{"id":9838,"date":"2022-04-20T07:48:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T11:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/?p=9838"},"modified":"2022-07-06T09:32:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T13:32:42","slug":"desktop-computer-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/2022\/04\/desktop-computer-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"Desktop Computer replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the normal course of events, when replacing a dead computer, is to buy something a little higher end, and then perform a handmedown upgrade sequence so that instead of just one improvement, 3 or 4 systems get bumped up a notch.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we happen to be in the place of having a few systems that are all about the same. Each is about 9-11 years old and replacing one does not mean we are able to bump it down to the next level.
\nIn any event, this was the desktop that processed astronomical images. It was
\na 2013 era Dell desktop with Win10 Pro 64bit, 16GB DDR3, 120GB SSD, a 6TB SATA data drive,a geforce gt720 GPU, 8xUSB2 and an Intel Core I5-2400 CPU<\/p>\n

Over the last two months, the printing subsytem failed, the audio failed and it was time to get rid of it.
\n\"\"<\/a>
\nNew systems of comparable oommphh are still in the $1K+ range, so as always, our search focused on refurbished systems. The issue with that is that everyone is selling hundreds of models and the search is very long and tedious. <\/p>\n

We narrowed it down to a few key features such as USB3 (to speed up data transfer with the external USB drive), DDR4 RAM (lower voltage, lower power use, faster access), a smaller footprint but still able to take a spinning SATA drive and an SSD drive internally, and windows 10 pro 64bit. <\/p>\n

That helped and we finally found a model on sale for $250. Selling some of the *other*, *working* older systems for $75 each helped to finance this new acquisition and it arrived yesterday.<\/p>\n

The new system is an HP Business Desktop ProDesk 600 G2 Desktop Computer – Intel Core i5 (6th Gen) i5-6500 3.20 GHz – 8 GB DDR4 SDRAM – 256 GB SSD, USB3 front x2 rear x4; x1VGA, x2 DP. Awesome. The onboard graphics chipset,
\nintel graphics 530, rated as fast as my 8 year old GPU, a Geforce GT720 !<\/p>\n

Worked out of the box (remember when setting up a new computer for the first time, keep it UNPLUGGED from the network so you can set up a local computer account, not a microsoft one, type in your user account name but DO NOT enter an initial password (otherwise it will demand security questions). Once past the setup, go back and add in a user account password, and the a 2nd account for security and backup reasons. Then plug it into the network, do operating system updates, add a user password and continue on.
\nIt was then time to configure and install software:<\/p>\n

install keyboard sharing software mouse without borders
\ninstall firefox
\ninstall chrome
\ninstall vnc
\ninstall printer lexmark
\ninstall firecapture 2.7.0.9
\ninstall pipp
\ninstall autostakkert! v3
\ninstall registax v6.1.0.0
\ninstall registrax v6.1.0.8
\ninstall zoom
\ninstall sharpcap
\ninstall stellarium
\ninstall handbrake
\ninstall filezilla
\ndownload and install libreoffice 7.3.2
\ninstall ser viewer
\ninstall irfanview
\ninstall ultravnc
\ninstall yawcam
\ninstall java runtime environment
\ninstall putty
\ninstall boinc and connect to einsteinathome project
\ninstall older malwarebytes
\n update data, run scan, clean
\ninstall realvnc v6.20.
\ninstall aomei partition assistant
\ninstall macrium reflect bare iron backup
\ninstall aomeibackupperstd
\ninstall wd mybook smartdrive SES drivers<\/p>\n

All in all, noticeably faster, clean, and a nice fresh start in general. Hopefully will have some new astro imaging processing in the near future. The only downside to date is the smaller RAM, 8GB instead of 16GB. That can always be added on later however… maybe $40CDN for another 8GB stick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the normal course of events, when replacing a dead computer, is to buy something a little higher end, and then perform a handmedown upgrade sequence so that instead of just one improvement, 3 or 4 systems get bumped up a notch. Unfortunately, we happen to be in the place of having a few systems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9838"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9946,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9838\/revisions\/9946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starlightcascade.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}