Buying a new PC, need suggestions...

wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
It is a little more complicated on some cases. You need to make sure that the drive is SATA, and not ATA133/100/66. If it is ATA, then you need an adapter.

But you wipe the drive before you pull it from the old computer. This makes sure you do not damage the drive in your new computer. Once wiped, just pull the drive and place it in the new computer. Start up that computer and format it (assuming you are in windows, just google "how to format a hard drive in windows 7 (or 8 if you are using that)" and you will find a good guide.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
It is a little more complicated on some cases. You need to make sure that the drive is SATA, and not ATA133/100/66. If it is ATA, then you need an adapter.

But you wipe the drive before you pull it from the old computer. This makes sure you do not damage the drive in your new computer. Once wiped, just pull the drive and place it in the new computer. Start up that computer and format it (assuming you are in windows, just google "how to format a hard drive in windows 7 (or 8 if you are using that)" and you will find a good guide.
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Just what should i do to make sure nothing goes wrong? I'm thinking i might just wipe the the hard drive and leave it at that.

What benefits are there to installing the old hard drive into the new PC?
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
the only benefit to installing it in the new computer is more storage space.

What could go wrong, is you could do autonuke which would wipe all drives attached to the computer. This is not a problem is you only have one drive. but if you do it accidently, then you are pretty much SOL and will need to reinstall windows to get the computer functional again.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
And, what is the fastest way to find all the important stuff on my old computer to copy to a flash drive? I'm afraid i might miss something.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
yes, they are legal. All they do is write over the data with random strings of 0 and 1, and then zeros out the drive. But with enough work you can look under all the white noise they put on the drive and see the original data. It takes a lot of doing, but can be done. Wiping the drive just covers up the data. The only way to completely delete the data is to destroy the drive violently.
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Wolf, could you send me a url for a legit good Killdisk and DBAN that is free? I will try to wipe my disk. Are you sure this is the best way to erase stuff on my hard drive? i don't want to use it, it's only 70 gigs, but i want to be secure so that no one gets my stuff if i ever lose the old PC.
 
spirit

spirit

Moderator
Staff member
DarkNinja said:
Wolf, could you send me a url for a legit good Killdisk and DBAN that is free? I will try to wipe my disk. Are you sure this is the best way to erase stuff on my hard drive? i don't want to use it, it's only 70 gigs, but i want to be secure so that no one gets my stuff if i ever lose the old PC.
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If you don't need the disk anymore, just take it outside and smash it pieces or shoot it or whatever. Do whatever you want with it, put it in the oven and bake it if you like, just so long as it's destroyed.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
spirit said:
If you don't need the disk anymore, just take it outside and smash it pieces or shoot it or whatever. Do whatever you want with it, put it in the oven and bake it if you like, just so long as it's destroyed.
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Sorry for asking this, but i am afraid that my new prebuilt PC might in the near future break down while writing a paper for school, due to being prebuilt, thus made of cheaper parts. Should i be worried about this?
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
not really. If it breaks, it has a warranty. But Prebuilt computers are not that bad, unless you plan to upgrade it, or play games on it.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
not really. If it breaks, it has a warranty. But Prebuilt computers are not that bad, unless you plan to upgrade it, or play games on it.
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Atm the PC has a 1 year warranty, i think. I can also buy an extra 2 years warranty for a price, or even 3 years. Which one should i buy? this is for newegg, btw.
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
get whatever warranty you want. If it breaks after one year, it is going to be better to get a new one than to fix it anyway.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
get whatever warranty you want. If it breaks after one year, it is going to be better to get a new one than to fix it anyway.
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Call me paranoid, but i'm still worried about the situation that might happen. it could be 11:00 pm at night, when i'm writing a paper for school due the next day, and then the PC breaks. i could still use my dad's laptop, but there is the chance that my sister's laptop could be with her, and i may not be able to use her printer. I dunno...i'm worried something like that could happen and i might be only able to get my PC fixed the next day or week. you understand what i'm saying, right? You can't really be 100% sure that the PC will work when you need it to, because being prebuilt, they are made of cheaper parts, and thus the PC has a higher chance of breaking down.
 
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wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
You are seriously overthinking this. Prebuilt computers are lesser quality. That does not mean they will not last for years under constant use. It just means that their 100% is lower than custom computers 100%.
Every computer will break. It does not matter how well you care for it, or conversely how harsely you use it. Does not matter the brand, whom assembled it, who your power provider is, or even if you run windows or not. Every electronic part will eventually break. Fact of life. When that is will not be able to be determined by anyone, but it if makes you feel better, then pray for it.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
You are seriously overthinking this. Prebuilt computers are lesser quality. That does not mean they will not last for years under constant use. It just means that their 100% is lower than custom computers 100%.
Every computer will break. It does not matter how well you care for it, or conversely how harsely you use it. Does not matter the brand, whom assembled it, who your power provider is, or even if you run windows or not. Every electronic part will eventually break. Fact of life. When that is will not be able to be determined by anyone, but it if makes you feel better, then pray for it.
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What do you mean prebuilt PCs 100% is less than custom 100%? By custom you mean built by hand personally? I think someone on another forums told me that because prebuilt computers are built from cheaper parts, including the motherboard, that they tend to break down more. Something like that.
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
100% meaning the best it can do. With the same components a custom built can do more due to higher quality parts.

And having low quality parts does not mean it will break. It just means it can not do as much. It is basically like a American vs say a Mexican. We have higher quality parts (health and quality of living), but they can do the same work for most of the time longer. Low quality parts are nothing more than just lowering the top.
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
Byte, If you do not know what you are talking about, please don't talk about it. A prebuilt computer will last years, unless you try to upgrade it.

And FYI, the thread is because he already bought a new PC that was an Acer.
 
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DarkNinja

Member
wolfeking said:
Byte, If you do not know what you are talking about, please don't talk about it. A prebuilt computer will last years, unless you try to upgrade it.

And FYI, the thread is because he already bought a new PC that was an Acer.
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Around 2-3 people in another forums said prebuilt PCs don't last as long as Pcs made by yourself because prebuilts were made from cheaper parts. Are you saying they're wrong? Just want to make sure, like i said, i'm worried about writing a paper around 11 pm at night, and then the computer suddenly breaking. I have a backup plan in case this happens, in that if it does, i could just turn on my old PC, if it works, or use my dad's laptop, or maybe the library computers and school computers.
 
wolfeking

wolfeking

banned
They will not last as long, that is true. But you are talking about 10 years vs 12 years or so. Both will last far beyond their usefulness unless you start toying with it with upgrades and such (on a prebuilt).
 
Virssagòn

Virssagòn

VIP Member
I look it like this.
Why getting a custom one over a Prebuilt one?
- better quality parts.
- cheaper
- easy to upgrade later ( That's what Wolfe is trying to say. The more quality parts will be able to handle your next upgrade. F.e.: PAY will be the problem number one when upgrading.)
- more headroom (^^see explanation above)
- guaranteed per component. (When you upgrade a prebuilt pc, the rest the parts will not be warranted anymore.)
- cooling, in almost all Prebuilt pc's I have there is only a cpu fan, the fan on gpu and the fan from the PAY.
- unlocked bios (oc option)
- Prebuilt pc's use some parts in wrong combination, sometimes I even think they are dumb if I see a *Game computer* with an i7 3770 (nonK), watercooling, 16gb ram and a hd6770...
- you know your own parts, quality and performance. You can solve bottlenecks by yourselves. You're sure it will work, and very good.
 
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