Need A Computer Upgrade

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I'm in desperate need of a computer upgrade. Back in early 2016 I got a deal Lenovo tower at a Best Buy location that was closing. It was a display model. That is what I currently use. I have Windows 10 as an operating system. I've received notifications that my system does not have the qualifications to upgrade to Windows 11. I only have 4 GB of memory and my hard drive is 433 GB (that's what I see). All that I need to replace is the tower. I'm wondering about the most economical way to upgrade. I still have a tower that was custom built for me back in February 2009, that I used up until I bought what I currently have. I can't what operating system I have on the customer built one. I'm not sure if I might have downloaded and installed Windows 10 on that since it was released before I got my current PC. I'm wondering if I could have parts replaced on the custom built system. I think I just need more memory, and be bug free. I'm not a gamer. Mostly I use my PC to browse the web, and keep track of my finances.

Have you tried to start the custom machine?If you want to upgrade your Memory, you need to consider whether there is a slot available and the type of memory it supports (ddr3/ddr4).

I started up the custom built computer today. The operating system is Windows XP. It has 960 MB of RAM and about a 250 GB hard drive.

Are motherboards available in the form factor your old case uses? Is the power supply adequate for a new system?

You're probably better off just buying a cheap new system compared to trying to nickle and dime a build.

What do you need it to do? What software do you require? You could run Linux on your existing machines. Ubuntu or Debian or Gentoo or Kubuntu? What is your budget? Do you like Microsoft Windows? I have a Window laptop for work, Macbook for home and use Linux (SUSE) at work. I was all Linux at home for a while but changed to Mac.

I primary use my computer to browse the web, watch YouTube videos, keep track of my checking account transactions. It's very slow. When I open Google Chrome for the first time tonight it probably took two to three minutes to load. The difference in the experience between my computer and the one I use at work is like night and day. I really only have experience with Microsoft Windows. I've never really used any other operating system.

I use a Chromebox for that with 27 inch monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
It doesn't run Windows software so it has more security.

I also bought a Win 11 Mini PC for $170 last year that is now down to just $150.
I bought it to run some Nikon camera software. It isn't connected to the Internet for security.

I could imagine the missing tpu 2.0 (trusted platform module) could be a problem for the windows 11 update.

Other than that the most useful update I did was swapping the hard drive with a SSD. It really makes the computer feel faster.

I could recommend looking into old office PCs on eBay or other marketplaces (Linus tech tips has some good videos about that on YouTube, the last video about the $69 gaming pc was a year ago)

If that's all you're doing, just about any computer should work. Sure, things that aren't Windows may require a bit of learning, but other than that, even a Raspberry Pi 4 or more recent would likely be more than sufficient to do those tasks.

That being said, if it's taking that long to load, it might make more sense to add some more ram, or give it an SSD with readyboost enabled.

Even a reinstall might help a lot.

Last Thursday afternoon, I shut down my computer as I was going to be gone for a couple days and came home Saturday night. When I shut it down there were updates ready to install. Since installing them it hasn't been as sluggish, but I also think that when they are being downloaded, it slows it down.

I WOULDNT BET ON THAT; my chrome book was contaminated the moment I introduced it to wifi!

https://www.consumerreports.org/electro ... ing-guide/

Why "desperate"? My Pentium 90 works jut fine for any office work, and WIN98 se still copes with most web sites. I'|| be buing anew system mostly for compatibility with gov depts on line. I've no interst in gaming, and if I need CAD I'll belooking at using the cloud, before opting for a number cruncher (expensive!).

In the past I've gone the more memory route, with indifferent results, but own builds were a cheap option bak then, which is no longer the case. If your system does what you currently need, stick with it. If not, buy the latest you canreasonbly afford.

The easiest way is to install Linux and never look back.

An elderly friend of mine was having trouble with his. I installed Fedora SilverBlue 40 on it for him and he is very happy with it It's like having a whole new computer.