Ping to my “homies.”
Umm... Free Republic was down for most of the time you described, including during and after the inauguration, so it may be that your computer crashed at an auspicious time. None of us were able to access it either!
Can you state the equipment you have? Processor, memory, hard drive size, etc?
Is a chromebook an option based on how you use computers? I have an acer chromebook laptop I paid 120$ for (refurb from walmart) about 2 years ago and I can browse any modern website. It also allows access to a terminal and ssh for connecting remotely to linux systems which I need for work.
Get the least expensive Mac (Mini or laptop) you can afford. An old hand-me-down might be OK if the hardware still functions. Mac OS X 10.6.8 still works fine for me, except I can't upgrade Firefox beyond version 48.0.2.
Get a very inexpensive Flash 8GB thumb stick for file portability.
Good Luckies.
I know you’re on a fixed income, but computer-rated incidentals are sometimes penny wise pound foolish. 100% of my internet activity is now done on an iPad. Even when using my laptop for work, I have my iPad and iPhone 7 Plus nearby to get info. Going from a laptop to an iPad is like going from a Macintosh Classic with a modem to a new MacBook Air. iPads go for years with no maintenance necessary, never infected with viruses, etc.
I've had two of them and they've served me well .. you won't get state of the art, but the pricing is very reasonable .. buy site to store and eliminate shipping costs.
Here’s hoping all the pieces come together to allow your return here more quickly than you expect. Take care.
Your old Windows XP computer should be powerful enough to run one of the less-resource-heavy flavors of Linux, like Lubuntu, with no problem — if you are using a fairly basic set of applications (web browser, e-mail client, word processor, spreadsheet, basic games), it will probably suffice, and not cost anything other than some time to get it installed.
Whatever you decide, I hope to see you back soon.
Lubuntu. Have it running on an ARM chipped netbook.
Interesting. I almost clicked on the same file (I think) but Firefox itself warned me not to proceed. Glad I paid attention. I got the ransomware virus a few years ago thanks to McAfee, which demanded that I disable my old virus checker before proceeding with installation. That gave the virus, which had been suppressed, free reign to install itself. I had to reformat and reinstall everything. It’s a pain in the butt. Sorry you are having such difficulty.
Take care ZC and We’ll see you soon.
Look at refurbs on Newegg and Tiger Direct. They have desktops starting at about $100 that are generations newer.
Look here, towards the bottom:
http://promotions.newegg.com/neemail/latest/index-landing.aspx
Some good deals, and if you don’t mind refurbs instead of the new computers they offer then you can save quite a bit.
Cheers! :)
You will be missed
Typing this on a $49 “tablet PC” I got new on Amazon. Great for FReeping, YouTube-ing, etc. Folds up like a book and goes anywhere. Had it over a year and use it daily with no complaints. There are some really good low-cost alternatives to standard computers out there.
I don’t know what your income is, but at Fry’s a dual core AMD laptop goes for as low as $200 these days, and a Core i3 for as low as $299. They are incredibly cheap. I hope to see you back here soon.
your best bet is to buy one of these as a replacement if you want a desktop:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G3SW1221
if you want a laptop:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/latitude-e5570-laptop/pd
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/latitude-e5470-laptop/pd
weirdly enough, the 15” ones are less expensive than the 14” inch ones right now.
these are fine laptops and desktops, btw. I’ve bought many for clients.