My computer...repair or buy new one???

yesterday a hard disk on my desktop (main) computer failed. after that, the remainder of my day was devoted to setting up my spare (laptop) computer, installing norton, then installing 4 years of windows updates -- from the last time i used the laptop on up to current date. so, i'm back on the internet today.

i know some of you are more 'tech savvy' than i am, so i'd like to ask for opinions. given the age of my computer (and it's generally expected life span), based on the general cost range of replacing the hard disk (cost of hard disk plus installation), and figuring in possible other issues of this sort that may (reasonably?) be more or less expected to come up -- would you suggest repairing or replacing this computer? and, if it were you, what would your choice be? i understand that there's a point at which it's not worth putting more money into a computer to repair it. i'm not sure my computer is at this point yet, but that's one of the things i'll be looking into today.

now for more info about my computer. it's an HP Omni 220 PC (desktop, all-in-one) running Win7, which i bought (new) in october 2011. so, it's coming up on 4 years old. it's got an intel i5 quad core processor, and a 1TB hard drive. i've never had a problem with it, until now -- never needed a repair. updates have been installed promptly, and it's been defragged weekly. any info i've left out, or any questions -- please don't hesitate to ask.

today, i've got a list of things to check out online. i'll contact HP, and ask whether they suggest repairing or replacing the hard disk, the costs (hard disk plus installation), whether my computer is worth putting the money into or not, and for an authorized repair location/shop. i'll continue with contacting the authorized repair shop, asking the same questions. i'll also research online for answers to these same questions. a couple other questions i'll research online are:  the average life of a pc, and how to know when to repair vs when to buy a new computer.

i'm a planner and a saver -- so i'm comfortably able to afford either to repair or to buy a new computer. in fact, i had already started looking into the next computer, which i was thinking/hoping i'd be buying in 2-3 (-ish) more years. i pretty well know what i'm looking for in a computer, as well as what's not important to me (for example, touch screen is not important to me, nor is having the computer be more portable). while i'd rather repair (and wait 2-3 more years to buy the new computer), i want to look into the 'whole' picture here and make a good decision -- both for the short term and the longer term (next 2-3 years or so).

i'd greatly appreciate your all's advice on this.

I hear you! I have been thinking the same about mine. I am constantly having to reload, or refresh, it automaticly defrags every week, but has been much slower for almost a year now. An ex of mine who did IT in the Navy has tried to clean it up/fix it, but he hasn't found a lot wrong. He even put one of his security programs on it. However when I took it to an office store for a free diagnostic, they found a lot, so they said, & would be around 160.00 to fix. It's cheaper than a new one, but not if I will have to keep doing it, & they are so inexpensive now. Mine will be 5 yrs in November.

I'm going to mention Cory @FhiCat  & hopefully he will be able to help, I think he is pretty knowledgable w/ computers. Much more than we are for sure.   

I hope it helps, & you find some answers 

Nooooo, don't replace the whole computer!   If it's just the hard disk that failed, a new 1 TB hard drive goes for $50-$60. If you do everything yourself, that's really all the cost you can expect to spend. That's the nice thing about a desktop -- most parts in there are modular, you can generally take one out and replace it with a new one and it'll work (with a few exceptions). Hard drives are one of them.

What I would do is get a new hard disk (if you're sure the old one is unusable). I would pop open the cover, remove the old, install the new, close the cover and your computer should now detect the new disk. The next steps would be installing Windows 7 on it and all the programs and apps that you use, and backups if you made any, since it's a blank drive. 

HP even has a step-by-step tutorial if you want to do it yourself:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph03429

You would probably ignore step 8. I'm not sure you absolutely need step 7 either; I never had to do that. The tutorial covers a range of computers from the very old, to the very new, so some parts of the tutorial may not even apply to you, such as IDE drives -- drives these days are serial ATA (or SATA).

Even if you would prefer to have someone install it, the cost shouldn't be much more than that (unless you go to Geek Squad, who gorges you out the wazoo). Some places may try to install things you have no use for, and use that as an excuse to charge you for. Be sure to shop around, read reviews about how good they are with not trying to upsell you with services and programs you don't need. Any computer repair store can do it for you -- you definitely do not need to go to an authorized HP center, although you certainly can if it's still under warranty.

