New Computer????

I'll answer #4.

Plug-in thingies = a flash drive or a thumb drive. They come in varying memory sizes. Should go without saying - buy one with enough space to hold what you're trying to save.

Should also go without saying - weed before saving, maybe you don't need that email from 2006.

And - to make your life easier in the future - keep photos and whatnot on a flash drive from the beginning. E. g. you download something on the 13th of August, save it over to the flash drive the same day, then delete it from your hard drive. Lather, rinse, repeat. Why? Because, inevitably, you'll be replacing the new computer, and then you'll already have this done.

Should finally also go without saying - keep said flash drive in a safe and happy place.

Flash drives are cheap, but they go up in cost depending on the amount of memory on 'em. They can be ordered through Amazon; just look for price and high consumer ratings.

You can't go far wrong if this is what you use it for. For example, I bought this low-end Hewlett-Packard desktop at Staples two weeks ago. I'm happy with it, even though I'm using it for things that put sightly more stress on the hardware than what you do. (I also use mine for writing documents with Word, running spreadsheets with Excel, and developing software.) I think it would be perfectly adequate for your purposes.


As I said, for what you want to do with the computer, a low-end desktop is enough. These days, "low end" means something like a dual-core processor with a 2-Gigahertz clock rate, 4 Gigabytes of random-access memory, and a a 500- or 1000-Gigabyte hard drive.


Not per se, but which computer is "this" computer? The old one or the new one? If it's the old one, be sure all your data is backed up before restoring the factory settings.


Yes. You could buy an external hard drive with 1--2 Terabyte capacity for $50--$100, back up the files from your old computer on it, then copy them from it to your new hard drive. That's a good investment for another reason, too: If you frequently back up your new computer on it, it will greatly enhance your peace of mind.

If you're feeling cheap, bring the old hard disk to Best Buy and ask them for a hard-drive enclosure. That's a box with a USB interface. By putting your hard drive into it, you make the box an external hard drive with your old computer's file back on it. You needn't transfer anything. (But it will likely be too small for backing up your new computer on it.)


Including the backup drive, roughly $300--500. Anything above that would be overkill. Unless, that is, if you want to buy a new monitor too. Monitor prices have fallen drastically. For a good-quality, brand-name, 23-inch monitor, $150--200 is a normal price these days.


Vote Green, not Democratic, in 2016. And, cut out the agnosticism already. (Aren't you happy you asked?)

RE: I'm not nuts about lap tops...and want a full keyboard.
You can use a laptop or a notebook or iPad or iPod or iPhone ... with external USB or wireless keyboard.
I could recommend to you the HP Notebooks of Campaq, NX series, with some linux distro: Fedora XFCE, Ubuntu or Mint or s.th.

Thanks, Jespah…I’m looking into thingy’s on Amazon now. I do have an HP personal media pack (backup unit) now attached to the PC. That may have all my pix and documents. Will check that out also.



Yo, Thomas…thanks. We use Word and Excel often…but no development stuff. And I do lots of poker playing, but that should not be a problem. We have HP now and like it, so the HP will probably be the way we go. All that “giga” stuff is Greek to me, so I may well use your suggestion for the model you mentioned.

I do want to try to save everything on this computer (the old one) and see what happens if I return it to factory setting (bring it back to the date I bought it…or a month or so later)…just to see what happens.

Nancy has already decreed that we move up from this Mickey Mouse monitor to something like the one she has at work…which is much bigger.




Thanks Herald. I’m pretty sure I am going to stick with the PC, but I appreciate your suggestions.

Oh, Thomas, about the “Greens."

They should have “When You Wish Upon A Star” as a theme song. They may have made some headway in Germany, but the Green Pary is for losers and dreamers here in America.

And as for abandoning agnosticism in favor of the guesswork of theism or atheism…that would be like abandoning the New York Times for FOX News on television.

I sure hope you gave better advice on the computer question than you did on politics and philosophy!

My daughter needed to change her laptop before going to China. We went to PC World, she told the technician her price range and what she wanted it for. He recommended a reconditioned one with a year's warranty. It does the job perfectly, and it's a lot cheaper than a new one.

I went through this at the beginning of the summer. I found a MS website that had a questionnaire asking how I used the computer. (I couldn't find it with a cursory search. I will post back if I find it.) The result really surprised me - an all-in-one. I've built computers and routinely dug around inside of them in the past, but now I mostly surf, play games, edit pictures and pay bills. I got an all-in-one from HP with a big touch screen and Windows 8. I also found a discount HP code online that knocked $100 off the price. (Search for "hp coupon codes".) Windows 8 is also app friendly if you have gotten used to running apps on a tablet or phone.

I'll second Thomas' recommendations.

Staples, Officemax, and others often run sales on slightly out of date computers that will still be more than adequate for general use. They also won't have really out of date refurbished computers that could be foisted on you if you go to some small shop that sells stuff.

Get at least 4 Gig of RAM, 8 if you can afford it. More RAM allows you to keep multiple programs open. Unless you are downloading a lot of videos, no need for a hard drive larger than 500g but a lot of systems come with 1tb (1000g) these days.

With that 10 year old system, you probably should upgrade to a new screen.

All good advice.
Enjoy your new computer

Have fun! I definitely recommend an external hard disk of maybe 1 Terabyte. It will both help you transfer your old computer's files to your new computer and serve to back up for your new computer. Your peace of mind is easily worth the money you'll spend on it.


Good! Heeding her command should cost you $200 or less, and the picture quality will outclass anything money could buy 10 years ago. Monitors are no longer a big deal these days.

Finally, remember that I'm just a 15-minute drive away in real life. If there's any way I can help, don't be shy to let me know.

Oh, that reminds me. You will need to think about upgrading your software, especially if you don't have the registration keys for your old computer's installations anymore. As best I remember, Office Home and Student, which includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and a program called One Note I'm never using, cost me about $150. A free alternative is Open Office, maintained by a nonprofit called the Apache Software Foundation. It can read and write Word and Excel files, and you can just download it.

I do remember that...and I am not shy. You almost certainly will be called when the time comes. Advice will be expected from you side...and a dinner and plenty of beer will be involved from our side. (I'll cook, not Nancy!)

I most likely will phone you before making final decisions on the purchase.

I am almost to the point of beginning to procrastinate...but not quite yet. I will let you know when the procrastination to begin official procrastination ends...and when official procrastination starts. Then we are almost home.

You're procrastinating about procrastinating? Do you except disciples, master?

Did L. Ron Hubbard?

I know this one. Is it **** in the woods?

It looks like you are both in good hands.

Microsoft is offering Office for home use for around $10 if you have some corporate tie in. I was going to install my old Office 2010 but couldn't pass up upgrading for $10 to 2013. Try this link.

Thanks for that info, Engineer.

My current copy of Word seems a bit degraded...every once in a while the spellcheck feature dies. It does come back after a few days, but something is not completely right with it.

Spending $10 for Office (which contains Word) seems reasonable...until I get a new computer.

Any downside?

Only that I would wait until the new computer to get the upgrade. The new version likely uses more system resources than the old version and if your copy is already running slow, installing the new one on your existing computer might make things worse.