new member with computer question

savo1968 · 10-27-2009, 05:05 AM

hello people

im not very knowledgeable so forgive me if i write the wrong thing but heres my situation.

we have a 6 or 7 year old dell (80 gig hard drive 512 ram)
it is old and corrupted (virus spyware who knows) its very slow
we have pictures and music we would like to save somehow and then have the whole thing set back to the day we got it and use it for the kids.
i would like a upgrade but not quite ready (money)

1) so what device would be good to save the pictures and music ? external hard drive i have heard, what kind is good ? do i run the risk of taking virus type problems when transferring what we want to save ?

2) how do i go about taking everything off the computer and starting over ?
re install xp i have heard . could we run a newer system (vista?)

i appreciate any feed back . as you can tell im new to computers .
thanks to all ...

savo1968 · 10-28-2009, 06:30 PM

wow this has been a wealth of information (not) . again thanks to all...

Guardian01 · 10-28-2009, 06:52 PM

ok you should learn to be a little patient...after all, you are asking for free advice

1. you can save your files to an external hard drive and it is probably the best way to back up your most important files, taking into consideration cost and efficiency. western digital is a great trusted name brand. i have a 750gb and 1tb and they work great. if all you are doing is backing up pictures and mp3s and text files (.doc or .rtf or .txt or many others), you don't have to worry about viruses copying over to your external hard drive. are you currently using an antivirus software? if not, i recommend you get one. i personally recommend nod32.

2. to reinstall windows, you need a windows cd. if your hardware specs are decent, vista can be just fine for you, although personally i don't like vista. although it's not the hardest thing in the world to install a new os, it's recommended that you look up instructions by searching on google (there should be detailed steps with pictures) to familiarize yourself beforehand.

post again if you have more questions

aviation_man · 10-28-2009, 07:20 PM

Depending on how many/what size of files you want to save, you can copy them to a flash drive (Again, this depends on how big these files are, flash drives aren't the biggest storage devices, and it depends on how big you flash drive is). If you have a CD burner, you can easily burn the files onto a CD and the CD will act like a flash drive and store all your data. Taking into consideration that your system is old, your best bet would be going for the external HDD, like previously recommended.

As for you running Vista, no, your specs do not meet the minimum requirements for running Vista. In my personal experience, you need at least a 1.5 - 2.0GHz processor with about 2GB of RAM in order for it to run smoothly. You won't get by with only 512Mb of RAM. It looks like you're stuck with XP for now.

If you do a full format/install, XP should run pretty decent on your system.

russb · 10-28-2009, 07:26 PM

And be a little patient...

savo1968 · 10-31-2009, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by russb

And be a little patient...

ok my question has been answered and again i thank you for the information . as you can see my first two postings were two days apart = "patient" .

my second post was not to offend but simply to provoke a response and it worked . within two hours (not days) i had 2 answers .

excuse my sarcasm but if i would have left my original post and waited for a reply i was fearful that all you computer gurus could never be bothered with such basic questions .

i do appreciate and thank you all for your help .

ps to be patient and (the flip side) being timely are both good qualities .

aviation_man · 10-31-2009, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by savo1968

ok my question has been answered and again i thank you for the information . as you can see my first two postings were two days apart = "patient" .

my second post was not to offend but simply to provoke a response and it worked . within two hours (not days) i had 2 answers .

excuse my sarcasm but if i would have left my original post and waited for a reply i was fearful that all you computer gurus could never be bothered with such basic questions .

i do appreciate and thank you all for your help .

ps to be patient and (the flip side) being timely are both good qualities .

You are welcome for the help.

