5 year old computer too old?

[Pippa]

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text Win32k.sys
page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but nothing on the
screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one in but nothing
happened.
Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.
thank you,
Pippa.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One
of my friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such
an ancient computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired
which is probably what I will have to do cause I can't fix my
current problem. I was attempting a defragmentation when suddenly
blue screen with text Win32k.sys page fault in non page area. Now
the tower lights up but nothing on the screen. I only have restore
disks and I tried putting one in but nothing happened.
Does anyone know if this can be repaired?

Not enough information, really.

What you describe could be hardware failure - and dependent on what failed,
what the computer specifications are and what your needs are - it might not
be worth fixing - or it might be. I mean if all you do is surf the Internet
a little, check email and pay bills and it was a Pentium D 3+GHz with 1+GB
of memory - it's probably a keeper. If not - may not be.

So - if you unplug the computer from power, plug it back in, power it on -
you don't even get a startup screen? A POST screen that has nothing to do
with Windows? Anything at all?

 

[N. Miller]

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text Win32k.sys
page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but nothing on the
screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one in but nothing
happened.
Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.
thank you,

If that error is referring to a page swap file, it is a problem on the hard
disc. Without knowing your other system hardware (processor, amount of RAM,
etc.), I can't say for sure. But I have received a Toshibal Tecra M2-S410
laptop with a faulty HDD. I am considering replacing that HDD. Should be
possible for about $70 plus tax. And I will be going up from 40 GB to 320 GB
in the process.

I'd say, with a Pentium processor, and 1 GB of RAM, a $70 investment in a
new HDD would be reasonable. Since you still have the OEM install discs, you
are ahead of me (I used a Linux Live CD and copied the contents of the i386
folder; it remains to be seen if I can install the OS from those files).

 

[Pippa]

Thank you for responding,
I do a little more than surf the net and emailing pay bills online. I can
usually fix things if I have a screen but that's about it, I even help
friends remotely but I need access to their desktops. However, here are my
specs. Intel Pentium4/Celeron CPU. I only have 512 MB memory now but did
have another stick which died so at the time couldn't afford to replace it.
I have a 40 gig hard drive, but could do with an external HDD. High
capacity, Enhanced-IDE HDD, DVD burner, 7 in 1 card reader. I never open the
tower, because I don't understand anything except the RAM sticks where I put
the 512 RAM in. that's about it really.
Pippa.

 

[Pippa]

Shenan, I don't get anything at all on the screen since I got that
Win32k.sys message on the blue screen.
Pippa

 

[Malke]

Thank you for responding,
I do a little more than surf the net and emailing pay bills online. I can
usually fix things if I have a screen but that's about it, I even help
friends remotely but I need access to their desktops. However, here are my
specs. Intel Pentium4/Celeron CPU. I only have 512 MB memory now but did
have another stick which died so at the time couldn't afford to replace
it.
I have a 40 gig hard drive, but could do with an external HDD. High
capacity, Enhanced-IDE HDD, DVD burner, 7 in 1 card reader. I never open
the tower, because I don't understand anything except the RAM sticks where
I put the 512 RAM in. that's about it really.

It sounds like hardware failure to me, probably the hard drive. You can do
the troubleshooting yourself but based on what you wrote above it would be
more sensible to take the machine to a competent local tech. Don't use a
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

If it is just the hard drive, it is probably worth replacing. If it is the
motherboard, it is time to move on.

Malke

 

[Pippa]

Malke,
Thank you for that information, very useful. I do know a young man who is a
technician and I trust him, so will give him a call. I hope it is the hard
drive then.
Regards,
Pippa.

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text
Win32k.sys page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but
nothing on the screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one
in but nothing happened.
Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.
thank you,
Pippa.

Pippa

Take it to a repairer, not one of the big stores and not roving repairmen
who drive red cars. If the tower beeps once after the power button is
pressed, it may not cost too much to get it going again. If you hear no
beep, be prepared to pay more..

 

[Don Phillipson]

Take it to a repairer, not one of the big stores and not roving repairmen
who drive red cars. If the tower beeps once after the power button is
pressed, it may not cost too much to get it going again. If you hear no
beep, be prepared to pay more..

