New computer puzzles...

[WinXP Home 2002-SP2; OE 6; IE 6; MS Office 2002; Dell Dimension XPS T448MHz
Pentium III; 384MB RAM; high speed cable]

Hi, after having great results for 9 years and 9 months with my faithful
Dell computer (still going strong), just bought yesterday...a Dell! arriving
in 2 weeks.

http://view.ed4.net/v/DBNY4S/Y4OXZ/C...ION=1&FORMAT=H

I hope it IS as good a buy as I was made to think, and will appreciate your
opinion SO VERY MUCH . I had to decide in only 2 hours since I discovered
the sale on its last few hours... But I'm sorry I never wanted Vista and IE
7.0 or 8.0 from the numerous bad reviews and complaints...

I understand the solution would've been to have it built by a local PC
store? If I had the guts and the knowledge, I'd return it (now on the way)
and order a custom made... and probably lose the bargain of the year???
)

ALSO, my present HD is still very good at 4 years of age, so is it
possible to use it as a "slave" backup? Yet, in case of a computer
calamity,
wouldn't the data get lost also in the slave HD? So...is it possible to use
it as an external backup? If so, what does it take?

Thanks ever so much for any suggestions! :-) Adela

"Adela" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> [WinXP Home 2002-SP2; OE 6; IE 6; MS Office 2002; Dell Dimension XPS
> T448MHz Pentium III; 384MB RAM; high speed cable]
>
> Hi, after having great results for 9 years and 9 months with my faithful
> Dell computer (still going strong), just bought yesterday...a Dell!
> arriving in 2 weeks.
>
> http://view.ed4.net/v/DBNY4S/Y4OXZ/C...ION=1&FORMAT=H
>
> I hope it IS as good a buy as I was made to think, and will appreciate
> your opinion SO VERY MUCH . I had to decide in only 2 hours since I
> discovered the sale on its last few hours... But I'm sorry I never wanted
> Vista and IE 7.0 or 8.0 from the numerous bad reviews and complaints...
>
> I understand the solution would've been to have it built by a local PC
> store? If I had the guts and the knowledge, I'd return it (now on the
> way) and order a custom made... and probably lose the bargain of the
> year??? )
>
> ALSO, my present HD is still very good at 4 years of age, so is it
> possible to use it as a "slave" backup? Yet, in case of a computer
> calamity,
> wouldn't the data get lost also in the slave HD? So...is it possible to
> use
> it as an external backup? If so, what does it take?
>
> Thanks ever so much for any suggestions! :-) Adela
>
>

see if they will include a Windows 7 upgrade. is alot better than Vista at
least IMO

i think you will be happy with your new system. seems like a pretty good
deal, when you consider the free monitor and free shipping.
for about $25, you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your
old hard drive. you should be able to access your data, but i dont think
you will be able to boot from it.
i would check with dell to see if they offer a free upgrade to windows
7. but if not, vista shouldnt cause you too much trouble anymore. it
just takes a little getting used to when moving from xp.


--
kword88

Yes, but they are charging me $80 for tax even though they aren't in my
state! lol!

Thanks so much for your good suggestions, so that now I'm beginning to feel
a little happier with my new machine! )

>...you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your old hard drive.
>you >should be able to access your data, but i dont think you will be able
>to boot >from it.

I'll look into external hard drive docks to connect to my old HD, but I
don't understand the "not booting from it"... If you could kindly explain
it to me as I still haven't learned many technical things...

Also thanks for suggesting to check with Dell about the free upgrade to Win7
which I'll do tomorrow, and if it isn't, I feel better that you said Vista
isn't so bad now. Have they improved it?

Adela






"kword88" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> i think you will be happy with your new system. seems like a pretty good
> deal, when you consider the free monitor and free shipping.
> for about $25, you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your
> old hard drive. you should be able to access your data, but i dont think
> you will be able to boot from it.
> i would check with dell to see if they offer a free upgrade to windows
> 7. but if not, vista shouldnt cause you too much trouble anymore. it
> just takes a little getting used to when moving from xp.
>
>
> --
> kword88

"Adela" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Yes, but they are charging me $80 for tax even though they aren't in
> my state! lol!
>
> Thanks so much for your good suggestions, so that now I'm beginning to
> feel a little happier with my new machine! )
>
>>...you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your old hard
>>drive. you >should be able to access your data, but i dont think you
>>will be able to boot >from it.
>
> I'll look into external hard drive docks to connect to my old HD, but
> I don't understand the "not booting from it"... If you could kindly
> explain it to me as I still haven't learned many technical things...
>
> Also thanks for suggesting to check with Dell about the free upgrade
> to Win7 which I'll do tomorrow, and if it isn't, I feel better that
> you said Vista isn't so bad now. Have they improved it?
>
> Adela
>

There have been two Service Packs but I found little difference from the
original RTM version which ran without trouble pre-installed on two PCs
of lesser specification than the one you are looking at. IE 7 then 8
gave no trouble either. Lots to learn though.
Win7 is well spoken of but I doubt I'll be changing from Vista until I
get the urge for new hardware.

