New PC
 

Hello Everyone

Your advice, please.

My P.C. is playing up, and I think it is time to replace it. I have had HP's and no problems with them , so unless there is a good reason intend to stay with them.

A lot of my information is saved on OneDrive, but there is plenty not. I am no expert by a long way on moving files and data to OneDrive, and wonder if there is any easy way to move what is on my current hard-drive to a new one. Would a reliable computer shop be able to transfer everything from one machine to the other without causing me any grief?

As always, I appreciate your suggestions and advice.

Any computer store should be able to help you. The other way is to purchase a back-up hard drive and download your data to it - then upload it to your new box. Don’t even need a grandchild!

Mog

It's probably not a good time to be replacing your PC, as RAM, SSD and GPU prices are at a high point right now. It might be better to have the computer shop sort out your current PC than buy a new one. Always good to have a full backup, so Mogwi's suggestion of an external hard drive is good advice. An external USB carrier with a large capacity HDD would be a good way to do it without breaking the bank.

I have always bought bespoke machines, having generally found name-brand units to be of poorer quality and/or older than current hardware, and often installed with layers of unnecessary software - all of which can contribute to a slow and frustrating experience. With bespoke one can specify known good quality hardware which is well thought of in the industry - for example Samsung SSD's.

That said I agree with fly-by-wife's comments both on not the best time to by new hardware, and the advisability of having a good backup. To those comments I'd like to add that I have also found (extensively) that installing Linux on old machines will often give them a new lease of life; the usual outcome is a machine that's faster and much more reliable (as well as improving one's privacy and digital sovereignty).

Not for everyone perhaps, but it's a potential zero-$ fix to your woes - once you've backed up!

FP.

Fully support Linux - I've been running one PC on Mint and really like it. The only problem for me is a lack of MS Office - I've a lot invested in docs, spreadsheets and Visio, and while LibreOffice is OK to view most Office files, it's really clunky to create files or do anything sophisticated. Don't even try to get Office working on Wine!

Add the drive to you new PC
 

You can build new PC with new SSD for Windows and other new stuff and put your old hard drive as addition. Then you will use your new main SSD as C Drive and old one as D Drive. It is not rocket science level task so you can try by watching videos on YouTube or you can ask PC shop to do instead.

Thank you all, for your comments and advice.

Plenty for me to think about and consider, and as always I appreciate your time and advice.

Cheers!

If you are used to Windows, you might like to try https://ubuntu.com/download . It's very similar to Linux Mint, but the user interface is more familiar to Windows users. You can run it off a bootable USB stick to see if it's right for you, same as Mint, before choosing or not to install it on your hard drive. Try both, to see which one suits you best. They're both free. Techies prefer Mint, dummies like me use ubuntu.

Linux tends not to crash as regularly as Windows. I had the screen freeze on me in 2016, but there have been several iterations of Ubuntu since then, which have run without any problems. To be on the safe side, backup before installing, and if you want to dual-boot windows/linux, install windows first. Linux sits quite happily on top of windows, but if you install windows on top of linux, it keeps on trying to take control.

All versions of linux have an application called Terminal, which gives you total control over your computer, which windows frustratingly denies you. If you prefix a command with sudo (pseudo SuperUser) you can do just about anything, including bricking your hard drive. Use with caution.

You don't need anti-virus software with Linux. People have written virii for linux, but they are defeated in the next upgrade (there is one every few days, they are small uploads) so they've largely given up.

If your computer doesn't have a lot of memory, you can download an older version of linux which doesn't require as much. This ancient machine is fully expanded to its maximum of 8 GB, and I run Ubuntu 22.04 (22 = 2022, 04 = April, there is a new stable release every two years, in April.) I miss out on the latest bells and whistles, but a new computer would be expensive. Anything since 18.04 is fully supported with upgrades.

If you're not totally happy about how to transfer files to/from One Dive I doubt that Linux etc are for you. These are always billed as WIndows replacements but they still require a significant degree of technical "interest" to get the best out of them.

If all you want/need to do is turn on, log in and use standard programmes you're going to be a lot happier in Windows. If you find that irritating for any reason then the Linux route is available. Not everyone wants to poke around in a car engine and similarly most people just want a PC that works with minimal or zero extra knowledge.

That reads more like a recommendation for a Mac than for Windows. :O

I have a MacBookPro and it's fantastic. Just one box for everything. Used as a radio and TV as well. Expensive but well made and including "auto maintenance" with plenty of free updates for security and such. If I need something, like I managed to break the glass, there are physical Apple stores available for free advice and some free service or paid repairs. Apple service is great. And it connects seamlessly to the phone and watch etc. if you like.

Transferring files to a new PC can be more complex than it would seem. On a Windows PC, there are files scattered about that are tedious to find and move to the new PC, so using a service or software to do so is probably the easiest way unless you are a computer hobbiest. For instance, the most typical files to move are the ones in the "My Documents" directory and each user ID on the PC will have their own My Documents directory. Beyond this location, there is downloads, desktop, pictures, music, and video folders. If you want to preserve your browser settings, you'll need to back it up too. The FireFox browser makes this relatively easy, but I'm not sure about others. Thinking beyond moving files, there's also all of the installed apps that need to be restored. To summarize, changing computers or the local storage drive is a complex endeavor, so hiring a service or software to migrate to the new PC is probably best.

Regarding the comments on iOS (Apple), Windows, and Linux, as a user of all three OSs (Operating Systems), iOS tends to be the most user friendly in my option. Giving my parents iOS devices has reduced my tech support duties and their frustration. If one backs up their iOS to iCloud, it's relatively easy to migrate to a new PC or device.

Ny wife has had serious issues with Apple deleting stuff she uploaded to their cloud service - be very careful

Thank you for all recent posts, with various suggestions and warnings! All are of real value, and will help in making a decision.

The ‘Cloud’, no matter whose you use, is just someone else’s computer.

And you can NEVER have too many backups/Copies

Storage is inexpensive these days. Just get one good harddrive to secure your data once in a while and keep it offline at a safe place.

Yes - that fact, while self-evident if you think about it, seems to have passed by a lot of people.