Collateral point: if there are any owner-operated old-style
PC stores where Pippa lives, they probably sell used
refurbished PCs (traded in by business office users.) A
couple of good stores where I live sell complete used WinXP
PCs for $150 to $250 that would suit Pippa for the next
5 to 10 years. Monitors are usually extra, and in Pippa's
case it may be the monitor (or cable) that failed cf.

I don't get anything at all on the screen

if this means no POST message and no A: prompt.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text Win32k.sys
page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but nothing on the
screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one in but nothing
happened.

As others have already said, this sounds like it's very likely a
hardware failure.

Regarding your friend who said she doesn't know how you cope with such
an ancient computer, I completely disagree with her point of view.
There's really very little difference between a five-year-old computer
and a new one, except for things like speed and disk space.

The issues of speed and disk space can be addressed by replacing
components as needed, just as if the components need to be replaced
because they have failed. The only real consideration for you should
be whether it makes more economic sense to replace a few components or
to buy a whole new computer. Often with an older computer, buying a
new computer is a better deal, especially if you would have to pay a
service person to do the component replacing for you.

So my view is that you should think about whether you find the speed
and disk space adequate for your needs--not only now, but whether they
will remain adequate in the next few years. If yes, get it repaired.
If no, look into getting a new computer.

Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.

The answer to all questions like this is yes. Anything on a computer
can be repaired (or rather replaced--in practice almost nothing is
ever repaired). The only real issue is finding out exactly which
components or components need replacement.

 

[Pippa]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel better now that Ken said my
computer may not be too old to be repaired. I don't get any beeps though
when I turn on the tower, just the green and red lights and the lights on
the 2 drives flicker. The mouse and keyboard don't light up anymore either.
I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive to
replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming around
with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The tech guy I
am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends have used him
and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't fix the problem
I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this fixed as I don't
know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I have to buy another
desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the new ones seem to have
Vista. I do have my laptop but I prefer the desktop. Many thanks again
everyone for your valuable time.
Regards,
Pippa.

 

[N. Miller]

Thank you for responding,
I do a little more than surf the net and emailing pay bills online. I can
usually fix things if I have a screen but that's about it, I even help
friends remotely but I need access to their desktops. However, here are my
specs. Intel Pentium4/Celeron CPU. I only have 512 MB memory now but did
have another stick which died so at the time couldn't afford to replace it.
I have a 40 gig hard drive, but could do with an external HDD. High
capacity, Enhanced-IDE HDD, DVD burner, 7 in 1 card reader. I never open the
tower, because I don't understand anything except the RAM sticks where I put
the 512 RAM in. that's about it really.

I prefer at least 1 GB of RAM for a Windowx XP, or higher level, install. A
40 GB drive is probably sufficient; however, since that is what appears to
be failing, you probably won't find a smaller replacement than 160 GB, or
so. I have a failed 40 GB HDD in a laptop; 2.5" PATA type drive. Just left
Fry's Electronics, and they've got replacements. 160 GB ($62.99), 250 GB
($79.99), and 360 GB ($99.99). I'll likely go with the 62 GB. For a tower
(3.5" HDD form factor), the drives are usually as large as 500 GB, and
slightly cheaper.

 

[JS]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel better now that Ken said my
computer may not be too old to be repaired. I don't get any beeps though
when I turn on the tower, just the green and red lights and the lights on
the 2 drives flicker. The mouse and keyboard don't light up anymore
either. I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive
to replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming
around with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The
tech guy I am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends
have used him and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't
fix the problem I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this
fixed as I don't know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I have
to buy another desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the new
ones seem to have Vista. I do have my laptop but I prefer the desktop.
Many thanks again everyone for your valuable time.
Regards,
Pippa.

As others have already said, this sounds like it's very likely a
hardware failure.

Regarding your friend who said she doesn't know how you cope with such
an ancient computer, I completely disagree with her point of view.
There's really very little difference between a five-year-old computer
and a new one, except for things like speed and disk space.

The issues of speed and disk space can be addressed by replacing
components as needed, just as if the components need to be replaced
because they have failed. The only real consideration for you should
be whether it makes more economic sense to replace a few components or
to buy a whole new computer. Often with an older computer, buying a
new computer is a better deal, especially if you would have to pay a
service person to do the component replacing for you.

So my view is that you should think about whether you find the speed
and disk space adequate for your needs--not only now, but whether they
will remain adequate in the next few years. If yes, get it repaired.
If no, look into getting a new computer.




