[MelodyL]

I don't think we are going the laptop route.

Here's what I want to do.


I like my monitor. It's just fine. It's from Hewlett Packard.

I like my keyboard (It's a Keys-u-see big key keyboard.

I DO NOT LIKE MY HARD DRIVE, so when I say COMPUTER, please know that I am referring to the TOWER, okay??

I have a HP MEDIA CENTER PC, 3700+ AMD Athlon 64 Processor, Windows XP, 1.0 GB memory, 200 GB HAR DRIVE With Integated ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 GRAPHICS.

There are all sorts of slots in this thing that I can hook up cameras to (I never have by the way). I have various USB ports and PS2 ports, and serial ports. etc. etc.

Can I do the following?


Can I bring this TOWER to the guy a few blocks from here and request him to MAKE THIS A NEWER COMPUTER? Can he re-format my hard drive and then install Vista (or whatever is newer on the market today?", Can he give me more RAM, MORE HARD DRIVE, and whatever comes with the new computers.

See, I don't need a new keyboard, monitor, printer, THEY ALL WORK JUST FINE.

But a long time a go, I got hit with a virus and this darn thing has never really been right ever since. Sometimes it freezes, it's slow to get online, and I just said "Why on earth can't I just bring in the tower and have him give me NEWER STUFF?? That way, I still get my computer, I know how to use it. I know where the two cd roms are. I have a Light Scribe DVD plus,minus writer./CD writer. The other rom drive just says CD ROM

SO CAN I DO THIS??

Oh, and if I do this, then I gather all I have to do is unplug the stuff from the back of the tower, and replug all connections, (i.e. monitor, printer, logitech mouse, logitech camera, etc), when I get it back from the computer guy? Can I do this?

And here's my really good question. Do I have to re-install the modem software? I remember that Verizon told me that software IS IN THE MODEM, so if I can just re-plug everything from the tower, and then re-plug everything again, WELL, CAN I DO THIS?

Thanks much.

P.S. The only other alternative is to buy a completely new desktop and this way sounds MUCH cheaper, no???

Melody

[allentgamer]

Hi Melody, I believe you can do all the things you want to do. The only thing you might want to do is price the items you want to change, and then ask the guy down the street how much the labor will be to do this upgrade.

Once you find out how much this upgrade is going to be, then go look around at some of the new computers. Here lately the prices have been coming down on computers, and you might be surprised to find that buying a new one wont be all that much more than upgrading your old one.

I was wondering if you know if your hard drive and DVD are SATA or not? I am guessing it probably isnt. SATA makes programs, picture editing, video editing, and DVD burning a bit more snappy than what you would be used to, and if you add a core 2 duo processor it will be quite a bit faster than what you have. Especially if your computer speed has been slowed by a virus, or just plain old clutter in the registery.

You can look on newegg.com, or tigerdirect.com for just the tower prices. The prices are very reasonable, and wont break the bank like they used to.

You will love how much faster your computer will be no matter which way you go I can guarantee that

P.S. Your new or old computer should be able to see your internet connection without any software

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by allentgamer

Hi Melody, I believe you can do all the things you want to do. The only thing you might want to do is price the items you want to change, and then ask the guy down the street how much the labor will be to do this upgrade.

Once you find out how much this upgrade is going to be, then go look around at some of the new computers. Here lately the prices have been coming down on computers, and you might be surprised to find that buying a new one wont be all that much more than upgrading your old one.

I was wondering if you know if your hard drive and DVD are SATA or not? I am guessing it probably isnt. SATA makes programs, picture editing, video editing, and DVD burning a bit more snappy than what you would be used to, and if you add a core 2 duo processor it will be quite a bit faster than what you have. Especially if your computer speed has been slowed by a virus, or just plain old clutter in the registery.

You can look on newegg.com, or tigerdirect.com for just the tower prices. The prices are very reasonable, and wont break the bank like they used to.

