PC's - Windows repairs in this time of parts shortages

For Windows PC's it is very easy to move your system from one laptop to another, if something other than the hard drive (or software installation) has been damaged, as in an accident, water damage etc.

All you have to do is remove the hard drive of the damaged machine and insert it in a new or good functioning machine (Windows 10 Pro preferred).

On startup, the new PC will automatically load default drivers, which if they are good enough to connect to the internet will allow the machine to self update to the correct drivers. If the default networking system isn't working, just use a standard USB/ network dongle (like this StarTech USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter NIC at BandH)

Highly recommend using Lenovo Thinkpad series above T430's as of 1/2021 (even if used, they are better supported than most and are known to run decades of OS upgrades, most are also Unix certified) for this job. HP Compaq business series also are good, Dell is hell re subpar parts.

 

[Electric700]

Good to know, thank you. What about the new higher-end or business Dells, like the Latitude or Precision series? From my experience, those seem to have been more reliable. Businesses need reliable computers too.

 

[CLK350]

I've had enough bad experiences with Dell (even their servers !!! had capacitors that eventually failed, not to mention super bad experiences with their shady marketing techniques*

Very simple other criterion: all Big 5 accounting firms use ... Lenovo Thinkpads - guess why**

They also were notorious for changing parts of identical model numbers (for cost reduction of course) which created headaches of course for maintenance. Neither Lenovo/ IBM Thinkpad nor HP Compaq ever did that.
Not to mention using whichever lowest cost hard drives they found .. inferior Seagate hard drives mostly.

The one other companies I would trust are Asus (they make many PC's under contract for others) or Acer (big in Taiwan esp)

(*) offering 6 month no interest loan, then surreptitiously billing the client's accounting dept *SMALL* bills without explanation in the hope the company accountant just pays ... turns out the accountant asked me what this was about ... and then when I tried to correct the situation w/ Dell, they gave me ONLY India numbers, no way to contact anyone else... took me way too long to resolve, BUT I did it as a matter of principle. What we did eventually was to send only what was due, w/o interests etc, with a notarized letter to their USA HQ notifying them that should they disagree with our findings and resolution we were happy to have the matter resolved in US courts.

(**) Try spilling a cup of coffee on a Thinkpad, and any other laptop - Thinkpads run unperturbed, letting the liquids drain directly underneath ; D

PS. I have no financial interests at all in any of these companies ... wish I had gotten back into AMD tho