To buy a desktop computer/Related Q's

[Ian S]

Amethyst,
I have an older Dell, and listed the specs below. I purchased it in Dec. 2014....

That's a lot to do, but I'm kinda techy and did not mind. I am pretty sure I'll get another 5 years life from this desktop computer....

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 22H2

Unless Microsoft changes its mind, Windows 10 will reach its end of support in October 2025. So anyone with a PC with that OS has only a bit longer than 2 years to upgrade to Windows 11. I would not recommend anyone using Windows 10 after that point. Also, a PC bought in 2014 is unlikely to meet the requirements of Windows 11. I have a desktop in a similar situation. I've decided to wait until summer 2025 to migrate to Windows 11 which will necessitate a new build which I'm comfortable doing. My last upgrade was maxing out memory at 32 GB. I already use an ssd for OS and programs. I will probably keep the old computer because it has legacy CAD software that is still useful.

 

[jim584672]

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 has end of life 1/12/27 and extended end of life 1/13/32. This is probably the cleanest Windows you can get with minimal bloat.

 

[Ian S]

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 has end of life 1/12/27 and extended end of life 1/13/32. This is probably the cleanest Windows you can get with minimal bloat.

My understanding is that is a version that is not legitimately available to the average person. It's meant for appliance manufacturers and Microsoft makes you jump through hoops to acquire a legitimate license.

 

[razztazz]

Just a generic method for selection. After my first Pentium machine I got tired of teasing through the various "capabilities" of this machine vs that machine. I wanted something fairly well packed, ready to go, that would not be overwhelmed or obsolescent for a long time. I'd look at their top-of-the-line machine and buy the model just below it. I figured that would be more than plenty since I am not what most would consider a "power user." No video games, no significant data transferring, no heavy duty streaming. Just Youtube, and a movie now and then. That sort of cut right to the chase for me.

I too, will probably replace this here machine maybe next Summer. My main worry is: How the hell do I transfer all my everything to the new machine and keep all my settings so I don't have to take months to get the new machine to be like the of machine? It's been so long since I had to do that I forget how I did it and I'm sure they do it differently now. Simply copying over ALL THOSE FILES was OK in the olden days but would be a pain today. And with all the software we all use nowadays, reinstalling and setting the "user settings" would take a year to tease through. I am not looking forward to it (Except that I get a shiny, new really fast machine)

Any tips or new knowledge on that subject would help

 

[Qs Laptop]

It's that time again - to replace an aging desktop computer. Mine is a Dell Inspiron 3650, 6 or 7 years old, and has slowed down to the point that I've just purchased an external SSD, to offload my data before it's too late.

Last year I bought an Asus laptop, and while it's OK...there's something about a desktop computer, with big screen, good speakers, and power that suits me.

Yes, besides the bigger screen, better sound through bigger speakers, this is the biggest factor for me--a real keyboard and mouse. Yes, I'm well aware of docking stations and laptop use--my wife has that setup--and I hate it. Give me a "real" computer with big screen.

I'll happily entertain serious suggestions for a replacement under $2000.00.

I build my own PC's but I would recommend a:

* Dell XPS with an Intel i7 processor, running Windows 11
* 32 GB RAM memory,
* 1 TB SSD boot drive
* 1 TB or 2 TB secondary drive (could be SSD or to save money could be a SATA drive)
* If you are going to play games get a decent video card, like an nVidia 3060

Something like this:
https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/ggcy

In addition, here are some random questions I'd like to throw out there:

• I really like the looks of the Mini MACs. Is it difficult for a lifelong PC user to switch to a MAC? I'd still have an Android phone and a PC laptop.
  
• What are the downsides to an all-in-one desktop?
  
• Are there advantages to buying locally (e.g. Best Buy) rather than ordering from Amazon?
  
• Can my external SSD accept applications, as well as data?

If you have an Android phone and a PC laptop I would not make the switch to an Apple desktop.

Downsides to an all-in-one desktop is repairability. To a lesser extent a downside might be expandability.

Advantages to buying at Best Buy is you can pick it up and if needed, return it easily. Best Buy will price match Amazon, but it needs to be an identical item.

