Do I need a new laptop? Advice please.

[njee20]

get a quality SSD as I suggested earlier

I have 'Kingspec' SSDs in two different machines (including an Acer Aspire laptop), they're obscenely cheap from AliExpress and perform as well as the expensive Samsung ones I've got. YMMV.

[The Q]

I've upgraded 2 aspire laptops memory, it was just a case of:

find the exact model off the back of the machine.
Type that number into a memory suppliers page, ( I use Mr Memory).

Up popped the options available.
Order the max it can have.
Watch video on YouTube for that models memory upgrade, though most are very similar.
Unscrew the panel covering the memory.
Unclip the two old memory boards.
Clip in the two new boards,
Put the cover back on.
 Job done.

I've also upgraded a old Toshiba from 4Gb, to 12Gb, same procedure as above and a small HDD, to a 1Tb SSD. It really improved the performance and happily runs win 10 and MS Office.

Note, many PCs and laptops won't run win 11 as they require TMP V2 built in. Which the older stuff doesn't have. There is a work round for that, but you're heading for nerd territory, and it's not always successful ( from what I've read).

Time to go use that old Toshiba to do the MRC accounts.

[davidinyork]

Stay far away from upgrading this laptop to Windoze 11. Updating any version of Windoze to the next one is tricky at the best of times, and is an absolute living nightmare if it ever goes wrong - and upgrades go wrong so, so often.

Not really the case these days - In the case of 10 to 11 in-place upgrades, it normally either works or refuses to install at all (most usually because the computer doesn't meet the hardware requirements but can be other reasons). If it's offered through the updates list in the settings app then it is supported (won't offer it otherwise). If it appears there then it's fairly safe to upgrade it.

Yes there are workarounds to the hardware requirements (there's also a lower ceiling which is harder to circumvent) - but these all need a wipe and reinstall and are best avoided for general home users. The annual feature updates also won't install on an unsupported system, so another wipe and reinstall will be necessary - and there's no guarantee that an update in between won't break them. I'd never install W11 on production work machines which didn't meet the hardware requirements - too risky. Done it in testing to see what does and doesn't work, but that's as far as it goes.

I've pushed out the 10 to 11 upgrade to over a hundred machines using Microsoft's remote management platform (Intune), and probably at least 90% of them have installed it with no problems. Of those which haven't, it's normally needed a bit of prodding on the machine itself. A handful have needed a wipe and reinstall, but in no cases did trying to update break them - they just stayed on Windows 10 if they were refusing to install 11.

[Papyrus]

Blimey! My brain hurts... 

I very much appreciate everybody's input but I'll stick with my original intention to take it to the local laptop garage. I've never taken a laptop apart except to fit a new battery, and I don't intend to start now! I will report back.

Cheers,

Chris

[njee20]

Replacing a battery is almost certainly harder than replacing a HDD/SSD, but nothing wrong with outsourcing it.

[Papyrus]

Update

I finally got around to doing something about this after a car repair wasn't as expensive as I feared. My laptop came back today and the difference is amazing. It booted up in a couple of minutes while my tea was brewing so for just over £100 I have a machine which is working as well as it did when new. If I get another 2 or 3 years use out of it I will be well pleased.

Onward and upward,

Cheers,

Chris

[Bealman]

  

[Malc]

It's worth checking which startup files are running. You can get lots of bloatware that insists on installing startup files that slow your PC down.