I only use my desktop for backing up my iPhone - is it necessary to upgrade?

[TH55]

Sorry I scanned this forum up and down and wasn't sure where this belonged.

I have a 2005 Dell running XP that was pretty loaded with the best hardware when I bought it and was still working perfectly fine, if a little slow but still plenty fast for my needs. All I really use it for is downloading music, syncing/backing up my iPhone and doing homework. I do almost all of my browsing on my phone.

I got a virus recently and halfway through running a full system scan on Avast it froze up and when I restarted the computer I got this -

“Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SOFTWARE”

I called around and it sounds like it will cost around $125 to get if repaired and cleaned up. Am I just going to run into the same problem again soon and better off buying a new desktop? Again, the speed and power of it was fine I'm just worried about the security and getting another virus, esp since XP is no longer supported. How good of a computer could I get for $3-400? Thanks!

 

[Smith2000]

If it's just a virus they should be able to get it up and running agin for you.

I wouldn't upgrade until I had the budget for something around the price of a Surface Pro 3 with enough space for your music, a ThinkPad or an iMac.

A $200-300 PC should be fine for typing, but maybe not an improvement over what you have now.

Maybe look into buying iCloud backup to backup your phone and Spotify premium to replace your music and then you could cut the cord and not worry about maintaining virus software and have a Chromebook or no PC at all.

 

[TH55]

If it's just a virus they should be able to get it up and running agin for you.

I wouldn't upgrade until I had the budget for something around the price of a Surface Pro 3 with enough space for your music, a ThinkPad or an iMac.

A $200-300 PC should be fine for typing, but maybe not an improvement over what you have now.

Maybe look into buying iCloud backup to backup your phone and Spotify premium to replace your music and then you could cut the cord and not worry about maintaining virus software and have a Chromebook or no PC at all.

Cool, thanks. Does that sound like a repair I can do? I've read online a lot of people saying all I need is an XP boot disc.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Time to get a Mac.

 

[TH55]

Time to get a Mac.

As soon as I get the $.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

If that is your only problem, buy a Windows 7 or 8 license. Check your hw specs first but if you had top hw then you should be okay with either. I have hw of that vintage that runs 7 just fine.

You can get a decent desktop for 300 or 400 $. Just pick something with good reviews and be sure to clean install the OS to dump all the freeware / spyware / adware. Dell, HP, Lenovo make decent and inexpensive desktops. There are lemons but the reviews will generally show which ones to avoid.

 

[TH55]

If that is your only problem, buy a Windows 7 or 8 license. Check your hw specs first but if you had top hw then you should be okay with either. I have hw of that vintage that runs 7 just fine.

You can get a decent desktop for 300 or 400 $. Just pick something with good reviews and be sure to clean install the OS to dump all the freeware / spyware / adware. Dell, HP, Lenovo make decent and inexpensive desktops. There are lemons but the reviews will generally show which ones to avoid.

If all I use it for is syncing and downloading do I really need a new one as long as I update the antivirus?

 

[TH55]

If that is your only problem, buy a Windows 7 or 8 license. Check your hw specs first but if you had top hw then you should be okay with either. I have hw of that vintage that runs 7 just fine.

You can get a decent desktop for 300 or 400 $. Just pick something with good reviews and be sure to clean install the OS to dump all the freeware / spyware / adware. Dell, HP, Lenovo make decent and inexpensive desktops. There are lemons but the reviews will generally show which ones to avoid.

I just dropped it off to a guy who is going to a wipe and install windows vista - is that going to run a lot slower than XP did? Do I need to get 7?

 

[Tyler23]

What does this have to do with iPhone? There is a Windows sub forum on here..

 

[TH55]

What does this have to do with iPhone? There is a Windows sub forum on here..

As I said I couldn't find it. This sub forum gets the most traffic anyway and has the widest range of knowledge at hand.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

I just dropped it off to a guy who is going to a wipe and install windows vista - is that going to run a lot slower than XP did? Do I need to get 7?

7 is much better optimized and more stable than Vista in my opinion. If you aren't doing much with the PC (just iTunes) you could give it a try. I'd go for 7 if at all possible.

 

[TH55]

7 is much better optimized and more stable than Vista in my opinion. If you aren't doing much with the PC (just iTunes) you could give it a try. I'd go for 7 if at all possible.