The answer to all questions like this is yes. Anything on a computer
can be repaired (or rather replaced--in practice almost nothing is
ever repaired). The only real issue is finding out exactly which
components or components need replacement.

While I disagree with Ken's statement that "There's really very little
difference between a five-year-old computer and a new one",
there is really is a big difference, but that does not mean an old system
will not do the job. As you can see I upgraded a number of things over
the years on my 8 year old Dell 4100. My every day system now is a
home built system of about 2004 vintage and the latest home built was
a Core i7 Extreme with a Solid State Drive plus a 1TB hard drive,
12GB Memory and a video card that draws at least 100 Watts all by itself.
Just keep in mind the repair estimate as any entry level system
(see last item in list) ranging from $500 to $650 purchased just a few
months
ago can run circles around system sold in 2004

This was my old general purpose computer which I retired in April of 2009
January 2001 - Dell Dimensions 4100 Series - $1959
(and yes it ran Norton AV and NIS just fine all these years)
933-MHz Pentium III CPU,
128MB of PC-133 SDRAM, currently upgraded to 512MB
20GB hard drive, currently upgraded to 2 160GB drives
32MB NVidia GeForce 2 GTS
19-inch P991 Trinitron FD monitor,
12X DVD-ROM drive, Currently upgrade to CD-RW and 16X DVD-RW
graphics board based on a 32MB NVidia GeForce 2 GTS chip
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP sound card
56-kbps modem, currently upgraded to Intel 1o/100/1000 Pro
Altec Lansing ADA885 speakers
Windows Millennium Edition operating system.
Currently Windows XP Pro - Retail Upgrade CD

2004 - DELL 8400 Series - $1699.00 (Mid Range System)
3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology
512 MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz Memory
160GB SATA (Serail ATA, 7200 RPM) Hard Drive
17" Flat Panel Display,
128MB PCI Express x16 ATI Radeon X300 SE graphics card.
16X DVD ROM, 48X CD-RW
Integrated 5.1 sound card, Speakers and Subwoofer.
56K Modem, Wireless LAN available.
Windows XP Home Edition

June 2009 - HP m9600t $1611 (Mid Range)
Intel 2.66GHz Core i7-920 processor (1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache)
6GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
768MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600GS [DVI, VGA, HDMI]
HP w2338h 23-inch 16:9 Full HD Widescreen Monitor
LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet
15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio
Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
HP 2.1 30W stereo speakers with subwoofer and remote control
HP wireless keyboard and HP wireless optical mouse
Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)

June 2009 - Dell Inspiron 530 $624 (Entry Level)
Intel 2.7GHz Pentium® Conroe Dual Core Processor E5400 (2MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst CacheT
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
20 inch S2009WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor
ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio, No speakers
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

 

[Pippa]

Thank you will take your advice.
Pippa

I prefer at least 1 GB of RAM for a Windowx XP, or higher level, install.
A
40 GB drive is probably sufficient; however, since that is what appears to
be failing, you probably won't find a smaller replacement than 160 GB, or
so. I have a failed 40 GB HDD in a laptop; 2.5" PATA type drive. Just left
Fry's Electronics, and they've got replacements. 160 GB ($62.99), 250 GB
($79.99), and 360 GB ($99.99). I'll likely go with the 62 GB. For a tower
(3.5" HDD form factor), the drives are usually as large as 500 GB, and
slightly cheaper.

 

[Pippa]

wow, thanks JS, very informative.
Pippa

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel better now that Ken said my
computer may not be too old to be repaired. I don't get any beeps though
when I turn on the tower, just the green and red lights and the lights on
the 2 drives flicker. The mouse and keyboard don't light up anymore
either. I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive
to replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming
around with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The
tech guy I am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends
have used him and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't
fix the problem I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this
fixed as I don't know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I
have to buy another desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the
new ones seem to have Vista. I do have my laptop but I prefer the
desktop. Many thanks again everyone for your valuable time.
Regards,
Pippa.

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of
my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is
probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text
Win32k.sys
page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but nothing on the
screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one in but
nothing
happened.


As others have already said, this sounds like it's very likely a
hardware failure.

Regarding your friend who said she doesn't know how you cope with such
an ancient computer, I completely disagree with her point of view.
There's really very little difference between a five-year-old computer
and a new one, except for things like speed and disk space.

