How can I speed up a Windows 10 laptop?
0Reported today on The Guardian Technology
For the full article visit: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2020/feb/13/how-can-i-speed-up-a-windows-10-laptop
How can I speed up a Windows 10 laptop?
Matt is resurrecting a 10-year-old laptop with only 4GB of memory. How can he make it run faster?
I am trying to resurrect an old but good-in-its-day laptop for my son to use for his A-levels. I have bought a cheap 256GB SSD to improve the read/write speeds, but it seems I am stuck with the current 4GB of memory. Its two memory slots could support 8GB but 4GB DDR2 memory modules are prohibitively expensive at roughly £65 each. It doesn't seem to make sense spending that sort of money on outdated memory technology for a 10-year-old laptop.
What is the best way to set up Windows 10 so it runs fast on relatively limited memory? Is it worth using a different browser to Chrome? Is Microsoft Office too much of a resource hog?
There must be a lot of perfectly good machines awaiting an opportunity for a second life. Matt
Chip costs are driven by production volumes, so obsolete types of memory are no longer in production, or are very expensive to produce. Often, there are alternatives, such as buying second-hand memory modules, and cannibalising laptops sold on eBay for "spares or repair".
In this case, there are very few second-hand modules for sale. When DDR2 was standard, many laptops had 2GB, but very few had the 8GB that would need two 4GB modules.
If your laptop can use ECC error correcting memory, then you might be able to buy some of that. ECC memory modules have an extra chip for parity checking, and were used in servers. Even decades ago, servers had lots of memory, so 4GB ECC chips should be easier to find.
On the bright side, 4GB laptops have been common for most of the past decade, and some people still buy them. It's better to have 8GB, but 4GB is usable.
Lean Windows