Pages

Wednesday 24 March 2021

A ‘new’ PC

My current PC is showing its age (it is approximately six years old and originally used the Windows 8 operating system), and I am beginning to get fed up with how slow it has become. Each new Windows 10 upgrade seems to be making it work even slower, and after trawling around the Internet, I have bought a reconditioned PC that comes with a 21.5” flatscreen monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse.

I expect that it will take me some time to set up the new PC. In the past I would have tried to do this as quickly as possible so that I could crack on with any current projects, but as I have plenty of time on my hands, I don’t need to rush ... and so I’m going to take as long as it takes.

As a result, I may not be posting very much on my blog for the next few days. Rest assured, once the new PC is up and running, normal service will resume.

16 comments:

  1. All three of my Win10 machines have gotten slower over the past two years of updates, and they are all under 3 years old.

    They add more crap under the hood and it acts as a sea anchor on the system.

    Wish they'd produce a lean version of the OS which was actually a lean version.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Justin Penwith,

      My old PC has a 4GB RAM, which is not quite up to coping with the latest incarnations of Windows 10. My 'new' PC has 8GB RAM and seems to be finding it much easier to cope with Windows 10.

      I've yet to decide whether or not to allow automatic updates to take place, as these sometimes seem to have an unwanted effect on the OS and the PC's speed.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Hi Bob

      I know exactly how you feel. My PC is about the same age as yours, and so slow I keep an ipad on the desk so that I can check email and facebook whilst I wait for the computer to open email.

      I keep threatening to replace it, but I always feel it is a waste to get rid of something which still works, even if it only works very slowly.

      My son does not have this particular hang up, he replaces his computers and IPads every couple of years without the slightest pang of guilt

      I think it must be an age thing!

      regards

      Paul

      Delete
    3. Paul Leniston (Paul),

      When I was working, I used to change my PC every three to four years, but since I retired I’ve tried to extend that period to five to six years. I only use the PC for what I would term ‘big projects’ (e.g. writing my books, keeping the family accounts up to date), and use an iPad for surfing the internet and writing emails. I also have a laptop that I can take on holidays.

      I was reluctant to buy a brand new PC, so bought a reconditioned one from Amazon. It was delivered yesterday, and today I’ve been setting it up and installing MS Office and the other programs I use. Tomorrow I intend to transfer all the files over using a portable hard drive.

      Young people are far more ‘use and replace’ than our generation. That said, I have a friend who is older than me who replaces her laptop at least every other year, and has a new smartphone every year.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. My no frills laptop works perfectly well, but doesn't have enough memory for the latest Windows 10 upgrade, which may be a blessing in disguise given the issues experienced! So frustrating when it may become obsolete when it's fine as it is for surfing the net and basic inline activity:(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      I wonder how long it will be before Windows 10 is replaced. The upgrades do seem to make it go slower and slower ... but with no perceptible increase in performance. I was happy using Windows 8 ... and still have an old, back-up laptop that uses it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Hi Bob,
    Yes, when our PC is fading fast -it is best to replace it before loosing any data. My PC is getting on -though working fine- it is an ACER -Aspire. Well pleased with Windows 10 and I dread to think that one day Windows 10 will become obsolete - until then I'll keep Soldiering On. Stay well and safe there. Regards. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      My old PC is also an Acer Aspire, and has done me good service. If I could make it work faster, I’d be keeping it.

      I quite like the way Windows 10 works, but why does it keep needing upgrades?

      Keep safe and keep well,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Have you considered a chromebook? My wife gets a discount on electronics thanks to her job so we bought 2 "education edition" chromebook s for our twin boys. They are extra sturdy and have stood up to almost 3 years of abuse two little boys can dish out. The nice thing is they're cheap and the OS is quite robust. I think they'd handle writing books and finances quite well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. Pavone,

      I did consider buying a Chromebook when I bought my latest laptop, but couldn’t find one at a price that I could afford. My new PC has the sort of computing capacity that I need for my writing and desktop publishing. As I discovered this afternoon, the 21.5” screen allows me to work on illustrations at pixel level without me straining my eyes.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. Ive just bought a new PC as well as my old HP was creaking a bit (mainly as it has a HDD and modern OS seem to assume you have SDD). I think the way that Windows feature updates are bundled now means that "Windows 10“ is actually" Windows 12" now. Given the heightened Cyber threat atm, I would strongly advise against disabling automatic updates though. They are mainly there to plug security holes, any extra features are a bonus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Martin Rapier,

      After some thought, I have not chosen to disable the automatic updates for the reasons you have included in your comment. I just wish that they would admit that what we are actually using is really no longer Windows 10, and were on Windows 10+++.

      My reconditioned PC has a HDD, but for the moment it doesn't seem to be having any problems doing its job.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. It doesn't really matter whether it's called Win 10 or Win 12, Windows has become the biggest distributor of junk mail on the planet in it's out of the box form. My PC's. for the last 15 years, have always had at least 12Gb of RAM and the fastest hard drive configuraion I could assemble, from RAID in the early years, to SSD today. The big thing is to delve into the best configuration of services and apps you need and prune away the bloat. My laptop today, 4 years old with Win 10, is the fastest machine I ever had thanks to tuning. I think the basic Win 10 is sound, and kept that way by updates. But you must weed out the junk to keep up the performance. And that's another story. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Arthur,

      Since I retired, I’ve had to buy my computers on a budget, and have bought the best I could afford. Over time, I’ve got used to Windows 10, and now that I’ve been using it for some time, I quite like it.

      As to the apps I install on my PC ... well, I try to keep them to a minimum in order to keep my PC working as efficiently as possible. For example, as I don’t do any gaming, I delete all the gaming software that comes as standard.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Hi Bob -
    Interesting post and responses. I think my PC is about 7 years old, but is starting to shut down for no apparent reason. Will be taking it in for servicing in a week. I've been running Win10, and thought it a vast improvement over Win7 and the trainwreck they called Vista.

    I've been missing my printer/copier this last year (RIP). Might start looking into audio/video comms, since everyone else seems to be going in that direction...

    Overall, though, I'm starting to think this machine is occupying far too much of my time...
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      My old PC sometimes took over five minutes to boot up ... and would then seemingly sulk if I tried to open certain programs. When it recently refused to open the desktop publishing program that we use to publish THE NUGGET, that was the final straw.

      I have two printers; a laser printer and an colour inkjet printer/copier. I’m looking to eventually replace them with a colour laser printer/copier ... but I’ll wait until one of the existing printers conks out before I do.

      I use my laptop and iPad for Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp etc. My new PC doesn’t have a camera, whereas the laptop and iPad do, and I see no reason why I need to fit my PC with a camera.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. Please note that any comments that are spam or contain phishing messages or that come from Google Accounts that are 'Unknown' will be deleted.