Various problems with my OPTIPLEX GX620 Small Form Windows PC

Question

Hello all: I hope that after describing what I'm experiencing with my DELL OPTIPLEX GX620 small form Windows XP PC someone will offer suggestions as to how diagnose and fix. I'm not computer savvy but I can follow basic steps.

Sometimes the PC will sound as if it's a jet about to take off. Usually when I'm watching a video at YouTube or other locations.

When I plug in my earbuds I hear a clicking sound in the right earbud, every second.

When I try to copy and paste text, regardless of website, I'll get only partial highlighting which I sometimes lose. Also, as I'm highlighting it'll stop somewhere on the page and I either have to start over or paste what has been highlighted and come back to the page to highlight and copy the rest.

When I'm on the desktop and I want to move an icon or folder to a new location, I start to drag it but it parks itself in a different location from which I have to grab it and keep moving to the new location. Sometimes I see an expanding box with dashes for the shape but not the icon or the folder.

In my Earthlink TotalAccess mail page I try to move a message to a folder and on the way to the folder it parks itself on another folder which I may not see then I have to use the Search feature with the date to find where the message landed and move it again to the proper folder. Sometimes it takes more than one try.

When I use the email Search feature it doesn't find what I want but I can find it with some effort and my search terms match the message but the message is not found.

Does all of the above sound like it's time to use the DELL Installation CD and reformat the hard drive. Doing so is not so bad, although still a hassle. The worst part is calling Earthlink and having them take over the computer to install the mail system and the reps usually say it cannot be done although they always do it.

What do you suggest?

rdunnill · Answer

The YouTube issue might be due to underpowered graphics; a budget video card like a Sapphire 6450, which will offload video decoding from the CPU, should help.

If you're going to reinstall Windows XP, you might consider a Windows 8 upgrade (which in turn qualifies for a free upgrade to 8.1 in the fall). Support for XP is ending next April, after which there will be no more patches and security fixes. (Amazon has Windows 8 Professional 64-bit upgrades for $75 with free shipping.)

The EarthLink application may be buggy, and I'd suggest trying Windows Live Mail. Regarding reformatting, you shouldn't have to do that. (It will wipe out your data.)

Optixian · Answer

Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Everything that I listed in my post started not too long ago and before it started the computer ran like greased lightning with great graphics and sound. I didn't make note of when anything in particular started 'cause I didn't think it was going to escalate. Something happened to my PC's hardware or software, I don't know. I'm not a gamer, I don't download anything I really can't use and if I do I remove it immediately. I'm using very little of my PC's resources, especially the hard drive. I have 3.49GB of RAM. A diagnosis of the PC showed that in order to install Windows 8 I need a lot of changes which are not worth the trouble.

I prefer Windows XP and will be sad to see it end. I'm gonna have to contact Earthlink about the problems I'm having with their side of town but I'm comfortable with the mail system.

My wife and I have been discussing moving to Apple when WinXP ends.

Optixian · Answer

Thanks again, but I'll just deal with the problems as my wife just told me that Earthlink has a problem with Windows 8. I tried to do a DELL PC Diagnostics but ran into problems such as "Extracting files: Unable to create or save new files in the folder into which the files are being extracted...", and "System Update Required: Unable to install or run this application. The application requires Version 4.0 Full or other compatible .NET Framework. Please contact your system's administrator". I don't know what any of that means and I wish DELL would be set up to explain in simple terms why the DELL PC Diagnostics will not work in my DELL PC.

rdunnill · Answer

As you have 4gb of RAM, all you'll need for Windows 8 is a budget video card like this. I know, because I installed Windows 8 on my GX620.

Regarding Apple, they support their hardware with updates for about six years, after which it ends. The last version of OSX the GX620's Apple contemporaries have available is Leopard, which is three versions behind, and it is not supported with security or bug fixes.

rdunnill · Answer

That means you need to install the dot-NET 4.0 runtime.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=17718

Regarding Earthlink, I'd suggest using Windows Live Mail rather than potentially buggy software from an ISP. Windows Live Mail can be configured to work with any standard mail source, including gmail and Hotmail.

Optixian · Answer

Thanks for the link. I did the download plus many updates and I don't know if I'll see the results but my PC has to have had benefitted. I went to DELL to attempt the DELL PC Diagnostics and selected Full System Diagnostic. Everything seemed to have gone alright with the accepting popups. It says on the page that "Estimated total time to complete: 60 minutes" and yet 2 hours later it was still "going" and I kept looking at the hard drive activity light and it flickered once or twice every minute and I figured that nothing was really happening so I clicked on the X on the popup to stop and I didn't get any kind of message that I had interrupted anything or that the Diagnostic had not finished, etc. So I deduced that the Diagnostic did not take. While I would have liked to see the results I'm not going to bother wasting any more time on something that doesn't seem to actually work. I don't know if DELL is aware that there might be something wrong but if there wasn't my PC would have behaved properly.

I appreciate your continuing to help me.

Regarding Earthlink, we're happy using it and the Search problem is livable since I have a limited number of folders and I can find whatever message I'm looking for. We can't trade a working system to learn a new curve.

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Various problems with my OPTIPLEX GX620 Small Form Windows PC

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