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covetsthesun's avatar
covetsthesun
Explorer
Aug 28, 2017

New desktop computer?

Disclosure: I am not an early adopter of technology. DH and I have OLD HP Pavilion desktop computers running Vista Home Premium. His is 2009 and mine is 2008. He uses Mozilla's browser and I use Google.

Both computers are still working...a little slow at times, and more and more websites don't support Vista. Recently, we had a GEEK from Best Buy out to clean things up a bit and he told us that we were endangering our private info by not upgrading the newest machines and OS's etc. Said that everytime we logged in to anything we might as well be handing our passwords etc to our neighbors. We are hardwired not WiFi by the way.

The GEEK wanted us to let him find a system for us and he'd bring it out and do the set up...made a point to say he didn't get commission etc.

Are we really in Fire Alarm peril here? I had planned to get new systems later this year... just not right now.

So... Tech ObiWan's do I really need to upgrade systems right now??

thanks
cts
  • bighatnohorse wrote:
    A secondary external backup hard drive is necessary - AND it's a good idea to disconnect the drive when not in use. A serious infection will search out all drives up to and including "cloud" backup platforms.
    Except cloud services, at least Google Drive and Dropbox that I use, maintain backup versions of all of your files. So any corruption that might occur by a "serious infection" that might have access to your cloud-based documents would be limited.

    Example of version history of one of my Google Drive documents, any one of which can be pulled up to replace a current version:


    Google Photos (and again I suspect that other cloud based systems are similar) maintains a copy of all deleted photos for 60 days.

    I just bought a larger HD (4TB) to backup my cloud based photo and document collections, but I think the probability that it will ever be needed is near zero.
  • strollin wrote:
    bighatnohorse wrote:
    ... I now wish that I had upgraded to Win 10 on the one machine that still uses Win 7 Pro. ...

    There's nothing stopping you from upgrading that Win 7 Pro machine to Win 10 Pro. Download this from MS: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

    That's a bit misleading. The free upgrade period has long past. The upgrade is available for purchase.
    Budget doesn't "stop" me but it is a hurdle - for the money, I'd rather upgrade the machine should a bigger, faster better machine comes out.
  • bighatnohorse wrote:
    strollin wrote:
    bighatnohorse wrote:
    ... I now wish that I had upgraded to Win 10 on the one machine that still uses Win 7 Pro. ...

    There's nothing stopping you from upgrading that Win 7 Pro machine to Win 10 Pro. Download this from MS: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

    That's a bit misleading. The free upgrade period has long past. The upgrade is available for purchase.
    Budget doesn't "stop" me but it is a hurdle - for the money, I'd rather upgrade the machine should a bigger, faster better machine comes out.

    Not true at all. The only thing about the free upgrade period that MS has ended is the big push on their part for people to upgrade. Download the Media Creation Tool and try it if you don't believe me. No purchase necessary unless you are installing on a machine with no prior OS, or upgrading from an OS prior to Win 7.
  • Thanks for all the advice and information folks. I still haven't bought a computer...but I have much better ideas now. Currently thinking solid state desktop with i7. DH likes to tinker with photos and such. Will also get a backup external hard drive...although DH thinks thumb drives are sufficient.

    I'm also considering a Mac tablet (facetime with gkids) and an Iphone.

    thanks again!
  • I bought a mini NUC for the RV. Takes very little space!! It has a I3 and 2 HDMI's. Runs windows 7. Boots really fast! I hooked it to two 32 inch TV's. One in bedroom and one in living area. Added and external USB harddrive and DVD drive. I use a wireless keyboard with built in touchpad. It has WiFi and connects to my home network. I leave it on when parked at the house and transfer videos to it over the network from the house. I run the TV's and PC off a battery backup / surge that's plugged into the inverter so it never shuts off. I run a hotspot to my phone when on the road. Also installed cable modem so it we stay more than a few days we just pay for high speed internet. The keyboard dongle is on the end of a USB extension in the A/C vent right in the middle of the RV. Keyboard works throughout the RV. Added USB hub to connect everything.
  • I had to revert from Win 10 back to Win 7 pro. One of my needed programs had problems under Win 10. No work around. Win 10 allows you 10 days to revert back to your previous operating system.

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