My Computer is Decrepit

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My Computer is Decrepit

#1

Post by KD8DEY »

Been using the same computer for years. Did a little research. It was first
reviewed by CNet back in 2004. Ran XP fine forever...

With software companies Such as Mozilla & Google dropping XP compatibility, and websites slowly dropping support for older browsers etc, I decided to upgrade to Win 7...

Slowly my online speed has been dropping steadily. I was supposed to Be getting 100 Mbps service, But was only getting around 20-25 Mbps.

Dropped down to about 10 Mbps so I called the Internet provider and complained. They sent out a tech whom replaced a few cable ends, and showed me that HIS phone was getting 108 Mbps. over my connection (I couldn't read his phone to verify that it was on my connection, darn eyes.)
and he blamed my computer..

Now my connection speed is less than 1 Mbps download with around 1.5 Mbps upload...

Did a bit of research to Identify My family of CPU, and come to find out that it is the F29 series (2.6 Ghz)
with a Benchmark of under 250....(And it still runs Win 7??!!)
2 Gb of memory, (Maxed out) every non essential service turned off, and i still get a "Your IMAP command could not be sent to the server, due to non-network errors. This could, for example, indicate a lack of memory on your system."
when using Windows live mail..

Just scored a Dell Optiplex 990 on E-Bay, I7-2600 3.4 Ghz (Benchmarked @ 8197) 6 Gb Ram, 1Tb HDD, Windows 7 (Should probably be able to upgrade to Win 8-10).

I just hope the Cable Tech was right..
Probably have it by this time next week....

If anything, I'll at least have a backup computer :grin:
Is it just me, or does "Googling Yourself" just not sound right?..
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#2

Post by K9ase »

That's OK I'm decrepit also but my computer is just fine.
"Life is hard;It's harder when you're stupid"
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#3

Post by W9FTV »

Never trust a cable tech who tests your connection with his/her cellphone over wireless.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Endeavor to persevere -- Chief Dan George
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#4

Post by WZ7U »

W9FTV wrote: Fri Oct 05, 2018 11:00 pm Never trust a cable tech who tests your connection with his/her cellphone over wireless.
I was wondering about that... sounded like bs to me.
de Eric, WZ7U, CN86jc
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#5

Post by W9FTV »

There are so many things wrong with that 'methodology' I don't know where to begin.

Okay, I do know where to begin.

#1 Cable jockey, get on the goddamned cable and test directly with proper equipment!
#2 Never assume cable guy knows more than you do. I've only found one that did. Most do the prescribed checks and say 'no problem.
I seem to be very lucky, I've had very few problems.

My neighbor had continuous problems. Mostly crappy speed.
I took a look at the installation and damned near crapped my pants. Nothing was even close to code. The install was a complete mess. There was no CPE ground (or box, just a cable snaking in the house) at all. Splitters everywhere, it was a mess.

I advised my neighbor to call and raise hell and let me know when the installer was there to explain how bad things were.
The guy who showed up didn't need any explanation and fixed what he could. Less than a week later, a team came out and fixed the rest.

Disclosure note: I've done networking and computer stuff for a living for close to 30 years.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Endeavor to persevere -- Chief Dan George
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#6

Post by KD8DEY »

Many many moons ago, I had an original pentium, computer (Not hooked to the internet) that started getting slower, and slower, until finally the built in HDD controler on the system board went Kaput. Installed the HDD into another of the same model I had, and all was good...

I'm wondering if the same thing may be happening on this computer. something on the system bus that the Ethernet port is wired into going bad ....(Just plain wearing out being 14 years old) along with the demands of newer software..
Is it just me, or does "Googling Yourself" just not sound right?..
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#7

Post by W9FTV »

Dunno for certain, but that's some old equipment. Time to move on? It's going to be really tough to find parts now.
Hell, I followed your lead and found a NOS replacement on EBay for my laptop (ca. 2014) . If nothing else, I have replacement parts now :)
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Endeavor to persevere -- Chief Dan George
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#8

Post by KD8DEY »

W9FTV wrote: Sat Oct 06, 2018 11:21 pm Dunno for certain, but that's some old equipment. Time to move on? It's going to be really tough to find parts now.
Hell, I followed your lead and found a NOS replacement on EBay for my laptop (ca. 2014) . If nothing else, I have replacement parts now :)
Yup, It's pretty old. BUT it's done everything I needed it to do until lately. Browse the web, Burn discs etc...Maybe I've been a bit too frugal? It was Wifoid 1.0's....

Upgraded it over the years, the HDD, Replaced a bad DVD burner, Maxed out the memory to a whopping 2gb (Never mind that there are graphics cards on the market with more than that...)....

Unfortunately, it is so dated that I had no choce but to upgrade to something newer...
Never played with the Files and folders transfer wizard etc, So I have to figure out how I am going to switch everything over...

The "New" computer should be here by tuesday... The seller only had 9 previous auctions with a 100% rating..
He apparently had more than one computer sold, so his description was a little messed up. Not sure if it has windows 7 Home or Windows 10 installed. The listing said 7, the specifications mentioned 10.,

This computer has Windows 7 ultimate installed. Maybe I can swap keys. If not, I have an unused key from a scrapped computer for windows 8..

If it has Windows 10, The first thing I'm going to do is wipe the OS...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-OPTIPLEX- ... 2749.l2649
Is it just me, or does "Googling Yourself" just not sound right?..
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#9

Post by W9FTV »

Assuming that the new machine has an IDE port, you could pull the drive from the old computer and put it in the new one and set it as the boot drive.
It *should* work without too much trouble.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
Endeavor to persevere -- Chief Dan George
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Re: My Computer is Decrepit

#10

Post by KD8DEY »

W9FTV wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 10:43 am Assuming that the new machine has an IDE port, you could pull the drive from the old computer and put it in the new one and set it as the boot drive.
It *should* work without too much trouble.
No IDE, I would probably have to direct connect the 2 computers and do the files transfer wizard or get one of those external USB cabinets...
Is it just me, or does "Googling Yourself" just not sound right?..
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