Is Your Computer Obsolete? - Comments Page 1

But if you are a Windows user the New Windows 11 is just Win 10 completely revised so it's "different" & "pretty" but not nearly as easily usable as W10. My new W11 laptop originally would not set up the printer via USB - it could only be set up wirelessly. Now after several months of wifi use later it suddenly will not print wirelessly and cannot be set up wirelessly, but it will now only connect via USB. How long before this is screwed up? And they changed Paint so its very difficult to use - fortunately the old Paint could be found and downloaded.
Etc, etc, etc...
Don't change if you don't have to.

I'm satisfied with my current computer and Windows 10. Only Microsoft's warning about end-of-support next year has caused me to consider upgrading to a new computer next October.

It seems to me (with my limited knowledge) that installing a good, comprehensive security program would provide for reasonably good computing for years to come. I'm sure the major bugs of Win10 have been worked out, and I don't need any further "enhancements."

Thoughts regarding this strategy?

Was going to switch to Linux about 3 years ago but caved and got Windows 10. (I am just not good with computers and couldn't get it working properly.) I will not get Windows 11 or a new computer. If I have to spend $10,000+ to hire an IT professional to set up Linux for me I will do that just so I can ditch MS and Windows.

If you are faced with having to go to Windows 11 because of work or personal stuff,don't dispose of your old desktop.

That desktop of laptop, if it is seven or less years old,is still good to use.Check into running Linux Mint or Linux Ubuntu as you do not need a PC license or registration to use those operating systems.There is no charge to download and you can use the download on any machine you own.

Just follow the download instructions as they are simple to read.When the system is ready,you will get a welcome message and a short tour on how the system works.The Linux people have done a lot to make using the OS easy to use.

That extra machine can become a backup to your Windows machine or a machine that visitors can use.

My 10 year old HP is still humming beautifully and still exceeds in all of Bob's categories. I recently added a 4T SSD for backups. The one drawback is that W11 will not run. Oh well, don't need it anyway.

This is not a business machine.

I have a 16 years old laptop, 2.26 GHz, 4G memory and an 500 G SSD (replaced the old HDD).
Everything runs fine as on the first day I got it. The only reason to change would be the end of security updates of Windows 10.
So I guess my $1700 investment was a good thing then!
(By the way I found Windows 8 was the most efficient Windows ever).

Interesting that this article arrives just as I am setting up another round of ex-school Dell 3540 (circa 2014) laptops for refurbishing. I have added 8-16 GB RAM and internal SSDs to about 30 of these while preserving and updating the early Windows 10 OS loads.

I hand these out to older clients / friends as completely usable basic machines, capable of web surfing and online finance and Libre Office functions. Microsoft will officially orphan W10 in late 2025 - though does anyone else recall that MS advertised W10 as the "the last OS you will ever need"? Even then these machines will still chug along. And they run Linux quite well; I have given one to a young friend who is interested in IT and programming.

Notes to the article: not all the listed scenarios are sufficient reason to upgrade the whole computer.

- A small desktop monitor can be replaced with a larger one; a laptop can even be connected to a huge one (think docking station).

- A grinding hard drive can (should!) IMMEDIATELY be replaced with an SSD.

- USB ports can be added - either internal on a desktop machine, or via a powered port extender / docking station for laptops.

- Do not overlook the role of BIOS updates! My school threw out the Dell 3540s because they had a glitchy and very very basic BIOS, dead-slow mechanical hard drives, and only 2 GB RAM. I salvaged the lot; the first step was to upgrade the BIOS, which enlarged the RAM capacity to 16 GB. (SSDs and W10 updates completed the conversion.)

- I am still running XP on an older machine that is isolated from the internet. It runs needed programs that won't run under W10.

Having said that, I admit my daily driver is a much newer Dell desktop with a 32" TV as a monitor, 32 GB RAM, an optical drive, and four internal drives. I publish large PDF projects, and the 3540 would not cut it. It is among the earliest motherboards capable of running Windows 11, but I will hold off that particular problematic upgrade until the last possible moment.

Hello Bob, Well my current computer is now 11 years old. Microsoft informed me that they couldn't download the latest web browser as my machine won't support it. PC Matic has done a wonderful job of keeping my computer in the game until this spring so I told the boss that it's time for me to get a new box this Christmas. She has worn out two laptops during this time and is in need of another. Have a great day!

I only use my PC to check my mail a couple times a day. Do I really need a new PC...

Everywhere I read that Windows 11 can not be installed on an old Windows 10 PC, but here is a video that says it can be done. Do you agree? Thanks
Bruce
https://youtu.be/XyXS4ny7WzM?si=75wgr0BNBGB1kuxC

Orville, in the comments above, asked about security. On Bob's recommendation I use PC Matic and have done so for several years now. I bought the lifetime license. It works and I don't think about it. I'm quite pleased and second the recommendation.