You will love how much faster your computer will be no matter which way you go I can guarantee that

P.S. Your new or old computer should be able to see your internet connection without any software

Hi Allen:

You said:

"I was wondering if you know if your hard drive and DVD are SATA or not? I am guessing it probably isnt. SATA makes programs, picture editing, video editing, and DVD burning a bit more snappy than what you would be used to, and if you add a core 2 duo processor it will be quite a bit faster than what you have. Especially if your computer speed has been slowed by a virus, or just plain old clutter in the registery"

lol lol I'm hysterical. I wouldn't know a SATA FROM A SOTA!! How can I find out if my hard drive has this SATA?? I don't do picture editing, or video editing. I just make my videos and upload them on youtube. I do sprouting and my sprouting friends seem to like viewing my latest sprout videos. And I've never burned any DVD's but I do have the lightscribe writer thingee so I gather I could if I wanted to. I STILL USE VCR's by the way. lol

I would guess this media center that I have can do ALL THOSE FANCY EDITING stuff, but that's not my thing. I have no idea why I even got the media center edition of XP.

If I go the Vista Route, is there any particular kind I shoudl get?

Oh, one more thing. I can replug my modem into the back of the tower right (I mean if I upgrade), and even if I get a brand new computer, all I have to do is plug the modem in the back of the tower right?

I can't find my modem software and I remember when I got Verizon dsl, the cd didn't even work right and the lady at Verizon had to walk me through the whole installation.

Do I have to DO THIS ALL OVER AGAIN? or is the software already on the modem.

See, I have lots of questions and very few answers. And you're going to LOVE what happened earlier today.

I am SUPPOSEDLY the COMPUTER GURU in my neighborhood!!! ME!!!! Can you believe that?? All of my neighbors are well into their 70's and some are over 100. Very few have computers and if they do, it belongs to one of their kids or grandkids.

Well, earlier today my doorbell rings and it's the lady who lives on another block. I know her but not well. She said "I heard you are a computer expert". I responded "I am????" I laughed and said "What's wrong?"

She said "You have to come home with me, something is wrong with my computer". I just looked at her because believe me, she wouldn't know how to use a computer or go online if her life depended on it." I then said "you use the computer?" She said 'yes, for my music".

So I'm thinking "this lady has music files and she knows computers??"

So we go down into her basement and there's this BEAUTIFUL DELL WITH A WIDE SCREEN MONITOR AND WINDOWS VISTA and all neat stuff and she can't do anything with her mouse.

I saw a pop up on her monitor that said "you are unprotected, go and check your McAfee".

so I said "oh, you have no virus protection right now". Well, she had no clue what I was talking about and she's running around the house yelling "I have no virus protection, I have no virus protection, oh my goodness"

I said "take it easy", let's just reboot" and I did.

Everything came back up perfect;. I then said "how do you listen to your music". And she said "Put me online". I saw the AOL icon and clicked on it, and her name came up and she put her password in and BINGO, some radio thing came on and she was running around the house calling me a genius, clapping her hands, and asking me if I wanted a drink".

I never laughed so hard in all my life. I gather her son programmed the computer that all she had to go was click on AOL and the home page was some radio thing. That's all she did. Then she could go about her housework and listen to the music.

So I am the neighborhood computer geek, and I'm on this message board asking about modems and computers.

You gotta love this.

Melody

[bobber]

weigh the cost,,and check out the tech,,,and yes ,they can soup up anything,,,good thing about the new ones,,their fastand cheaper now,,starting under 300,,,, i still have my old dinasar hp,,i like it alot,,my pc before that i had it worked on several times,,it wasnt the same even after a complete wipe and reinstall,,only bought me another yr out of it ,but it wasnt the same,,,weigh the cost,,you may be disapointed,,,or maybe not,,if you like your machine,,soup it up,,i still have mine as a backup,,,

[Jomar]

Maybe all you need is a new hard drive??

Have someone install it, copy over the OS files- or did you ever make those back up/ restore cds?
they could be used to set up a fresh system on the new drive and keep all the old stuff on the old drive as your back up files.

