What would you do: fix or buy a new computer?

Last Summer bought a used Dell Laptop with I5 CPU & 500 GB HD 4Gig of Ram. for about $220 !
It had the update button to Windows 10 on Home screen when I click it on to do upgrade found out it had expired So I had to pay another 100 to upgrade then I bought Ram upgrade taking unit to a total of 8GB that costs me about $70 ! Plus my time in setting it up for few dollars more could of bought a New Dell I5 or I7 . So I am thinking of giving this one to my wife since her old clunker desktop Dell is not upgradable & old too As the old saying goes you get what you pay for!

Hi! I've been building and maintaining my own PC rigs since '91... if your current hardware is fine (as in functional, and not making any odd noises), why not simply backup all your pertinent data, and reformat the drive partition(s) and reinstall your Windows OS (or upgrade to a newer OS). That occasional Blue screen is endemic of a Windows breakdown. Depending on the software suites you're running you should be able to reformat the C-Drive, reinstall Windows and all your personal wares (and the registration & updates of everything) in 5 to 7 hours!
I run heavy Graphics & Gaming rigs, fully optimized with a 9.3 second boot sequence. My Software suite includes multiple layers of Security wares for surfing the web.
I wish you luck in reprogramming your Dell. If you do decide to get a new off-the-rack Rig... they aren't that expensive, and some Brands come with a Solid State Drive.

Before anything, have it fully cleaned and perhaps replace the CPU cooler with a more efficient one. If it does not solve the problem, backup all your personal files, make sure you have a system install disk for the OS and the proper disks for your programs. Do a low format on the hard drive - the driver manufacturer site shall have the proper program - reinstall everything and see if it works. All of it you can do yourself if it is a desktop. One shall ware plastic (latex) disposable gloves all times while disassembling and assembling electronic equipments, thus avoiding electro static discharges and skin moister and grease to affect the electronics. Be careful to unplug the desktop from everything before open it to clean, you may carefully use a soft brush or even more careful a vacuum cleaner or both. The cooler may be removed for better cleaning and also the CPU (VERY CAREFULLY), if you remove the CPU cooler you should clean the top of the CPU, removing old thermal paste and have new thermal paste applied between the CPU and the cooler, that should be done VERY gently and shall be a fin layer over the whole CPU surface, applied AFTER the CPU is back on it's place. To clean the CPU contacts on the CPU and on the MB, just blow dry air on it, DON'T TOUCH IT. after you apply the thermal paste make sure NOT TO LEAVE paste around the CPU, you may clean the excess with a cotton swab. Good luck.

I would rebuild the OS first, being very careful to make sure that everything that I install is compatible, and that drivers are correct and up to date.

I'm surprise that these guys don't know for sure if the HDD works or not, just by trying it on another computer(very simple), then if its working try a "restore to a previous date" or re-install win10 +your backups( cost of it: nothing. If the HDD is dead and assuming than the processor is good, you can buy a new HDD with 1 T for about $50(SSD are more expensive)or so and do the reinstall with your programs. Computers last, they just need upgrade(hardware/software) My two computers are 8 & 7 years olds and work fantastically.

The specs of the system are even now not bad. But Dell does not support Windows 10 on this system.

Did you entitle for a free upgrade to Windows 10 and has this
PC been converted to Windows 10. If not you're either convicted to sticking with W7 or spend extra money for a legal W10 (try a trial install first, key can be bought and added later)

The lack of support for Windows 10 does not mean that that's impossible. I myself converted many "not compatible" systems. After free conversion and digital activation a fresh install is almost mandatory.

But lets be honest if you're not able to do an install yourself, things can become rather costly and if Outlook is the most prominent program you use I suspect you don't have needs for huge processing and graphical power. So a modest prized system might be the better choice.

Especially since the real reason for the BSOD is not revealed. Most of the time the reason is software related but hardware related may not be excluded (overheating due to bad thermal contact, damaged internal memory or a deteriorating hard drive). Don't forget to back-up your old data (outlook database and address book are often overlooked) or save your current hard drive. And add some extra costs for transferring your data to the new machine and (re)install any needed software.

Hi Carmen:

I'm sure that you have had much too much jargon by now but to summarize.
I looked up the computer in question and it was very nearly top of the line when you bought it.
I do this work for a living.
Dell computers are extremely well built and durable.

Mechanical hard drives as opposed to Solid State Drives, (SSD), would be a good way to reduce the cost of this repair by about $50. They typically last about 5 years and yours made it 7 because Dell used quality components in the first place.

It sounds as though the shop did proper diagnosis and went through the error logs and visual checks for failing capacitors, (prevalent in the 90's but very rare since then), that others have mentioned.

When I had this problem the logs pointed to a drive beginning to fail before any other test showed a problem.

