Replacement for home computer as Windows 7 support ending

[Poppy]

Hi Experts,

I'd be grateful for any comments on this spec please which I put together (and ordered) in haste on Sunday in light of the support for Windows 7 ending very soon. I should have asked for your views on Sunday but I think there is still time to amend the order if necessary. It is to replace my sister's home pc. Her current PC purchased from PC Specialist in April 2014 has a solid state c drive with 105 GB and a separate hard drive with 931 GB. It may be that we haven't used the pc correctly but after a few years, she started running out of space and her pc has run slowly at time.

With that in mind, and trying to future-proof this spec, I have gone for a return to a single standard hard drive with 6 TB of memory. It may be more than she needs but I'm anxious to avoid a repeat of her running out of space.

The PC wil be used for surfing the internet, emailing storing documents and photos (although she does use Google photos) etc. My niece plays games on Roblox.

Many thanks in advance.

Case
PCS GENESIS G1B CASE + SD CARD READER
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® H310M-A R2.0: Micro-ATX, DDR4, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
1st Storage Drive
6TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[Oussebon]

Based on the above, you don't necessarily need to buy a new PC.

You can still upgrade to Windows 10 for free:

You Can Still Get Windows 10 for Free With a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 Key

Microsoft's free Windows 10 upgrade offer is over--or is it? There's still a way to activate Windows 10 with a Windows 7, 8, or 8.

www.howtogeek.com

As for the PC getting full, clearing space is pretty straightforward, as is adding more storage. PCs running slow after a while can often be sorted with a clean Windows installation. The PC already has an SSD, which is great. If it's just a case that loads of files have been accumulated, you can probably add more storage.

 

[Poppy]

Thank you very much OUSSEBON for that really helpful reply. I will look into this for my own pc as I've been thinking I'd need to buy a new pc. I think I currently just about have enough spare space needed to upgrade to windows 10.

Sadly we don't seem to have the right level of IT know how to sort out her current pc - she has had a local IT person round to look at it but he couldn't help.

 

[Oussebon]

Rather than upgrading to Windows 10 'in place' it's usually better to do a clean install.

This is where you format the drive during the installation process (which removes all traces of the old version of Windows) and installs a fresh version.

The process is fairly simple. In short:

1) Create a bootable Windows 10 'installation media':

Download Windows 10

i.e. download the program, run it, and let it write some stuff to a USB stick

2) Restart the PC, and boot from the USB stick (which usually involves pressing F2 or delete on startup repeatedly until the BIOS shows up, then you can select the USB stick to boot from - sometimes it's F8)

3) Follow the prompts on the screen.

4) When it offers a choice of 'upgrade' or 'custom', choose custom and then delete every 'partition' on the drive you are putting Windows on. This deletes everything including Windows.

5) Once all there is on the drive is 'unallocated space' proceed with the installation. And you're done.

The reasons for doing a clean install rather than upgrading in-place include:
- less likely to go wrong
- it will wipe away any problems that have built up over time with your Windows install.

Of course you'll need to back up your data before doing this - but you should always back up your data anyway!

Sadly we don't seem to have the right level of IT know how to sort out her current pc - she has had a local IT person round to look at it but he couldn't help.

Obviously I've not met this person but if they couldn't fix or even diagnose the cause of a 'slow PC' I hope she didn't pay for their service.

A clean install of Windows is free, DIY-able by anyone, and I'd definitely recommend doing that for her system.

Also, PCS need to have the dust removed from the inside periodically. Otherwise it clogs up fans and heatsinks, and can cause overheating, which is another possible cause of slowdowns.

 

[Poppy]

Wow! Thank you very, very much. This is amazingly helpful. I shall read and digest this properly. Many thanks again.

 

[Poppy]

I just wanted to reinterate my thanks to you OUSSEBON for all the helpful advice you have provided. I have now identified that 508 GB + other 34.7GB is being taken up on the I: drive by 515 + 48.9 files in 2 Genie Timeline folders. It's something I set up running a few years ago and am not very au fait with. I'm guessing it has created over 500 back-up timeline files(!). I tried to see what would happen if I attempted to delete them via windows explorer and received a message saying " the file 'gsbackup .dat' is a system file. If you remove it, Windows or another program may no longer work correctly". I haven't proceeded as I'm a bit nervous about doing so. Do you think my guess sounds about right that it's likely Genie 9 has created over 500 back -up files?

 

[Oussebon]

I've not heard of the software, but from what you say it sounds plausible. Most backup programs that have some special system for making backups would let you delete spare copies from within the software - if you still have access to the software you could run it and see if it lets you delete otiose copies. If it does, and you delete old copies, and magically 500gb of free space appears, that'll be the answer I guess !

If this is for your sister's machine and you want a way for her files to be automatically backed up, perhaps cloud storage like google drive or Onedrive would be the way to go going forward.

You could use something like Macrium Reflect to image the drive to an external hard drive. Then if you delete anything in hindsight that you oughtn't have, restore the image / mount the image and copy the files.

 

[ubuysa]

I just wanted to reinterate my thanks to you OUSSEBON for all the helpful advice you have provided. I have now identified that 508 GB + other 34.7GB is being taken up on the I: drive by 515 + 48.9 files in 2 Genie Timeline folders. It's something I set up running a few years ago and am not very au fait with. I'm guessing it has created over 500 back-up timeline files(!). I tried to see what would happen if I attempted to delete them via windows explorer and received a message saying " the file 'gsbackup .dat' is a system file. If you remove it, Windows or another program may no longer work correctly". I haven't proceeded as I'm a bit nervous about doing so. Do you think my guess sounds about right that it's likely Genie 9 has created over 500 back -up files?

