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

I don't know if its been mentioned or not, but Microsoft tends to drop (and/or screw up) software a lot which is not always realized until an upgrade occurs and is too late. My home MS Publisher 2007 can do CMYK publications, but 2013 at work can only do RGB. My favorite quickie super simple photo editor is Microsoft Picture Manager. It's gone in later versions of MSO. These are just two examples. I'm sure there's many more! So part of your decision is how heavily vested you are with your existing software or willing to find alternatives..

Simplify and get yourself a mid-range Windows laptop from HP, Dell, or Microsoft (these three seem to do best with updates and drivers)
. It doesn't sound like you have many requirements, outside of Office and Outlook. Current systems running Windows 10 and Office 365 are a pleasure to use and are light years ahead of what you are working with. Convertibles are good, especially for reviewing documents or pictures. With Office 365 you'll get 1 TB of cloud storage, so your files will always be backed up (you can also use this for your pictures and your music). Cortana is a plus. Good luck.

. . . but a spider's web for a person not tech savvy. 2012 was the water shed year as goes new technology, 64-bit computers to wit. Her PC is most likely still 32-bit capable. Horses of a different colour. Come to think of it, this difference in tech could be the cause - as in my case - of the endless Win 8.1 and 10 forcible upgrades with the added hassle. I'm on Mageia 5 Linux now which leaves you more freedom, yet again needs that your are somewhat tech savvy.

Oh by the way, the environment around my PC has gone dead quiet as goes incessant upgrade nags and the like. Bliss. One or two re-installs of about a day each, but that's because I get my dirty little fingers into it and keep on trying new things.

I think you should choose between the hassle or starting all over again with a clean computer. With say Win 10 installed off the shelf it could be you will not see all the hassle others have after upgrades. Another thing; do you use your PC for commercial purposes? If yes, how much time and productivity have you lost in dealing with your current issues? Actually that even goes for social environments as well. It also escalates into a subconscious preoccupation just because of the knowledge it might just do it again! At just that critical moment! And the data loss!!! AAARRGH!! Even if you do backup religiously. You backed up just 30 minutes ago on the dead line thing, got the critical argument just right and as you click Save, CRASH! Nice. Just Jim Dandy.

Thanks for the reminder. Ubuntu may just be a good solution. Find a LInux crowd in you area and speak to them. there are hordes of sites on the Net where you can get good advice; Stack Exchange with a whole raft of them. Ubuntu, Linux Mint et al. All very helpful on your questions, no diploma's needed.

Then, my advice to women. You may not be tech savvy, but that's because you've never been told.

[We're seniors, but I taught my girl to run and manage her PC. She could only read e-mail. Deathly afraid of anything else. Should see her now!]

Anything one man knows can be taught to another. If he cannot explain the subject in simple language, he does NOT know the subject. If he has an attitude, so much the worse. The Linux world is full of women. Magtelt Garrels, Marja and Sophie on Mageia's Hexchat freenode chatline. When I did a programming course decades ago, there were five of them at least. Later lots more. The fact that things puzzle you says one thing only; you've got a good mind and do not just take gaff for sweets.

Get tech savvy, girl. Go! You can do it.

Definitely not buy a new one. Unfortunately you say you are not tech savvy.
Personally i wouldn't take it to the repair either.
I do computer repairs myself so if something is wrong with my computer,
i have to figure it myself whats wrong. I just have to know whats going on!
I even started a blog.

Blog promotion removed by moderator.

'' just go out and buy a new one computer altogether''.

