General Question for computer hardware guys

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kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
One of my PC's at work died, it's a dell inspiron 3647. I got a refurbished one from ebay for 40 bucks but it has a different processor and ram in it. Old PC is running windows 7 pro. New one is windows 10 pro.

Can I just swap out the hard drives and be fine or will the different processor and memory create an issue where the old hard drive won't recognize it.

It's been many years since I screwed around with the hardware side of computers.
 

CuddleBug

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2023
254
447
There are a few things you might run into. If the newer computer has hardware that isn't compatible with Windows 7. If that isn't an issue and it starts up and runs fine, Windows 7 might notice that it is now running on a different system and ask you to activate Windows again which is usually just a click of a button and it activates online, but I don't believe that service is running any longer for Windows 7.

There is a feature to transfer all of your stuff from one machine to another, which copies files to an external drive and then you hook it up to your new machine and it imports it.
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
There is a feature to transfer all of your stuff from one machine to another, which copies files to an external drive and then you hook it up to your new machine and it imports it.
My other thought was setting up the old HD as a slave to see if that would work, the biggest issue I have is all my POS software is on the old HD, I can install it on the new one but then the help desk would have to disable and activate the license which is kind of a pain in the ass.
 

IschKabibble

zero
First 100
Jan 15, 2015
17,061
23,011
My other thought was setting up the old HD as a slave to see if that would work, the biggest issue I have is all my POS software is on the old HD, I can install it on the new one but then the help desk would have to disable and activate the license which is kind of a pain in the ass.
Would be worth the time to avoid potential driver issues. You have a backup aside from the original copy on that HDD, right? If not, be very careful. Install it read-only and snag the work data off it before you do anything else.

Windows 7 activation server is still online. I just used it a few days ago setting up a VM.
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
Would be worth the time to avoid potential driver issues. You have a backup aside from the original copy on that HDD, right? If not, be very careful. Install it read-only and snag the work data off it before you do anything else.

Windows 7 activation server is still online. I just used it a few days ago setting up a VM.
Yeah, we have a separate server pc with the database and three terminals that are networked to it. This is just a terminal. We had swapped out the HDD to SSD a couple years ago for speed and durability but kept the HDD's in the cases not connected in case there was an issue in the future. So basically I have two copies if something goes south.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is the activation for the POS software is intact and all the drivers for the different printers in the restaurant, plus saving several hundred dollars would be nice.

 

IschKabibble

zero
First 100
Jan 15, 2015
17,061
23,011
Yeah, we have a separate server pc with the database and three terminals that are networked to it. This is just a terminal. We had swapped out the HDD to SSD a couple years ago for speed and durability but kept the HDD's in the cases not connected in case there was an issue in the future. So basically I have two copies if something goes south.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is the activation for the POS software is intact and all the drivers for the different printers in the restaurant, plus saving several hundred dollars would be nice.

If no risk of data loss, give it a shot. Personally, I'd take the time for a fresh wipe. Windows drivers issues are maddening.
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
Went through a quick update after plugging in, everything is working, touch screen drivers, printer drivers, not recognizing our license though so looks like I will be calling the help desk anyways, damn it!
 

Enock-O-Lypse Now!

Underneath Denver International Airport
Jun 19, 2016
12,219
20,277
One of my PC's at work died, it's a dell inspiron 3647. I got a refurbished one from ebay for 40 bucks but it has a different processor and ram in it. Old PC is running windows 7 pro. New one is windows 10 pro.

Can I just swap out the hard drives and be fine or will the different processor and memory create an issue where the old hard drive won't recognize it.

It's been many years since I screwed around with the hardware side of computers.
Run Linux..
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
Sweet, help desk didn't charge me to update the license, so was able to fix the pc for 40 bucks, might do the other three since they are pushing 10 years old to be on the safe side, or at least order a backup in case of emergency.
 