External SSD's will accept applications and data, however, most applications are "tied" to the motherboard of the PC they were originally installed in, so if you were hoping to download Adobe Photoshop from your current PC to an external SSD and then install and use it on a new PC, it won't work.

 

[MC Rider]

You can get free or cheap software to clone the hard drive to a new drive. It is not that hard to do.


https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-clone-a-hard-drive

 

[jim584672]

If you clone it to different hardware Windows will deactivate since it checks hardware identifiers.

 

[jollystomper]

I thought the question was asking whether or not she could off load an application to an external SSD. Since she’s transferring her data to her external SSD, I thought she wanted to do the same with some or all of her programs. To my knowledge (limited) you cannot do that. It may be possible, but I’m not sure there’s anyway to transfer your applications to a new computer. If you have the original disk or a license you can certainly reinstall the application, but I’ve never read about the ability to transfer the applications.

Yes, that is what I meant, thank you.

Thanks for the clarification. The answer is "likely not" - it can depend on how much the install has put into Windows registry keys that the program uses, where the default locations for various files the program uses are located, etc. Most programs do intertwine themselves into Windows so that they will not run just copying them to another drive.

There are some open source programs that provide "portable" installation packages that do allow you to do this - just copy the program directory to a drive and you can run it from there. But I cannot think of any commercial packages that provide this, it is too easy .

 

[Qs Laptop]

This site can be hilarious at times with the off-topic stuff. Here is the OP's opening sentence:

It's that time again - to replace an aging desktop computer.

Followed by:

I'll happily entertain serious suggestions for a replacement under $2000.00.

What happens is there is a lot of suggestions for replacing the hard drive with an SSD.

Then the OP says:

I don't know anything about cloning.

Still, suggestions for replacing the hard drive with a cloned SSD drive persist. (And BTW, this is a good suggestion but not what the OP was asking.)

Just an observation. Carry on.

 

[jollystomper]

If you clone it to different hardware Windows will deactivate since it checks hardware identifiers.

But you may be able to just reactivate it online. It depends on how different Windows decides the new system is. Windows will still run, you just have to reactivate it in a given amount of time. Sometimes this can be done online. However, one might have to call Microsoft to reactivate Windows. It depends on the type of Windows license (the variations can make one's head spin).

Here is a recent article describing the situation and the steps: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/move-your-windows-drive-to-a-new-pc

However, to get back on track so that the Thread Police do not come after me, a new machine will come with Windows, so the most sensible thing to do is to just reinstall your applications (sometimes you find you have apps you are no longer using and do not need) to use with your data.

 

[walkinwood]

If your new notebook has an HDMI or one of the thunderbolt ports, you can connect an external monitor, external kbd/mouse/drives via a usb hub and skip buying a desktop alltogether. USB 3.2 has a very high throughput.


I haven't done that yet since my notebook is old & my desktop is new, but that may be my direction the next time I upgrade.

 

[jim584672]

Microsoft lets you get the original ISO, if the machine was ever activated in the past it will auto-magically reactivate. I would avoid cloning with Windows and do clean installs always.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

 

[RetMD21]

Got me thinking about this. My all-in-one desktop is a bit old, underpowered, and under memory for the astrophotography processing I have gotten into. I want to stick with an all-in-one because of the form factor. The envy sounds nice if a bit pricey. The default model has 32 G of Ram which is more than double my current PC. Is that sufficient? Is Windows 11 a hog?

You can google up suggestions for photo editing PCs. They don't have to be too robust. Small form factor is nice. I bought a huge recycled workstation and have lots of space to add cards and memory although I haven't.

OP didn't ask for suggestions for making a current PC faster but the idea of upgrading my 2 TB secondary drive to SSD is intriguing.

 

[Retired Expat]

Frankly, I wouldn't consider a switch to a Mac unless I was going all the way with Apple. I too prefer a desktop when I'm at home. I like to have an SSD for my OS and programs and a regular old hard drive for all the data. Then an external or portable hard drive for backups. And maybe keep that in a different location. Cloud options are also a possibility. External hard drives are still considerably cheaper for data than ssd's but otherwise ssd's are fine too and and are probably more robust. That said I've found hard drives over the years to be pretty reliable.

