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New Computer Suggestion?


Tax Prep by Deb

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I'm getting ready to replace my main computer.  It is becoming increasingly slow.  It takes 20 min to boot up before I can begin working and if I leave it for a while and come back, it takes forever to pick up speed.  It locks up sometimes, so I know it's just a matter of time before it dies.


When I bought it I thought it was the fastest thing around, now either I'm faster or it's slower.  I use it for ATX and QuickBooks mainly and I hardly ever turn it off.

It has the I5 processor and 8 gigs of ram, 1TB hard drive with Windows 7 operating system.  What would you suggest I do?  I'm thinking I7 processor and at least 16 gigs of ram and the one I'm looking at is Windows 10.  Not so much interested in brand recommendations as I have a favorite, or would you suggest having one custom made?  Got a quote for one custom made and it seems high compared to what I can purchase elsewhere (I was quoted with tax around 1350.00)  The one I'm looking at is 749.00.  Quite a difference.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

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You are on the best path (I7, 16 gig ram, 1 TB hard drive.  Not sure yet about win 10 but we seem to be going there anyway (computers in general) The "bit better" might be things such as SSD (basically a hard drive that does not move) but they do add some expense (getting less expensive as time goes on). Many of the folks I know have gone to SSD for the initial drive (where operating system resides) for the quicker boot-up. Some have gone to SSD for "storage" but many still use the basic hard drives. 1 TB hard drive is good but depending on how many records, etc. you keep, perhaps 2 or even 3 TB (they can be had for not all that much more at times) might serve you well too. If you want to keep the system for a while and want the continued quickness consider possibly going up to 24 or 32 gig ram.

Many programs can use the ram for normal operation and do not need to access the "hard drive" as often - so more ram the better and the easier access for your system. By the way, will you be using a 64 bit or 32 bit system --- 64 will operate a bit faster (you may not notice but the computer will).

Pricing seems about right ---- make sure you also have a good graphics card (multiple monitor availability) and that the card will "stand-up" to heavy use --- some systems offered have good spec's all around but fall short with the graphics. Many are integrated (means a built-in part of the mother board) which uses YOUR ram not there own). This basically means your 16 gig ram might only have 8 or 12 gigs available for your processing while the balance is used for graphic, etc. Another reason for higher ram needed to perform best, in some systems.

As processors change (a lot sometimes) go to the Intel site and review the specs. Some I5 might be as good as an I7 and son on. Also CNET.com has good tutorials on spec'ing computers. I use them as "I know enough to make problems for myself" but do not use that knowledge enough to always remember what-is-what; so I relearn as needed.      If you can understand and do taxes, computers are "different" but not nearly as exasperating as government regulations (close maybe - your call).

   Have a good Thanksgiving and even better holidays to come!

 

 

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2 hours ago, ADGFINANCIAL said:

If you do mostly Taxes like we do go to the ATX site and get what they recommend as the best to run thier program.  That's what we do. Hope that helps.

Actually I did go to their site and I want to go a little above due to the fact that next year's program may need even better and I don't like to replace my computer that often.

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Before shelling out for a new computer, I would try to do a clean install of the operating system (windows 7) first.  Those specs seem fine to run ATX.  There even may be a restore the OS option in the settings of control panel so you may not even need the install disc to do it.

I do a clean install on all my machines about every 18-24 mos.  They run like new again.

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Deb IMO your computer is fine but it's likely either:

a) bogged down with a bunch of junk (MSCONFIG - start up). Things like Quickbooks, your tax software, spreadsheet programs, Adobe programs - you've probably got 30+ programs starting and bad registries and other junk - it accumulates.

b - your hard drive is dying - I'd do a full backup of everything you need ASAP.

or

c) you have a bunch of malware or a few virsus' on your computer.

If you decide to go with a new computer - skip a regular hard drive and go with an SSD (Solid State Drive). They last a REALLY long time (no moving parts) and you'll be shocked how quickly software boots. My computer boots in <15 seconds and Quickbooks is up and running in <5 seconds.

If you have 8 GB of ram and an i5 processor - you have enough of a computer to run what you need.

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  • 6 months later...