@Angels mommy and @FhiCat -- hi there! thank you both for replying.

since my computer isn't that old or outdated and it does everything i want/need it to, and seems to run fine/very well other than this hard disk failing, i've decided to bring it to a repair shop (carefully looked into -- good reviews, no bbb dot org complaints, reasonable price, and pretty quick completion - of both diagnostic and repairs) to have a diagnostic done (cost = $69.95) and then will receive a quote on what exactly needs doing on it.

based on my online research, i've set a top amount i'm willing to spend to have my computer repaired. two things that helped me set that top amount are:  that it's suggested not to spend more than 10-20 percent of the purchase price on repairing a computer (such as mine), and that generally between $200 and $500 is a reasonable range (for a repair, not specifically to have a hard disk replaced) to stick to (again, for a computer such as mine -- it's age and general condition as far as i know at this point). over my combination of those ranges would require some further consideration, but as i say i've set my top amount that i feel is worth putting into my computer for it's repair. also based on my online research, since my computer is (as far as i know now) otherwise running fine and has/can do everything i need it to, it does make sense to repair it if there isn't more/significantly more problems found when the diagnostics are run.

so the results of the diagnostics will play a big part in deciding whether to repair or buy a new computer.

i might be able to install a new hard drive myself, but that would be very far outside of both my mechanical type abilities (more accurately stated, 'lack of abilities') and comfort level. i prefer to let the pro's deal with things that are important to get right, and then i know for sure it's done correctly.

i learned quite a bit from my online research today. like -- while there is no way to give an accurate/set estimate on the lifespan of a pc, there are those who suggest in the 4-5 years range. however, i also learned that the older computers (not decrepit old, but say 5-7 or so years old) where built better/with longer lasting parts -- generally, but depends on the brand/model too. so it seems that we need to do our looking into/research in order to be able to make a good decision about whether it's time to buy a new computer in general, or whether to repair vs buy a new computer.

How much RAM do you have in your computer? Reason I'm asking is because RAM is also really cheap and, if you're going to take your computer in for a new drive installation, you might want to add a couple more GBs of RAM (if your system can take it) while you're at it. Only if you think (and your techno-weenies think) that it would be worth it. Adding more memory is sometimes a good way to help speed up your computer (when your system can handle it).

I think I could install a new hard drive, if I had to. I'd be very wary, but I think I could manage that. I know I've managed adding RAM to an older computer we had (the old XP) with my BIL's help. He's our computer expert, so I always have him check things out for me when there's a problem. But I do the work; that way, I learn. I've put in new fans and such. But that's about the extent of my techno-weenie abilities.

A couple years ago, the Vista computer blew its hard drive. Thankfully, it was still under warranty (due to expire about two weeks after the drive blew!), so we were able to get it repaired under warranty. Unfortunately, the new drive had a tendency to thrash unmercifully. I got the thrashing down to a very low roar for the most part (killing the indexing, disabling SuperFetch, etc), but sometimes, man, that drive goes to town during updating and such. 

Good luck. I hope it all goes well for you.

Winchester said:

 
How much RAM do you have in your computer? Reason I'm asking is because RAM is also really cheap and, if you're going to take your computer in for a new drive installation, you might want to add a couple more GBs of RAM (if your system can take it) while you're at it. Only if you think (and your techno-weenies think) that it would be worth it. Adding more memory is sometimes a good way to help speed up your computer (when your system can handle it).

I think I could install a new hard drive, if I had to. I'd be very wary, but I think I could manage that. I know I've managed adding RAM to an older computer we had (the old XP) with my BIL's help. He's our computer expert, so I always have him check things out for me when there's a problem. But I do the work; that way, I learn. I've put in new fans and such. But that's about the extent of my techno-weenie abilities.

A couple years ago, the Vista computer blew its hard drive. Thankfully, it was still under warranty (due to expire about two weeks after the drive blew!), so we were able to get it repaired under warranty. Unfortunately, the new drive had a tendency to thrash unmercifully. I got the thrashing down to a very low roar for the most part (killing the indexing, disabling SuperFetch, etc), but sometimes, man, that drive goes to town during updating and such. 

Good luck. I hope it all goes well for you.