I would 2nd that but say if you do go all Apple you won’t regret it. All the devices like desktop or in my case laptop with a 2nd monitor, keyboard iPad, phone and watch just work together so nicely. Calls come to which ever I am using and passwords all synced up nicely. You couldn’t pay me to go back to a PC and Microsoft operating systems and the recurring incompatibility I encountered!

 

[gwill1010]

It's that time again - to replace an aging desktop computer. Mine is a Dell Inspiron 3650, 6 or 7 years old, and has slowed down to the point that I've just purchased an external SSD, to offload my data before it's too late.

Last year I bought an Asus laptop, and while it's OK...there's something about a desktop computer, with big screen, good speakers, and power that suits me.

I'll happily entertain serious suggestions for a replacement under $2000.00.

In addition, here are some random questions I'd like to throw out there:

• I really like the looks of the Mini MACs. Is it difficult for a lifelong PC user to switch to a MAC? I'd still have an Android phone and a PC laptop.
  
• What are the downsides to an all-in-one desktop?
  
• Are there advantages to buying locally (e.g. Best Buy) rather than ordering from Amazon?
  
• Can my external SSD accept applications, as well as data?
  

If it's really only 6-7 years old it just needs some tlc.
Very few people need a $2000 computer. I do daily s/w development on a $300 pc.
Which CPU and how much memory? If it happens to be 4G of memory adding another 4G will fix your problem. DM me if you want some advice.

 

[gwill1010]

Unless Microsoft changes its mind, Windows 10 will reach its end of support in October 2025. So anyone with a PC with that OS has only a bit longer than 2 years to upgrade to Windows 11. I would not recommend anyone using Windows 10 after that point. Also, a PC bought in 2014 is unlikely to meet the requirements of Windows 11. I have a desktop in a similar situation. I've decided to wait until summer 2025 to migrate to Windows 11 which will necessitate a new build which I'm comfortable doing. My last upgrade was maxing out memory at 32 GB. I already use an ssd for OS and programs. I will probably keep the old computer because it has legacy CAD software that is still useful.

Windows 10 has been around for so long all the vulnerabilities likely have been uncovered and patched. Keep it backed up and don't worry about EOL.

 

[gwill1010]

This site can be hilarious at times with the off-topic stuff. Here is the OP's opening sentence:



Followed by:



What happens is there is a lot of suggestions for replacing the hard drive with an SSD.

Then the OP says:



Still, suggestions for replacing the hard drive with a cloned SSD drive persist. (And BTW, this is a good suggestion but not what the OP was asking.)

Just an observation. Carry on.

Come on... People suggesting a $100 worth of tlc is all the OP needs when they think they need a $2000 computer.

 

[gwill1010]

With some processors, there was a hack that was a security risk, so all the OS's had to re-write some software that stopped using some part of a processor's code that made the processors faster.

In effect slowing down the processors as a side effect.

This affected all the Operating Systems, but now Windows does not want to continue to be crippled by this, so for Window's 11 they are not going to upgrade those processors.

I would like to see an article about that. This doesn't sound quite right.

 

[Sunset]

I would like to see an article about that. This doesn't sound quite right.

Here you go, article from 2018

https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-cpu-flaw-big-performance-slowdow-windows-pc-2018-1#:~:text=A%20software%20update%20by%20Microsoft%20that%20fixes%20the,%22kernels%22%20--%20the%20core%20of%20an%20operating%20system.

 

[isisdave]

If it's really only 6-7 years old it just needs some tlc.
Very few people need a $2000 computer. I do daily s/w development on a $300 pc.
Which CPU and how much memory? If it happens to be 4G of memory adding another 4G will fix your problem. DM me if you want some advice.

Agreed. Unlike people, computers don't slow down because they get old. Like people, they slow down because they get overweight and full of crud. Specifically, in Windows, the Registry becomes bloated with abandoned information.

Find someone to reinstall Windows -- preferably the same version you are used to using. Upgrade the hard drive to an SSD but you don't have to make it huge. Have at least 4Gb of RAM, but more than 8 won't help.

All-in-ones are OK to use if you use it with a mouse, but you'll feel like Moses in front of the Red Sea if you try to use its touchscreen. Also, like motorhomes, if any part of it dies, it's all dead, unlike travel trailers, where the "propulsion/computer" part is separate from the "living/screen" part. Also, as I aged, I wanted a better display before I wanted a better computer (8 years so far on the latter).