I'd like to restart this discussion.  My computer hiccupped last week after a windows upgrade, and I had to restart it in some sort of recovery mode 2 or 3 times before it got its mind right.  (Really didn't know what I was doing, but I kept making choices until I got the system up & running and checked all backups). Now I hold my breath when I start  it up each day, so I'm thinking about a new system.  Any recent suggestions on where to buy as well as what to buy? 

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Crank & Roberts are right, something is wrong with your computer.

I have a Dell Win 7 Pro I5 with 6 Gig of Ram which boots in 3 to 4 minutes and still runs fairly well.

However I am planning to have a SSD installed soon since I have 41 months on this hard drive.

One thing that is problematic on your system is that you are running ATX and Quickbooks,

both of which are known to make changes to your Windows Registry, which can gum up the works.

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On 11/23/2016 at 10:03 PM, easytax said:

SSD for the initial drive (where operating system resides) for the quicker boot-up. Some have gone to SSD for "storage" but many still use the basic hard drives

I will never buy another hard drive. It's not just boot speed, it's operating speed. I popped an SSD into a 3 year old computer and it was like getting a new computer. Even a year and a half later now, it's still faster than the original machine with a new HD.

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17 hours ago, Tax Prep by Deb said:

I purchased a Dell from Costco the XPS8900.  I really like the smooth operation of it, but it is not updated to the Creator edition of Windows 10.  It tries but fails.  Other than that I love it.

Is it the Home version or the Pro version of windows? A lot of Costco machines have the home versions of the OS.

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On 11/28/2016 at 3:50 PM, Roberts said:

My computer boots in <15 seconds

I've never seen a computer get through POST and BIOS load in less than 15 seconds. Then we enter our Bitlocker password and it's another 15 seconds to the Windows password screen. If you allow 3-5 seconds to enter each password, that's close to 40 seconds. But after entering the windows password, it's usually fully running and usable in less than 10 seconds. Total time is less than a minute.

I'm talking from a cold start.

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On 11/28/2016 at 3:50 PM, Roberts said:

bogged down with a bunch of junk (MSCONFIG - start up)

Almost every computer I've ever seen has tons of autorun crap bogging down the start up and operation. Intuit is famous for this crap. Autoruns is the best tool to clean that crap up, but I have a utility called StartupMonitor that runs in the background and pops up whenever any program tries to make something autorun, and let's you decide whether to allow it or not. It was written back before XP but still runs fine on 8.1 and, I would think, 10.

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On 11/26/2016 at 3:52 PM, Crank said:

I do a clean install on all my machines about every 18-24 mos

If I'm going to do a clean install, I'm going to buy new hardware. It takes me several days to get all my software installed and configured, including windows configuration. It's a total pain.

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17 hours ago, JohnH said:

Any recent suggestions on where to buy as well as what to buy? 

I buy all my components from Newegg and have my IT guy assemble and load windows. I'm sure I pay more than a Dell but I really like MSI motherboards and choosing all my own specs for cards, ports, power supply, etc. and I know it won't come with any brand crapware on it. I've also always liked a partitioned drive... but I may rethink that on my next build and just use folders for data, old stuff, personal, etc.

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1 hour ago, Abby Normal said:

I've also always liked a partitioned drive...

Me, too - but more and more programs are insisting that they *must* live on the C drive.  So no more partition for tax software, partition for acctg software, partition for client data, etc.  Next machine I'll dump the partitions and just use folders.  Ah, well.

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4 hours ago, Abby Normal said:

I've never seen a computer get through POST and BIOS load in less than 15 seconds. Then we enter our Bitlocker password and it's another 15 seconds to the Windows password screen. If you allow 3-5 seconds to enter each password, that's close to 40 seconds. But after entering the windows password, it's usually fully running and usable in less than 10 seconds. Total time is less than a minute.

I'm talking from a cold start.

The boot time of 15 seconds was before I set up Bitlocker for encryption and a Windows password. So yeah, those add to it.

I have a computer running at home which I purchased refurbished with a SSD - it's an old Dell. All I run on it is Plex and Resilio Sync (used to be Bittorrent Sync). If you know Plex you know I'm running a few other things. This thing flies. I don't load anything that isn't absolutely necessary.

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