Do I need a new PC?
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EveryWhere wrote: »Please stop with the voice of doom....it's annoying.
Oh get over yourself already, this is not a personal dig, just another view :eek:
You have given the OP some of the steps needed but you haven't given them all, its like telling somebody to fix their own boiler yet not telling the exact parts or that they should have certain tools.
EveryWhere wrote: »Seriously, you really need to stop with your tendency to overcomplicate things.
No I am trying to be practical for somebody that has not attempted it before. Give them the right information. :mad: You have given him a link for the memory but not stated which ones he needs out of the long list. It might be obvious to you or I but not to somebody that does not know.EveryWhere wrote: »No one asked about HEVC/4 k video, but here you are again, obfuscating.
No one asked about HD video either, and he may well get away with playing some anyway with his current setup.EveryWhere wrote: »The OP will be able to do the upgrade with just the items I have mentioned earlier and actually it's a bit irritating trying to assist without having someone making irrelevant and incorrect comments over one's shoulder.
So you are the only person allowed to give advice now regardless of whether other people think it is good, bad or incomplete
My comments are still very much relevant you might disagree but there you go.EveryWhere wrote: »Initially the OP will simply swap drives, so no need for extra cables and since SSD have no moving parts, there is no need for it to be "held securely in place". Waste of time and money. A loop of sticky tape will do it.
So at the point where OP wants to access old files he needs a cable. We don't know if the OP has velcro, again something you are assuming. What might seem like second nature to a PC upgrader is going to be a learning curve for a new person.EveryWhere wrote: »Once again, they won't be limited to Windows 7 HP, but you don't appear capable of understanding that, since I've already stated it at least twice.
Either way, media will be supplied as needed.
Sorry you are going to need run that past me a third time. What do you not understand about a licence key being specific to a version of Windows i.e. if you are licensed for W7 Home Premium that is all you are going to get. If it was Vista then an upgrade doesn't make any difference to the key.
How will media be supplied to the OP??
If you buy Windows 7 Pro (or any other version) then fine you may well get media\download link but that is an additional cost.EveryWhere wrote: »So the initially upgrades need nothing more than stated. Quick and easy.
Refitting the old HDD may need another cable or two, but that can be done later.
So why not mention that at the start. You need a new cable pretty quickly in the grand scheme of things to access the data on the old drive.
OP you might want to have a look at this dusty video ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tWq2e6YY8I
Another video showing you the inside (this one eventually confirms there is an additional power adaptor for the SATA connector so hopefully you don't need a splitter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJYR4CBM4rEEveryWhere wrote: »So you don't know that it is the E2160, but yet once again you introduce the voice of negativity. You didn't even ask about the spec beforehand.
Either way, for just over £30, it will be a noticable improvement over the current performance.
That was the standard spec at the time but I am trying to be realistic. It's still a ten year old machine with probably a slow processor0 -
I'm not going to quote the incredible load of waffle above.
It has already been written that the OP will be guided step by step throughout the process.
Giving a novice a mass of information all at once is not a good idea.
Keep it simple. Step by step. BIOS update, install RAM, swap HDD for SSD, install Windows 7 Professional 64 bit using DELL media or equivalent.. Machine up and running.
Re-connect old HDD, enable in BIOS etc
Yes, the seller of RAM on eBay has different combos for sale. If the OP decides to go forward, then a discussion of which RAM to purchase can take place.
Cheapest option in 2 x 1 GB for £3.99. Taking the RAM to 4 GB. Total spend for upgrade around £30.
Of course they can install 6 GB or 8GB, but that is perhaps overkill for "homework and Internet".
4GB together with SSD will make the machine a pleasure to use.
Fit a £20 graphics card and the kids can plug the PC into a flat screen TV to watch high quality media via the TV.
Step by step. No need to bombard with conjecture and negativity. The whole thing can be done in a day, even by a novice.0 -
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.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.
No, no, no, no, no....
They are not more up to date. Much the same as your PC, but with the upgrades that I have suggested.
Your PC would be much the same with £30 worth of upgrades.
Actually if you wanted 8GB of RAM and a 240 GB SSD, it set you back around £75 in total.
But 4GB RAM and 120 GB SSD will be just fine for your usage.
Example of PC in your link; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Optiplex-780-Small-form-factor-CORE2QUAD-2-4GHz-8GIG-RAM-320GIG-HD-DVDRW/132606310088 £50. Swap HDD with a 240 GB SSD cost £50 and you have the same thing for £100 in total. As opposed to £245.
This is why you need to learn how to do these relatively simple jobs.0 -
EveryWhere wrote: »I'm not going to quote the incredible load of waffle above.
It has already been written that the OP will be guided step by step throughout the process.
Giving a novice a mass of information all at once is not a good idea.
And giving a novice incorrect advice really does not help the situation when they are asking why the heck it isn't working but go ahead I am sure you will get him there in the end.tazwhoever wrote: »Keep it simple. Step by step. BIOS update, install RAM, swap HDD for SSD, install Windows 7 Professional 64 bit using DELL media or equivalent.. Machine up and running.
No No No No, the first step in an upgrade should be a Backup ! Or are you going to explain how recovery of data works if something goes wrong which there is a chance that it will. If you are advocating not doing a backup then you should not be giving advice!tazwhoever wrote: »Have my PC since 2008, Windows 7 32bit home, MS Office 2010 running VM internet.