The issues of speed and disk space can be addressed by replacing
components as needed, just as if the components need to be replaced
because they have failed. The only real consideration for you should
be whether it makes more economic sense to replace a few components or
to buy a whole new computer. Often with an older computer, buying a
new computer is a better deal, especially if you would have to pay a
service person to do the component replacing for you.

So my view is that you should think about whether you find the speed
and disk space adequate for your needs--not only now, but whether they
will remain adequate in the next few years. If yes, get it repaired.
If no, look into getting a new computer.


Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.


The answer to all questions like this is yes. Anything on a computer
can be repaired (or rather replaced--in practice almost nothing is
ever repaired). The only real issue is finding out exactly which
components or components need replacement.

While I disagree with Ken's statement that "There's really very little
difference between a five-year-old computer and a new one",
there is really is a big difference, but that does not mean an old system
will not do the job. As you can see I upgraded a number of things over
the years on my 8 year old Dell 4100. My every day system now is a
home built system of about 2004 vintage and the latest home built was
a Core i7 Extreme with a Solid State Drive plus a 1TB hard drive,
12GB Memory and a video card that draws at least 100 Watts all by itself.
Just keep in mind the repair estimate as any entry level system
(see last item in list) ranging from $500 to $650 purchased just a few
months
ago can run circles around system sold in 2004

This was my old general purpose computer which I retired in April of 2009
January 2001 - Dell Dimensions 4100 Series - $1959
(and yes it ran Norton AV and NIS just fine all these years)
933-MHz Pentium III CPU,
128MB of PC-133 SDRAM, currently upgraded to 512MB
20GB hard drive, currently upgraded to 2 160GB drives
32MB NVidia GeForce 2 GTS
19-inch P991 Trinitron FD monitor,
12X DVD-ROM drive, Currently upgrade to CD-RW and 16X DVD-RW
graphics board based on a 32MB NVidia GeForce 2 GTS chip
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP sound card
56-kbps modem, currently upgraded to Intel 1o/100/1000 Pro
Altec Lansing ADA885 speakers
Windows Millennium Edition operating system.
Currently Windows XP Pro - Retail Upgrade CD

2004 - DELL 8400 Series - $1699.00 (Mid Range System)
3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology
512 MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz Memory
160GB SATA (Serail ATA, 7200 RPM) Hard Drive
17" Flat Panel Display,
128MB PCI Express x16 ATI Radeon X300 SE graphics card.
16X DVD ROM, 48X CD-RW
Integrated 5.1 sound card, Speakers and Subwoofer.
56K Modem, Wireless LAN available.
Windows XP Home Edition

June 2009 - HP m9600t $1611 (Mid Range)
Intel 2.66GHz Core i7-920 processor (1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache)
6GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
768MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600GS [DVI, VGA, HDMI]
HP w2338h 23-inch 16:9 Full HD Widescreen Monitor
LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet
15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio
Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
HP 2.1 30W stereo speakers with subwoofer and remote control
HP wireless keyboard and HP wireless optical mouse
Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)

June 2009 - Dell Inspiron 530 $624 (Entry Level)
Intel 2.7GHz Pentium® Conroe Dual Core Processor E5400 (2MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1, 64-Bit
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst CacheT
16X DVD+/-RW Drive
20 inch S2009WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor
ATI Radeon HD 3450 256MB supporting HDMI
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio, No speakers
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

 

[Richard Urban]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel better now that Ken said my
computer may not be too old to be repaired. I don't get any beeps though
when I turn on the tower, just the green and red lights and the lights on
the 2 drives flicker. The mouse and keyboard don't light up anymore
either. I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive
to replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming
around with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The
tech guy I am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends
have used him and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't
fix the problem I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this
fixed as I don't know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I have
to buy another desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the new
ones seem to have Vista. I do have my laptop but I prefer the desktop.
Many thanks again everyone for your valuable time.
Regards,
Pippa.

As others have already said, this sounds like it's very likely a
hardware failure.

Regarding your friend who said she doesn't know how you cope with such
an ancient computer, I completely disagree with her point of view.
There's really very little difference between a five-year-old computer
and a new one, except for things like speed and disk space.

The issues of speed and disk space can be addressed by replacing
components as needed, just as if the components need to be replaced
because they have failed. The only real consideration for you should
be whether it makes more economic sense to replace a few components or
to buy a whole new computer. Often with an older computer, buying a
new computer is a better deal, especially if you would have to pay a
service person to do the component replacing for you.

