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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 16, 2020 19:26:09 GMT -5
Mine is acting up. I'm not planning to replace it, but going to look into making it work correctly and preparing myself mentally for it just bricking on me. I'm starting by backing up files. IF I end up getting one, it'll just be a PC tower because I already have the monitor, fancy keyboard, mouse, etc. and want to just drop it in. Not picky, just don't want crap. Anyone have suggestions or foreboding words?
It randomly freezes, and about every other start up it doesn't make it all the way. For a while I was blaming it on all the Windows updates, but after some searching it sounds like it could be a hardware issue, so I'm going to have to dig. It also gets strangely slow for the silliest things. I've been watching it try to recognize a USB flash card for about five minutes now and it isn't there just yet. Internet will be strangely slow, even if the WiFi is fine on my phone, though I was blaming that on the modem. Not a lot of diagnostic tools out there that I'm finding, so hopefully I can figure something out.
The bright side is it looks like prices have come way down. This thing is about six years old and seems like replacing it now would be premature, but who knows.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jul 16, 2020 19:30:39 GMT -5
I had a similar situation, the old one was barely usable. just replaced mine in December with an HP with an SSD drive. It’s been phenomenal and the cost was just over $400.
Little did I know, the upgrade Would wind up being money well spent when my daughter had to use it for remote learning for 3 months.
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jdawg
Wholenote
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Post by jdawg on Jul 16, 2020 20:46:31 GMT -5
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 16, 2020 21:05:25 GMT -5
Interesting. The last time I went shopping there were definite "stay away from this" rules, I'm not seeing any of that now.
The SSDs look really interesting. I have a 1TB HDD now, and it seems like it is always whirring away for no clear reason.
I just ran some diagnostic routine from the command prompt that supposedly found corrupt files and repaired them. Updated a couple drivers while I was at it. I'll see how well that goes. Still can't get my USB stick to work, so may need to buy a new one. I'm definitely going to be backing up like crazy and waiting for the self destruct.
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Post by K4 on Jul 16, 2020 22:18:28 GMT -5
I've run into the same problem with two laptops. Both running Win7. I wonder if MS added a self destruct worm in the OS.
It is not a use issue as one was not used very often.
Oh did I mention I HATE Win 10.
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Post by digiboy on Jul 17, 2020 1:06:03 GMT -5
I have an old Dell PC. About 5 years ago it started showing symptoms similar to what you describe. After some research all signs seemed to point to a failing power supply. I took a chance since changing it looked like an easy task. Bought a replacement on line. swapped out the old one and that Dell is still running.
Of course YMMV!
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Post by De ville on Jul 17, 2020 2:26:12 GMT -5
Your best course of action depends on your computers specs, and operation system. If it's an older computer, running XP or older, it makes more sense to get a newer tower.
For example, if all your current hardware is in good operating condition, then most likely your version of Windows has some corrupt files. When computers get to that point, I would traditionally just do a fresh install, and bam, new computer.
Here's the problem, you probably don't have a full licensed windows system on disc. Your investment in such a disc would probably be 150.00 roughly. With an older computer with outdated specs, I would not recommend putting 150- into it. That money would be better spent getting one of the used office computers linked by others above.
If you're computer is older, it would not be a good idea to upgrade it with Windows 10 as W10 is a resource hog, and your old system would be bogged down by it.
For 50 bucks more you can have the computer linked by jdawg, or something else like it, and you'd be off to the races.
Based on your description of the problems you're having, I'd say you probably have multiple issues going on. Probably your HDD is starting to fail, you probably have corrupt files, and your hardware, and drivers are getting bogged down.
That computer jdawg linked is a bargain. Especially considering just to purchase a new Windows 10 operating system alone is almost that much.
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Post by rickyguitar on Jul 17, 2020 2:47:42 GMT -5
Over the years we have bought several Dell desktops and they have been good for us. My gamer Computer geek son restored one of his older gaming puters for me a few years back and it was excellent for everything up to and including recording, I think it was I buy power.
Hard drive died a few months back and I have not really replaced it. Picked up a 10 inch tablet for surfing. I am not sure what I will do, maybe another dell. Have not checked out the reconditioned but they are pretty affordable even new.
