Fix my desktop, or the kitten gets it!

Deleted User

Howdy folks.

I posted and accidentally zombie-resurrected the 'We'll build your PC for you' thread.

I made this post:

Deleted User wrote: »

Folks, do any of ye guys generally have pc parts lying about? or do ye just specifically build from scratch (with no waste).

I have a desktop, and it's great, but lately is slowing, giving random error messages when starting and such ("one of your disks needs to be checked for consistency" is a regular one, but today i started getting "not enough RAM" when trying to save a photo in photoshop, and 'cant read from source file or disk" when trying to move stuff around). So it's time to act now before it dies on me altogether.

Although I figure a new desktop is on the cards, if it was more economical, I'd rather fix this one (rather than buying everything from scratch and having this desktop going in the bin).

Anyone fancy attempting to fix it (as i say, probably only suit someone with bits and bobs lying around, rather than the hassle of checking to see what's wrong, and then having to order parts in etc. as it'd probably just turn into a lot of hassle then).

The desktop is about 4-5 years old, so owes me nothing at this stage, anyway.


Or assuming the costs tend to work out the same, or just getting a new desktop would be a safer choice all in all, does anyone fancy making me one?

Last time a boardsie made me one (the one I currently have) he whipped up a list of the things i'd need on a website (hardwareversand or something possibly?) and I bought the stuff and used his address as the shipping address. Then just paid him when i was collecting it.

I use it for photography. I need to be able to edit/save lots of RAW (large image) files at the same time, running 2-3 photo editing programmes at the same time. Other than that it's just the usual internet browsing, etc.

As a point of reference, here's a screenshot of the current spec level on this desktop. The same or better would be ideal.


https://s23.postimg.org/7r9tk8w7v/specs.jpg


I live in Drogheda, Louth, but I drive so anyone within 60-90 minutes or so from me would be grand.


Cheers

Following on from advice in the replies, I figured I'd throw this here and put the feelers out.

In relation to the 32bit OS and 8gb ram - The computer died on me a while back (twice, powered up but wouldn't go by the boot up screen..) and I got a chap who's a friend of a friend to come over and get it back up and running. So I think that's why it's on 32bit instead of 64bit.


Xenoronin posted this:

Xenoronin wrote: »

This isn't exactly a simple list of tasks if you really don't care to google all the things I've said above, so I'm sure someone on here would be more than happy to help you.

I have no issue whatsoever in paying someone a fair fee to do this for me. I use a PC everyday of my life and yet I have no knowledge, nor significant interest, to actually DIY anything relating to it. I'm not the laziest person you'll ever meet, but I genuinely just can't bring myself to find an interest in this particular general area. I just want/need a working desktop and a thumbs up from someone with a bit of knowledge that I'm safe to use it for a few more years.


I'm going to Kerry on the 4th of February for 2 weeks, effectively meaning I'll be crossing the country in it's entirety (east to west). I'll be returning 2 weeks later.

If a trustworthy boardsie fancies it, you're welcome to take the desktop off me on the 4th, fix whatever you think is wrong with it (14 days should give sufficient time to look at it, order whats needed, and then put it together and make sure it's working, I'd say?), and then I can collect it on the way home and pay you (and you know I'll turn up to pay you, cos you'll have my desktop, so don't have to worry about never hearing from me again).


Would anyone be interested in this? If so, feel free to reply here or PM me with a rough idea of how much you'd like for doing this (and a rough cost, if you could, for the bits needed and what you plan to do with it exactly? For example, I don't know how much these things cost, but if there are worthwhile and not silly-priced upgrades available, like going from 8gb to 16gb of RAM, then I'd happily consider them).


Anyone be interested in that?

wotzgoingon

Hard to say what is wrong could be hard drive on the way out. Your list of specs is very limited, doesn't really say much. Like do you have a SSD? I couldn't really look at it for you as I live in Mayo.

ED E

Yeah, failing disk could cause rereads (slowness), the errors described and no paging could lead to memory exhaustion so reasonable chance thats it.

Replace the disk.

From my little bit of knowledge (or lack thereof) my issues could be that my HDD is indeed on it's death bed, and needs replacing (it's not SSD, but if it's worth investing in i'd happily replace with SSD, as I am lead to believe these are less troublesome and swifter in everyday life?).

I also have 8gb ram that's only being half used as the PC is currently running on a 32bit OS instead of a 64bit one (and therefore can't actually make use of all the RAM available).


The fan on it also makes a loud noise if it's in use for a long time (but putting it into sleep mode for 5 mins usually resolves that.. I presume over-heating but not sure).


Is there anyone would fancy fixing the above for me? As far as I know desktop pieces like HDD and RAM are just like lego in that you take them out and put new versions in? So although I wouldn't do it myself as I know I'd do something trivial wrong and end up getting angry at it, for someone that's clued in it might not be overly difficult?


Mayo would be a bit too out of the way unfortunately, wotzgoingon.

ED E

Best route is a new disk and a re-install.

You need to buy either:
A. A small SSD + larger new HDD
B. A large SSD

You didnt post the spec but depending on how much data you'll need will influence the above.


Then its just a case of installing windows again. And maybe dusting it if thermals are becoming an issue. There may be a boardsie in the North Dublin area willing to have a punt at it if you organize the parts.


Do it soon. Its likely to die and then its data recovery territory.

Xenoronin

Also, note that it is perfectly fine to use the same windows key you currently have to install the 64bit version of windows 7 ultimate.

Johnboy1951

Seems to me you need

small SSD for OS
large HDD for data
the PC completely disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled with new thermal paste properly applied to CPU
install of OS
recovery of your files ...... I do hope you have them backed up so if that drive fails your data is not lost.

I've no idea if i even have the windows install anymore to be honest. I'm sure I know a chap that has one but i remember when I first got this desktop, the boardsie that put it together gave me all the boxes and discs and such but after a year (during a house move) having had no issue with the PC i threw everything out.


In relation to data sizes, I'd like to have a bout 500gb as a minimum on the desktop. Anything that's important to me is backed up anyway on external drives.

Anyone have a rough idea how much I'd spend on getting those bits done to it?

and If anyone fancies giving it a shot, feel free to reply or PM me. Still not something i'd like to try myself in all honesty.

Ah come on folks.. must be someone on all of the boards that can do this

Samuel T. Cogley

Just take the HDD out of it, feck an SSD into it, download the windows 10 image onto a USB, stick the USB key in, switch on the computer and install windows. Pop the HDD back in, move any data you need off it, wipe it and use if for your data.

TerrorFirmer

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Seems to me you need

small SSD for OS
large HDD for data
the PC completely disassembled, cleaned and re-assembled with new thermal paste properly applied to CPU
install of OS
recovery of your files ...... I do hope you have them backed up so if that drive fails your data is not lost.

This is pretty much it, it's about an hours work to someone who knows what they're doing - and 50 minutes of that is re-installing and setting up the OS.

120GB SSD for your OS and programs, 500GB/1TB HDD for storage.

It would take a bit longer on top of that to leave files transferring from your original HDD to the new storage drive, but it's fairly straight forward - and you've mentioned that you have stuff backed up on an external drive so this step would probably be unnecessary. Which does leave it at about 60 minutes work.

The hardware side of it would be less than €100. No idea what a shop would charge for their time on top of that, though.