smoreau 658 #1 Posted March 2, 2011 :thumbs: My hard drive died on my laptop had to go back to my desk top and trying to post pics on red square is a nightmare. soooooo slooooow that photo bucket times out. worst thing is that it will take me a few weeks to get a new hard drive as I'm straped to paying bills first. oh well at least I'm still on line and can get to my email. Just that it was so nice on the laptops speed and its like jumping back in time on this old desk top. so I was woundering if this has happend to any of you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kloe0699 12 #2 Posted March 2, 2011 It sounds like you need a better desk top? My computer crashed in late November and due to that time of year I couldn't afford to get it fixed or buy another one. Good thing my wife got "us" one for christmas! Since then we picked up another hard drive for the old one and now the kids have their own computer. :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daemon2525 5 #3 Posted March 2, 2011 I am kind of a computer guy and unless your desktop is 'REALLY" old or you have a bunch of crap on it, then your upload speeds should not matter. a 500mhz desktop can upload faster than most internet connections are capable of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly 1,033 #4 Posted March 2, 2011 My desk top is faster than my wifes laptop, and both are about 2 years old. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 16,290 #5 Posted March 2, 2011 My guess is that his laptop had mobile broadband, and the desktop is still connected to DSL or worse yet, dial-up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theoldwizard1 2 #6 Posted March 2, 2011 The "wizard" moniker comes form my professional days in IT ! If your shopping for a hard drive, check Newegg. Better yet, go there and sign up for their email sale notification. They have drives on sale about once a month. Second, if your computer is running slow I recommend 2 (FREE ) products. CCleaner (select the download from FileHippo for free distribution). There are 2 parts to this product. The first part cleans up temp areas and odd cookies (any automatic logons will be lost). The second part cleans the registry. The first time you use it, it will find dozens (if not hundreds) of registry issues. If will allow you to make a backup of the registry before fixing anything (remember, paranoia is a good thing when it comes to computer administration). Depending on what virus scan product you use (I use the FREE version of AVG; another OldWizard recommended product), you might want to download Spybot Search and Destroy (the user interface is a bit clunky but it works). I have used these 2 as my standard tune up products and they make a big difference. When was the last time you defragmented your disk ? Last, got an old computer that is just too darn slow ? If you don't do anythings fancy, try Linux Mint. Easy to install and you would be amazed how fast an old computer will run. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
n1defan 47 #7 Posted March 2, 2011 :thumbs: I told him to use spy bot search and destroy but I don't think he did. I think his desktop just neads a good cleaning. :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wheelhorse656 20 #8 Posted March 2, 2011 i had a lap top from 04 that was slower than a 7 year ich cleaned it up deleted ol files i didnt want or need and then defragged my hardrive then cleard the history and she runs just as good as my new desktop with a quad processer. try cleaning it up it up it might really work for ya! :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevasaurus 23,274 #9 Posted March 2, 2011 Too bad you just had your Birthday Scott...have to wait a whole year now. I had an old computer that was soooo slooow...how slow was it?...it was so slow that when I uploaded a picture I would go outside and have a glass of wine and a cigarette. The timing was perfect. :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #10 Posted March 4, 2011 :thumbs: woohoo my laptop is covered under warranty!!! HP is sending me a new hard drive with windows 7 already on it at no charge!! this made my night. A warranty that actualy looks like its worth something. can't wait tell next wed when it comes. Just wish I had all the pics and documents that were on the old one. going to back this new one up every month from now on. :thumbs: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 16,290 #11 Posted March 4, 2011 ...Just wish I had all the pics and documents that were on the old one. going to back this new one up every month from now on... I subscribe to Carbonite. For $55.00 per year, I backup 27GB constantly while connected to the internet. A small price to pay for the piece of mind of knowing that should my HD blowup, I still have all of my important files. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theoldwizard1 2 #12 Posted March 4, 2011 ...Just wish I had all the pics and documents that were on the old one. going to back this new one up every month from now on... I subscribe to Carbonite. For $55.00 per year, I backup 27GB constantly while connected to the internet. A small price to pay for the piece of mind of knowing that should my HD blowup, I still have all of my important files. For about twice that amount, you can buy a 1TB external drive and software that will do the same. Googles Docs sells on line storage (no automatic backup) cheap. 200GB for $50/year. Smaller/larger amounts available. Can share documents also ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 16,290 #13 Posted March 4, 2011 For about twice that amount, you can buy a 1TB external drive and software that will do the same. The reason I prefer off-site backup is simple. My brother lost his house and the entire contents to a fire last year. He had all of his files backed up to an external drive. The fire didn't care, it burned that up too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hm12460 53 #14 Posted March 4, 2011 Yeah, same thing happened to me. I'm using my old 2003 vintage HP pavilion. It actually does quite well for it's age. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