Click to expand...

i've got 1 TB in my computer -- of which i've still got over 880 GB free. i'm definitely noticing that this back up computer/laptop is much slower.

i'd feel comfortable installing a new hard drive if i had someone who knew what they were doing here with me, but not on my own. i've never even popped open the case on a computer.

thank you! i'm feeling okay with whatever needs to happen, either repair or buy a new computer. now it's just waiting to get the computer over to the shop and having a diagnostic run. the results of that diagnostic, and the quote on repairing, will play a big part on deciding which way to go. and i'll be asking them if given my computers condition/age/etc, if it's reasonable to expect it to hold up for another 2-3 years. i understand that there's no way to know for sure, but i'll be asking the repair shops opinion on that. i'd much rather buy new sooner, than need to later in this next 2 years. as always, i'm saving for more home improvements, and it'll be much easier to scrimp/save extra to make up money needing to be spent on a new computer now rather than getting 'hit' with making that purchase closer to those planned home improvements.

today i'll be moving things over to an external hard drive from the computer with the failed/failing hard drive. there's not overly much i'd like to get moved over, and i have it prioritized so the most important gets moved over first, etc.

well, the external hard drive is corrupted. it's many years old, didn't have anything stored on it, and hadn't been used in several years.

so i pulled out my usb card reader and a 32 GB memory card, and moved over the little that was important enough to me. now that's done, i've shut down the computer with the problems, until i can get it to the repair shop. that might happen sooner, but at latest i can get it there on july 18th.

@Winchester -- it occurred to me (finally) that you were probably asking me about the memory in the computer, when you asked how much ram i have in that computer. i just always refer to that as 'memory'. i have 6 GB. that's less than (i believe the standard is now) 8 GB, but the 6 has done fine for me.

Yes, it was memory I was talking about. Six should be fine.

Today, hard drives aren't that expensive; the most will be just for labor.

Good luck! Let us know how things go!

I scanned over your email fast

t I had a Dell with vista that I loved

it was a 850.00 computer with a keyboard that

floated it was so smooth..inspiron style.

I had to replace the hard drive after years

I paid a man 110 for the hard drive and 100 labor

and it worked one year and 2 months longer

I did not invest more in it that laptop when the replaced hard drive went down..

but I sure miss it..

None of the ones I looked at to buy even came close to that

one I had unless I would have spent 900 or more on one

and I can not do that now..

I am using a Dell with windows 7 that was a gift,think it was 475 dollars

about 4 years ago and the keyboard is terrible to type on it..

I have to use it...

So anyone reading this will you tell us all what type of tablet is good for downloading photos

and emailing,,,that you can use a mouse with it, too?

and a small detachable keyboard?

Thanks

SheriT

SheriT said:

 
I scanned over your email fast

t I had a Dell with vista that I loved

it was a 850.00 computer with a keyboard that

floated it was so smooth..inspiron style.

I had to replace the hard drive after years

I paid a man 110 for the hard drive and 100 labor

and it worked one year and 2 months longer

I did not invest more in it that laptop when the replaced hard drive went down..

but I sure miss it..

None of the ones I looked at to buy even came close to that

one I had unless I would have spent 900 or more on one

and I can not do that now..

I am using a Dell with windows 7 that was a gift,think it was 475 dollars

about 4 years ago and the keyboard is terrible to type on it..

I have to use it...

So anyone reading this will you tell us all what type of tablet is good for downloading photos

and emailing,,,that you can use a mouse with it, too?

and a small detachable keyboard?

Thanks

SheriT

Click to expand...

i think your best bet is to do some research online. you could do an internet search for something like, 'best tablets 2015'. after you've found some tablets that look good to you, then call the company, like lenovo or apple or such. tell them what you want to be able to do with a tablet, and ask if any of theirs will do those things and the cost.

according to the computer repair shop, my computer is fixed now. they told me that they could find nothing wrong with my hard disk. however, they said they found a lot of spyware and malware on my computer. i told them i found that hard to believe, since i've had norton internet security and anti-virus continuously since i bought the computer. i've run full scans of my computer using norton tools periodically and found no threats whatsoever.  i did call norton and talked with them too. norton told me that their software should detect any threats, and that if it didn't then there shouldn't have been any found.