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Post by saltyseadog on Jul 17, 2020 3:12:54 GMT -5
If you in any way handy or are capable of generally working on your guitar(s) then with a little bit of research you could easily build your own computer and save yourself a lot of money doing it. I am 70 and have built three PC's in the last 10yrs, one each for myself, my wife and daughter. I could not believe how simple it is, if you can build a lego car you can build a PC.
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Post by Laker on Jul 17, 2020 5:46:25 GMT -5
FunkyK, When I had a Dell PC and wanted to upgrade it I found that it was hard to accomplish because the components in a Dell are proprietary. I had our company IT wizard build a tower for me that does everything I wanted in a PC. Without hunting up the specs of my PC I know I have a Coolermaster full tower case, 3 Samsung SSD 1 TB drives, and Intel I9 processor. Compared to the old Dell I had, this PC is lightning fast and cost me around $1200.
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Jul 17, 2020 6:05:23 GMT -5
I was a Windows 7 user until three or so years ago, when I finally had enough of it. I am not a fan of Win10, which to me looks like nothing but a big shopping mall -- they constantly want to be selling me something and all I want the system for is work.
At that time I bit the bullet and jumped to Apple.
My iMac desktop system runs great, I have no concern about viruses, and the Apple cloud integrates data across my desktop, notebook I use for travel, notebook I keep at home for off-hours use, and my iPhone.
The jump became feasible for me when I identified a timekeeping and billing program I could run from the Mac world, rather than the Win-based system I had been using. The new timekeeping app even provides brilliant customer service, where getting anyone on the phone for anything with the Win system application (called "Timeslips") cost an arm and a leg. So for that, it was good bye and don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.
All the Microsoft Office applications also have Mac counterparts that are fully cross-platform compatible.
Apple sells factory refurb systems on their website, so you can save a few hundred bucks on purchase. All Apple refurbs look and perform like new and have the same warranty as a new Apple system.
For me, it's been great. I am NOT going back.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jul 17, 2020 7:01:55 GMT -5
If you in any way handy or are capable of generally working on your guitar(s) then with a little bit of research you could easily build your own computer and save yourself a lot of money doing it. I am 70 and have built three PC's in the last 10yrs, one each for myself, my wife and daughter. I could not believe how simple it is, if you can build a lego car you can build a PC. How much money does one save by doing that? With towers being available for under $400 with a huge capacity SSD, how much is it costing you to build a comparable machine? |
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Post by Richard L on Jul 17, 2020 7:35:16 GMT -5
If it were me I would open it up, vacuum all dust and crud out of the insides, disconnect and reconnect all power supply connectors and data links - several times. Then I would run the following integrity checks (I assume you have all important files backed up off-line somewhere) on the OS:
Go to start>Type CMD
Right click and run as Administrator
type: sfc /scannow
you may need to execute this up to 3 times
then: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
after running this run the sfc /scannow one more time
If none of this helps, start researching a new machine.
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009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
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Post by 009 on Jul 17, 2020 8:48:04 GMT -5
I was about to mention some of the things RichardL mentioned.... Clean out the inside -- lots of dust can accumulate over time. I use a vacuum hose in one hand and a can of compressed air in the other. Heat buildup can cause lots of weird things. Before you power down, make sure your fan(s) still work. Again, like Rich said, make sure all connections are secure. I recall during my early computing days (Apple IIe) that trouble-shooting involved pressing in all those little (brain fart, here) "things" (like little CPUs) that plug in on the motherboard, as vibration can gradually wiggle them loose and out of contact. CCleaner has a program that checks all sorts of physical things, called Speccy. Here's a download link; you can get the free version. I've have the Pro series of programs; been using CCleaner for years, so don't worry about it being malware or something bad. www.ccleaner.com/speccyI probably would have bought a new computer a few months ago when it was time to go to Windows 10, if I could have found one that fit my likings. I've had a Dell a couple of decades ago, but my current (and previous) computer is HP (from Sam's Club). What I like about my current computer (the "box" really), is the flat top where I can place things out of the way, say, like an external HDD, etc. What I also like is that its DVD drive(s) are in a Horizontal attitude; I like this vs. the little vertical platforms that pop out. I found that all the HPs had some sort of rounded/pointy top and/or those vertical DVD drawers. So, my computer is pretty good -- I buy the best reasonable model I can that will stave off obsolescence the longest. I bought a $30 DVD of Windows 10 Pro off ebay; it's been OK. |