I don't know if HP is still proprietary , meaning they have to use HP stuff /operating system to repair/rebuild...
unless you do a full rebuild motherboard and many internals.

a good tech guy should be able to estimate what you have, vs new, vs replacing a few things to help you figure out the best way to go from here.

[Jomar]

here's some places to compare prices- new pc or various parts..
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...EW.asp?CatId=6
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...me=Desktop-PCs

http://www.pcdirectsource.com/parts.cfm?Cat=53

[MelodyL]

Originally Posted by Jo*mar

here's some places to compare prices- new pc or various parts..
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...EW.asp?CatId=6
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...me=Desktop-PCs

http://www.pcdirectsource.com/parts.cfm?Cat=53

Okay. I have two more questions. Actually one, because NO ONE ANSWERED MY MODEM QUESTION. Can I just unplug what I have now connected and just re-plug the modem and IT WILL WORK??? Or do I have to install modem stuff?

And now here's my other question. Suppose I don't want to keep my tower. Seems more trouble than anything now that I think of it.

Can't I just go to the computer store and say "I want to keep my monitor, and keyboard and mouse, all I need is a NEW COMPUTER!!

Then he shows me what is on the market today, and I say "okay" and I buy it for WHATEVER, because I have no idea how much they cost today. Then I bring it home, (and I have all cd's for all my peripherals by the way).

So let's say I buy a new computer (just the tower), and it comes with Windows Vista (what else do they come when you get a bundle??). Can I bring it home and hook my monitor and keyboard and mouse? Will I have to use the cds that came with the monitor, keyboard and mouse?

Or are these things plug and play?

AND SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION ABOUT THE MODEM.

lol
Melody

[allentgamer]

LOL Melody you are a riot!!

Any computer you get should detect your DSL modem and put you online without doing much of anything. The only time you would need software is if your DSL provider has a place where you need to put some kind of password, but I havent seen this for quite a while.

The links that Jo have here are a great place to shop around for just a tower. You should be able to buy just the tower, and your monitor and keyboard will be plug and play, no drivers or software required. Things are getting easier and easier for computer users. Just hook up your monitor, keyboard, mouse and internet connection and you will be surfin the net in minutes!

To beef up your current computer look at getting a SATA hard drive, and some new memory. You can up grade to vista also, or if you have a win xp disc you can continue to use that OS.

Something I have been recommending is a good thorough cleaning of the inside of the computer every year. What I do is take the side off and take a can off air and blow all the dust out of every nook and cranny, taking extra care in making sure the cpu fan and cooling fans are all blown out real good.

Then a clean install of the OS is in order bringing the registery to that new first time user feeling. It will feel like your computer is brand new. Just remember to back up all files you dont want to lose, because a fresh install wipes everything out.

If you want this done to your computer, find out how much it will be. It may not be worth it to fix up an old one, after buying the new parts and paying the guy to clean up and upgrade your computer, it might be the same price as buying a new tower. Just make sure you compare the two before you decide which way to go

[Jomar]

We have Verizon DSL and modem, but we have a wireless router hooked to our modem also.
With a plug in dsl connection you should be fine.

I only had to install & set up our modem the very first time we started using it. probably to get it online and registered etc. It's been years now so I don't recall the details.

We have totally rebuilt computers, and done testing on other computers and they all see the connection with no setup or hassle.


Prices are coming down on all this stuff so quickly , you should be able to find a nice deal.

I suggest going to a store and trying Vista to see if you really like it or not.
Some online or smaller local stores will have XP as the operating system still available.
or the new Windows7 is coming out sometime soon
I haven't looked at it at all though.

I saw one of those links had a free upgrade from vista to 7.

[MelodyL]

to JoMar and Allen:

Thanks to you both for your nice EASY answers.

what the heck does one do with an operating system??. With Windows XP, well, it didn't matter if it was 98, XP, CZ OR OX.