I've not heard of the software, but from what you say it sounds plausible. Most backup programs that have some special system for making backups would let you delete spare copies from within the software - if you still have access to the software you could run it and see if it lets you delete otiose copies. If it does, and you delete old copies, and magically 500gb of free space appears, that'll be the answer I guess !

If this is for your sister's machine and you want a way for her files to be automatically backed up, perhaps cloud storage like google drive or Onedrive would be the way to go going forward.

You could use something like Macrium Reflect to image the drive to an external hard drive. Then if you delete anything in hindsight that you oughtn't have, restore the image / mount the image and copy the files.

I've not heard of that tool before either but the word 'timeline' in its title strongly suggests that it's writing some sort of image on a regular basis so it's no surprise that its consuming vast amounts of storage space.

As Oussebon says, if you still have the tool running see whether you can remove the unwanted files from there or, better yet, configure it to save over a much shorter timeline if you can so that it doesn't write so many files.

The reason Windows gives you that 'system file' warning message is only because the file extension in .dat. Windows assumes that anything ending in .dat is a system file.

I'm a big fan of Macrium Reflect (free) too, my advice would be to install Macrium Reflect and take images of all your drives so that you have a backup of everything. Then use Windows to delete the gsbackup.dat files and reboot. I'm pretty sure you'll be ok but if not you can use Macrium Reflect to restore them - don't foget to make a Macrium Reflect bootable rescue disk first though.

 

[Poppy]

Thank you so much for your advise once again Oussebon and to you Ubuysa for echoing the support. I really do appreciate it. My sister has started deleting the Genie timeline files but it seems it could take years to delete them all manually, individually. This weekend I will try to help her to back up the files she not want to keep and then try to wipe the solid date hard drive completely. Fingers crossed for us!

 

[ubuysa]

This weekend I will try to help her to back up the files she not want to keep and then try to wipe the solid date hard drive completely. Fingers crossed for us!

Take two backups of the files your sister wants to keep. Ubuysa's rule #9 - never have only one copy of anything important.

 

[Poppy]

Many thanks again Ubuysa and Oussebon all your advice and for recommending Macrium Reflect. As I'm not familiar with Macrium Reflect, I was struggling to get to grips with it earlier. Then I found the pdf version of its complete user guide online. At the beginning of the introduction, it states:

"If you consider yourself non-technical this article should help you to start understanding the terminology,
workings and concepts of imaging, backup and Macrium Reflect."

I thought I'd post the link to the site with the complete user guide in case it's helpful to anyone else:

Creating a backup image of your computer, drive or partitions - KnowledgeBase v7.2 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7.2 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

knowledgebase.macrium.com

The good news is that we've managed to delete the genie back-up timelines and freed up masses of storage space! I've also managed to make images of the C: and I: drives. I'm in the process of creating the Windows 10 installation media. 🤞 To be continued......

 

[Poppy]

I'm now wondering, if the Macrium Reflect rescue media USB stick which I have created whilst setting up Macrium Reflect on my sister's computer (currently running Windows 7) could be used, if necessary, to start another PC using Macrium Reflect. Is a separate Macrium Reflect rescue USB media needed for each individual computer or can a rescue media be used for more than one pc with the same operating system? I (I'm running out of USB sticks) 😂

 

[ubuysa]

I'm now wondering, if the Macrium Reflect rescue media USB stick which I have created whilst setting up Macrium Reflect on my sister's computer (currently running Windows 7) could be used, if necessary, to start another PC using Macrium Reflect. Is a separate Macrium Reflect rescue USB media needed for each individual computer or can a rescue media be used for more than one pc with the same operating system? I (I'm running out of USB sticks) 😂

One USB Macrium Reflect rescue media stick can be used on any number of computers.

 

[Poppy]

Thanks very much Ubuysa - that's such a relief! 😅And would I be correct in thinking the same applies for the windows 10 installation media usb stick?

 

[Oussebon]

And would I be correct in thinking the same applies for the windows 10 installation media usb stick?

Yes

You'll periodically want to create a new installation media USB as new versions of Windows 10 are released and so on, but you can use 1 installation USB stick to install Windows onto as many different PCs/laptops as you like

 

[Poppy]

Many thanks again OUSSEBON. Once again a great relief to read this 😅 I'll be attempting the upgrade / clean install tomorrow.

 

[Poppy]

Hi again Oussebon and Ubuysa! I am so pleased to say that following your ever so helpful guidance, I managed to do a successful custom install of Windows 10 today using the Windows 7 key, which was helpfully on a sticker on the back of the pc. I am so grateful to you both! 🤩 If it hadn't been for your help and advice, I would have spent a lot of money buying a new pc which I didn't need to buy. If anyone had asked me a couple of weeks ago, I would not have thought I'd have been able to instal a new operating system myself. Thank you so much!

For anyone else reading this thread who may be attempting to do the same, I'd advise them to have any Microsoft account details (e-mail address and password) to hand, ready for setting up their Microsoft account on their pc once Windows 10 is installed. When I was booting from the installation media, I pressed F2 a few times, then "Delete" which brought up the menu where I could select F8 to do the boot from the USB stick. On the first attempt, the install seemed to get stuck and I sat watching a circle whirling around for about 45mins. I then powered down, (unpluuged my external hard drive), tried again and it worked fine and it was a relatively quick process.

I found the most time consuming part was familiarising myself with Macrium Reflect and making the back-up images before hand.

Thank you so much Oussebon and Ubuysa! I highly recommend PC Specialist! 🥳

 

[ubuysa]

Very happy you got it sorted.