So my view is that you should think about whether you find the speed
and disk space adequate for your needs--not only now, but whether they
will remain adequate in the next few years. If yes, get it repaired.
If no, look into getting a new computer.




The answer to all questions like this is yes. Anything on a computer
can be repaired (or rather replaced--in practice almost nothing is
ever repaired). The only real issue is finding out exactly which
components or components need replacement.

Please remember that after you spend $100-150 on that repair that the
remainder of the hardware is still 5 years old, and counting. If you have to
pay more than $150 I would put that toward a new computer for around $450.
You will have a machine that is many times faster, and more powerful, than
the one you now have. You will also have much more disk space, as most new
desktops come with 300-500 meg hard drives.

You may not like Vista though. But new computer are now coming with a free,
or minimally priced, upgrade to Windows 7 - which will be in the stores on
Oct. 22.

 

[philo]

Hi' all,
I'm having problems with my 5 year old Acer XP Home computer. One of my
friends remarked that she doesn't know I how cope with such an ancient
computer, I didn't think it was too old to get repaired which is probably
what I will have to do cause I can't fix my current problem. I was
attempting a defragmentation when suddenly blue screen with text Win32k.sys
page fault in non page area. Now the tower lights up but nothing on the
screen. I only have restore disks and I tried putting one in but nothing
happened.
Does anyone know if this can be repaired?.
thank you,
Pippa.

Nothing wrong with a five year old computer.

XP should still be useful for many more years.

If your machine now does not boot at all..
the good news is that the harddrive itself, if defective would not
generally prevent the machine from posting...

so it might possibly be something as simple as bad RAM

I'd have it checked out...as others have mentioned

by an individual you can trust and not some "corporate chain"

repair business


As to the CPU, it's highly unlikely that has failed...
but of course the motherboard itself could be bad...
and if that's the situation then the machine is probably not worth repairing

 

[Don Phillipson]

I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive to
replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming around
with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The tech guy I
am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends have used him
and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't fix the problem
I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this fixed as I don't
know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I have to buy another
desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the new ones seem to have
Vista. I do have my laptop but I prefer the desktop.

Ask your repairman friend about the local market for second-hand
office WinXP PCs. In most places these are abundant and cheap
because of supply-based incentives to instal newer Vista PCs in business
offices, for lawyers and doctors etc. The WinXP office PC that cost
$1000 new five years ago now sells for $100 to $200 and tech-savvy
(small) retailers can guarantee they are virus-free with all hardware and
OS in good running order. Of course the number of such used PCs
depends on how many new Vista PCs office users have been
induced to buy.

Desktops are cheaper (give you more for your money) and easier
to maintain (and repair or upgrade) and laptops. A cheap used
office PC will supply your needs for five years, probably longer.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I prefer at least 1 GB of RAM for a Windowx XP, or higher level, install.

Your preference there is not an uncommon one, but I'd like to offer
Pippa a different point of view:

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file significantly, and
that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical range
of business applications under XP find that somewhere around 512MB
works well, others need more. Almost anyone will see poor performance
with less than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things
like editing large photographic images, can see a performance boost by
adding even more than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your page file usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel better now that Ken said my
computer may not be too old to be repaired.

Once again, its age is not what's important. It's what needs replacing
that's important. If enough is wrong with it, it can be a better buy
to replace it.

I don't get any beeps though
when I turn on the tower, just the green and red lights and the lights on
the 2 drives flicker. The mouse and keyboard don't light up anymore either.
I hope it's not the CPU that is gone, I've heard that's expensive to
replace. I am in Australia so we don't have little red cars roaming around
with tech people to fix computers, at least not in my town. The tech guy I
am thinking of calling does work from home and other friends have used him
and are impressed with him. He doesn't charge if he can't fix the problem
I'm told. I won't go to a big computer store to get this fixed as I don't
know any that I trust. Should the worst happen and I have to buy another
desktop computer I hope I can get Windows XP, all the new ones seem to have
Vista.

It's getting harder and harder to get XP, but it's still available. On
the other hand, I think Vista is fine, and I wouldn't work hard to
avoid it.

And Windows 7 will be available starting October 22. That's better
than XP or Vista.

I do have my laptop but I prefer the desktop. Many thanks again
everyone for your valuable time.
Regards,
Pippa.