Quoth Eireann
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How do I give my PC a thorough overhaul?
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It could be any number of things, from transient hardware faults (not unusual in a machine of that age) to bitrot in the Windows install, or simply Windows being Windows.
The major reason I want you to try using Linux for a day is that it will exercise most of your hardware (except the HDD) independent of the existing Windows installation, and thus inform you how urgent building a new PC is. It'll even be possible to investigate the HDD's health to some degree.
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This is what I'm viewing, as concerns new computers:
https://www.alza.cz/search.htm?exps=...p%20ram%2016gb
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Quoth Eireann View PostIs it true that if a computer is built for me, and I use my existing hard drive in it, I will have to reinstall all my programs? I don't have the disks for all of them.
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Another issue has come up.
I sometimes use Adobe Acrobat for freelance jobs. Recently, I received a freelance job that required it - and it didn't work. When I open it, a window pops up telling me that Acrobat is part of a suite, and I should open another component of the suite (Photoshop was suggested) in order to make it work. This is news to me; it's never happened before. I did try opening Photoshop, and it didn't help. (At least Photoshop still works.)
I can open and use Reader, but problems arose when I sent the finished job to the client. Fortunately, I was able to fix it by using Acrobat at the office where I work, but this is only a stopgap solution. I managed to open Acrobat (version 9, by the way) today, and started searching for any .pdf file just to see if I could open it. I got as far as clicking on a file name, but then the program crashed.
I tried updating Reader, and when I try to run the update, a window pops up with "Adobe Download Manager" at the top, and a blank screen inside. Nothing to click on. Then Internet Explorer opens. Then the Libraries file on my computer appears.
What the hell is all this?
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It does sound as though *some* sort of bitrot is going on. I think now would be a very good time to make a list of all the software you need to work with, and make 100% sure you have some way to install it afresh (including licence keys where appropriate).
As for building a new machine, I would recommend building it from parts rather than a pre-built system. There are several advantages:
1: You aren't paying for the support overheads of the vendor. You can therefore build a better machine for a given amount of money, or pay less for a given quality of machine.
2: You get to choose reputable, upgradable, long-lasting parts in *every* category, not just the ones the manufacturer thinks you'll be interested in.
3: You'll get to learn how the whole thing is put together, making it easier to troubleshoot later on.
Looking at the page you linked (and without running it through a translator), I see a whole lot of "Core i7" this and "Xeon E5" that. Those are high-end parts which are needlessly expensive for what you need, and with limited future upgradability; certainly if you find a machine with a "reasonable" price tag and one of those in it, it will be severely compromised almost everywhere else. OEMs have a nasty tendency to focus on the headline features (the "best CPU" and perhaps a "gaming graphics card") while neglecting fundamentals like the PSU and upgrade slots.
I'm thinking more along the lines of the upcoming AMD AM4 platform. Pre-built OEM machines using it are just becoming available now, with retail components for self-building coming a little later. The first set of chips to go in it won't be astonishingly powerful, but they will at least be relatively cheap (and certainly more capable than your Core 2 Duo), and the second wave early next year promises to be something special. AM4 will be AMD's main desktop platform for several years into the future, so you'll be able to upgrade inexpensively when you need to.
It'll be easier to make recommendations if you have a budget in mind for, say, a month or two from now. In the meantime, start checking your software - and get yourself a couple of USB flash drives. Use one to run a Linux LiveCD, and the other to start taking backups.
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