If you buy a new computer you only have a choice of Windows 10 and your old Outlook may work for a while but Microsoft will want you to go to a subscription based service.
Your current computer should upgrade to Windows 10 if you want to and I have seen many machines with less than half of the power your's has upgrade very successfully. I don't recommend Windows 10 yet if you are happy with the Windows 7 that you have because Microsoft pushed it too hard and it is still having a lot of upgrades done.

Being a single guy and retired, I was able to do both. I bought a new HP W10 Desktop with a 128 gig SSD for programs and 1 terabyte for data, an i7 processor and 24 gig of ddr4 ram. Except for the SSD being too small in this day and age and going to be replaced in a month or so with a Samsung 500 Gig SSD, the computer operates excellently.

I also have a Lenovo i7 desktop with 8 gig of ram from 2010 that had a conventional hard drive. In this day and age with all the data requirements at times it was like a "Chinese Fire Drill" when I was booting up the computer especially if there were requirements to update any programs. I had it working pretty good after updating it with a Samsung 500 gig SSD. Unfortunately my computer had a W10 update that proved to be an IED when I accidentally tried to install it to bring the computer up to date will all of the updates that were listed on my computer. Unfortunately that caused the computer to fail to reboot since I had never installed W10. That was one of the update files that Microsoft should have removed.

After getting the Microsoft Store to reinstall my version of W7 that was on there, I took it home and cleaned it up and eventually removed Windows.old that shows up on computers when you have to install the program from scratch.Microsoft reinstalled my Office 2010 and I then reinstalled all of my former programs. It took some time, but at that time my computer worked better than it ever had due to the SSD.

Anyone that wants to keep and older computer going should consider installing a new SSD, since then the computer will probably work better than it did when it was brand new. An SSD will make a tremendous difference in an older computer and when that computer has an i7 processor and 8 gig or more of ram, you can probably use it for several more years and maybe then decide to update it to W10. Personally I do not want to use a 10 year old computer!!!!

My new W10 Desktop cost $1000 at Costco and the repaired W7 computer cost about $200 including the SSD and the cable to install it through a USB port. I had to use another disk program called AOMEI to successfully install the SSD in the W7 Lenovo Desktop, but have installed 2 other Samsung SSDs with the Samsung Migration Software successfully and they both work great after the update.

Also Samsung has a program called Magician that allows you to get all the settings in your computer BIOS set up to provide the optimum operation of your SSD. I would really trust Samsung for any further SSDs.

I buy them from either HSN (Home Shopping Network) or QVC, You can get a brand new Windows10 and pay in installments of 6 to 12 mos depending on the price. Best of all most have free lifetime Service plans for the Computer, minus parts. The Tech can with your permission connect to it and resolve any problems and the plan is transferable to new owner. If the problem is a MSFT issue, MSFT can also look into it and resolve the issue. I purchased an Hp 17.3 W10 Notebook with lighted kB and touchscreen, for $695.00. from HSN, my last two Notebooks also 17.3 from them They came one with win7 and one with win8.1 and I was able to update them to win 10, when the free updates were offered. Purchasing anything but a W10 will be a waste of money as it will Cost you from $159.99 up to $299.99 to install an upgrade to win10. Please you Windows and Apple haters stop trying to sell someone on Ubuntu when they want Windows Computers

Im not a Techy but do know some things about pcs. You mentioned your computer guys do a lot of things for you.... Is this a business pc or just for personal use. I just finished installing Linux Mint on my desktop and have it on my laptop too so virtually Windows free. In the past when people had blue screens or whatever probs, I've use a Linux live cd to correct the problem. I repair pcs for some of my family and close friends. Now I have converted 3 people to Linux laptops because of Windows problems and esp new drivers etc etc...... and now with the older hardware Windows 10 wants you to spend money just to use it. There are a lot of people who cannot afford to pay out this kind of money all the time. People who into heavy gaming will have to update soon for sure.
I will say this .... that most people do not know any thing about the innards of a Windows O/S soooooo using a Linux system will be almost the same for them.
I agree that SSD are faster and I will certainly have that on a new pc along with second HD but would not put it on a 10 yr old mach.
Im am loving Linux Mint and trying other distros.

First off , which version of Windows are you running. If it is that old and you did an upgrade to Win 10 then you have troubles with hardware not supported in Win 10. Next unless then did a CHKDSK /F on the hard drive then you don't know if it has bad sectors. Log in as Administrator and run CHKDSK /F . The system should say the drive is locked and asking if you want to do it on the next restart. Say Yes and reboot the system and let Windows tell if there is bad tracks on the hard drive. You may have a bad hard dive but verify it first. If you have all your backups then it does not cost hundreds of dollars for a new hard drive and you don't "have" to go to a SSD drive.

