Advice for quest in getting new computer

Ok - so our family computer has crashed. I am on the hunt for a new one. I am seeking some advice on the necessary and great requirements for a new system. I am a rookie when it comes to the specs for a computer. Please help. Also, I am thinking about kicking my teenager off our computer for live computer gaming. This could have been the trigger for the crash Please help.

 

Are you sure it's crashed, like totally DOA? It's pretty rare when a PC completely dies 100%. You might just need some software repairs, or a simple component replacement. It might be alot cheaper than buying a new PC.... unless the crashed one is real old, and you're looking for something newer and more current.

 

pretty sure. Blue screen etc.... It would require reloading operating system and I don't have any cd's it is a rebuilt

 

Well, the blue screen of death (popularly known as the BSOD) is really not a big deal, especially if you've already resigned yourself to the fact that all your data is gone (it may not be, however). All you'd need to do is reload Windows, and this can be done without any data loss most of the time. But, without a Windows install CD, you're kind of dead in the water, but a Windows CD is a whole lot cheaper than a new PC.

 

most pc's like dell and hp do fairly well these days. If the pc is older then it may have just become terminally ill due to old components or hdd failure. Personally if I were to buy a prebuilt I would go with dell. if you just surf the web check email and the like any of them will do if you game a little then look for one with around 2 gigs of ram and a video card (not integrated)
P.S. I've gamed for years and the only bsod I had was video related in gaming so dont be too harsh on teen he probably didnt cause it