New Computer

[david and julie]

I'm not the best with computers and would appreciate your advice.

I have a desktop computer which is not used very often and mainly used to store music (around 9/10000 tracks in total) It is a bit old now and beginning to show it. The CD writer is now also going very slow. The computer is on XP pro and is a p4.

I was thinking of replacing it with a new one after Christmas.

Is there a simple way to transfer all the info from the old to new without writing everything to discs?

Thanks very much

 

[Igorian]

Lots of options really.

You could remove the drive from the old machine and put it in the new one as a slave (permanently or temporarily)

You could put the old drive into an external case and connect to the new pc via firewire or usb or ethernet

You could network the two and do a direct transfer (over ethernet or usb or even serial or parallel).

When you get your new kit, one of us can point you at some destructions.

 

[david and julie]

Thanks Ian. I must owe you nearly a gallon by now! Will come back at the time.

Thanks, Dave.

 

[breezer]

moving the hd is a better option, BUT, if it is old you would do better to move it and copy the music files across to new hd then put it back.

You are lucky to have a p4 this is the equiv of a p3

 

[david and julie]

Thanks breezer, its only p4 because it was upgraded last year. Everything is is about 6 years old. I don't know much about them but it seems cheaper just to buy a package. Having said that I will come back for more advice from you kind people nearer the time.

Cheers Dave.

 

[pipme]

Hey Dave ... believe me adding the HDD to your new desktop is a breeze Do you have a manual with the machine ? My Dells have really extensive manuals with all the griff on such stuff (and the pix same as my m/c which gives confidence)....
P

 

[2scoops0406]

I'd be tempted to try the following first.

Defrag the existing HDD

Start Menu->All Programs->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter

Or Start Menu->Run

type the following into the resulting dialog box

%SystemRoot%\System32\dfrg.msc

Press OK

The highlight the drive letter that you want to defrag click on Defragment.

Make a cup of tea, come back some time later !

Next, perform a disk cleanup by doing the following

Start Menu->Run

type the following into the resulting dialog box

%SystemRoot%\System32\cleanmgr.exe

Press OK

You need to be a bit careful with this, if in doubt don't bother doing the cleanup.

Next you can see if you can optimise the virtual memory see here

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/530.mspx


Finally a few questions / observations

How much physical RAM do you have installed.

Does the HDD sound noisey ? This could mean it's either one its way out, or the system is swapping heavily as it has run out of phyical RAM and is having to use virtual memory, which is on the HDD.

Wrt to the CD burner slowing down, this could be 'cos its on it's way out, CD burners don't generally last that long, if used extensively for cutting CD's


Or alternatively, say bo**ocks to all that I'm off to buy a shiny new PC

 

[david and julie]

Judging by all your comments it sounds like I may be going about this the wrong way. my current machine is about 6 years old and working perfectly with no undue noises etc, the hdd is about half full. Except for music it has had hardly any use really. My main problem is the CD drive as gone very very slow and the screen is old and small.

I was thinking of just buying a new package, mainly for larger flat screen and DVD writer. As an alternative, how hard is it to replace the faulty CD writer with a DVD and then just buy a new screen. Would that be a better option?

Would fitting the DVD be within the capabilities of a dumb truck mechanic with sausage like fingers

Thanks again for all your comments.

 

[2scoops0406]

Piece of cake, recently did mine, took about 10 mins max. Got all the software you might need as well. Personally it sounds like an OK system, CD burners are the first things to pack up, mine only lasted about 18 months, with hardly any burning usage. One thing to note though, do you want to burn DVD's i.e have a DVD burner as well. If so, again you may be in luck I might be able to get one for nowt, please do not hold me to that though

 

[Igorian]

If it's had 6 years, it can be considered as "having had a good innings". Upgrading bits of it would probably be a waste of money (IMHO), as you're sure to create bottlenecks.

I would buy a complete new machine and keep the other asis and either pass it down, or network it to the new one. Another application for it could be as a non internet machine for secure files . You can run both from the same monitor/keyboard/mouse using a KVM switch.

 

[david and julie]

Decisions decisions.

Eddie.. thanks for your very kind suggestion.

Ian.. I was thinking along those lines (the easy bit that was)

I am going away for Christmas( ) so will wait till I get back. I will let you know how I go on.

Thanks to all for your help and advice.

Cheers Dave.

 

[breezer]

if it is any use the place that sell police officers "stuff" usually have some good sale things on after Christmas, but its not my favorite store

 

[Igorian]

if it is any use the place that sell police officers "stuff"

You've been to the YMCA again haven't you!

 

[AdamW]

I know I'm stepping in late here, but I agree with Eddie, try a defragment.

Computers don't really slow-down in the same way as e.g. a car. The processor and memory are just as fast as they used to be, the hard-drive probably is too. Just it needs to be optimised and decluttered. Defragging will go some way towards this. When computers are getting worn out you know about it because they have a tendency to crash every 2 minutes no matter what you do.

Of course I don't want to dissuade you from buying a new PC with a big flat screen

Not entirely related to this, but I was once 5 minutes from buying new everything for my PC, no matter what I tried I couldn't make the PC work reliably. Then I borrowed a PSU from a friend and it turned out that was the problem. That was the only bit I wasn't going to change!

 

[pipme]

Slightly unrelated .. My sis in law bought same PC as me, at the same time .. her HDD possibly, has gone down ... She has bought new PC, I will inherit the whole shebang as spares !! cd burner and separate dvd player. Am a little chuffed .. should extend life of my old pc til the new M$ op sys hits the counters and I go new !!