the one to advise you on the upgrade, as for every option I suggest, you look to another.
I suggest for you to buy via eBay. If you don't wish to purchase via eBay then I can't help you.
No time to trawl through Amazon looking for the best deal when you already have a perfectly good option. Plus you'll likely end up paying a fair bit more.
It will be better in that case to look at the £65 PC in post #93 if still available. It's less than six years old and already has an SSD fitted. A lot better overall than your current machine, even with the upgrades.
Since ChuckMountain seems so keen to interject, I'll leave the floor to him.
Good luck.0 -
ChuckMountain wrote: »The bios file that Everywhere linked to earlier, is a modified bios file hosted on the anonymous file sharing site Mega.
Dell use unique filenames in their bios files that correspond to the version of the bios. New version, new file name.
The latest version of the bios on Dell's website shares the same filename as the mega one, however the file is very much different in binary content. Therefore it has been modified, with the right tools this is not hard.
That sounds like it could be a pretty major security risk...? I've not come across malicious BIOS modifications before, but I'd be very suspicious about downloading a BIOS update from anyone other than the PC/motherboard manufacturer.how come a bios update allows a different version of windows to be installed ? Fully legally i might add
So... is the BIOS a hacked version from an unauthorised source, or have Dell made a version available that allows a free upgrade to a different OS?
When you say it's "fully legal", does it contravene Microsoft's licensing terms?
I'm just interested in knowing more about how this works.
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That sounds like it could be a pretty major security risk...? I've not come across malicious BIOS modifications before, but I'd be very suspicious about downloading a BIOS update from anyone other than the PC/motherboard manufacturer.
So... is the BIOS a hacked version from an unauthorised source, or have Dell made a version available that allows a free upgrade to a different OS?
When you say it's "fully legal", does it contravene Microsoft's licensing terms?
I'm just interested in knowing more about how this works.
If you aren't capable of understanding my reply to you earlier, don't expect anyone else to be able to explain it to you any better. Of course you can choose to swallow ChuckMountain's offerings. Wherein you throw some mud and hope some of it sticks.
Remember that the title of this thread is "Do I need a new PC?". But it seems that hijacking threads is the name of the game around here.
I took time out to explain it to you. Perhaps you should just read it again if you don't understand or just utilise Google. Better still, take it to PM with ChuckMountain. Then you will really understand how much he really knows and how much is being made up as he goes along.
Why hijack a thread? Start your own if you want to discuss unrelated matters at length.0 -
EveryWhere wrote: »If you aren't capable of understanding my reply to you earlier, don't expect anyone else to be able to explain it to you any better. Of course you can choose to swallow ChuckMountain's offerings. Wherein you throw some mud and hope some of it sticks.
Remember that the title of this thread is "Do I need a new PC?". But it seems that hijacking threads is the name of the game around here.
I took time out to explain it to you. Perhaps you should just read it again if you don't understand or just utilise Google. Better still, take it to PM with ChuckMountain. Then you will really understand how much he really knows and how much is being made up as he goes along.
Why hijack a thread? Start your own if you want to discuss unrelated matters at length.
What on earth are you on about? (What on earth are you on?!)
All you said was to install a BIOS version from a dodgy source and then borrow someone else's copy of Win7.
Why would I PM ChuckMountain when it appears that he knows as much as I do about whatever you're going on about.
Why keep waffling on about nothing at all, prompting others to ask for clarification when you could just explain yourself properly?
If it's the case that this is a hacked version of the BIOS from a dodgy source, and you can use a particular version of someone else's OEM-supplied installation DVD, then fine. It's up to the OP what they want to do.
Half-explaining something is likely to confuse the OP and any others who are trying to contribute to the point of the thread.0 -
RAM has been ordered and seen YouTube videos.
With SSD - will order Samsung 500GB 860 Evo one with Amazon. According to "mrmemory" site it's compatible with Dell 530s. Samsung also have a cloning software, makes it easier "Samsung Data Migration". That I can throw that HDD in the bin!
