Norton said to run chkdsk for errors found on hard drive!

FredricJLowe said:

I can't see putting a new Solid State hard drive on a Intel 2 quad core processor that is 12 yrs. old.
The Dell rep online wasn't sure if the SDD would even fit. He asked for me to get the service tag# off the desktop so he could verify if it could.

From post #15 you have a SATA 300 interface, so the answer is yes, you can install a 2.5" SSD.
Although a SSD will have a faster transfer rate than the computer interface, it will work great. You will have a much faster computer.

This is a desktop. Can I use a 2.5 inch internal solid state hard drive in it instead of a 3.5 inch?

Everyone seems that I should just replace the hard drive.
But what about the condition of the 12 year old Intel core 2 quad processor? What happens when there are issues with that? Or am I over thinking this?

FredricJLowe said:

This is a desktop. Can I use a 2.5 inch internal solid state hard drive in it instead of a 3.5 inch?

Run the Crucial scanner.

So if I put in a new solid state hard drive. You said a clean install. Do you mean to reinstall a clean new version of Windows 10? And then just do a full recovery of the Acronis backup for all of the files and folders that were incrementally backed up religiously on a weekly basis.
But if I did a full recovery using my latest Acronies backup doesn't that also recover the exsiting Windows 10 operating system?
I'm trying to understand what is meant and I don't fully grasp everyone's suggestions in their entirety.

My existing hard drive is 500 gb but couldn't I get a 1 TB solid state hard drive?

It was suggested to get a 2.5 inch solid state hard drive but the existing internal one is 3.5 inches. I asked the other expert if you can put in a 2.5 inch one.

Slow down.

I said you can do one of two things to get data from the old hard drive to the new hard drive.

1. Cloning (you plug the USB side of the USB/SATA cable into your computer's USB port, and the SATA side into the new hard drive. You then run a program to clone the old drive to the new drive).

2. Restoring a system image (meaning a disk image backup of your entire hard drive).

It's one or the other, not both.

You can get whatever capacity drive you want to pay for, that fits your system.

Since you don't have the answer, that's why you've been told several times to run the Crucial scanner...to see what is available for your system.

Will run first thing in the morning. Thank you OldNavyGuy!
But what do you mean, "you could either clone to the new drive, or restore a previous disk image to the new drive."
If I recover this existing hard drive to the new one from my Acronis Full backup, what is meant by clone to the new drive or restore a previous disk image?

I'll take a stab at what I think it means. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Clone would be just a recovery of all backed up files and folders from the Acronis backup.
Restore a previous disk image would be the same as just mentioned along with the existing operating system (Windows 10 Home Edition 64 bit)

Am I correct, partoally correct or totally incorrect? Please help me understand.
Thank you again!!

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you. Like I said I'll run the Crucial Scanner first thing.
I never knew what cloning meant. You explained it to me. I've never done any of this hardware upgrading other than plugging in. RAM modules.

When you clone a hard drive, you are directly connecting the old hard drive to the new hard drive using a special cable called a USB to SATA, and transferring everything on the old hard drive to the new hard drive.

The old hard drive is still installed, and new hard drive is connected to your computer with a USB to SATA cable, and is connected externally. You won't actually install the new drive in the computer until after the cloning is done.

Cloning software does the transfer. The drive manufacturer may provide it, or there are several available for download.

For recovering from a disk image, you have already installed the new hard drive, but there is no data on it. You boot from your backup software's recovery disk, and then restore the disk image of the old drive you made earlier to the new hard drive, using the disk imaging backup software.

Two totally different ways to get to the same result.

Just go slow, read and follow the steps, and you'll do fine.

Thank you OldNavyGuy for that explanation! That cleared up my confusion on the 2 methods.
Now it's time to run the Crucial Scanner.

- - - Updated - - -

Ran the Crucial Scanner and yes I can put in a new 1 tb Solid State hard drive. I chatted with one of their agents and he actually suggested I get a new Device. I asked him to elaborate as to why.
Here are some of his comments:

" Dixit H I would suggest you to go for a new device
Me (6/30/2020, 9:59:10 AM): That was a very quick answer. Could you please offer a short concise rationale
Me (6/30/2020, 9:59:59 AM): by device you mean the new Dell XPS with Intel i 9 etc....
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:00:08 AM): Yes
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:00:14 AM): Intel i9 is best
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:00:24 AM): in terms of processing
Me (6/30/2020, 10:00:27 AM): yes that is very true
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:00:58 AM): It will help you in long run and in future if you wish to upgrade you can purchase memories or SSD's from Crucial
Me (6/30/2020, 10:01:14 AM): that is exactly what I was thinking
Me (6/30/2020, 10:01:30 AM): because it will have 16 gb of RAM expandable to 64 GB
Me (6/30/2020, 10:01:46 AM): I could just add more RAM by purchasing from you.
Me (6/30/2020, 10:01:52 AM): my feeling was
Me (6/30/2020, 10:02:03 AM): what if this 12 yr old processor fails
Me (6/30/2020, 10:02:08 AM): or yes
Me (6/30/2020, 10:02:22 AM): the SDD will dramatically increase the speed on this old computer
Me (6/30/2020, 10:02:41 AM): but eventually I would want to dump this and buy a new one
Me (6/30/2020, 10:02:52 AM): on the other hand
Me (6/30/2020, 10:03:07 AM): lets say i did buy the SDD and put in this 12 yr old computer
Me (6/30/2020, 10:03:22 AM): at the moment it takes forever to run Malwarebytes
Me (6/30/2020, 10:03:25 AM): over 1 day!!!!
Me (6/30/2020, 10:03:40 AM): probably becuase the existing hard drive is old and failing?
Me (6/30/2020, 10:03:53 AM): i don't use this desktop that much anymore
Me (6/30/2020, 10:04:08 AM): but I still have a lot of data on here. that's why I keep it
Me (6/30/2020, 10:04:29 AM): i use a newer HP laptop with a SDD that boots up in 7 seconds or less
Me (6/30/2020, 10:04:55 AM): yesterday this desktop took almost 9 minutes to get to the Welcome screen after working on fixing windows errors!
Me (6/30/2020, 10:05:09 AM): so last comment from you please Dixit
Me (6/30/2020, 10:05:28 AM): if I did purchase a 1 TB SDD for this 12 yr old desktop
Me (6/30/2020, 10:06:10 AM): WOULD I NOTICE A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE IN SPEED? AND COULD THIS BE A FIX FOR A FEW YEARS WITH THIS 12 YR OLD QUAD CORE iNTEL 2 PROCESSOR?
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:06:42 AM): The speed will not significantly improve
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:06:50 AM): As it is an old processor
Me (6/30/2020, 10:06:54 AM): ahhhhhh
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:07:09 AM): And it will have some motherboard restrictions as well
Me (6/30/2020, 10:07:17 AM): THIS IS WHAT i WAS ASKING FOR
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:07:41 AM): I hope it answers your question Fred
Me (6/30/2020, 10:07:49 AM): IT CLEARS UP A LOT
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:08:15 AM): Anything else I may assist you with today
Me (6/30/2020, 10:08:26 AM): can you elaborate on what you mean by motherboard restrictions before I let you go?
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:09:19 AM): One motherboard may have a limit of, for example 48 GB for Unbuffered RAM, and a limit of 128 GB for ECC Registered RAM. The limits on the amount of memory addressable may also depend on the CPU installed. Some motherboards can address more memory with a Xeon CPU than with a Core i-series
Me (6/30/2020, 10:09:57 AM): WOW I didn't understand a word of that!!! Can you dummy it down for this tired soul please?!!!!
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:10:41 AM): Yes i will
Me (6/30/2020, 10:11:06 AM): great
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:15:01 AM): You need memories and SSD's to increase the speed of your device but every motherboard has its own capacity 3
Dixit H (6/30/2020, 10:15:24 AM): You need to refer to your Owner's manual for that "

So what are your thoughts on what he said?
Yes, I could get this Crucial Solid State Hard Drive for about $115.
But he said I wouldn't notice a big difference...plus further motherboard restrictions.
Eventually I would want to get a new computer.....this is 12 years old....like how long would I keep a 12 year old car?
I know it's up to me ultimately, but all of you that have been trying to help me, are EXPERTS. I'm at best an intermediate if even after 25 years of just using computers!!
Thank you again to all of you for ALL OF YOUR HELP TO DATE!!!

Check the cost for a 500 GB drive.
This cost then allows you to take your time to purchase another computer.

Excellent suggestion. I just checked the Crucial MX500 500GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD - CT500MX500SSD1 goes for $69.99. I found it as little as $32.99 with Free Shipping. Probably wouldn't get here for weeks!
So it boils down to do I want to hassle with transferring the data to a new SDD on this 12 yr old machine or take the plunge for a new one. So far no one has come close to the deal from Dell i9 processor, 2 TB SDD for $1489.

The other question then is this either way I will have to transfer the data.

OldNavyGuy explained it eloquently for me.
By cloning, wouldn't that take a very very long time since this is a failing hard drive?
But by recovering the complete image with Acronis True Image 2018 on my desktop, the full and incremental backups have already been done, wouldn't that be the quicker of the 2 methods? I would install Acronis True Image 2020 and do a complete full backup prior to the transfer to the new Solid State hard drive, wherever that is on.

Lastly, it was also suggested to do a clean install. Was that referring to a clean installation of Windows 10 Home Edition?

Thank you again to all of you!