I just went on line or I went into word pad and typed some documents, or I went into my logitech camera thingee and did some videos and then went online and uploaded to YOUTUBE.

See, I know how to do LOADS OF STUFF, NOW DON'T I??? lol lol lol

But I can't for the love of me, figure out what is the difference between vista and other operating systems. (My first one had DOS by the waY)

For example, yesterday I was at the lady across the street's house and she has Vista. I just made her type in her password, and then got her online. So what is the big difference between VISTA and XP??

What the heck does one do with an operating system, other than go into your other applications, or go online.

I know how to do word processing, and I've played games, but I can't figure out what the difference between VISTA and XP, (probably because I have XP. When I got this one, I had previously had Windows 98.

so I got this HP media center with XP (5 years ago), and I didn't use the XP, I just used my wordpad, and went online, and did my logitech videos, and played games on my computer.

Is there something else that XP, or VISTA can do? Or is it just the operating system?

So if you can clear me up on THAT QUESTION, that would be great.

so here's what I know for now.

Okay, here's what I know so far. Just say YAY!!! or NAY!!! if I got anything wrong or right.


I go to the computer store, tell the guy there that all I want is the tower. I take a look at VISTA (hopefully he'll explain stuff to me but I doubt it). I then buy the computer and go home and simply unplug the stuff from the back of MY tower, and replug the stuff into the back of the NEW tower, and everything should light up, sing songs, my modem will be in sync and I'll lg on and go online, only with the new one, EVERYTHING WILL BE FASTER???

Oh, right now I have an Athlon, 1.0 gb memory, and 200 GB hardrive. What do I look for in the NEW one. 3 gigs of ram. A million hard drive GB???lol

So let me hear a YAY or a NAY!!!!

Oh, and this is funny!!

You see, the computer guys around here are all 20, and when they see a 60 year old walk in, they walk the other way. I've tried this and it HAPPENS ALL THE TIME. They think we are complete idiots.

Only once (and this happened in the phone store), when the guy was explaining the phone to me, and I said "I am thinking of buying a new computer and he looked at me with amazement and said "YOU KNOW HOW TO USE A COMPUTER???" and I looked him dead in the eye and said:

"My dear, almost 35 years ago, my company picked ME OUT OF ALL THE EMPLOYEES, and sent me to IBM computer school where I learned the first desktop system. I had a dot matrix and I did Multi Mate Advantage software."

The look on his face was priceless. I then really jabbed it home when I said "Oh by the way, I know that URL means Universal Resource Locator, and HTML means Hypertext markup language".

He nearly fell over the counter (I get some good ones in now don't I).

That's when he began answering some of my computer questions, but then this was a SPRINT PHONE STORE and not a computer store.

I can just imagine when I walk into one of those today and the guy takes one look at me and walks away. What the heck do I do, run after him and say:


"Hold on there young-un, I'm here to buy a Computer".

this should be VERY interesting.

See, I'm like a boy scout. I like to BE PREPARED.

Alan (my hubby), just wants to sit down and start typing. He knows NOTHING about software, hardware or anything. He won't even carry a cell phone (sigh).

So my dear Allen and Jomar

THANKS SO MUCH!! Couldn't do any of this without you!!!

Oh, one more thing. Right now I have Verizon Internet Security Suite. I know that any new computer will come with it's own anti-virus thingee.

And I know that you can't have TWO anti-virus thingees on a computer.

So I gather than when I get the new one (if I ever do that I mean), I bring it home, I then call up Verizon and they will help me download a version for the new computer. And then I uninstall the McAffee or Norton, or whatever is on the new one? Or do I do this first, BEFORE I DOWNLOAD VERIZON INTERNET SECURITY SUITE. I love the Internet Security suite because every time I had a problem, I just called up Verizon, and they helped me EVERY TIME. I pay an extra 5 bucks a month but the peace of mind is really good.

so any opinions on this one would be welcome.

Thanks much

Melody