I would recommend running the SFC command to check the integrity of your Windows system and possibly repair it. Windows maintains backup copies of many of the system files and the tool can replace defective files with the backups. It's a built-in Windows program and is free to run. Google it (sfc windows integrity) for more information.

If the SFC command doesn't find any errors then Windows is probably okay. If it does find errors and claims to correct them then make sure to run it again to make sure it passes the integrity check with no errors. If you continue to get errors then I'd recommend reinstalling Windows with no changes to the hardware. If you continue to get BSoD even after reinstalling Windows then it's likely a hardware problem and you should probably just buy a new computer. I don't know why the tech guy would recommend upgrading to an SSD without knowing what the problem was. He seemed to be saying your hard drive was okay so an SSD is not likely to solve your problem. Yes, it's true you could move the SSD to a new computer if you continue to get BSoD, but that's more work and expense. You'd get a brand new computer, but then have to copy the new computer's drive to your SSD and install it and hope everything works. That's about $200 of labor for your tech guys to do that. I wouldn't even think about it. If you buy a new computer you'd be better off spending the money you'd pay your tech guys to move your SSD to the new computer and just buy a computer that comes with an SSD. Then you get a computer that comes ready to run out of the box.

BTW, you can probably reinstall Windows yourself. Your computer probably came with a Windows installation disk or there is a partition on the hard drive that is used to restore the hard drive back to the way it was when you bought it. If your data is all backed up then you can go ahead and do that; then reinstall all your apps; then copy all your user data files back to the hard drive.

That being said, I recently bought a 1 TB SSD (Samsung 850 EVO) for $250 for my laptop from 2009. I cloned the existing hard drive to the SSD and installed it with no problems, but I'm reasonably tech savvy. Obviously I'm not against the idea of upgrading an older computer with an SSD, but it doesn't seem to make sense in your particular situation.

There is several free programs that will help you if it is not a bad hard drive. First off get the free version of Drive Booster. It will tell you up front most of the drivers that are needed to be updated. Another one is Smart Defrag which you can get for free and run it to defrag the hard drive which may be just a mess if you never did it before. Another is Advanced System Care which again you can get and use the free version. It will tell you if you have registry errors or file extension troubles. All of those programs I use on a regular basis to clean up and fix errors. You can also get the paid version if you want. They have helped me fix screwups induced by failed updates in Win 10 and I run it on a regular basis in my Win 7 computers.

There are a number of factors to consider here...
Do you really have to go for a top ranking System - Personally, I have never had a "Branded" PC barring once, I purchased a second-hand Dell - it wasn't too bad but died after a couple of years (I think the Motherboard failed). For the most part I have always owned Generic Computers from a couple of different outlets. Some of which are still working well - just a bit too slow for me and not able to install current programs and OSs. So take that question into consideration (Do you really need to spend so much on a system?) Most Computer stores sell good systems with Windows 10 Pre-installed, some of them have a trial of the current Microsoft Office included, which you can purchase. Older systems can become - out of date - quickly and are not compatible with all new software - too slow - CPU is not compatible etc. I can by a Tower with 4GB RAM, 1 TB HDD 3.6GHz CPU with windows installed and Trials of Antivirus, MS Office for about $500 (in Australia - so that will be around $275 to $300 if you are in the US - It wouldn't surprise me that if you go to a computer store you would get a complete system with monitor keyboard mouse etc for a little over $500) which is only a little more than you are proposing to pay for a repair that "may not or may not work". The only time I had a failure was a result of a surge caused by Lightning. I upgrade all the time and others get to use the systems that I replace. Like I said, they are still going and some are older than 2010, 2 go back to 2005... Still going.

So investing over $1000 in a brand named system which gives you pretty much the same "performance" may not be the total answer. Just replacing a component may or may not fix it and unless you want to invest that $450 and then find out that there is more wrong with it that will cost you even more... sometimes it is just better to bite the bullet and go for a new one, considering that the one you have is now 7 years old and is "technically" out of date. there are more places than Costco to go get a system.

Do you need a Branded Computer
You should shop around at computer stores
Doubted repairs may cost more than a new complete Generic system
Age of you Dell - Compatibility with new software/ software upgrades
Your current Operating System (support from MS)

This was spectacularly bad advice. If a mechanical hard drive worked in the machine in 2010 and there's nothing wrong with it--it passed the benchmarks the techs have--it should work just as well now. Reinstall Windows and your apps? Definitely! But if you have to pay someone else that much to do it, you're far better off just buying a new computer and starting from scratch. Seven years old is an eternity in the computer world.

You didn't say but I hope they offered to apply the $95 testing and evaluation to the recommended work if you decided to do it, which I don't think you should.

Even though there may be good life left in the system you are using - a Blue Screen a day is a sign that something is seriously wrong. Since you state that playing with fixing up computers is not something you could do and the tech guys are not sure they could really fix the system I would opt for getting a new one.