I've got a several year old HP laptop with Win 10 Pro. I dodged Win 8 and hope to dodge Win 11 also. Time will tell.

I would only add 1 short paragrapgh to the article.There should be a reference to disposing the computer environmentally after wiping th hard drive. Add a link to another article on this topic.

I have only old computers. (Several of them, some working, some waiting for me to put in new, already purchased, hard drives. I also have no money for new computers.) Two of my old computers can run Windows 10. Absolutely none can install Windows 11. I have several different Linux distros on them, either alongside Windows or on their own. They generally work a lot faster for me, and are a lot of fun. This is not to just hype Linux (it sometimes has problems too), but this is my solution.

I personally like Windows-11.
The TPM 2.0 resident encryption chip is a tremendous asset. TPM 2.0 is a required attribute to install Windows 11.
If you prefer the W10 interface, that can be done on W11. And still be a Windows 11 system.
I am fond of the Lenovo ROG (Republic Of Gaming) laptops. They are affordable and standup well.

I'm sick and tired of the planned obsolescence forced on us by tech industry. It burns through resources, creates a ton of waste, and is bad for our environment and pocketbooks.

When Windows 10 came out, it was supposed to be the LAST iteration, well, that didn't last did it? I'm running an HP Pavilion, six years old this fall, with 16GB Ram and it could run 11 but I don't WANT it. I'll wait till support for 10 expires to buy another desktop. I like desktops because of the ease of connecting peripherals and I use a 32 in HD monitor, older eyes like the big screen. But I've an iPhone 15, iPad 12.9 and use both as much as my desktop. Migrating from one PC to another is always a pain, except with Apple products. So this one works just fine, I still have the Pavilion I replaced with this one, update it every month, can't run 11 and only has 8GB Ram, but it still functions just fine. I loathe built in obsolescence. And not just with tech.

Gosh, I wish it were possible to reply to individual comments. So many deserve a followup question or comment.

My plan, for when Win 10 loses MS support next year, is to use an old Chromebook for financial websites only. Checking balances, transferring to/from credit union and Vanguard, online taxes, etc, all to be done on the Chromebook.

Everything else -- YouTube, AskBob, online chess, Drudge Report, etc -- to be done on the Win 10 PC I'm using now and that's perfect for my needs.

When I need to copy something from the Chromebook to the desktop, I'll use the good old sneaker net.

I wish I could keep using the Win 10 desktop for everything, as I do now, and protect it after MS support ends next year with a robust anti-virus program. But that's not secure apparently, for reasons I don't understand.

It is definitely not time to replace computer if you can't upgrade to spying Windows 11. Just switch to Linux and keep your money. My computer is 9 years old and runs just as good as I purchased it. It is fast with plenty of free memory and ram. I installed upgrade graphics card. I'm a basic user and so I'm switching to Linux and keep my money in my pocket.

I currently run Windows 11 on my desktop, and my primary laptop PCs. I have an older laptop that I inherited from my wife when she passes away in 2019. It currently runs Windows 11. My desktop and primary laptop PCs also dual-boot Windows 1 deals with all the AI features they1 with Solus Linux, RebornOS, and Garuda Linux. RebornOS and Garuda are derivatives of the Arch Linux distribution. My older laptop dual-boots Windows 10 with Garuda Linux.

When Windows 10 reaches EOL, I'll probably remove it, and my older laptop PC will become a GNU/Linux-only machine. What happens with Windows 11 will depend on how Microsoft deals with all the AI and 'Advertising' 'features' they appear to be planning on including into the new 24H2 release. If I can't turn off all that junk, I intend to drop Windows all together, and switch to GNU Linux as my daily driver. At that point, if I find that there are things I miss about Windows 11, I'll install it in a VM on GNU/Linux, then use it only for those things I miss (currently, just a few games from the Microsoft Store I like to play).

I also have a very old (to me) laptop PC. It boots from the BIOS (not UEFI) system base, so I don't use it much anymore, although I do perform a few experiments with it, just to see what still works with that old setup. Interestingly, I can run ChromeOS on it, and several GNU/Linux distributions, albeit, very slowly. I've given it an SSD drive, and maxed out its RAM (8GB IIRC).

I don't throw out old computers, I re-purpose them, until they either stop working, or I can't find an OS that'll run on them. For those machines that can no longer be used, I recycle them. If you ask me, computer vendors should provide a recycling service at the point of sale, so when your computer doesn't work for you anymore, you can recycle it by sending it back to the vendor.

I hope what I do helps others,

Ernie (Oldster)

Out of curiosity I bought a tiny Gigabyte box with 4 GB ram and using an extremely weak Celeron CPU.
Ues an SSD. Can it run Win 11. Yes it does. That's what it came with. Just stick to running one app at a time and browsing the net and word processing are quite acceptable. Would I use it as my main PC? What do you think?
Chris.