We're sorry for the inconvenience of the lack of responses. Sometimes we have a lack of members, and sometimes these threads get over looked, so not everybody will see them. To make your post 'active' again, you simply just have to 'bump' it and the chances of your thread being viewed will go up.
('Bumping' meaning, post again on the same thread)

If you have anymore questions feel free to post!

savo1968 · 11-01-2009, 09:04 PM

i thank you sir

10-27-2009, 05:05 AM	#1 (permalink)
savo1968 New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: michigan Posts: 4	new member with computer question hello people im not very knowledgeable so forgive me if i write the wrong thing but heres my situation. we have a 6 or 7 year old dell (80 gig hard drive 512 ram) it is old and corrupted (virus spyware who knows) its very slow we have pictures and music we would like to save somehow and then have the whole thing set back to the day we got it and use it for the kids. i would like a upgrade but not quite ready (money) 1) so what device would be good to save the pictures and music ? external hard drive i have heard, what kind is good ? do i run the risk of taking virus type problems when transferring what we want to save ? 2) how do i go about taking everything off the computer and starting over ? re install xp i have heard . could we run a newer system (vista?) i appreciate any feed back . as you can tell im new to computers . thanks to all ...

10-28-2009, 06:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Guardian01 Bronze Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 52	ok you should learn to be a little patient...after all, you are asking for free advice 1. you can save your files to an external hard drive and it is probably the best way to back up your most important files, taking into consideration cost and efficiency. western digital is a great trusted name brand. i have a 750gb and 1tb and they work great. if all you are doing is backing up pictures and mp3s and text files (.doc or .rtf or .txt or many others), you don't have to worry about viruses copying over to your external hard drive. are you currently using an antivirus software? if not, i recommend you get one. i personally recommend nod32. 2. to reinstall windows, you need a windows cd. if your hardware specs are decent, vista can be just fine for you, although personally i don't like vista. although it's not the hardest thing in the world to install a new os, it's recommended that you look up instructions by searching on google (there should be detailed steps with pictures) to familiarize yourself beforehand. post again if you have more questions __________________ CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz RAM: Corsair 2x1GB DDR2 Graphics: E-GF 8600GT 256MB MB: Asus P5K HD: WD 160GB SATA HDD PSU: Thermaltake Purepower 600W Tower: Cooler Master HAF932 OS: XP Pro

10-28-2009, 07:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
aviation_man Diamond Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Somewhereland Posts: 2,133	Depending on how many/what size of files you want to save, you can copy them to a flash drive (Again, this depends on how big these files are, flash drives aren't the biggest storage devices, and it depends on how big you flash drive is). If you have a CD burner, you can easily burn the files onto a CD and the CD will act like a flash drive and store all your data. Taking into consideration that your system is old, your best bet would be going for the external HDD, like previously recommended. As for you running Vista, no, your specs do not meet the minimum requirements for running Vista. In my personal experience, you need at least a 1.5 - 2.0GHz processor with about 2GB of RAM in order for it to run smoothly. You won't get by with only 512Mb of RAM. It looks like you're stuck with XP for now. If you do a full format/install, XP should run pretty decent on your system. __________________ OSWindows 7 CPU>AMD Phenom x4 2.9GHz Black Edition 9950MOBO ASUS M3A78-EMRAM>CORSAIR DOMINATORX DDR2 1066MHz 4GBHDD>Western Digital 75GB> Maxtor 150GB--HDD2>Seagate 500GBGPU> ATI Radeon HD 3200 Want to Make $$$$ with your Computer? No Risk! Simply press shift+4 four times in a row FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND:F@H Team 44358

10-28-2009, 07:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
russb Gold Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Essex,England. Posts: 359	And be a little patient... __________________ LIVE FOR TODAY,TOMORROW MAY NEVER COME.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

10-28-2009, 06:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
savo1968 New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: michigan Posts: 4	wow this has been a wealth of information (not) . again thanks to all...

11-01-2009, 09:04 PM	#8 (permalink)
savo1968 New Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: michigan Posts: 4	i thank you sir

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Windows XP Tips and Tricks	miftahur	Operating Systems	0	05-10-2009 07:56 AM
Need help on computer question!!!!	yokazuma0	Desktop Computers	16	01-09-2009 04:04 AM
My Computer turns off by itself!	Humpy12345	CPUs and Overclocking	3	03-30-2008 07:08 PM
Computer software copyright question	hdansjr	General Computer Chat	11	11-14-2005 05:50 AM