Yeah I just called him and told him to load it with 7. Only 40 extra bucks for the license, sure it's worth it for speed alone no?

 

[azhava]

7 is much better optimized and more stable than Vista in my opinion. If you aren't doing much with the PC (just iTunes) you could give it a try. I'd go for 7 if at all possible.

Windows Vista was what made me switch to OS X/Apple computers. I would have gone to Linux rather than run that POS OS (my last PC was set up to dual boot between Win XP and Mandrake Linux anyway).

 

[lordofthereef]

Cool, thanks. Does that sound like a repair I can do? I've read online a lot of people saying all I need is an XP boot disc.

Absolutely. Your serial is somewhere on a sticker on the conouter itself.

But xp is no longer supported. I'd get a license to a supported copy of windows, preferably 7. The license should cost you less than what the repair guy is quoting you.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Windows Vista was what made me switch to OS X/Apple computers. I would have gone to Linux rather than run that POS OS (my last PC was set up to dual boot between Win XP and Mandrake Linux anyway).

I bought an iMac with Lion when I had a Win 7 PC. I thought "what have I done" as between the iMac hardware issues / recalls and Lion bugs and instability it was the least reliable computer I'd ever owned. Mountain Lion cleared up the OS issues but I have to wonder how long the hardware will hold up. I still have the pending graphics failure that Apple will not address unless the failure happens during the extended warranty. I still like the thing but it's definitely not as reliable as others claimed and I had hoped.

I just realized this is the iPhone page...oops! I'll refrain from further off topic posts.

OP, all I can say is try it out and see if iTunes performs to your expectations. If so, the OS should hold up for quite a while or when you decide to get a Mac!

 

[TH55]

Absolutely. Your serial is somewhere on a sticker on the conouter itself.

But xp is no longer supported. I'd get a license to a supported copy of windows, preferably 7. The license should cost you less than what the repair guy is quoting you.

But how would I do it without losing my data?

 

[lordofthereef]

But how would I do it without losing my data?

What data do you care about? I presume only your iPhone backups. Plug your hard drive into another machine and just explore the file system. It will still be intact.

It's a ten year old machine so I insgibe the hard drive is rather small... The entire thing would probably fit into some larger usb thumb drives.

 

[TH55]

What data do you care about? I presume only your iPhone backups. Plug your hard drive into another machine and just explore the file system. It will still be intact.

It's a ten year old machine so I insgibe the hard drive is rather small... The entire thing would probably fit into some larger usb thumb drives.

I don't have another comp. I have all of my music, word docs and pictures. How can you explore the hard drive on another comp isn't that where the virus is?

 

[lordofthereef]

I don't have another comp. I have all of my music, word docs and pictures. How can you explore the hard drive on another comp isn't that where the virus is?

What the virus did was delete some files necessary for Windows to boot. Simply plugging this drive into another machine will not cause any harm unless you execute whatever file caused the issue in the first place (this would not be your music, word docs, etc).

If you don't have another machine to use though, it's pointless delving into this further lol.

 

[techspin]

Curious what your rig looks like since it was "loaded with the best hardware" in 2005. Pretty much any $400 computer you can buy now will likely outperform your current setup.

 

[azhava]

I bought an iMac with Lion when I had a Win 7 PC. I thought "what have I done" as between the iMac hardware issues / recalls and Lion bugs and instability it was the least reliable computer I'd ever owned. Mountain Lion cleared up the OS issues but I have to wonder how long the hardware will hold up. I still have the pending graphics failure that Apple will not address unless the failure happens during the extended warranty. I still like the thing but it's definitely not as reliable as others claimed and I had hoped...

The iMac I'm typing this reply on is an early 2008 model - almost 7 years old and still going strong, have never had one hardware issue with it and never had to reinstall the OS except for system upgrades. It started out on 10.5 (Leopard) and I've run every successive version of OS X on up to and including 10.10 (Yosemite). It runs 24/7 because I have an online weather station attached to it. I keep saying that when it breaks I'll upgrade to a new 27" iMac - but I can't get it to stop working!

