Do you still own an old laptop/PC that is struggling even to boot up properly? If it’s technically alive and needs a significant speed boost, then keep on reading.
A decade-old PC or laptop could be useful for web surfing and general day-to-day computing at home. This is more than a reason to revive your old machine you had a connection with.

Laptops are inherently less upgradeable due to their design restrictions; however, personal computers could be upgraded to a greater extent. If you recall your computer basics, a processor is the computer’s brain, and it is highly dependent on the underlying circuit known as the motherboard. This whole computer theory teaches us to consider the mutual compatibility of components during an upgrade. Otherwise, an unplanned upgrade could lead to wastage of money and time.

Now let’s talk about those potential upgrades that can make you fall in love with your old laptop/PC again. Let’s dig deeper into the meat of the article – How to speed up your laptop/PC?

1. RAM (Random Access Memory)

Computers mainly use two types of memories – Primary and Secondary. RAM is the primary memory that computers heavily rely upon. Insufficient memory can increase the idle time of your processor that leads to a sluggish user experience.

The next question that might be popping up in your head is – How much RAM do I need? It all depends on the operating system (Windows/Mac/Linux) and applications you want to use. On Windows computers, 4GB has become a standard, and you can go up the ladder as per your work requirements. Macs, Linux and Unix computers have their own RAM criteria for smoother computer operation.

Once you decided to upgrade, you need to identify the type of RAM your laptop/PC supports. This is because memory comes in many variants, and it’s crucial to find the right one for your specific laptop/PC. There are many tools to solve this problem; please check the tools section at the end of the article. This is one way how you can speed up your laptop/PC.

2. SSD (Solid State Drive)

Secondary memory includes the storage devices (like HDD, CD/DVD, Floppy, etc.) needed to permanently store your data. Technology is evolving rapidly with time, and SSD is an answer to the old storage technology. These drives are inherently fast and are advantageous to the old technology in a lot of ways.

If your computer still uses the old storage drives, switching over to an SSD will make it surprisingly responsive. However, these modern drives are costly when compared to their former counterparts. To make this upgrade cost-effective, a smaller SSD of 120GB or 240GB capacity will suffice your needs if just used as an OS or boot drive. There are ways to use SSD and HDD simultaneously in a computer to balance the performance and cost-effectiveness. In such a case, install your OS onto the SSD and use your HDD to store your other data.

Most people know about RAM upgrades. However, very few give a thought to how fast could an SSD upgrade make your computer. Trust me, you will be blown away if you’ve never seen SSD’s performance before. This concludes another way how you can speed up your laptop/PC.

SSD Recommendations

Here is a list of recommended SSDs –

• Western Digital Blue SSD 1TB
• Crucial BX500 SSD 1TB
• Samsung 870 EVO SSD 500GB
• Crucial BX500 SSD 480GB
• Seagate Barracuda Q1 SSD 240GB
• Crucial BX500 SSD 240GB
• Western Digital WD Green SSD 240 GB
• Crucial BX500 SSD 120GB
• Western Digital WD Green SSD 120 GB
• Kingston SSDNow A400 SSD 120GB

Disclaimer

RAM upgrade is pretty simple when compared to an SSD upgrade. Most laptops and PCs offer a pretty simple mechanism to remove or install an SSD or RAM. However, installing an SSD needs more work to make it your OS or boot drive. Make sure to learn OS installation from scratch or get someone to do it for you.

Tools

One of the best tools for this task is, fortunately, a freeware named CPU-Z. This tool is available for Windows and Android at the time of writing this article. This will fetch almost all the details required to know your computer hardware. Visit the official website by clicking here.

Final Verdict

After going through this article, you can conclude the two types of potential upgrades which are highly recommended for a slower computer. Apart from these upgrades, it’s pretty hard to add something to an old computer that can boost its performance significantly. Also, it’s not always possible to upgrade major components due to their tight coupling with other parts. It is worth noting that the above-discussed upgrades are the most effective and feasible in almost 99% of the cases.

Enjoy the technology in the way it is designed to work.