okay, at that point my head felt like it was literally spinning. i feel much more trusting of norton than i do the repair shop, because i've never dealt with them before -- never had any problem with my computer at all. prior to that computer, i had an imac -- which i do know a very good repair shop for apple computers.

so i told them to go ahead and remove the 'spyware and malware' at a cost of $69.00 plus tax. i'll be picking up my computer on saturday, august 1st. will not be using that repair shop again.

this is where i'm at now. i'm pretty much expecting the same hard disk failing message to pop up again, sooner or later. my brother works at a big software company, and i'll ask him for a referral to a computer repair shop. i'd like to have a recommended by someone i trust for this type of thing shop look at my computer, see what that shop says.

I used to use Norton. But a few years ago, I switched to Kasperky (long story and I won't go there). When Kaspersky did its first scan, it found three viruses that Norton never detected. I am not a big Norton fan at all.

Glad you're getting your computer back. I hope it will be OK now.

Hi. Just read through your messages.

A few year ago the hard drive in my old computer crashed.  It had been working fine the last time I had the computer on, and then the next time I turned it on it kept  continuously trying to restart Windows. I was not able to get to my files at all, so as you mentioned you were able to get files off your hard disk, your problem must have been different.  With mine I paid $60 to have my files retrieved, then I recycled the old computer as it was probably at least 8 years old and I was more than due for a new one.

Hopefully the shop really found malware/spyware and once they are removed your computer will be back to working well enough that you won't have to buy a new one right away.

Winchester said:

 
I used to use Norton. But a few years ago, I switched to Kasperky (long story and I won't go there). When Kaspersky did its first scan, it found three viruses that Norton never detected. I am not a big Norton fan at all.

Glad you're getting your computer back. I hope it will be OK now.

Click to expand...

honestly, i've been thinking about switching to kaspersky. i've only got like 82 days left as of today, on the current norton. so by the time i get my computer back home, i'll have about 76 days. i really don't like the possibility of more malware slipping through norton, and i've got this laptop that norton is telling me there's no threats at all -- just did a full system scan. i feel that it's time to try the kaspersky.

rubysmama said:

 
Hi. Just read through your messages.

A few year ago the hard drive in my old computer crashed.  It had been working fine the last time I had the computer on, and then the next time I turned it on it kept  continuously trying to restart Windows. I was not able to get to my files at all, so as you mentioned you were able to get files off your hard disk, your problem must have been different.  With mine I paid $60 to have my files retrieved, then I recycled the old computer as it was probably at least 8 years old and I was more than due for a new one.

Hopefully the shop really found malware/spyware and once they are removed your computer will be back to working well enough that you won't have to buy a new one right away.

Click to expand...

thank you for your reply! i'll be switching over to kaspersky immediately upon getting my computer back from the shop. i feel that it's time to do something different, as it's possible that norton didn't protect my computer thoroughly. i sure hope i'll be able to get another 2-3 years out of my computer, before buying a new one.

i just got the laptop set up with kaspersky, and norton was (completely) uninstalled. i'll have to wait until i pick up the all-in-one computer this coming saturday to switch that one over too.

i've got a question for @Winchester -- kaspersky safe money was asking me to enable 'URL Advisor plugin' in firefox. i don't have url advisor in either the add-ons or plugins in firefox. called kaspersky support and was connected to (it sounded like) india. they had me do this, that, and the other only to tell me to go ahead and tell safe money to 'do not run in protected browser'. now that doesn't sound quite right to me. it sounds like they couldn't fix the problem so told me to just go ahead and go to (in this case) my credit card website in an unprotected browser. what do you think? does that sound right to you?

I honestly don't know what to tell you. I don't use Firefox and haven't had that problem. I'm sorry. That doesn't sound right to me. There is a good online support team for Kaspersky. And if you post, it won't take long to get an answer to your problem....these people are good.

http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showforum=157 This forum is for home computers. Post your Safe Money question there. I am sure you'll get a response. When I first got Kaspersky, that's what I did.

I was using Kaspersky Pure on both my laptop and my desktop. Have recently upgraded to Kaspersky Total (because that's what has the added protection for Windows 10). Rick is still using Pure on his desktop.