To keep on topic with the OP - IMO, you'd be better off buying a used iMac than a new PC. I've been amazed with how my Macs have held up (iMac, Blackbook, MBP, wife has a MacBook Air - all have been 100% problem free)

 

[ron7624]

The best advice I've seen above is to get a cable to attach to your old hard drive to save your data. Let the service guy install windoze 7 on a new hard drive if you are determined to keep your old pc.
This thread is in the wrong forum. A mod should move it??

 

[rigormortis]

if you have a dell running windows vista or maybe even xp don't start jumping into spending money on windows licenses

dell is a oem company . they use oem windows

your computers bios comes pre authorized to run windows oem

your product key is burned into your computer's flash bios

what you do is you get your hands on a program called "rw everything". and you use it to find out
what version your oem slp is.

2.0 = vista
2.1 = 7

now if you find out using this piece of freeware that you have 2.1 that means you are granted permission from dell to install windows 7. and your computer is already licensed to run it.

all you need to do is find someone with the DELL OEM WINDOWS 7 DVD
i recall seeing oem windows cds at smalll mom and pop computer stores in the 90s


when you install it, when it asks for a product key. don't enter it

after you boot the computer for the first time, it will say that windows is activated.


make sure you only install 64 bit over 64 bit or 32 bit over 32 bit

if you find out your computer is too old to have SLP 2.1 , then you need to buy the windows upgrade from a retail store or from Microsoft

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

if you have a dell running windows vista or maybe even xp don't start jumping into spending money on windows licenses

dell is a oem company . they use oem windows

your computers bios comes pre authorized to run windows oem

your product key is burned into your computer's flash bios

what you do is you get your hands on a program called "rw everything". and you use it to find out
what version your oem slp is.

2.0 = vista
2.1 = 7

now if you find out using this piece of freeware that you have 2.1 that means you are granted permission from dell to install windows 7. and your computer is already licensed to run it.

all you need to do is find someone with the DELL OEM WINDOWS 7 DVD
i recall seeing oem windows cds at smalll mom and pop computer stores in the 90s


when you install it, when it asks for a product key. don't enter it

after you boot the computer for the first time, it will say that windows is activated.


make sure you only install 64 bit over 64 bit or 32 bit over 32 bit

if you find out your computer is too old to have SLP 2.1 , then you need to buy the windows upgrade from a retail store or from Microsoft

Win 7 was released 2009 and Vista 2006. His PC is 2005 shipping with XP.

----------

The iMac I'm typing this reply on is an early 2008 model - almost 7 years old and still going strong, have never had one hardware issue with it and never had to reinstall the OS except for system upgrades. It started out on 10.5 (Leopard) and I've run every successive version of OS X on up to and including 10.10 (Yosemite). It runs 24/7 because I have an online weather station attached to it. I keep saying that when it breaks I'll upgrade to a new 27" iMac - but I can't get it to stop working!

To keep on topic with the OP - IMO, you'd be better off buying a used iMac than a new PC. I've been amazed with how my Macs have held up (iMac, Blackbook, MBP, wife has a MacBook Air - all have been 100% problem free)

...dragged into another OT post!

I don't doubt your experience at all. My iMac is 2011. I know some of the prior years had bad heat issues. I've not experienced that sort of thing, fortunately. PSU and HDD were replaced. Lion was junk, at least for a while after release.

Prior to the iMac my only HW failure EVER was a PSU fan in a cheap store-bought PSU. I replaced the fan and it kept trucking along. I've been using computers for decades and avoid the cheapo crap. Decent HW has been very good to me and there is no reason for Mac to be any better or different in that regard. I mainly upgrade out of pure obsolecense or diminished utility.

 

[rigormortis]

Win 7 was released 2009 and Vista 2006. His PC is 2005 shipping with XP.

----------

before i spend $$$$$ on a windows license, i would check the slp bios anyway.


i have two dells.
one is a studio xps 1340 and the other is a dell studio xps 435 mt. i bought them both at the same time vista came out. and before windows 7

only 1 computer came authorized to run 7
the other was authorized to only run vista

and dell still insisted i pay $$ for windows 7 ultimate, which i got for free because my computer was already authorized and run it.

thats another thing about oem windows. yu don't have to pay any money to upgrade to ultimate from home premium. if you pay the money to dell, well I'm sorry that you wasted money on a product key your computer already had


dell made my windows installation legal.