Upgrade or buy new and file transfer advice please

[godfatherI]

I hope someone with IT expertise can answer some dumb questions for me in case I don't have to go to Best Buy and spend a fortune!

My desktop (Compaq Presario SR5718F) has been running like a charm after more than six years; the only repair was a power supply in 2013. At the time of purchase, it was eligible for a free Windows 7 upgrade, but didn't realize until it was too late that there was a feature to install the upgrade without having to reinstall all my programs. So now I am stuck.

Running Vista Home Premium (no longer supported by M/Soft). Both Browsers are outdated (IE9 & Chrome 49.0.2623.112) and can't be updated. I am still able to scan and update with MSE. I use both browsers, but IE9 is limited and with Chrome, plug ins no longer work as the flash player updated only when Chrome did.

I don't need a high end machine - don't stream movies or download videos, music; mainly for email (Outlook) and of course Facebook to keep in touch with family and use the Facebook games, but as the games upgrade, my old browsers limit the functionality.

If it looks like this will become a doorstop and I have to go out and purchase another machine, can I use a USB to USB cable to hook up both machines and copy over the files needed to the new machine? I thought that way I would still have the old PC with files intact until I'm sure the new one is glitch free (Windows 10 will be a huge learning curve for us). Definitely would like to know how to transfer over my favourites as well.

Any advice would be most appreciated. Have not been to Best Buy before; all of our electronics came from Future Shop and we always had good service from them. Not knowing anyone at B/B, my list of 50 questions may not be answered.

Sorry about being so long-winded, but from reading the forums there are more than a few that are up to date with the computer world so wanted to start here first. If you read this far and are still awake - thank you very much.

[Bsuds]

The easy way would be to temporarily put the hard drive in the new computer and just copy any old files over or just buy a good sized USB stick and do it that way. If you're not computer savvy then that would be the easiest.

Browsing favorites are easily transferred via built in utilities in the browser itself. With Chrome you just need to have a gmail account to sync those between devices.

Check your pm's

[TylerM4]

Copying your data is easy. Bsuds gave you some good advice there. You could also use a cloud storage solution for this.

Buying vs upgrading is a trickier question.

Normally, I'd say "Throw a Solid State Disk (SSD) in it". But you need a more modern version of windows. The most economical way to do that is to buy an OEM license (buy a computer with Win10 installed already).

So, since you need to upgrade windows and the hardware is pretty much at it's end of life anyway - my recommendation is to buy a new PC.

Funny- I was arguing this exact scenario with someone in this forum a couple of months ago. Was trying to convince them that it's a good idea to accept the free windows 10 upgrade while it was still available.

[Jlabute]

Older computers with older motherboards might not have 'new' drivers available for them supporting Win10 etc. So, personally, I probably wouldn't keep the old hardware, but I would get a new machine (even an inexpensive one would likely be more powerful than what you have now) and as 'Bsuds' says, install the old HD into the new machine to transfer stuff over. That is probably the least painless method with fewer potential issues.
Also, get a computer with an old hard drive and replace it with a solid state drive... that too is cheaper rather than buying a model with an SSD pre-installed, if you're tech savvy. The cost difference between a HD and a small SSD is almost nothing... why PC builders charge an arm and leg for them is unknown :-)

[godfatherI]

Thank you both very much for the responses. I tried calling you bsuds but it was a wrong number?

I guess the best solution is to buy another desktop. At least I'll be good for a few years until Microsoft comes up with something else that we need to spend money on.

My old external back-up drive may not be the best to use, so will try and get a memory stick to copy the files to; at least that will give me another copy of the files in case the old computer gives up the ghost.

Have never been a fan of HP machines, but B/B has an Acer on sale for 370, plus they offer a discount if I get MS office at the same time. Asus seems good, but may be out of my price range (I cry when spending any money).

Will let you know how things work out. It was much simpler in the days of NT and Exchange Server (sigh).

Thanks again for the responses

I just saw jlabute's response - my machine was only good for the Win 7 upgrade, so most likely wouldn't handle W10. New it will have to be I guess. Will check if the new machine has an SSD drive.

[Bsuds]

sorry, I resent it to you

[forum]

Did you buy something yet godfather?

[godfatherI]

Hi Forum - thanks for checking.
I was unable to get down to B/B and the sale ended yesterday.
Will check to see what's on sale in the new flyer. Can still use what I have, but losing a little more functionality
on websites as everything gets upgraded. At least I backed up my files this week, just in case!

[Quixote]

There are a lot of sites now that sell off-lease business-grade machines that will give you a lot more performance for your money than buying from the big box retailers. As an example: https://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/c ... 66436.html - go under desktops, from there I would suggest the Lenovo™ ThinkCentre® M92p (AJ8) A3238AJ8. This machine has a 3rd gen i5, 8GB RAM, 320GB Windows 10 Pro and a 15 month IBM warranty for $265 + tax ($344.64 - $80 in the cart).

You can also check out ca.refurb.io and dellrefurbished.ca if you wanted to check around a bit - refurb.io also have a 12-month warranty, but dellrefurbished only have 100-day warranties.

[forum]

Godfather, I would recommend waiting for Black Friday or Cyber Monday to purchase something.

And based on your usage case, I strongly advise you to purchase a Chromebook.

A Chromebook with an i3 processor will boot up in 3 seconds. All you need is a Gmail account. They are the most reliable, cost effective, and economical computer on the planet.

I'd specifically recommend a Dell 13 inch Chromebook, an HP 13 inch Chromebook. You can plug an external monitor I into them when you need more screen real estate.

And in the next coming year, many of the Chromebooks will run Android apps natively. So you may want to consider a touchscreen chromebook.

I recently purchased a Dell 13" Chromebook with touchscreen for $800 directly from Dell. I kid you not, it's just as nice and well built as a MacBook Pro. It's impressive. Everyone who's seen it and used it love it. Great screen, great keyboard, great touchpad, great Operating system.

Just to know where I'm coming from, we have iPads, Android tablets, windows 7,windows 10, Linux boxes, chrome boxes, Apple's, and now the Chromebook. And I professionally deploy and consult comouter systems for businesses.

[Jlabute]

Dell has good online deals. I would get a minimum of an i3 processor... at least gen 6 intel.

http://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/productd ... ftsb_s207e

Id do something like this.

[Bsuds]

Hi Forum - thanks for checking.
I was unable to get down to B/B and the sale ended yesterday.
Will check to see what's on sale in the new flyer. Can still use what I have, but losing a little more functionality
on websites as everything gets upgraded. At least I backed up my files this week, just in case!

Black Friday sales are coming as well. It might be worth it to wait for that.

[Bsuds]

Isn't this the one you were looking at? Sale ends on the 24th

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/ace ... 1c5103en02

[Jlabute]

The B/B computer at $399 is cheap, but it has an Intel J3710 which isn't too quick. May be ok though if you don't mind being on the slow side. The j3710 is half the speed of an i3 and appears to be a pricier chip.

http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/437/In ... J3710.html

http://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cp ... _6100u-591

[Bsuds]

You might also conxider a refurbished one as well. A lot more bang for your buck

http://www.staples.ca/en/Dell-Optiplex- ... CA_1_20001