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 17, 2020 9:34:51 GMT -5
How much money does one save by doing that? With towers being available for under $400 with a huge capacity SSD, how much is it costing you to build a comparable machine? Yeah, that was my experience when I priced it out a while ago. Kinda like how you can't build a Warmoth Strat for less than a Mexican Strat. If I wanted/needed a custom machine it would be a great way to go, but my computer usage is more Mexican Strat. If I was looking at those mid-tier towers (usually marketed as "gamer" machines) I fully expect that building my own would become a sensible option. Usually when I'm computer shopping I look for the cheapest options, and then go a step or two above it. It looks like there aren't any "ew stay away from THAT" models out there these days, though? It used to be that the cheapest Intel offering was going to be weird (the Celeron for years) but the cheapest one out there is the i3 and it seems like the review nerds all like it just fine for what it is. Also, the tower I had before this one, an HP, I kept going by doing small upgrades - a graphics card to free up resources on the motherboard (not sure it worked all that well), a wireless card, upgraded memory, but it all turned out to be wasted money when it finally died. I'm not positive what happened, but I think the power supply browned out and took the motherboard with it. The motherboard was definitely dead... I got it to light up a bit with a replacement power supply I raided from somewhere (don't remember where), but couldn't get as far as the BIOS screen and thus couldn't diagnose any further. My current PC is an ASUS tower. It is running x64 Win10. Lots of memory (8 gb, though it still maxes out sometimes, not sure what that is all about), everything else should be fine in terms of specs. Any problems would just mean something is broken. An update on repairs: I ran a windows repair from the command prompt as administrator. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but the command line is "sfc /scannow" . It came back saying errors were found and fixed. It wrote a log as a .txt file, but the log is incredibly long and doesn't seem to lay out what was wrong. I then downloaded a program called CrystalDiskInfo which taps into diagnostic information in the harddisk's firmware, but makes it readable since all the OS will do is let you run a command prompt line and get a very vague answer. The results all came back okay, though it does seem like it runs a bit hot. Next steps before replacing are: back up files, then open the chassis and clean and inspect. I do spray it out semi-regularly, but I don't remember the last time I did it which means it probably is overdue. At that point I may just wait and see. Aside from some programs being random memory hogs and being randomly slow for no apparent reason, it seems like it should be okay if I can keep it from crashing on bootup half the time. Yeah, I am not enjoying Win10. But, my iPhones at various points in time have irritated me just as much, and I hesitate to think that switching brands will yield some sort of computing nirvana. Pretty much all software/OSes these days want to do all sorts of stuff automatically to tick me off and release updates before the turkey has cooked all the way, so I've resigned myself to this just being a reality of tech in the year 2020. Linux appeals to me sometimes, but when a friend tried Ubuntu years ago it turned out to be such high maintenance that I couldn't help but think that if he put that kind of effort into making Windows behave as he wanted it to, it would have worked just fine too. A full system restore might not be an option. The tower came with Windows 8 and it got the free upgrades when those came out, so I have no idea how that would work if I tried doing a recovery. I might lose my copy of MS Office in any of this, too. I have had the same license on two computers, being installed on one of them twice due to a wipe and reinstall, and it hasn't locked up on me yet. Maybe MS just doesn't care about older versions at this point? |
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 17, 2020 9:39:46 GMT -5
RichardL - missed the middle part of your post the first time!
I will run through the rest of your instructions this evening. That will be repeating the SFC process a couple more times then the other process. Out of curiosity, why would running that a few times help? I may wait until I can back stuff up for some of it, I'm not sure. It depends on how impatient I get.
It did boot pretty well this morning after running it once last night, so I'm feeling optimistic.