In the long run it's cheaper, faster andway less hassle to buy a new pc

Any repair estimates or total costs over the 50% current value are negative "false" economics in my opinion. Consideration should be weighed on the data value, including your personal data collected.
The shop estimates, that your favorite Tech Shop has quoted, are high, and seem opportunistic.
Blue screen halts are out of bounds transitions created by faults in data transfer timing and are caused by an initial issue. SMART registers are not always accurate for HDD or SSD health. GPUs and (over)heat issues are more prevalent, even in Dell Latitude lappies (especially ones with non-Intel GPU's in my opinion and experience). In many instances, software and not hardware, caused the halt (in a post fault DMP examination). For example, I am able to bring on BSOD with some test condition overclocking, and I have one motherboard connected to a bus analyzer that clearly shows how the board reacts to bad bus timing, but that the root cause is usually a combination of issues .
Windows 7 Pro (and Win8.1) runs just fine with Core2Duo. Each situation is different.
For Business, a Laptop is a (money making) tool, and the obsolescence and amortization *should* be 36 months. (Many large organization IT policies are based on 36 months of global agreement and OEM source support).
Is $350 for a 500GB SSD reasonable? That seems a bit high on initial cost, even with (very simple) installation , OS build, and data migration. Perhaps I am out of touch on the current market because I have my own private Lab.
You have backed up data: this was the best insurance you had invested to protect the real value of personal historical data. This is and was the real value and that is not lost. Great.
Can you migrate just the personal data (on your own) to an equivalent or better system for (less than) $1K?
I mentally divide total cost of a new Laptop or Desktop by 3 and decide if the features and benefits are worth the expenditure over each of the next three years, while I am at the initial demo, before payment, in silent justification of the replacement system.
I tend to keep old lappies for optical drive {legacy} access (any CDRW, DVD-RW's written?) and because I have experience with personal computing from 1978, do my own refurbishing, retaining some residual value of the lappy.
If the XPS 8100 desktop has i7 core, even if it is the 2.93G model, I would try to retain that core with
Win 7Pro (my favorite) or LinuxMint for other purposes. i5 and i7 are still very useful Intel CPUs.
If the older core has valuable *parts* , some residual value can be extracted, such as a Laptop screen/inverter/driver assembly; recovered parts can produce significant disposal sale revenue (but with an increased 'sweat equity' on the owners part).
My 37 years of hardware and software experience also teaches that there is a time to "let go". I recently tried to find a 5.25" 1.2Mb Floppy Drive (old PATA /AT ISA style 1/2 height) and they are all gone to the scrap pile.

This is a very easy decision for me. $350 for the recommended upgrade is way too much. You are better off buying a new system. You can get a much more powerful and modern desktop for under $500. I would check Slickdeals to get a sense of what constitutes a good deal.

Or you can bring it to me and I'll perform the same upgrade for you for $150 including parts and labor.

Has it been determined you actually need 500 GB of space? You could get a 250 GB solid state drive for under $100.

Has it been determined the old hard drive is bad? If not, a clean reinstall of the OS should fix the problem. Granted, adding an SSD will you give a nice increase in performance, but it's probably not required to repair your computer. Value wise, the best setup is a small SSD plus a large mechanical hard drive.

It sounds to me the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) is caused by a corrupted file within registry or system files. I would recommend upgrading to Windows 10 by using the disability route to get it for free. Just run the compatability wizard, let it install, and you shouldn't have anymore issues. Once installed you can go into the C drive and delete Windows.old folder if you don't plan on going back to your old OS. This will be the cheapest route to fix the BSOD and something you should be able to do yourself without paying more money or losing any data (though I recommend backing up all of the files you wouldn't want to lose.

Carmen,

It sounds likely to me that reinstalling Windows onto a new SSD will fix your issue, but I still think it may be time to purchase something new. Costco generally has some great pricing on desktops, so you could get something in the $900-$1000 range that would be vastly superior to your current PC after upgrades given the advances in PC hardware over the past 7 years. Then, you're all set for another 6-7 years (hopefully) rather than just extending the life of your current system.

YOU need more RAM. ADD A STICK OF RAM MEMORY

You need 24Gb for heavy duty graphics. Easy install

Past experience with BSOD was precursor to hardware failure...the mobo died a couple of days later.

First, backup all your personal data off the computer if you haven't already done so.

Second, if you haven't made recovery discs for your Dell system, get some blank DVDs and do so. They can reinstall the system from those recovery discs if you choose to spend $350 for the SSD and their labor.

I'd put the $350 toward a newer system myself. Even if you let them put the SSD in that older system and reinstall the system, and then you reinstall your applications, you might still encounter a BSOD and likely have to buy a new system in the end. If that happened you could still put the SSD in the new one as second drive or get enclosure for it to be an external drive. You might be able to get a newer system that has an SSD as the primary drive.

Good luck.