Advice: Update or replace Emachines

[Meresgi]

Neighbor had me look at this computer because it's lagging out on startup. I checked when all is starting up when he boots and the largest thing is McAfee Scanner which he states I can not turn off or remove, which he has running a real time scanner when the computer is on. After looking at some things I found he has a single core Intel 4 3.06ghz running and I told him it most likely wasn't enough as the computer is 11yrs old and it's not handling all the applications he has running on top of the virus scanner+firewall+registry booster and all the other crap old people love to install on the computer. I checked his performance and it's maxing out constantly just loading McAfee.

I told him I would check on a CPU, but from what I am reading the Emachines T5026 that he has uses a modified motherboard that only works with Pentium 4s. I'm not sure if that's 100% accurate but I have read in other places that Emachines and Dell like to tweak their prebuilt PCs so you can't replace parts on you own or something *shrug*

So my opinion is to tell the guy he needs a new build with new RAM,mobo and CPU. He only uses it for basic stuff so he doesn't need anything fancy.

Question is: Should I try to update or just replace and is there anything I may have overlooked as to why his startup is so slow.

[wyrmtung]

I stopped reading after "11yrs old." The cheapest PC on the market would kick his PC's ass. Tell him to recycle some cans and donate blood to save for some $300 PC that is better than a high-end PC from 2000.

[Meresgi]

I stopped reading after "11yrs old." The cheapest PC on the market would kick his PC's ass. Tell him to recycle some cans and donate blood to save for some $300 PC that is better than a high-end PC from 2000.

What I think I might offer him is a build for 172$ I came up with on newegg, I can keep his case, PSU and HD and just install a new mobo/CPU/Mem stick. Not sure if he will go for it since he doesn't like to spend any money, but yeah his computer is a damn paper weight but some of these people don't believe in spending money on new fangled technology gizmos.

[Isiolia]

I'd see why it's such a big issue that he has to have McAfee. It is an intrusive scanner, if nothing else. If he must have it, make sure none of the other crap he's got running is antivirus software. They can fight over files and slow things down a lot.

The CPU should still be serviceable for basic stuff. Not great, but it's probably in the realm of a 1.6Ghz Atom - should expect similar results as a netbook at least. RAM may be an issue if it's still the stock 512MB. Even most netbooks were 1GB, and savvy consumers would upgrade that even.

HDD may be dying as well. Or he may have malware, since AV software tends not to catch a lot of it anyway. Maybe do some scans with Combofix n' Malwarebytes.

Adding parts wouldn't so much be the issue as would having it be worth the cost. Only way that they'd be an appropriate price would be secondhand, and that that point, there's little reason not to just get a whole system used (for example). Only friend I've had that owned an eMachines at one point did try upgrading it - wasn't that he couldn't, but more that the machine itself was such a piece of shit that other parts kept failing >_>

Another consideration would be if Linux might be a viable option. A fresh Windows install might help too, but if he really does do only basic stuff on the machine, and is paranoid about viruses/malware, then Linux would fit well. If the cost isn't a problem, a new machine will be a substantial improvement...but I'd guess if he really wanted to go that route, he'd have just gone to Best Buy instead of call you.

[Meresgi]

Price wasnt an issue really because id be charging him for all parts+labor, not gonna do it pro bono. I told him a new CPU, mem and mobo would run around 350$ including labor. I can get the parts all for 150$ish off newegg.

[SephYuyX]

...

Just make him buy the cheapest thing on Dell with a monitor for sub $500.

Tell him it's his only option since his PC is so old.
If he says no, just walk away, upgrading that crap will just be more of a hassle.

[Militant]

Pretty much what everyone else said about just getting a new machine. Go the cheap Dell route if hes old and doesn't care. Maybe you want to remind him that his processor was introduced by intel in November of 2002.

[wyrmtung]

Price wasnt an issue really because id be charging him for all parts+labor, not gonna do it pro bono. I told him a new CPU, mem and mobo would run around 350$ including labor. I can get the parts all for 150$ish off newegg.

The problem I see with this solution is that if something goes wrong with the thing then you're going to have to come over to fix it. If he gets it from HP or Dell then he gets a warranty and you can tell him to go through them.

By the way, does your cost include the Windows install? And what about the monitor? Is he still rolling with a CRT? The $350 solution might cover the PC but for almost the same cost or just a bit more he can get a PC loaded with Windows, a monitor, and a warranty.

And tell him to stop downloading porn so he doesn't have to worry about virus scans.

[Tymon]

By the way, his case won't work.

Cases back then just don't have the right size or ventilation to hold even remotely modern hardware. You'll need to get a cheap case online; they sell for <$50.

[Don Katsu]

I don't think you can replace the motherboard on just any case, the I/O plate is often customized for the motherboard used.

I also think you should check to see what Version of Windows he's running (service pack), he should be on at least XP SP3. I recently wiped my friends Pentium III 996Mhz 256MB of RAM computer clean and installed Windows XP SP3 (I have a legitimate volume license) and it seems to run just fine. This machine you're talking about has a processor that is three times faster. It shouldn't be running slow for what he is doing with it.

[Dmitry]

The 3 motherboards I've ordered in the last year all game with faceplates. I'm not sure if those company machines case's are manufactured for the I/O ports of the mobo or if it's a plate though. Could just potentially knock it out.

I installed a fresh copy of XP on a machine with 256MB of RAM and it ran very sluggishly, but I'm not sure what kind of processor it was running.

[Emirii]

When E-machines were first on the market, we were in the market to buy a PC also, and e-machines were very cheap and affordable at the time and it was one of our options. Luckily, my dad actually LOOKED UP reviews (which most people even fail to do nowadays when buying large purchases like that even) and e-machines had horrible reviews in ALL departments (service, hardware, software, design, etc.) he quickly abandoned the thought of purchasing one and we got an HP instead, that lasted a good 5 years. We upgrade our computers often, I got it so soon because I got a new one for graduation, but my nephew still uses our old HP for learning games because he's 6. It DOES matter product v.s. price and im really dumbfounded why people haven't picked up on this yet... If so, e-machines wouldn't still be on the market today and that crap, which is even worst than dell in some departments, is still on the shelves. Bah mass consumers..

Also, if you are going to upgrade his computer, your going to be hard pressed to find parts that work with the other parts, including the RAM and even processor. Does it use a standard socket they use nowadays or not? Most cheaper brand computers tend to use their own standards which are impossible to find replacement parts now. Especially models that are "slim" or tiny, which don't even use the standard mini-ATX, more like micro.

[Tymon]

Actually, a lot of the slim models use laptop hardware now.

[Isiolia]

That's been the case anyway. I can't think of much thats been overly specialized even in the last decade. A lot of the reputations for that are from way, way back. Late 80s early 90s for specialized RAM other than Apple...and even then they swapped to standard PC parts with the beige G3s in '97. Dell had the non standard PSU plug for what, Pentium IIs?