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Post by stratcowboy on Jul 17, 2020 9:55:09 GMT -5
Interesting information here to keep on file, for sure.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2020 11:22:37 GMT -5
I bought my first IBM PC in 1984 so I was a Microsoft user for literally decades. I knew what I was doing. People came to me for help. I eventually became sick and tired of all the bull$h!t. The lost data, the catastrophic failures that happened without warning, the blue screen of death, the ritualistic running of fdisk to wipe your disk and start over in an attempt to salvage hardware, the constant need to be on guard and up to date against the slightest malware, the constantly diminishing performance, the time consuming defrags, the expense of replacing a system every 3 years and the never ending feeling that your equipment is obsolete 3 months after you buy it. When my VERY expensive Dell Precision M6000 series bit the dust and left me stranded after only 16 months I said enough was enough. That was 2013. I bought a 15" MacBook Pro and I am NEVER going back to Windows ever again. Ever. I don't even want to touch one. My machine is 7 years old and it runs better and faster than a 1 year old Windows machine. The best advise I can give to anyone in the market for a new personal computer is to buy a Mac. They are more expensive initially but they are cheaper in the long run. You get what you pay for. If you don't want to switch universes then the only advise I can give is to do regular data backups to an external drive because you cannot avoid the inevitable. I still do backups but now instead of doing them once a week, I do them about once every six months or so. I've never needed to use my back ups and I probably never will but old habits die hard.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jul 17, 2020 11:27:50 GMT -5
^ I do prefer Macs as well, however when I am in need of a new computer, it’s usually unexpected and urgent, and the $400 hit is much more palatable.
I keep saying “one day”, but it probably won’t happen.
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Post by Richard L on Jul 17, 2020 12:45:35 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, why would running that a few times help? - I got that info from the Microsoft knowledge database - I'm just repeating what was there. I've done this myself a few times and it does clean up. You probably know that START > Settings > System > About will give you info about your system including the Product id: which is the licence number for the operating system. You must be able to get the licence number for your MS Office installation - a fresh install would need both those input at some stage. Good Luck !! |
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Post by saltyseadog on Jul 17, 2020 13:22:08 GMT -5
If you in any way handy or are capable of generally working on your guitar(s) then with a little bit of research you could easily build your own computer and save yourself a lot of money doing it. I am 70 and have built three PC's in the last 10yrs, one each for myself, my wife and daughter. I could not believe how simple it is, if you can build a lego car you can build a PC. How much money does one save by doing that? With towers being available for under $400 with a huge capacity SSD, how much is it costing you to build a comparable machine? Well if you just want a PC to go online and browse the internet then go for the 400 dollar one with the 1TB SSD which you will likely never fill. However if you want to do gaming, home studio music recording, video editing etc then it is highly unlikely that the 400 dollar one is going to pass muster as you will need a decent CPU and graphics card. Something else worth remembering is the quality of the 1TB SSD is likely to be at the lower end of spec and will likely fail sooner rather than later with loss of your files unless you use back ups. In my opinion it is better to have a 125-250GB SSD to run your PC and use two or three of your older hard drives for storage and backup. My machine which I built as a mainly high intensity gaming PC around 5yrs ago cost me around £1000 for the motherboard, graphics card, CPU, PSU and 125GB SSD and RAM. I kept what I could use from my old PC including Windows 10 and a 500GB and 1TB hard drives etc but a comparative new PC with similar spec from Dell etc would have cost me at least twice that and likely be filled with bloat ware etc. My point though is not bigger better faster more but rather that building a PC is really simple and for a couple of hours research on a forum like uk.pcpartpicker.com/ you can get really good advice on the compatability of the items you want to buy and likely how to buy better and cheaper. |
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Post by insanecooker on Jul 17, 2020 17:40:19 GMT -5
I'm posting this from a 10-yr old PC running Windows 10 that I use for recording (and, since covid, for WFH). The gaming PC I use is 8 years old, also running Windows 10. It has had multiple GPU updates - that you can't get away from, but for most people would not have been necessary. It has also been rock solid despite a 50% overclock from day one (gotta love the i5-2500K).
In my experience computers fail because of:
- hardware issues left unaddressed: a blue screen of death means something is broken. It's not a "normal" part of having a Windows-based PC
- poor use: running a bunch of useless software and/or spending time in unhealthy parts of the Internet. Pre-installed software is often a culprit here. This can be solved with a clean install
- buying bottom of the barrel stuff to begin with (which can manifest itself in the hardware issues I mentioned)
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 17, 2020 21:03:42 GMT -5
Update:
Picked up new USB drive and some compressed air.
Cleaned the inside... definitely needed it, didn't seem to be at a level to cause problems, but still... needed it. No loose connections or red flags of any kind.
