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On 19/03/18 13:09, Henry Bremridge wrote: > Laptop looks like the hard drive is going. "Buffer input error on sda5". > Before that it was sda1. > > Followed google but I was tired. It looks like all data backed up. I have > a few reports to write and I find windows on an emergency laptop very > difficult after debian. I will however take the time to learn how to use > it. > > Any suggestions for sourcing for an office desktop (no monitor). > > I tend to run a few files at same time (yesterday before the machine > started having wobblers I had open office, 4 pdfs, chrome and firefox. > Firefox with about 8 tabs open of which one was running some report > writing software). Was thinking of 8GB RAM, 500 GB harddrive but > thereafter I am a bit lost. > > Local would be ideal: there is a power cut tomorrow morning so I could > spend the time getting the machine. It would take less time to install > debian than getting windows working. > > sudo smartctl -A /dev/sda Will give you the damage on your current drive - but it's obviously failing. HDD I presume rather SSD? SSDs tend to let go instantly whereas HDDs will usually give you lots of the dreaded "Buffer input error on sdX" that you're seeing just before they expire fully. Pull everything you can off of it whilst you still can if your backups aren't fully up to date and if all else fails try using dd with failure/retry thresholds to grab a forensic dump of the entire disk. If you're dead set on getting a PC replacement rather than another laptop it might be worth aiming a little higher to be honest - a random box with 8Gb RAM and a 500Gb HDD is firmly in the "give it away for free" price range at this point! Ask around or look on Gumtree etc for Â50 deals maybe, hopefully that would fulfil the "keep it local" part of your request. You can always pick up ex-corporate boxes like Optiplexes or ThinkStations for pennies (or out of skips), give them a quick clean and a new lease of life with a SSD, some more cheap or spare RAM and even a budget discrete graphics card should you need it. Rumours of the PC's demise are a _little bit_ premature but the desktop computer is dying as a platform now - unless you're one of the rare people that really need a full-on workstation of course. Cheers -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG https://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq