I think my computer is getting old.

reply to post by paranormal78


Not really, the only difference in components is that laptops use smaller and slower disks and smaller and cooler CPUs and chipsets, and the power supply is external to the case.

The biggest difference is that people treat laptops with more care than they they treat desktops, probably because of the more fragile look of the laptops.

One of the disks I have in my 8 years old computer came from my previous computer and it came from the previous to that one. To get an idea, that disk is still called Win95, so you can see when it was the last time I formatted it.

reply to post by ArMaP
From what i read Win95 is ancient when it comes to computer stuff these days. A computer that is three years old is REALLY old or just out of date. I think the way to look at computers and how out of date they are is to go by the year. If your computer is 8 years old then its 6 to 8 models behind. That's the statistics in the computer world. Do you ever plan on getting a new one someday or do you like it that much? And How does your Computer run being that old?

reply to post by paranormal78


The 8 years old is not my main computer, I had to buy a new one two years ago, but as I use it as a web server it isn't too over worked (the sites I have on that computer are just small, unknown, sites).

A computer is only too old when you lose more time waiting for the computer than the time you would spend replacing the computer with a new one, that's why I never replace a computer by another from the next generation, I usually wait for at least a two generation gap.

Maybe I wouldn't think like that if I had enough money to buy a computer every year.

reply to post by ArMaP

Yea i suppose so ArMaP. I am actually thinking about replacing my computer all together. Do you think gate way computers are good? I saw one for around $950 that I am thinking about. Its for gaming and other things. I think it has the Intel i5 or i7 processor in it or it is an option to have ether one.

reply to post by paranormal78


I don't know, that brand doesn't exist here in Portugal.

What I know is that all my computers have had Asus boards, they may not be the fastest but they are the most stable. When I had as my main computer that one that is now 12 years old I was one year without a blue screen, and that was using Windows 95.

With the now 8 years old computer I was able to replace sound and network cards with the computer running without any problems (if my hands were steady enough not to rotate the card in the slot).

reply to post by ArMaP
wow you used a computer that was 12 years old?!! What brand was that fossel? Excuse me if I sounded rude about that. I am curious is all. The oldest computer I ever used was 2004-2005. And that thing crashed long ago from poor security manadgement. Back in those days when I hardily knew jack about computers. But I have been trying to expand my knowladge about computers lately.

reply to post by paranormal78


As far as I know that computer still works, but I will have to check it. It will be 13 years old sometime in August or September and it was assembled by me, like the one after that.

reply to post by ArMaP
Well happy almoast 13th burthday to your old computer!. Did you ever try an alien ware computer? I hear they are not as good as the meda portrays them to be. I would love to try one if I could but they go for around $3,500! Thats a pritty big price tag! I have also read that alien ware computers can run at almoast 4.0 Ghz.

Originally posted by paranormal78
reply to post by ArMaP

 

8 years is to old for a computer these days. What is the operating system you use? Does windows 7 work on computers that old?

Actually yes it does. Ive got a 10yr old Acer Laptop running Windows 7 beautifully. I wouldnt even begin to think about putting vista(POS memory hog) on it. I maxed the ram and put in the biggest 7200rpm hdd it would handle and havent touched it since other than loading 5 different os'es on it over the years cuz thats my "out in the field" toy. I build a new desktop every 3 years for home use.

Goto Newegg and put yourself together a nice x58 setup. triple channel ram, asus board, core i7, 64mb cache wd black hard drive. If you are not gaming, you can build a good screaming rig for cheap.

Originally posted by paranormal78
reply to post by ArMaP

 

Well happy almoast 13th burthday to your old computer!

. Did you ever try an alien ware computer? I hear they are not as good as the meda portrays them to be. I would love to try one if I could but they go for around $3,500! Thats a pritty big price tag! I have also read that alien ware computers can run at almoast 4.0 Ghz.

With good stable hardware, you can overclock any rig to 4ghz running stock cooling on the i5's and i7's. Dont pay for a name. Just do your research and use quality components that match well with each other. $1500.00 got my buddies son a rocket of a gaming rig i built him last month.

My .02¢

Silver

Originally posted by paranormal78
Did you ever try an alien ware computer? I hear they are not as good as the meda portrays them to be. I would love to try one if I could but they go for around $3,500! Thats a pritty big price tag! I have also read that alien ware computers can run at almoast 4.0 Ghz.

I don't even know if that brand is sold in Portugal, probably only imported, and that adds some more €s to the final price tag, that I think is already exaggerated.

Today's processors are easily over-clocked, but I haven't been following that area lately.

reply to post by ArMaP
OK what brands of computers do they have in Portugal? My bet is dell ASUS and Acer to name a couple that could be in that region. Am I right about that? I like dell computers. a Dell computer is what i might end up with after I did some computer browsing. My current computer is an old X1 ATX case with an ASUS mother board and an old Intel Pentium R.4. processor from 2004 it runs pretty good aside from the hardware problems I have been having.

reply to post by S1LV3R4D0
Well it sounds like you have been doing some work on that thing S1LV3R4D0! Or can I call you silverado? I like that truck!

i7 processor on an old acer laptop

One interesting thing i have found is the older computers that start having problems running windows slow are still great for many of the versions of Linux.

I have one computer i use for security cameras that i built from parts i got from fry's back in 1999.
I could not use it for XP because it was to slow but it works fine with Linux Mint.

Linux mint is what i put on old laptops that you can no longer run any of the windows OSs on.
Great for giving to the kids.(they need to learn Linux anyway.)

