pepe63xnotuse Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Barry, Although I think I know what your answer will be be, I'd like just ask your thoughts re:our old Dell lap top. It has done very little work, and is kept clear of "clutter" but it's got to be 6-8 years old by now and being Windows 7, it will no longer get any "updates". So, although it wouldn't make much sense "money-wise", i just wondered if it was feasible to have some of the Dell's key components "uprated", so as to be able to run a later/current Windows? (the Dell's case has various access "hatches" on the rear). We do also have a new (6 months old?) Lenovo laptop, which although not an expensive model, was probably around the 400 quid mark, but compared to the Dell it feels like a kid's cheap and nasty toy! (and it doesn't seem that much "quicker" anyway ?),and unlike the Dell it doesn't have a CD draw, nor did it come with any Word/Office type of stuff.. Your thoughts please..? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Don't know what Barry thinks but this might be worth a try Pepe if looking to go to 8.1 or 10. https://www.howtogeek.com/272201/all-the-ways-you-can-still-get-windows-10-for-free/ Agree with you about Dell pc's and when i bought my XPS 8500 desktop new seven years ago, it came with 8 plus the option of free upgrade to 10. I hesitated about installing 10 and stayed with 8.1 as i suspected some software i'd got installed wouldn't run on 10, and as everything was stable i wasn't prepared to lose any. I recently looked at replacing my 8500 with a current spec model from Dell but prices have risen significantly. To get a similar spec Dell desktop pc would now cost me over a grand (i paid £630 for my XPS in 2013). I've always found Dell to be quality built pc's and still have an old E5500 15" laptop with XP! Still fully working but the main disadvantage is poor battery life (lasts about 90 min on a full charge), and weight....the thing is built like a tank! I might get round to sticking it on ebay sometime as i notice spare parts are very much in demand for that model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Yes a four hundred quid laptop now will be pretty low grade materials compared to say a Business Dell Latitude circa 2011-2014. Mrs D had the same issue. She loved her old Dell Latitude E6230. When they came out they were expensive and it really is built like a tank. I wanted to replace it for her but she wanted to keep it and a modern Equivalent such as a modern Dell business 13-14" or Lenovo Thinkpad T490 is well north of a grand. Her hard drive started to fail and the OS was not seeing the USB ports so what I did was buy one of these. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-SSD-Windows-10-Pre-Installed-Office-etc-Solid-State-Drive-Laptop-Desktop-2-5/254418424266?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=554036580812&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 Its basically an SSD drive with Windows 10 pre installed. It worked like a treat. I had to download a few drivers from Dell but the Dell site is pretty good at finding them automatically. However I do know someone else who had a bit of a chew on getting it working but I cant remember what model it was. Putting in the SSD has really made a massive difference on her old laptop and it activated itself. It was the only way I could do it with the HD knackered and the OS not seeing the USB ports. If you just want to upgrade using the existing HD then chances are the laptop you have will take Windows 10 and you might just be able to download the media creation tool, boot from that on a USB and install 10 from there. Similar article to Bullets https://computing.which.co.uk/hc/en-gb/articles/360009159719-How-to-upgrade-from-Windows-7-to-Windows-10-for-free However Ive tried to upgrade a few older PCs lately and the only way I have found to make it work is to completely wipe the PC and install W10 as a fresh install rather than trying to upgrade and keep apps and data. Just never works so if you go that route backup everything first. not many people use DVD / CDs now so your going to have to download any apps or if you have them on CD either share a CD drive off another PC across your network or buy a USB CD drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Barryd999 - 2020-02-03 2:10 PM .....not many people use DVD / CDs now so your going to have to download any apps or if you have them on CD either share a CD drive off another PC across your network or buy a USB CD drive. I agree the market for DVD/CD's has certainly dropped which has made blank media dirt cheap bit i still use it 1) for backup of my err hmm... 'copy stuff' ;-) and 2) music when i used to get off on tours.....yes i know flash drives hold thousands of mp3's but a cd disc is easier to access at a glance exactly what you want. I have a little 10" Acer laptop and of course none come with cd drives now so i bought one of those USB CD drives off fleabay....brand new it cost less than a tenner! I thought, this thing is probably going to be a pile of sh1te but was pleasantly surprised whe it arrived. Works a treat and even burns DL.....bargain! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted February 3, 2020 Author Share Posted February 3, 2020 Thanks for the input chaps Thinking again, I do recall that we had toyed with putting in a new hard drive some time back. We had ran(run?) a Dell diagnostic check thingy..and it said that the hard drive showed signs of being about to fail?, so anything of any "value" (photos primarily) got moved over to a couple of Seagate hard drives, just in case. Photo-wise,nothing tends to stay on the laptop for more than a few days before getting transferred (and even whilst still there, they're still available on the OH's phone, onto which it would've been WhatsApp'd). Back then,we did try carrying out several full system back ups ( following the steps from a book ..bloody Luddite that I am! (lol) ) but it would only get part way through, before failing.. So if we were to stick a new hard drive in (along the lines of what Barry linked to), we'd probably just save what bits we knew we wanted (onto the back up hard drives) and then for anything else we'd be prepared to just start from scratch... (altho' I can see us just carrying on until it becomes so slow it's unusable or it just fails altogether... (lol) ) Anyway thanks again chaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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