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Question

Need advice on setting up a new to me NON-OEM desktop.

Aug 29, 2015 6:26AM PDT

Hello, my name is Alan and I have just purchased a new-to-me NON-OEM custom built desktop and I am looking for advice on making a good, structured and well planned out fresh start with the idea that I will hopefully use this computer for both work and play for the forseeable future.

First off let me give you a little bit of quick background on me, my computer knowledge/tech abilities and what I am expecting to get out of this computer.

OK, so here we go. Like I said my name is Alan. I am a 35 year old, unemployed(currently by choice) father of two young children. I spend most of my time taking care of my children, trying to keep the house clean and managing the day to day affairs of my household. However in my spare time I like to design and make things(I guess you could call me a "Maker") and I am in the process of trying to turn an unfinished portion of my basement into a fully equipt workshop and office space (what I would guess you could call a personal "Maker Space").

I have been exposed to computers as part of daily life as far back as I can remember. My childhood home had at least one usually more computers before we even had a TV, and I was building my own computers before we even got cable. I built that first desktop when I was an early teen and keeps fairly up to date on the latest computer technology and hardware untel about 10 years ago when I left my job at Dell to move across the country to get involved with one of the family business.

At that point, due to the dramatic change in occupation (from working at Dell to helping manage the day to day operations of a non-computer related manufacturing business), I more or less became out of touch with the tech world and all of the changes and advancements in computer technology. Due to my history with Dell I did most of the low level day to day IT stuff, made minor computer updates and repairs, and helped out when new computers needed to be speced out and ordered, but other than that I was completely out of the loop especially when it came to the most cutting edge and up to date computer technology.

Then a couple years ago I got laid off from my job with the family business due to some personal issues, the birth of my second child and intense dissagrement within the management of our family business. I found myself with a good amount of extra time on my hands and that combined with my love for building and making things inspired me to start trying to setup a basement workshop. The frustration of trying to do a detailed floor plan and layout, of my basement and the workbenches and workshop I hoped to build, by hand on graph paper lead me to find Google SketchUp which opened up a whole world of digital design and modeling. Once I started exploring all of the advancements and increased availability of digital design and modeling software the even bigger world of tinkering, hacking(not necessarily computer hacking) AND the whole "MAKER" world opened before my eyes!!!! I was blown away to say the least! The idea that things like CNC machines and 3D

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
What's your question?`
Aug 29, 2015 6:45AM PDT

And, given your background, why not customize what you need at dell.com?

Kees

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Clarification Request
too much? can you ask what you want
Aug 29, 2015 6:55AM PDT

in maybe a paragraph without the bio?

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Clarification Request
Continued
Aug 29, 2015 8:39AM PDT

Sorry, I don't know what happened and this is my first time using THIS Forum and I couldn't find the edit post button.

So for the first time I realized that things like CNC machines and 3D printers weren't only available to business who could drop a quarter of a million dollars on a single machine, but that that they were available anywhere from fully assembled ready to go out of the box for around a grand and kits for even less to free by hacking old computer and printer parts together.

The realization that I, along with my natural capability, the tools and resources on hand or readily available and the information and support available online could actually build and operate a fully functional CNC or 3D printer, literally changed my life, and changed it in a very positive way.

So as I got started trying to design and build a machine along with working on designing and building my entire workshop/office I constantly found my semi-out-of-date cobbled together desktops and laptops to be the one thing that kept interrupting and stopping my progress. Weather it was hardware and software limitations, time lost to viruses and or windows issues or slow and/or choppy 3D and 2D design software I always found that my computer was the thing that would cause me to get frustrated to the point that I had to walk away. Sometimes for long periods of time and eventually indefinitaly.

At that point I decided that I really had no choice. I had to break down and spend the money and buy a newer computer that was at very least up to date with a good clean legal version of windows 7 or greater.

At first I was looking at refurbished and used core 2 duo desktops around $100, but due to the fact that I was so out of touch with the latest processors, gpu cards and memory options I found myself constantly feeling like I was only buying something half a step above what I already had so I kept putting it off. Eventually I was so frustrated with the complete lack of progress on my other projects that I decided to go out and look for something with a quad core or better processer, gpu with a gig of dedicated ram or better, at least 4gigs of ram and, most important, due to endless registration and validation issues I have had with windows 7, a valid and legal copy of windows 7 64 bit at the very least.