Will save over £200 from buying a refurbished PC.
I will get back to you guys, if any problems.
Thank you for a lenghly discussion.0 -
What on earth are you on about? (What on earth are you on?!)
All you said was to install a BIOS version from a dodgy source and then borrow someone else's copy of Win7.
Why would I PM ChuckMountain when it appears that he knows as much as I do about whatever you're going on about.
Why keep waffling on about nothing at all, prompting others to ask for clarification when you could just explain yourself properly?
If it's the case that this is a hacked version of the BIOS from a dodgy source, and you can use a particular version of someone else's OEM-supplied installation DVD, then fine. It's up to the OP what they want to do.
Half-explaining something is likely to confuse the OP and any others who are trying to contribute to the point of the thread.
OP doesn't appear to be as confused as ChuckMountain and yourself.
In fact none of the people on this thread owning an Inspiron 530 has made any comment nor made an enquiry regarding the BIOS update.
So your interjections have only served to disrupt the thread.
Nevertheless the OP has made their choice and I'm sure ChuckMountain and yourself will be on-hand to assist them.
You can go off and learn more about the subject and I can put you on ignore. A win-win for both.0 -
tazwhoever wrote: »RAM has been ordered and seen YouTube videos.
With SSD - will order Samsung 500GB 860 Evo one with Amazon. According to "mrmemory" site it's compatible with Dell 530s. Samsung also have a cloning software, makes it easier "Samsung Data Migration". That I can throw that HDD in the bin!
Will save over £200 from buying a refurbished PC.
I will get back to you guys, if any problems.
Thank you for a lenghly discussion.
If you are spending around £150, how are you saving over £200? Was the refurb PC you had in mind £350?
Did you mean that instead of spending over £200, you are spending around £150?
I think I understand why you have decided to go that way, as it's easiest for you to simply clone the drive and therefore to not need to worry about needing to back-up data etc.
But overall it's quite a poor decision, both from a money saving and technical perspective.
We still don't know the specification of your machine, as you steadfastly refuse to give it to us.
The likelihood is that you installed Windows 7 32 bit when you upgraded, so you are going to be cloning 32 bit to your new drive and perhaps upgrading to Windows 10 32 bit in due course.
So not all of your RAM will be addressed. Not a huge issue, but also not best practice.
This is why my advice was for a clean install all along. Less issues with a clean install of the OS, as opposed to an upgrade.
Unfortunately a couple of posters decided to take the thread off at a tangent, leaving you to make the somewhat odd decision to possibly clone all of the bloatware, old versions and perhaps even malware from the old system. No analysis of this at all.
Better to have a clean boot drive, keep the HDD as secondary storage and then only move over what you need. Better performance overall for £30, not £150.
The £65 refurb machine would easily outperform the machine on which you will have just spent £150. The Central Processing Unit(the engine) far superior. You could argue more than four times as powerful.
Plus ample space inside to fit your old HDD. 120 GB SSD for your programs and 320 GB HDD for storage. Your claim to have saved over £200 is somewhat...confusing.
You could have purchased the £65 machine and purchased a new Full HD IPS monitor(if you are still using the original monitor) for just a little more than you are currently spending
https://www.ebuyer.com/796219-acer-et241ybi-23-8-full-hd-ips-hdmi-monitor-um-qe1ee-001
£165 in total.
Notwithstanding, it's your money and your choice. "Too many cooks" did for you and this thread. You can take a horse to water and all that...0 -
tazwhoever wrote: »Just had a look at refurbished desktops, are the three dell computers any good for the price? I price seems OK for the more up to date PC. Which is better?
https://maximumcomputers.co.uk/shop/ssd-solid-state-drive-pcs/
Thanks for all your advice so far.
I was thinking about the Dell £325, until I was advised to upgrade my own PC.
4GB maximum RAM and SDD 500GB.0
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