USB Drive wouldn't work. Doesn't really get recognized, says it can't install a driver and is vague. Internet instructions say to run a hardware troubleshooter, but it isn't where any of the sites say where it is. Turns out the troubleshooter I want is still there but not on any menus and has to be run from the command prompt... because, why make it easy? For anyone curious, the command line is: "msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic" . It ran, saw the problem with the drive, and fixed it. I'm backing stuff up now.
I've had to do several start ups since I ran the "sfc /scannow" and so far no weird crashes. If it fixed that problem, I'm officially out of the computer shopping market. The ones out there didn't seem appreciably better to be a strong upgrade in addition to replacing an ill machine, so my motivation to spend $400 when this one is working is pretty low. The SSD and better processor are tempting, but hard to justify. I'm trying to save money rather than spend it, and besides, if I wanted to spend it, I have had my eye on some specialty woodworking planes, and could get an awful lot for $400!
My next step might be to figure out why it is as slow as it is. In the distant past I've had great luck with programs like Tune-Up Utilities. In the more recent past none of that stuff has done me much good. I have a habit of having both Chrome and Firefox open at the same time, and it munches resources like crazy, especially Firefox. Maybe a RAM upgrade if the rest of the machine doesn't seem like it will spontaneously combust on me?
I'm wondering if many of my Windows 10 problems stem from this being originally a Windows 8 system, and it being upgraded automatically. (I didn't think Win8 was all that bad to be honest... but, I also had Vista and never had a problem except that the particular PC shipped with too little memory, but once that was fixed it was fine) It looks like if I wanted to do a clean install I'd have to buy the software. Not a fan of that. To be fair, Windows figured out all of my problems, it is just plain bizarre that any of them were there in the first place.
I have Avast and Malwarebytes on there, and maybe that's a problem. I have no idea what most people do for virus protection these days. I don't download sketchy stuff (or anything, really), I don't watch porn, the shadiest website I go to is probably this weird one called Moe's Tavern. Somehow those programs always seem super needy and annoying. That might be another thread, though.
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Post by insanecooker on Jul 17, 2020 21:13:51 GMT -5
I have no idea what most people do for virus protection these days. The Windows built-in tools are fine. |
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Jul 17, 2020 21:29:00 GMT -5
I have no idea what most people do for virus protection these days. The Windows built-in tools are fine. So, you'd go commando without any third party pieces? |
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jul 17, 2020 21:31:47 GMT -5
I use Kapersky, I believe it was suggested to me on the FDP. May have been Peegoo.
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Post by insanecooker on Jul 17, 2020 21:32:52 GMT -5
Have not installed a third-party antivirus software in at least 10 years.
My network is setup in a fairly safe way and I don’t do silly stuff with my computers, so...
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Post by stratcowboy on Jul 17, 2020 21:34:14 GMT -5
I use Kapersky, I believe it was suggested to me on the FDP. Sends your info straight through Putin's office to make sure there are no bugs. |
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jul 17, 2020 21:34:39 GMT -5
I’m sure.
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Post by fkaJimmySee on Jul 18, 2020 4:32:43 GMT -5
I bought my first IBM PC in 1984 so I was a Microsoft user for literally decades. I knew what I was doing. People came to me for help. I eventually became sick and tired of all the bull$h!t. The lost data, the catastrophic failures that happened without warning, the blue screen of death, the ritualistic running of fdisk to wipe your disk and start over in an attempt to salvage hardware, the constant need to be on guard and up to date against the slightest malware, the constantly diminishing performance, the time consuming defrags, the expense of replacing a system every 3 years and the never ending feeling that your equipment is obsolete 3 months after you buy it. When my VERY expensive Dell Precision M6000 series bit the dust and left me stranded after only 16 months I said enough was enough. That was 2013. I bought a 15" MacBook Pro and I am NEVER going back to Windows ever again. Ever. I don't even want to touch one. My machine is 7 years old and it runs better and faster than a 1 year old Windows machine. The best advise I can give to anyone in the market for a new personal computer is to buy a Mac. They are more expensive initially but they are cheaper in the long run. You get what you pay for. If you don't want to switch universes then the only advise I can give is to do regular data backups to an external drive because you cannot avoid the inevitable. I still do backups but now instead of doing them once a week, I do them about once every six months or so. I've never needed to use my back ups and I probably never will but old habits die hard. I second the advice to migrate over to Mac. The Apple website sells factory refurbs with full new computer warranties, so you can save a few hundred bucks. |
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