Thanks
You seem to misunderstand the concept of Windows licencing.
The OP has Home edition he does not have a Pro edition. You cannot use the same key for Home with a Pro media Dell or otherwise it does not work, it will not activate nor will it be licensed. Which bit do you not get? It would be like MS saying buy the cheapest key for Wiindows and use it with the media for the most expensive one.tazwhoever wrote: »Yes, the seller of RAM on eBay has different combos for sale. If the OP decides to go forward, then a discussion of which RAM to purchase can take place.
Cheapest option in 2 x 1 GB for £3.99. Taking the RAM to 4 GB. Total spend for upgrade around £30.
Of course they can install 6 GB or 8GB, but that is perhaps overkill for "homework and Internet".
4GB together with SSD will make the machine a pleasure to use.
You need to check before recommending, might want to have a look at the service manual. The machine only has 2 memory slots so buying an additional 2 x 1GB won't work
tazwhoever wrote: »Step by step. No need to bombard with conjecture and negativity. The whole thing can be done in a day, even by a novice.
It could however you forgot to tell them to buy a SATA cable, you got the Windows version wrong all of which would have added to the elapsed time of the build. No mention of drivers install which given they only supply Vista drivers\media on Dell still needs to be addressed.
Prepare properly and spend less time going round in circles.
Instead you seem to think that I am being negative and that you are the only person "qualified" to give advice and certainly don't like criticism when you are wrong !:rotfl: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.
For a similar price you could look at this, which is a newer model with a better processor (around 5 times better than your existing one on a CPU benchmark), with Windows 10 Pro and a years warranty.
https://www.ebuyer.com/749209-refurbished-hp-elite-8200-sff-desktop-cb-pc-hp-8200-sff-i5-4-120ssd-w10pro0 -
Thanks Everywhere, I would go down to reasonable repair person. Ask him for the SSD 120GB, 4GB ram, etc from Amazon (any suggestions)?. Is there anything else I might need?
Would the computer be up to installing Windows 10 later in future?
Been looking at cloning HDD to SDD...I just want to transfer all information from HDD to SDD, then take out the HDD. I don't to reinstall applications, data, etc.
Is there free cloning software that I could suggest to the repair person. I guess he would be aware, but asking for your advice.
Thanks to the posters for your advice so far - #71 still counting!!!0 -
tazwhoever wrote: »Thanks Everywhere, I would go down to reasonable repair person. Ask him for the SSD 120GB, 4GB ram, etc from Amazon (any suggestions)?. Is there anything else I might need?
Being negative again
Your local repair person will know how to upgrade your PC but they probably will want to source their own parts and they need to make a living from it so might well end up charging you between £50 and £100 labour on top of parts, which might not be as cheap as Amazon. They are providing a service so they need to guarantee that it will work afterwards.
Check with them first as they would normally give you a quote.
You might find it cheaper to buy a new\refurb PC in that case.tazwhoever wrote: »Would the computer be up to installing Windows 10 later in future?
Some people have upgraded it looking on the Internet but it is a case for hunting for the drivers and making sure that everything works correctly.tazwhoever wrote: »Been looking at cloning HDD to SDD...I just want to transfer all information from HDD to SDD, then take out the HDD. I don't to reinstall applications, data, etc.
Is there free cloning software that I could suggest to the repair person. I guess he would be aware, but asking for your advice.
Thanks to the posters for your advice so far - #71 still counting!!!
The repair person should be able to offer the complete service for you if you want.
Cloning can be either done with relatively cheap hardware or software
Software here (will work with USB2)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CORSAIR-CSSD-UPGRADEKIT-cloning-USB3-0-migration/dp/B00CI8MT9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1525779150&sr=8-1&keywords=hard+drive+clone+software
Hardware option here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/iDsonix%C2%AE-2-5-inch-3-5-inch-Dual-Disk-Function/dp/B00L3W0F40/ref=sr_1_19?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1525779807&sr=1-19&keywords=hard+drive+clone
Usually depending on the model you have to at least the same size SSD as the hard drive. This can push the price up as you possibly had a 320GB hard drive. You would need to buy at least the equivalent SSD.
Software like this solves the problem
https://www.easeus.com/partition-master/clone-larger-hdd-to-smaller-ssd.html
If you are installing Windows for scratch you don't have this issue so can get away with a smaller SSD.0 -
ChuckMountain wrote: »You seem to misunderstand the concept of Windows licencing.
The OP has Home edition he does not have a Pro edition. You cannot use the same key for Home with a Pro media Dell or otherwise it does not work, it will not activate nor will it be licensed. Which bit do you not get?
I think it is you who are misunderstanding the concept of what Everywhere is trying to tell you ..
Which bit did you not get ??
The clue is in the BIOS update
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EveryWhere wrote: »I would apply the latest firmware, to be found here and then clean install with one of these;
I'm sure someone will lend you their copy for free.
You still need a licence\product key for this software, if you have got Windows 7 Home licence this is not the same. It will more than likely prompt for you a licence key as part of the reinstall unless the bios patch is doing something untoward.I think it is you who are misunderstanding the concept of what Everywhere is trying to tell you ..
Which bit did you not get ??
The clue is in the BIOS update
Nope sorry not getting it.
Bios upgrade or not, please tell me how you legally migrate from a Home version of Windows OS to Professional or other higher version, without buying a legitimate licence?0
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