I went with Linux Mint on a computer that had been bricked by a Windows update. Total cost was $32 for a 240 GB SATA HD. Now my 6 year old HP runs faster than most new Windows computers. Firefox, Thunderbird and Libre Office were installed with the package, which is great because I already used them..
:)
Why in the world would a software change fry the hardware? May be the hardware was already failing. Hardware does not last for ever, unlike software which does not wear out.