Tom

For many folks expressing dislike of Vista it's really a matter of personal
preference. There have been some good improvements in the service packs. It
does work a tad differently than does XP, mostly due to improved security.
Personally, when Vista came out I had the choice of moving to Vista or
continuing with XP - I chose to move to Vista, and never regretted the
decision.

Paul Riemerman

"Tom Allen" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> "Adela" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Yes, but they are charging me $80 for tax even though they aren't in my
>> state! lol!
>>
>> Thanks so much for your good suggestions, so that now I'm beginning to
>> feel a little happier with my new machine! )
>>
>>>...you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your old hard
>>>drive. you >should be able to access your data, but i dont think you will
>>>be able to boot >from it.
>>
>> I'll look into external hard drive docks to connect to my old HD, but I
>> don't understand the "not booting from it"... If you could kindly
>> explain it to me as I still haven't learned many technical things...
>>
>> Also thanks for suggesting to check with Dell about the free upgrade to
>> Win7 which I'll do tomorrow, and if it isn't, I feel better that you said
>> Vista isn't so bad now. Have they improved it?
>>
>> Adela
>>
>
> There have been two Service Packs but I found little difference from the
> original RTM version which ran without trouble pre-installed on two PCs of
> lesser specification than the one you are looking at. IE 7 then 8 gave no
> trouble either. Lots to learn though.
> Win7 is well spoken of but I doubt I'll be changing from Vista until I get
> the urge for new hardware.
>
> Tom
>

On 9/13/09, the entity Adela wrote this:
> [WinXP Home 2002-SP2; OE 6; IE 6; MS Office 2002; Dell Dimension XPS T448MHz
> Pentium III; 384MB RAM; high speed cable]

> Hi, after having great results for 9 years and 9 months with my faithful Dell
> computer (still going strong), just bought yesterday...a Dell! arriving in 2
> weeks.

> http://view.ed4.net/v/DBNY4S/Y4OXZ/C...ION=1&FORMAT=H

> I hope it IS as good a buy as I was made to think, and will appreciate your
> opinion SO VERY MUCH . I had to decide in only 2 hours since I discovered
> the sale on its last few hours... But I'm sorry I never wanted Vista and IE
> 7.0 or 8.0 from the numerous bad reviews and complaints...

No problems here.

> I understand the solution would've been to have it built by a local PC store?
> If I had the guts and the knowledge, I'd return it (now on the way) and
> order a custom made... and probably lose the bargain of the year??? )

No way to know from this level of info. Personally, I'd stick with Dell
unless you know the local shop very well.

> ALSO, my present HD is still very good at 4 years of age, so is it
> possible to use it as a "slave" backup? Yet, in case of a computer calamity,
> wouldn't the data get lost also in the slave HD? So...is it possible to use
> it as an external backup? If so, what does it take?

1. If the calamity is a nuclear attack or an asteroid collision, both
drives will be destroyed. Otherwise, you'd have to do some very fancy
crashing to destroy the external drive simultaneously - especially if
it's not turned on or plugged in when the calamity occurs.

2. An old hard drive might die tomorrow...Of course, a new one might
too, but that's much less likely.

3. In addition to #2, the old drive is almost certainly much smaller
than what's in the Dell, so it won't serve well as a backup.

4. New external hard drives, which these days come in sizes plenty
large enough for backup use, are pretty cheap (I don't now what you can
afford, of course).

5. Keeping the old drive in an external enclosure *does* provide you
with all of your data files (documents, spreadsheets, recipes, secret
formulas) from your current system, of course.

> Thanks ever so much for any suggestions! :-) Adela

--
Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com

Hello Paul and thank you for your kind opinion about Vista which makes me
feel a little better now. Although I wish I could return the thing simply
because I was stupid enough not to realize it's too high powered for my
needs.

