I have decided to start this thread for discussing technical issues that come up rather than messing up the other threads.
I guess the first issue seems to be pasting Word text into posting boxes.
Recently we have had three threads lockup up as a result of posts involving Word text.
Tiger Signature
At the end of the day it is what you are most comfortable with isn't it Mary? Is it going to cost megabucks or are they quite reasonable?
ChloeB & Tiger's Osprey Data
ChloeB said: Hi Kate, will look into Sandboxie, thanks :)
Hi Kate, will look into Sandboxie, thanks :)
Mary, good luck with your decision, it is always difficult upgrading as there are so many ifs and buts, and so many confusing info to absorb:)
Thanks and appreciate your suggestions Kate. I have Malwarebytes and TuneUp Utilities installed on all my machines, do regular maintenance and have so far managed to keep them on an even keel :)
Hazel b said: I know it may not think it now but it is the most fantastic experience for you. I feel sure that the caddy option would have worked but it really requires someone who is comfortable removing hard drives. Your problem is that your machine is very sick and is trying to repair itself. Sometimes that may be too difficult. If you were to get a new computer with say Windows 7 then most of the software you have now will probably run. It does look as if you will need a new computer since the one you got is dated.
I know it may not think it now but it is the most fantastic experience for you.
I feel sure that the caddy option would have worked but it really requires someone who is comfortable removing hard drives.
Your problem is that your machine is very sick and is trying to repair itself. Sometimes that may be too difficult.
If you were to get a new computer with say Windows 7 then most of the software you have now will probably run.
It does look as if you will need a new computer since the one you got is dated.
Another option would be to use a 'rescue disk', either from a CD or USB stick (although the former is preferable). I have one in my armoury called 'system rescue CD' which is based on Linux, and can be downloaded (for free) as an image and burned to a CD. With this you could boot the system and retrieve files from the hard drive without going into Windows, provided the drive itself is still functioning well enough, and then copy them to a USB stick, or another functioning drive in your system if you have one. However, it does require a bit of command line knowledge to do this :-( There may be more user-friendly alternatives out there; I will take a look. Obviously, you would need to have access to someone else's computer to be able to download and burn it!
As Tiger said, most of the data you need to save will be independent of the programs that use it (e.g. pictures, videos, office files). You will lose all the programs you installed after you got the system, but these can probably be downloaded and installed afresh on a new system. [There may even be ways of saving those, but that is not so easy.]
"Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not too sure about the universe..." - Albert Einstein
I do not want to say this too loudly but in 24 years I have never had a disk crash. All that backing up wasted! :)
Mind you I did have a little accident last year when I was backing up!
Hazel b said: I do not want to say this too loudly but in 24 years I have never had a disk crash. All that backing up wasted! :)
Never say never ;-) Sometimes failures can be predicted, sometimes not. Safety is always the best policy.
Of course operating system failures are much more common, which is why its a very good idea to partition the disk and keep Windows and data separate. You can then re-install Windows without worrying about losing any data on the other partition.
So many things are so much easier these days. Size of storage used to be a big problem and speed of data transfer is also so much easier.
Hazel b said: Mary By all in one do you mean that the computer is integrated with the screen?
Mary By all in one do you mean that the computer is integrated with the screen?
Yes Tiger Sony only do their PC's like this, no tower.
EJ's Memorial Balgavies Loch Ospreys 2023
ChloeB said: At the end of the day it is what you are most comfortable with isn't it Mary? Is it going to cost megabucks or are they quite reasonable?
Chloe I think we prefer buying from somewhere that we know we will get good service, and have been dealing with for years now. So we went in today and ordered the PC, it depends on what you call megabucks LOL.... £1700 which I think is OK for what we are getting and when we had our very first home computer built way back in 1999/2000 it cost over £2000 at that time, so cannot complain about what we pay now for things.
I also bought hubby a new Sony laptop I5, 8 g ram, 750 g. I am laughing as he is sitting next to me and trying to set it up, its going so fast he cannot keep up with it LOL..... Ofcourse its Windows 8, which he can operate like Windows 7 but being used to XP its going to take a wee while to get used to everything, but no doubt we will both get there in the end. The PC will take a wee bit longer to arrive as getting it done to our specification.
LOL that is megabucks to me Mary! :)
At least you have two laptops to keep you going until the PC arrives.
I take it the all-in-one has a touch screen too?