NiteProwleR

Free Hole Lay Row
Nov 17, 2023
2,477
3,866
You know we can't get to the bottom of this without knowing the kind of porn that broke that thing.
 

Tom_Cody

Active Member
Aug 13, 2024
31
44
Sweet, help desk didn't charge me to update the license, so was able to fix the pc for 40 bucks, might do the other three since they are pushing 10 years old to be on the safe side, or at least order a backup in case of emergency.
Caveat: Hospitality ain't my industry, and haven't touched those devices in well over a decade.

Based on the topology you described, may want to see if your vendor offers a thin client platform like wyse terminals (That's an example, not an endorsement).

Could be a middle ground between your aging gear now and the iPad platform that doesn't do what you need.

Nothing really lives on the terminal itself, which basically runs a shell back to a vm on your management server, and licensing for the terminals is also managed via your server side.

So if something goes wrong with the terminal hardware (intentionally cheap), just remove the license from it's s/n and assign it to a replacement terminal.

Back in the day I worked for a company that did hardware support for all kinds of things, and POS gear was part of it. Even back then chain restaurants were using a platform of that type for everything from the front end terminals, to the kitchen system, and even the back office.

I'd have to imagine that with the prevalence of open source devices like raspberry pi today, things have probably gotten more affordable compared to what I used to swap out.
 

isaac298

Active Member
Aug 13, 2024
21
30
T
Caveat: Hospitality ain't my industry, and haven't touched those devices in well over a decade.

Based on the topology you described, may want to see if your vendor offers a thin client platform like wyse terminals (That's an example, not an endorsement).

Could be a middle ground between your aging gear now and the iPad platform that doesn't do what you need.

Nothing really lives on the terminal itself, which basically runs a shell back to a vm on your management server, and licensing for the terminals is also managed via your server side.

So if something goes wrong with the terminal hardware (intentionally cheap), just remove the license from it's s/n and assign it to a replacement terminal.

Back in the day I worked for a company that did hardware support for all kinds of things, and POS gear was part of it. Even back then chain restaurants were using a platform of that type for everything from the front end terminals, to the kitchen system, and even the back office.

I'd have to imagine that with the prevalence of open source devices like raspberry pi today, things have probably gotten more affordable compared to what I used to swap out.
Thin clients are ass. Do not get one. The only time they are remotely useful is mass deployment and management. They suck balls as terminals and regular computers
 

Tom_Cody

Active Member
Aug 13, 2024
31
44
T

Thin clients are ass. Do not get one. The only time they are remotely useful is mass deployment and management. They suck balls as terminals and regular computers
If you've dealt with them on the operational support side, I won't argue it because it was never my (NetEng) headache.

When I saw the references to a help desk, I had inferred an MSP-like vendor solution and figured they'd always been cheap and easy gear to deploy in conditions where they're likely to get fucked up environmentally.

To me the only difference between an on-prem terminal & controller approach and something cloud managed is the added point-of-failure introduced by a dependency on DIA/WAN.
 

kvr28

Ghost of KVR
Nov 22, 2015
6,501
9,019
When I saw the references to a help desk
So we use Aldelo software, been using them since 2005. Basically buy the hardware and the software license and that's it. Until something goes south that is outside my knowledge base.

They offer 24 help support on a yearly contract after the first year, back then it was 499 a year, it's now 699 a year, I think we have only purchased the the support 3 times in the past 20 years when shit went south that I couldn't figure out.

Still a hell of a lot cheaper than clover, toast, cake or any of the newer systems that popped up over the past 10 years. I actually looked at cake and toast a couple years back, it was almost 400 a month in fees even with them doing credit card processing for a product that is less than what we currently use because you lease the equipment from them.

Aldelo does our payroll, inventory, kds, and more. Only thing that has really changed is they have started updating the software every year and any previous versions are end of life, they still work but they won't provide support for the earlier versions if there is an issue.

So I run older versions as long as I can.

Lol back in 2005 I bought the original license through a yahoo store.