Thanks again. ) Adela


"Paul Riemerman" <> wrote in message
news:...
> For many folks expressing dislike of Vista it's really a matter of
> personal preference. There have been some good improvements in the service
> packs. It does work a tad differently than does XP, mostly due to improved
> security. Personally, when Vista came out I had the choice of moving to
> Vista or continuing with XP - I chose to move to Vista, and never
> regretted the decision.
>
> Paul Riemerman
>
> "Tom Allen" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>> "Adela" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Yes, but they are charging me $80 for tax even though they aren't in my
>>> state! lol!
>>>
>>> Thanks so much for your good suggestions, so that now I'm beginning to
>>> feel a little happier with my new machine! )
>>>
>>>>...you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your old hard
>>>>drive. you >should be able to access your data, but i dont think you
>>>>will be able to boot >from it.
>>>
>>> I'll look into external hard drive docks to connect to my old HD, but I
>>> don't understand the "not booting from it"... If you could kindly
>>> explain it to me as I still haven't learned many technical things...
>>>
>>> Also thanks for suggesting to check with Dell about the free upgrade to
>>> Win7 which I'll do tomorrow, and if it isn't, I feel better that you
>>> said Vista isn't so bad now. Have they improved it?
>>>
>>> Adela
>>>
>>
>> There have been two Service Packs but I found little difference from the
>> original RTM version which ran without trouble pre-installed on two PCs
>> of lesser specification than the one you are looking at. IE 7 then 8
>> gave no trouble either. Lots to learn though.
>> Win7 is well spoken of but I doubt I'll be changing from Vista until I
>> get the urge for new hardware.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>

Thank you Gene for your sensible and useful opinions. I laughed when I read
your depiction of a "calamity" in relation to my hard drives... I finally
bought a really good flash drive for my backups so for the time being it
will suffice. However, about this good suggestion:

>Keeping the old drive in an external enclosure *does* provide you with all
>of your data files (documents, spreadsheets, recipes, secret formulas) from
>your current system, of course.

Would you happen to know how I can install or plug in an external enclosure?
In time I'd like to look into them...

Thanks again for all your help! ) Adela


"Gene E. Bloch" <> wrote in message
news:O%...
> On 9/13/09, the entity Adela wrote this:
>> [WinXP Home 2002-SP2; OE 6; IE 6; MS Office 2002; Dell Dimension XPS
>> T448MHz Pentium III; 384MB RAM; high speed cable]
>
>> Hi, after having great results for 9 years and 9 months with my faithful
>> Dell computer (still going strong), just bought yesterday...a Dell!
>> arriving in 2 weeks.
>
>> http://view.ed4.net/v/DBNY4S/Y4OXZ/C...ION=1&FORMAT=H
>
>> I hope it IS as good a buy as I was made to think, and will appreciate
>> your opinion SO VERY MUCH . I had to decide in only 2 hours since I
>> discovered the sale on its last few hours... But I'm sorry I never wanted
>> Vista and IE 7.0 or 8.0 from the numerous bad reviews and complaints...
>
> No problems here.
>
>> I understand the solution would've been to have it built by a local PC
>> store? If I had the guts and the knowledge, I'd return it (now on the
>> way) and order a custom made... and probably lose the bargain of the
>> year??? )
>
> No way to know from this level of info. Personally, I'd stick with Dell
> unless you know the local shop very well.
>
>> ALSO, my present HD is still very good at 4 years of age, so is it
>> possible to use it as a "slave" backup? Yet, in case of a computer
>> calamity,
>> wouldn't the data get lost also in the slave HD? So...is it possible to
>> use
>> it as an external backup? If so, what does it take?
>
> 1. If the calamity is a nuclear attack or an asteroid collision, both
> drives will be destroyed. Otherwise, you'd have to do some very fancy
> crashing to destroy the external drive simultaneously - especially if it's
> not turned on or plugged in when the calamity occurs.
>
> 2. An old hard drive might die tomorrow...Of course, a new one might too,
> but that's much less likely.
>
> 3. In addition to #2, the old drive is almost certainly much smaller than
> what's in the Dell, so it won't serve well as a backup.
>
> 4. New external hard drives, which these days come in sizes plenty large
> enough for backup use, are pretty cheap (I don't now what you can afford,
> of course).
>
> 5. Keeping the old drive in an external enclosure *does* provide you with
> all of your data files (documents, spreadsheets, recipes, secret formulas)
> from your current system, of course.
>
>> Thanks ever so much for any suggestions! :-) Adela
>
> --
> Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>
>

kword88;1134584 Wrote:
> i think you will be happy with your new system. seems like a pretty good
> deal, when you consider the free monitor and free shipping.
> for about $25, you can get an external hard drive dock to connect your
> old hard drive. you should be able to access your data, but i dont think
> you will be able to boot from it.
> i would check with dell to see if they offer a free upgrade to windows
> 7. but if not, vista shouldnt cause you too much trouble anymore. it
> just takes a little getting used to when moving from xp.

Most majour players are now offering a free windows 7 upgade when
purchasing a computer with windows vista preinstalled, i have one on
order with Hewlett Packard


--
mitchell