Now I set out with these mins in mind, with the idea that I could also buy a slightly less equipt box and add more ram, drop a used gpu card in or buy a better chip as long as the board would accept it, BUT I kept running into the issue of everything either being way way too expensive, even via Craigslist and used systems, or being around the price I wanted to pay but missing ateast one of my major requirements causing the price to jump way above my budget once I added what was needed.

I finally found two systems that were about what I wanted but both had major issues. One was a mini case and only had a dual core pentium that was right around my budgeted price but didn't have a registered copy of windows, and the other was a somewhat overloaded box(based on my requirements) BUT it was almost 2x what I wanted to spend and $180 more than the other systems lowest price.

After a lot of research and deliberation I finally went with the better system, and after some negotiating got it down to $360 without the internal wifi card(I planned on wiring it directly into my network anyway seeing as my house was fully wired for a network when I bought it)the guy had just dropped into it.

So here are the specs on the box I ended up buying.

Intel Core i5 CPU 760 @2.80 GHz
8.00 GB DDR3 RAM (4x2GB sticks)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
120GB Corsair Force 3 SSD
1 TB SATA disk drive
LG Blue Ray RW
EVGA P55 Motherboard
Cooler Master case
LEPA? N500 power supply
LCD touchscreen fan controller
CPU and GPU water cooling system
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (with free 10 upgrade option)

So that's about all the specs and info on the system itself I can find at the moment. The guy I purchased it from said that he purchased it in April from an independent computer store. He said they had used it as a demo computer or something and sold it to him once they built a new one. He purchased and installed the Windows 7 ult and installed wifi card but then realized how loud(?) it was due to all of the fans. His explanation for selling it was that he purchased it in hopes of using it as his office work computer and to be able to play games on, but he said it was too loud and eye catching and he didn't have the time for games as he hoped so it just sat for 3 months tell I bought it.

Like I said I paid $360 cash and the only issue I can find with the computer is that when it was originally built, whoever built it hacked up the case a little to get the fan controller into the front of the case and the front access usb and audio ports to be available on the front. The on on board usb, audio and other ports are also not lined up the best in the back too. Other than that I am fairly happy with my purchase.

So now I have it home and setup. It boots up in less than 10 seconds and has a score of 7.3 and seems to run great, but now I want to get it set up for my use so that I can hopefully use it for a long time, so here are some of my questions and needs that I am looking for advice and direction on.

First of all. What is the overall opinion on the system in general? What I paid for it? It's ability to be upgraded? Are there any major issues with any of the hardware components that I may not know about? Does it sound like a good solid, well put together system? Just a general overall evaluation of the system.

How do I start fresh? Reinstall windows without loosing the activation and the valid license?

How do I setup a backup and recovery partition just like is usually setup on an OEM computer?

I would like to be able to boot to windows 7 and windows 10, and maybe windows 8(if I can find a free copy). Plus I would like to be able to boot to some version of Linux(not sure which distro at the moment but I am familiar with many). For this I can add drives but would like to not need to, and although I am looking to set up various usb boot drives for the different OS options I am looking to have these bootable without a usb so from the internal hd.

I also am looking for advice on which free virus and spyware programs to run in the background along with any other maintenance or utility programs that may be suggested.

The only other advice I am looking for at this point is any specific settings or changes I should make to suit my specific needs on this computer. I really don't play any games but I am going to be loading AutoCAD, Inventor, SketchUP and many other 3D design and Modeling software. I would like to be able to run multiple large and complex models at one time without lag or slowdown or any crashes.


Thank You for reading and responding to my very long and I depth post. I look forward to reading and responding to any suggestions, questions and responses to my post and questions.

Alan

P.S. If anyone can help me combine my two posts and add a line saying to skip my introduction and background if you just want to see specs and ANWSER questions as I know it's a very long and detailed read.

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Answer
Welcome to the forums.
Aug 29, 2015 6:46AM PDT

That's one long post but I can't find a question in there. As PCs are personal and you have your own rig, there is no one true correct way to configure or use it. All that is up to your personal choices.

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Answer
"NON-OEM" which...
Aug 29, 2015 7:52AM PDT

means a retail version of OS.

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Answer
There it is. "without lag or slowdown or any crashes."
Aug 29, 2015 9:17AM PDT

Sorry I've yet to find a PC that does not eventually lag, slowdown and have an occasional crash.

These are imperfect machines and OSes.

I stand by my answer that it's a Personal Computer and as such it's up to you to determine what's best. For me it's pretty simple. I like the clean install of the OS, drivers and apps that it takes to get it working and then use it. I never subscribed to ideas like partitions for the OS, another for the App, another for data. But that's my choice.