 

[RetMD21]

Here you go, article from 2018

https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-cpu-flaw-big-performance-slowdow-windows-pc-2018-1#:~:text=A%20software%20update%20by%20Microsoft%20that%20fixes%20the,%22kernels%22%20--%20the%20core%20of%20an%20operating%20system.

Interesting! I found my processor on the list, probably explaining why I couldn't upgrade to Windows 11. https://www.techarp.com/guides/complete-meltdown-spectre-cpu-list/5/

 

[gwill1010]

Here you go, article from 2018

https://www.businessinsider.com/intel-cpu-flaw-big-performance-slowdow-windows-pc-2018-1#:~:text=A%20software%20update%20by%20Microsoft%20that%20fixes%20the,%22kernels%22%20--%20the%20core%20of%20an%20operating%20system.

Thanks very much. If I knew about this I had forgotten. Going through the article a follow up states the below. Web browsing and such the slowdown is negligible.

"If you are a casual desktop user or gamer, you shouldn't really notice. If you are hitting storage, slamming the network, or just making a lot of rapid-fire kernel system calls, you will notice a slowdown. Your mileage may vary."

 

[gwill1010]

Interesting! I found my processor on the list, probably explaining why I couldn't upgrade to Windows 11. https://www.techarp.com/guides/complete-meltdown-spectre-cpu-list/5/

Everything I read about a year ago didn't point to this flaw as to the reason they wouldn't support some chips on Win 11.

 

[gwill1010]

Agreed. Unlike people, computers don't slow down because they get old. Like people, they slow down because they get overweight and full of crud. Specifically, in Windows, the Registry becomes bloated with abandoned information.

Find someone to reinstall Windows -- preferably the same version you are used to using. Upgrade the hard drive to an SSD but you don't have to make it huge. Have at least 4Gb of RAM, but more than 8 won't help.

All-in-ones are OK to use if you use it with a mouse, but you'll feel like Moses in front of the Red Sea if you try to use its touchscreen. Also, like motorhomes, if any part of it dies, it's all dead, unlike travel trailers, where the "propulsion/computer" part is separate from the "living/screen" part. Also, as I aged, I wanted a better display before I wanted a better computer (8 years so far on the latter).

All good info. As I'm sure you know, some PCs have a partition where you can reload windows with the press of a button. If the OP has this option it would be easy to reload windows then clone the disk to a new ssd. If the OP has 4Gb of ram upgrading to 8 will make a huge difference. Yep, all in one is a bad idea.

 

[werdone]

New PC

It's that time again - to replace an aging desktop computer. Mine is a Dell Inspiron 3650, 6 or 7 years old, and has slowed down to the point that I've just purchased an external SSD, to offload my data before it's too late.

Last year I bought an Asus laptop, and while it's OK...there's something about a desktop computer, with big screen, good speakers, and power that suits me.

I'll happily entertain serious suggestions for a replacement under $2000.00.

In addition, here are some random questions I'd like to throw out there:

===============================================
I have been using mini PCs (windows) for me and my wife since 2015. I prefer the large monitor and keyboard vs my laptop and tablet.
We live in an RV and they have performed well bouncing down the road all over the West. I run the smaller I3 machine with 32GB Ram, Win10 (64 bit) and an SSD hard drive. I use external HDs (very cost effective) for storage and backup. All our movies and music libraries are stored on them. The newer M2 drives did not take driving down the road well but may be just fine for a stationary deployment. We use an external Roku on the TV and just turn on Media Streaming on the PC.
We use our machines for web/email, light gaming, Video and audio streaming/editing. The wife uses a portable USB scanner for saving documents/records to the external drives. The I3 is a little slower for editing and gaming but nothing that bothers me. When it comes time to replace I will go with I5 or better.
I reused the monitors and keyboards from our old desktops and just bought adapter cables as needed for the monitors.
Space and price where the deciding factors for us being in the RV. You can buy complete systems starting at around $400 all in with preloaded OS. They are available with Intel or AMD as you prefer. You can use an external USB case for your SSD as well.
Good luck with whatever you choose..