Windows 10: Updating laptop....

Aside from my Lenovo I've still got my original old Win 7 which I keep up to date just in case of any problems with Lenovo, meanwhile using it primarily as storage for piano keyboard practice as it has a lot of music stored on MP4 files. However I keep important things in a Cloud account which I keep up to date as a back up having lost a USB once though fortunately there was nothing important on it.

This is why I think the SSD speed up suggestion could be ideal and then see how things turn out as space isn't a top priority. *Smile

 

I'm personally of the opinion 4gig of RAM for Windows 10 is pretty minimal. Anyway it seems a few things were missed here when this image was posted by the OP...





1) The above appears to have not been updated since it's still showing 2016 instead of 2017 that shows with the Anniversary and Creator updates. A fully patched Windows 10 will have a date of 2017, not 2016...




Windows 10, version 1703. Build 15063.502

2) And for a 64-bit OS, as I said, 4 gig of RAM is pretty minimum. If you want to OS to fly, you really need to up the memory to at least 8 gig (if possible).

On my 2013 Asus Zenbook Prime notebook, I had to ultimately replace it because it's non-upgradable 4gig of RAM was killing it performance wise, especially where Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom were concerned.

3) Add that the OP is running an i3 processor and you just have a slow notebook.

Also, once the initial use of an SSD drive is used, it tends to slow due to garbage collection/Trim cycles in cleaning up data that was written and then ultimately deleted. This is done so that the used space is recovered for later data use.

All these factors conspire to slow an already slowed system down.

 

Thanks so what do I have to do ?

 

You have choices:

1/ Fit a new SSD and clean install. This preserves your original set up on the original drive. You could always pop the old drive back if you got stuck (unlikely).

2/ Be confident and clean install W10 onto your present drive. There is no going back with this, once you begin you must see the installation through and resolve any issues along the way. The old installation is gone and none recoverable. There should not be any issues but unless you have a second PC or access to the web (to ask if you got stuck) then this probably isn't the method for you.

And do as I suggested and see what capacity you actually need for a new drive. In other words how full is your present drive ? Look at your C Drive which is where Windows lives.

I have nearly 20,000 indexed items related to the work and programs I use and yet they take little space.

 

I think I need to know how to resolve this new issue first before doing anything further....

 

I have been running my SSD for 4 years now and I am a power user. No slowdowns as of yet. Still performing as fast as it did when I bought it.

An i3 CPU is good enough.

If working on apps from Adobe or any kind of heavy professional image manipulation, then 8GB RAM isn't always enough either. I would not touch those apps even with a stick if on a laptop, unless it's a top of the line one with latest and fastest parts of everything.

For basic office tasks an i3 and 4GB RAM is enough, no matter if on 32 or 64 bit OS. Many people claim an i5 is slow also, that is total nonsense. My laptop beats most of i7 laptops from same era in performance. Performance is so much more than just the CPU and amount of RAM.

I doubt the OP is doing any heavy video or photo editing, or he would most likely own a heavy weight desktop computer.

We can not go and recommend some expensive hardware and claim he needs it for someone who absolutely do NOT need that kind of performance.

I'd say upgrade to a 128-300GB SSD and optionally add more RAM. That's it. Next step would be to consider a new laptop with decent specs, once this one is starting to see the end of it's life. A MID level consumer laptop is more than good enough for most users. I never recommend to buy the cheapest low end consumer devices. They have poor quality and specs are terrible, which forces the user to buy a new one every or every second year. Neither do I recommend buying a top of the line laptop. It is a waste of money for most users.

You get most bang for the buck from laptops in the $600-1000 range. Less than that and you are in the low end market.

My personal requirements are in the $2500-5000 range. But that is a completely different story.

 

Computers out of the box are set to normal boot.
You can quickly see if there is a non-Microsoft service delaying the boot by placing the computer in clean boot.
Clean boot is likely to be the fastest boot time for your computer as all non-Microsoft services are turned off on boot.
Then if there are a few applications that you always use immediately after boot you can change clean boot to selective boot.
So you have the option to modify the boot times by using msconfig.



https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows


How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki



https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...9-f400e879ce17

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...a-dd8cd4b4db00

 

@zbook Great points!

 

How about this one ?

SanDisk SSD PLUS 240 GB up to 530 MB/s Sata III 2.5 inch Internal SSD: Amazon.co.uk: Computers Accessories

 

That looks OK to me. These days we are spoiled for choice.

 

If you have a look on the Lenovo site you will see there is a full service manual available (pdf) that details how to remove and refit your hard drive.
https://download.lenovo.com/consumer...series_hmm.pdf

 

Great, again many thanks and to all....*Smile

 

Instead of trying to shoot me down, you might listen as I'm also here to help the OP by pointing what his specs really mean.... that is, no matter how you slice it, it's not a very fast system.

Yes, upgrading the SSD drive and RAM is a start, but there's still the i3 CPU. Also, if this is a laptop, the "upgrade" options may be limited. Perhaps they can't up the memory. Perhaps the SSD drive is a propriety one in which you can only get it from the vendor.

Example, the 256gig SSD drive in my 2013 Asus Zenbook Prime (UX31A) notebook is a proprietary one which isn't readily available or easy to replace. I also can't up the RAM from 4gig. These too must be considered when making suggestions.

BTW, you also seem to overlook the fact that the OS is lacking updates. Maybe updating the machine would help with some performance loss. Regardless, I would get the updates done.

Peace *Cool

 

The OP might find it interesting to run the built in Windows Assessment tool to gauge where the performance of the standard drive is at.

1/ Right click the Start button (bottom left) and select Windows PowerShell (admin) from the list.

2/ Copy and paste this after the flashing cursor:
Winsat formal -restart cleanWinsat formal -restart clean

The assessment will take between around 2 to 5 minutes to run and will produce a whole page of text. Down near the end is the HDD performance. The 8.1 is the Windows 'score', marks out of ten *Smile

You can copy the results by left clicking and dragging the cursor over all the text and then place the cursor up at the top line, right click and select 'edit' and 'copy'.

 

It gets about halfway then the black screen disappears....??