Using Linux is good for kids and it is great not having to fix there computer because they downloaded some virus.

reply to post by paranormal78

We have (as far as I know) Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell (although I don't remember ever seeing one), Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, LG, Packard Bell, Sony and Toshiba, besides some Portuguese brands.

reply to post by snowspirit

I replace mine every 2 or 3 years. By the time you pay for more hard drive space, or a new hard drive, more memory, new cooling fan, etc , it's just cheaper to replace the whole thing. Every time I get a new PC, I'm amazed at the speed difference.

How do you figure that? I just replaced my hard drive, bought a new one online, 260Gb Seagate SATA for $53 shipped to my door. Show me where I can get a new computer for that price. A new Motherboard can be had for less than $100, power supplies are $30, Hard drives are in the $50 range.

Originally posted by paranormal78
reply to post by ArMaP

 

Well happy almoast 13th burthday to your old computer!

. Did you ever try an alien ware computer? I hear they are not as good as the meda portrays them to be. I would love to try one if I could but they go for around $3,500! Thats a pritty big price tag! I have also read that alien ware computers can run at almoast 4.0 Ghz.

Friend Alienware computer systems was bought out by Dell a few years ago. And when you buy a Dell, you are asking for problems, especially if you want to reinstall your operating system. I work on computers, and I have to have a special OEM Dell copy of Windows XP, Dells use USB mouse and keyboard, and XP does not load any drivers for USB hardware, so you get to where you choose to install, and you have no keyboard. My advice? Never buy a computer without PS/2 mouse/keyboard hookups.

reply to post by autowrench


Um…. My computer has USB mouse, and keyboard, and I installed windows XP on it without a problem.

I would say that the problem you had was caused by an improperly configured BIOS on your computer.

There should be a setting in BIOS along the lines of “USB keyboard/mouse compatibility” The BIOS will basically replicate a PS2 style interface for legacy programs.

Originally posted by autowrench
reply to post by snowspirit

 

I replace mine every 2 or 3 years. By the time you pay for more hard drive space, or a new hard drive, more memory, new cooling fan, etc , it's just cheaper to replace the whole thing. Every time I get a new PC, I'm amazed at the speed difference.

How do you figure that? I just replaced my hard drive, bought a new one online, 260Gb Seagate SATA for $53 shipped to my door. Show me where I can get a new computer for that price. A new Motherboard can be had for less than $100, power supplies are $30, Hard drives are in the $50 range.

Those all sound like very good prices. Plus, you know what you're doing. The last computer we had a tech build for us, had nothing but problems, so that particular tech didn't know enough. That was at "the Source", a computer store. None of the techs could keep it working.

Without knowing how to change/fix all that stuff myself, it's $40 per hour for the technician, my last laptop's battery alone, was $153, I was told to get the memory up to par for the speed, another $100 +, hard drive space another $150 +. Plus the software upgrade, more $$$. Even two technicians told me it would be cheaper to replace.
And my touch pad was getting so hot that after a couple of hours I was starting to worry about meltdown. It was a 3 year old Acer.

We got my husband's laptop for $400, at Staples, and then he sold it for what he paid for it, and got a Dell, for $600. I splurged on mine, so it ended up way more, plus got a 3 year full warranty. It's also a Dell, I've heard some bad things about them, but nothing but good things from fellow Canadians. I've had to call them for a couple of online fixes, they were fast, free (warranty), and very efficient. Even my local technician has one now, and she's been recommending them, because she was getting too busy with Acer problems. My husband has had no problems at all, he's had it for a year, and it's fast.

It's likely just Canadian pricing, some things are very expensive up here. It sounds as though building a PC is a much better deal anywhere but Canada. Unless you're a tech. But I think even for a tech, it's pricy up here, compared to US.
Auto parts are the same, some things cost about 2 - 4 times up here, than in the US.
My husband complains about the cost difference in auto parts all the time.

Yours is a Dell? Are you using the "Restore" disc that came with it? I'm talking about an OEM copy of XP, such as you would buy in a store. Those restore CDs create a new partition, and anything on the old partition just transfers to the new one. Not too long ago I took in an HP, the customer had used the restore CD 5 times, and there were five partitions on the hard drive, and it still had the virus.

reply to post by autowrench


I have done it with dell optiplex, HP, gatway, and IBM.

On all the newer computers, even the ones that still have PS2 connections, I have had no problem with using USB mouse/keyboard. Some had the setting that you had to set in BIOS to allow PS2/USB compatibility. Some just had the compatibility by default where you couldn’t shut it off.

In regard to wired USB mice/keyboards. If you are on a newer computer without PS2 ports, and you boot to anything besides windows XP, vista, or win 7 (dos, win95, win3.11, linux), and you don’t have a mouse, or keyboard, then you have the bios settings screwed up……

The thing that can cause a problem is wireless keyboards and mice. Some of them install as a higher level device, and don’t have any basic device compatibility that the BIOS can work with.

So, basically, if you can get into bios with your wireless USB keyboard, and change settings in bios with it, then you should be able to use the wireless USB keyboard with any older (PS2 interface) program without a glitch.

And all newer computers that have SATA interfaces should also have a compatibility setting that makes the SATA interface mimic a PATA interface for older programs.

Some time ago, I played around with a newer dell optiplex. It was a dual core 3ghz. It, by coincidence, had PS2 keyboard and mouse and SATA hard drive. I decided to see what types of older programs I could install on it. I installed………

Dos 4, dos 5, dos 6.11, win3.11, win95, win 98, win ME, win 2000, win XP pro, and all of them installed and worked just fine.