P.S. But yeah, like I said, I really fucked up my PC, err, accidentally. It's... Yeah. I 2as planning to switch to a new one for about $600 and I may be able to scrounge up what I have to get on3 quickly, but I'm... going to need some help. Thank you all kindly. ππ
If you really need a computer and don't have the budget for one that costs $600, then don't get a $600 computer. There are plenty of old office PCs on eBay that you can get for less than $100 and they should be fine for only homework. Just search for "Office PC" on there.
This is not the place to be asking for money, but I hope you find something that fits your budget and that university goes well.
OP might need a beefier rig depending on the programme they're in. Not saying they couldn't go for something cheaper, but there might be a reason for the pricetag.
In the same situation as you are - I have a barely functional laptop. I'll be buying one off from eBay for cheap soon. I don't know what your use-case is, but you can get a quad-core ThinkPad or a Dell Latitude for cheap. These devices are also very durable. All under 200-300$. Even 100$, if you're lucky in the bid. If you're not a CS grad, you can pick a dual-core laptop as well - just make sure to get the one with a large RAM - or upgrade it yourself for cheap. 600$ is not a small money, and people don't like it when someone asks for it trivially.
If you don't need a beefy CPU+dGPU, the X395, the T490 and the T495 would be great. However, if good CPU is a strict requirement, you may want to pick something like the T14 Gen 1/2 oe the X13 Gen 1/2 laptops. If you also need a dGPU, the P50, P51, P52 or the P53 series with a i7/i9/Xeon processor, and a Nvidia Quadra GPU. You can get them under 300-400$.
Thankfully, the Thinkpads and Precision laptops are quite durable - these devices have a really good chassis, so you don't have to worry about micro-cracks in the motherboard. If you want something more rugged, you could go for the Toughbook and the Precision Rugged series, but they're going to be really expensive, which is not worth it. Since I am not still not sure about your actual use-case, it would be hard to recommend devices, but assuming that you don't need a dGPU, the T-series and X-series would be the best bet (and even the P-series, if there's a variant without the dGPU).
BitLocker recovery key? Windows 11 now apparently does that by default. That's just Windows' encryption. So, if that's the case, while you lost the data on that PC it is just a software issue.
Bruh, I just came across this comment...your PC isn't "damaged" - all you gotta do is either find the lost BitLocker key, or reinstall the OS. Here's what you could do - remove the NVME, or the M.2 SSD, or the HDD (if that's what you're still on), to your brother's PC, and move all the required files to a safe space. Then create an installation media for Windows, and well, there you go.
And comrade, please, I urge you to learn to be computer-savy, and perhaps, use a Linux desktop, if you're not constrained by any Windows-exclusive apps. Perhaps Bazzite may be a good choice. Or Ubuntu, maybe Fedora? Why would you stick to a capitalist turd OS with multiple NSA backdoors is beyond my understanding.
Microsoft literally (and no, I'm not joking) uses telemetry services in the background, fills your computer with bloatware, and doesn't give you the freedom to use your own purchased OS. And now, they've also started taking screenshots of your computer (yes, for real - it is related to some sort of AI bullshit - Copilot PC was it?).
Go on that other website and look for the subreddits where people are begging for money for food, and post there. Also, just tell your teacher and they should be able to provide an extension and maybe help you in finding a way to get it done.