It's me the yokel OP
I purchased a Compaq new at Wal-Mart in early 2011. It had an AMD dual core 1.0 GB CPU and 2GB of RAM. Well, even to a hick like me the Windows 7 64 bit was as fast as mud. Yeah I got skewered good. Do anything and bang bang bang the hard drive would start up. Put local computer expert ran it through some paces and reomarked (In Spanish) "this is a piece of umm errr not a nice word".
Three hundred dollars put me on a bread & water diet for two months. With out of pocket cardiac medication now I just can't do that again and frankly I feel like a fool for getting hosed over good. In early 2015 it would not start up - three blinks on the disk pilot light then a pause. Some incredible souls from this site have helped me out with spare computers of theirs. But the little 11" Asus I need 4X glasses and hold it up to my nose to read the screen. It is older than my Compaq was but the Acer 1.5 GB Intel dual core processor is way faster than the compaq ever was and to add insult to injury the older Acer has way better WiFi range built in.
The saint in Alaska who mailed the Gateway to me suggested adding another GB of RAM but on upgradimg the hard drive he wasn't so sure perhaps because of cost. I'm heading north 1500 miles r/t next month. I've got one shot to get this right and no matter which way I look the answer does not exist except for 1GB RAM which is what my old stick-in-the-mud compaq E50 had. Windows 7 is working great on that little Asus. I curse my poor eyesight and know lugging a monitor down to the store everyday is nutso - no way. A hundred dollar computer sounds enticing but then there is shipping and maybe tax.
I'd better dig down deep and show some wisdom here. The RAM is a done deal AFIK. The hard drive is the biggie because down here Windows is in Espanol for a different keyboard. In bed I prop up the little ASUS on my chest, don my 4X glasses and have a ball I love that little guy! But at the store the only internet service besides 60 dollars a month on this cell phone, my miserable eyes have a nightmare with that small screen. There's got to be a good way to do this but my inexperience is killing me.
Thank you all so much for your help. I study each reply although some are way over my head.
