Hi Peter,
It all depends on your use-case and budget. If it was me, I would do
one of two things:
a) buy just a new Linux-friendly base unit from somewhere that will
supply without Windows. Somewhere like Novatech can do this for <£200
I think.
or (what I do)
b) buy a quality case and just upgrade the motherboard (and other
components) every 5 years or so. I've done this for the last 15 years
or so with an Antec Sonata ATX case.
The Debian version you're using has not been maintained in a while but
I would guess you were pretty happy using it anyway.
As you have limited internet access I would advise you to get hold of
the Debian DVD set for your new PC. If you cannot download it from
anywhere then I'll offer to burn them for you and mail them out.
Yes, you could run both harddrives "side by side" in your new system
by mounting the old drive in the new Debian and copying your data
across. However considering the vintage of your current PC it might be
an IDE HDD in which case you may not be able to connect it to the new
one. In that case it might be best to copy your existing data via a
USB HDD.
Old software + new hardware normally works OK. Old hardware and new
software is in my experience where you get problems (would the latest
browers, YouTube and iPlayer work efficiently on that older PC?). You
should be fine here if you upgrade but I would recommend you upgrade
Debian and then re-install whatever you were using to their latest
versions.
On 12 August 2013 18:01, Peter Alefounder <p_alefounder@???> wrote:
>
> A few days ago, my monitor power supply failed (I got a new one from
> Maplin, so no problem with that, now). Electrolytic capacitors in
> the old one were bulging a bit on top. As my computer is the same
> age (I assembled it in 2002) I thought I had better examine that as
> well. One capacitor on the main board looks a bit dodgy to me.
>
> So, I am thinking of upgrading my system. I would certainly want a
> new main board, and I understand that means a new processor as well.
> The existing system is an MSI K7T266 with an AMD Athlon 1800+ CPU.
>
> I see no need to replace existing peripherals - monitor, mouse,
> keyboard, scanner.
>
> The question is, can I re-use other, internal, bits? I would
> certainly want to retain the existing zip drive, but the floppy
> drive (which I have not used in years) is not important. The
> graphics board is a nVidia MSI G4MV460 and I have two 500KB memory
> cards. Is it worthwhile retaining those?
>
> Should I instead be thinking of a completely new computer? If so, is
> buying one with Linux already installed a good option? I do not have
> my own internet connection, so would want the system on CD or DVD.
> Software might recognise older hardware, but I suspect old software
> might not be so good with new hardware (at the moment, I have Debian
> 4.01r). I presume I could install my existing hard drive alongside
> the new one, copy user files to the latter and remove the old system
> from the old drive, retaining that to use as a back-up.
>
> Any recommendations, opinions or warnings as to what to avoid are
> welcome.
>
> Peter Alefounder.
>
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