Is it time to upgrade your computer?

Are you thinking about purchasing a new computer, but still not sure if it’s really necessary or not?

As much as we would all love to upgrade our work or home PC’s with each new wave of technology, this isn’t practical or financially possible for most of us. That’s why computers are an investment. When you purchase one, you generally know that you’ll own it for a couple of years or more, with the option of upgrading some of the parts if needed. But if you’ve had your PC for a while, and you feel like it may be slowly dying… here are 7 things we recommend you look at to know whether it really is time to upgrade

1) You can no longer run updates

Once your computer is no longer able to download the latest software updates, it can become at risk to security threats. Microsoft updates are particularly important to your computer as they focus on weaknesses in the system. If you are unable to run these updates your system can become compromised and vulnerable to malicious content.

The most common occurrence of this is when Microsoft stopped providing security updates for Windows XP since April 2014. As of April 11, 2017 security updates for Windows Vista computers will not be available.

2) Getting slow

If you’re unable to complete multiple tasks while waiting for your computer to load, then chances are you might need a new computer. While having a slow computer does not always indicate you need a new computer it can be an indication of more serious problems.

Some of the most common occurrences of slowness are when booting your computer up, running very slowly when having multiple applications open, or being able to type a whole sentence before a single word appears on screen.

3) Important part of your business or daily life

If your computer is used for work, school or other essential programs you can’t function without, then it REALLY is time for an upgrade. Take the dive and reap the rewards of no more downtime – resulting in loss of revenue, anger and time wasted!

4) Spending more time fixing it than using it

Does your computer often require work to be done? We find in these situations it is usually best to replace the machine than continually repair issues. Ongoing problems can indicate a serious hardware problem, which even with replacing parts can still cause failure in other components. In older computer replacement, parts can often come with a hefty price tag, along with labour costs to replace them. It makes more sense to invest in a computer that has the latest technology rather than putting money into an old system that could fail again.

5) Becoming noisy

All computers make some sort of noise from the fan, the CD drive or the hard drive. If your computer is making clicking, scraping, groaning and other strange noises that are not normal, it could signal that parts are overheating or that your hard drive may be failing. If these types of noises are ignored, your hard drive could fail resulting in the loss of all your precious data – which may not be recoverable.

6) Running out of space

With new technologies consistently popping up every day, we find ourselves needing more from our computers than we did 3-5 years ago. Programs, games, music, photos and videos are all taking up huge amounts of space. We find that older computers are struggling to keep up with today’s computer demands. 5 years ago the standard computers were released with only 2GB of RAM, for most people today this would only be their music collection! Today the minimum RAM you can obtain is 4GB, with many people opting for 8-16GB to future proof their computer. The general rule is, once you start needing to delete or transfer your files to make space, an upgrade won’t be far off.

7) Passed the average life span

It may surprise you to know the average life span of a computer today is 3-5 years. While your computer may be up and running, if you’re struggling to get your work done or run programs because of performance interruptions, a newer computer will be needed. If you’re still hanging onto a Windows XP or Vista machine, your computer is anywhere from 7 to 10 years of old – so it is definitely time for an upgrade!

If you think it’s time to upgrade your computer but you aren’t quite sure what is right for you or where to start, then give the team at MCN a call! We will use our expertise to guide you on what computer will best suit your needs.