In message , Tim Lamb
writes

Transferring my existing stuff to a later version of Windows is
not likely to be easy.

Transferring stuff from one PC to another is never 'easy' even if same
operating system :-) TBH, it is more time consuming that difficult, and
I know some people love images of their hard drives, but I take a new
hard drive as an excuse to not bother transferring anything that seemed
a good idea at the time, but I never use.

Free office software is readily available (Kingsoft) for word
processing. My existing data files may not be accessible if transferred?

I now use open office because I'm too tight to buy a licence for Word,
Excel etc. Works perfectly, and opens/saves all my old Word/Excel
files.

Where I have original installation discs and the software version is
compatible, I will be able to load and use. (Quickbooks, Photoshop
7etc.)

Should be fine, unless you buy a 64 bit machine and try to run 32 bit
software like Turnpike.

A re-furbed. computer will have a working browser and be licensed. It
may not last many more years.

OTOH, it may last years. One I bought second hand did.

Care should be exercised in assuming E-Bay descriptions are accurate.

That should be engraved on every buyer's heart.

Windows 32 bit will limit addressable memory and constrain performance.
(gaming was never an ambition)

Has never been a problem for me.

A tower sold for use in a noisy office environment may not be suitable
for home use.

Not a problem with one I bought.

Available connections may not match printer and other peripherals.

True, but converters are available. My mouse and keyboard both have PS2
connectors, so I bought something like eBay item 161428852386 which
works perfectly. Similar converters are available for printers, but my
big problem was modern drivers for an old printer. I gave up in the
end, and bought a cheap Canon printer which does the job.

anything else?

Really depends what you want to do. You're not a gamer, and probably
have no need for a brand new super fast machine. I certainly don't. I
use two PCs, my son's hand me down W7 desktop, and this little Toshiba
NB200 netbook, both of which do everything I need, although the Tosh
sometimes struggles with large images, using Paint Shop Pro 5. Then I
just switch to the desktop.

I think Windows and Turnpike are the only paid for, licenced software I
use. PSP5 came from a cover disk. I use Blue Moon/ Firefox browser,
Open Office suite, and various other downloadable stuff for FTP, anti
virus etc.

My only luxury item is an external USB hard drive onto which I backup
all my data files [1]. Should either PC or hard drive die, I'll buy a
new hard drive or used PC, reinstall the programs and copy my data. No
more difficult than upgrading to another PC through choice.

[1] And the complete Turnpike folder.
--
Graeme