Since you were happy with this Dell, check into one of their new or refurbished systems (through the business side - better prices, generally better machines. I think you could get a nice new machine running Win 10 for a very reasonable price.

I sincerely doubt that putting an expensive and fast large SSD into the system would provide the best answer. You did not say how large a drive you are using and whether you had any more drives in the system. After a while - no matter how you clean up the software garbage - the junk piles up - lots of little orphan bits floating getting in the way. I think I would first try a clean install as well as run a physical check on the harddrive if it isn't an SSD. And yes reload all your programs etc. It is like moving - you get to have a clean start again. Still personally I would get a new machine since this one is nearly 8 years old.

You might decide to keep it's hardware, restore it with it's current OS and store back-ups on it's hard drive. A good chance to play with it a bit and maybe learn to be more comfortable and tech savy. Of course this advice is coming from someone who still has some machines around running Win 2000 (but not connected to the net) and who likes to play "learn something new" with older computers. So far I haven't blown anything up.

There's a lot of great information here, but the more I read the more I feel like it's time to just buy a new computer that meets your needs. My feeling is that you are not likely to be implementing many of the suggestions yourself and will instead be paying somebody else fairly hefty sums of money to do them. The cost of doing most anything for diagnostic purposes is still pretty high if it just adds to the $100 you've already spent. There's also the time lost while trying to figure it all out and then the cost of whatever hardware changes are made, and in the end you still end up with a 7 year old computer. Most people responding here are probably pretty tech savvy and can readily implement the various suggestions on their own and so the diagnostic cash outlay is zero. And for many there is the joy of solving the puzzle of why their computer isn't working and fixing it. Since you are paying others to get your computer up and running reliably it makes no sense to try to fix it. Just accept the loss of the $100 diagnostic fee and find a new or refurbished computer that will meet your needs.

Sounds like your teckies are taking you for a ride. I would back up doc and pics, and email address to a usb stick, and then reinstall windows, or try using the factory restore facility which I think is provided on your hard driv by Dell.

Good luck.

... there is just one more concern that I have:

Some people here suggest looking at refurbished computers (and I thought of that myself at some point.)

And, yes, for those of us who can help ourselves when something gets stuck this IS a good solution - I get refurbished equipment from time to time.

BUT!

If we are discussing the life expectancy of a hard drive or of the electronics on a motherboard and in a power supply and we bandy about opinions such as "seven years is actually quite old" -

- then we shouldn't suggest that you put your money into a system that in most probability will be 4-5 years old already. Just isn't logical. If we believe your system isn't all that old yet then we should suggest getting it fixed. If we believe it is too old to be worth that then we should suggest you get a brand new replacement. And we have people here backing both solutions.

We also have people here telling you about how much more powerful new computers would be - or even just a new and quite big solid state "disk" drive. And even though that is patently true it strikes me as an unlikely solution to your actual issue - unless you consider it helpful to have a machine that crashes just as often as before but restarts much faster

...we fail most times to get any feedback or contribution from the person, and such threads turn into long rambling contributions that may become more confusing than threads where the person who had the enquiry is also participating, and moves along from step to step in proper diagnosis of the problem. On the good side, it certainly gives the originator a lot to think on and consider.

Carmen,
I have a 2009 Dell and I know I will probably be considering the same issue one of these days. However, my Blue Screen situation has improved 99% since I disconnected an external hard drive that started showing signs of failure (noisy, clicking). Also my daily pattern was to hibernate rather than power down. That may or may not be related, but I suspected it had some bearing on things (memory). I used to get a crash every 2-3 days. Since I disconnected the external hard drive (eSata), system has crashed about once every 3-4 weeks. This may have pointed to a driver issue in my case -- which has nothing to do with your case.

If it were me, I would absolutely get a 2nd opinion from a place that is totally credible and has an excellent reputation. These guys sound uninformed.  Suggesting such "fixes" without actuallly knowing the cause is ridiculous. Yes, they can guess at possible causes, as can everyone in this thread, but a good repair place can troubleshoot and actually diagnose the problem based on real data. There are logs and dumps and tests and lots of breadcrumbs that can be investigated to determine the cause --- especially if they actually encountered the BSOD themselves!! This is a science, not an Art.

It's one thing for you to try things yourself at no or little cost, but to spend big bucks for questionable results is ludicrous. If you had a healthy system, I could support some moderately priced pre-emptive investments to extend the life. But regular BSODs is not healthy.

As I recall from my earlier 2001 PC, eventually, performance will probably get you. Websites and apps will get so slow and irritating and apps will start to say you are not compatible. Then it may be worth it to move on. The pain of reinstalling all my software and settings and losing remembered history and other conveniences will keep me where I am as long as possible.

Good Luck
Wendy