[ale] Is there anybody we don't hate too much for Refurbs?

[Dow Hurst]

Neil,
I agree about the power. A good UPS makes everything last a lot longer.

Sincerely,
Dow
⚛Dow Hurst, Research Scientist
       340 Sullivan Science Bldg.
       Dept. of Chem. and Biochem.
       University of North Carolina at Greensboro
       PO Box 26170 Greensboro, NC 27402-6170



On Sun, Oct 27, 2019 at 2:46 PM Neal Rhodes via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> Thanks to all for replies.   We do actually back up all the important
> bits via robocopy:
> - to a Samba share on our Centos box with mirrored drives;
> - to a WD Passport drive that sits either in the safe when home, or
> travels with us.
>
>
> EPILOGUE:
> - After more digging, we determined that MS Does Still provide the Win7
> to Win10 in-place upgrade.  You just have to download the Win10 Media
> Creation tool.
> - Rather than do a fresh install, and re-install every dang application,
> having backed up the above-mentioned important bits, we did the in-place
> upgrade.  Worked mostly fine.
> - Griped about the NVidia geoforce video driver being incompatible, and
> reverted to the generic VGA driver.  Installed a later (March 2014)
> video driver from Dell site, which has it almost all fixed. (19xx by
> 1080 looks good, dual monitors ok, but very specific parts of the Win10
> menu are whacky)
> - Ordered another 4GB of RAM for $19.
>
> If we had seen any indication of soft errors on the HD I'd certainly
> replace it and clone old drive to new.  I can't remember if I put in a
> new drive when we bought that one.   I figure drives are the only moving
> part subject to wear.    Our servers and desktops sit on a Best Ferrups
> UPS and it seems they lead a sheltered life- never had a drive failure.
>   They die of obsolescence or boredom.
>
> regards,
>
> Neal
>
>
> On 2019-10-26 16:28, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:
> > On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 20:05:58 -0500
> > Neal Rhodes via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Understand that I'd rather give a tiger a vasectomy than risk
> >> screwing up my wife's desktop with 15 years of corporate tax returns.
> >>  More pain, but shorter duration.
> >
> > My first thought is that you'd better back up that computer, fast. And
> > keep it on a backup schedule.
> >
> > My second thought is that your wife's data would be safer and more
> > easily backed up (rsync, probably) on a Linux computer. Her data
> > directories can be served out by a suitably secured Samba, to a Windows
> > computer of her choice.
> >
> > With all the trouble you're having installing a modern Windows, is
> > refurb really the way to go? You could get a brand new Windows computer
> > with brand new Windows and a brand new license. Save the refurbs for
> > your Linux boxes where OS licenses aren't an issue.
> >
> >
> > https://preview.tinyurl.com/y3ocwmvp
> >
> > $1000 for 16GB RAM and 1TB 7200 rpm with 9gen i7.
> >
> > Raising to 2TB is $50, and raising to 32GB RAM is another $200. Both
> > help future-proof your computer. If you get both, and they enable you
> > to use it for 5 years before obsolescence, that's $250/year, which is a
> > tiny hardware expense on a computer used for corporate stuff.
> >
> > Be sure to use this computer only with the windows they provide,
> > however, because the text on the above referred page says installation
> > of an alternate OS may void the warranty.
> >
> > SteveT
> >
> > Steve Litt
> > Author: The Key to Everyday Excellence
> > http://www.troubleshooters.com/key
> > Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/stevelitt
> >
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