| Author | Message | ||
     Wardan123 |
About 2 years ago a friend of the family gave us her computer. It is a Compac Presario. The thing runs educational and game programs for my kids. It is okay about 30% of the time. Otherwise it has a slew of errors that pop up. My wife wants a system that runs well for our kids. On dealnews.com I can pick up some decent deals or I may go the cheaper route and upgrade this old computer. My questions are these: Would it be more cost effective to wipe and reload the old computer or should I just bite the bullet and get a new one? (We are teachers and do not have many extra dollars...) If I do have to get a new computer what would be the best and cheapest for basic computing (some gaming) Thanks in adavance, Andrew | ||
| Mnbueller |
I would say you'd be better off with a new computer. These days a decent computer can be had for pretty cheap. You can get a decent desktop at walmart for $200-300 dollars. Also check these for good deals tigerdirect.com consumerdepot.com What kind of gaming are you talking about? The type of games you are going to play will greatly influence the PC you'll want to buy... As far as upgrading your old computer...Can you provide any specs? Processor/speed operating system memory video card hard drive size etc... | ||
| Doon |
Assuming the errors are Only Software, Wipe/Reinstall probably your cheapest route. And it is amazing what a backup your data, format / clean install / patch will do to a system. After a bunch of years there is just soo much crufty bits  If you start having hardware errors, well that is a different story. A couple or more year old Compaq Presario (In my Opinion) isn't worth the $$ to attempt to upgrade it, as by the time you do anything really decent to it, you can probably get a new computer. IF the monitor is still good, then you can easily reuse it. If you and your wife are teachers, most of the bigger computer places allow you to buy at least one computer @home at their educational pricing. Might be something to look into. | ||
| Wardan123 |
Thanks for the info- The only gaming I do is some bargain stuff I find at Target- Star Wars Battlefront cost me $5. (Again- that's all I can budget)  | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
"If you and your wife are teachers, most of the bigger computer places allow you to buy at least one computer @home at their educational pricing." And companies like MS and Adobe offer Educator software packs at reasonable prices. I run a Compaq Evo here at work. Its crap. I've increased RAM, defrag every other day, wiped everything clean and reinstalled XP. Its a turd. | ||
| Spiderman |
go to your Start menu then run and type winmsd then copy and paste your specs that'll give a better idea of what is goin on and if a upgrade will be better than a whole new system... | ||
| Reepicheep |
Download ubuntu, burn it to a CD, and boot the computer from it. Have the kids play with that for a day or two. See if it gets errors (suggesting hardware issues) and see if the kids like it. It makes older hardware run FAST. | ||
| Glitch |
It makes older hardware run FAST. Ubuntu also makes Xubuntu for older machines. I used a Presario for Ubuntu and it was a little slow. Changed over to Xubuntu an it runs faster than it ever did with Windows or Ubuntu. http://www.xubuntu.org/ | ||
| Swordsman |
Depending on the errors, you may have a bunch of trojans and spyware hiding out. If you have enough of them sapping your resources at one time, the symptoms can look like hardware problems. I'd do a full sweep with ADV Free Antivirus and AdAware before anything else. If that doesn't clear it up, go for the full blown wipe/reinstall. If THAT doesn't do the trick... trash it. ~SM | ||
| Froggy |
+1, quick attempt at cleanup, other than that just nuke it. Florida is a bit of a hike for me to come down and do it for you, but i will help however i can. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Step #2: Anti-Virus/Spyware program. If you get this one working fine, or you get a new one, make sure to have functioning AV software, or you will be having the same issues all over again. |
