Author Topic: My Laptop Computer  (Read 3197 times)

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Offline CG6468

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My Laptop Computer
« on: April 17, 2013, 10:24:50 PM »
I dropped my 7-year old HP laptop computer off with our grandson yesterday. He had the hard disks (there are 2) removed and was testing them within 10 minutes. I know not what the results were, but to upgrade it with new hard disk(s) and more RAM would cost less than $50. And he'll install WIN7.

I'll know this Sunday.
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town

Offline Chris_

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2013, 10:27:17 PM »
Upgrading to solid-state drives would cost a bit more but the performance improvements are unbelievable.
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline thundley4

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2013, 10:43:17 PM »
Upgrading to solid-state drives would cost a bit more but the performance improvements are unbelievable.

Would I see any benefit from installing a small solid state drive for the OS and other programs?

2.93 gigahertz Intel Core i3 530
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
4096 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Hyper-threaded (4 total)
1191.14 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
840.52 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

Offline Chris_

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2013, 10:46:42 PM »
Yes, definitely. You can get small drives for 40-50 dollars.  I have one on my desktop.  It boots up in 10-15 seconds and shuts down in half that time.
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline Chris_

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2013, 10:50:41 PM »
I think a 32-bit OS will only address 3Gb.  I have 8Gb on my desktop and installed a 64-bit copy of W8.
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline thundley4

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2013, 10:58:10 PM »
I think a 32-bit OS will only address 3Gb.  I have 8Gb on my desktop and installed a 64-bit copy of W8.

Microsoft - Windows 7 Home Premium (x64)

6072 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM0' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM1' has 1024 MB
Slot 'DIMM2' has 2048 MB
Slot 'DIMM3' has 1024 MB

This computer used to boot fast until some Windows Updates got to it.

Offline Chris_

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2013, 11:01:35 PM »
We use SATA drives on all our laptops.  Without a doubt, I can tell you a mechanical hard drive is going to be the biggest anchor on your computer.  Even the 7200 RPM drives on the engineering workstations are slow.

Try running Disk Cleanup.  There is a button labeled 'Clean up system files'.  Also, check your system properties and power management.  Some settings will slow your computer down to save energy.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2013, 11:06:54 PM by Chris_ »
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline thundley4

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2013, 11:27:20 PM »
I do the disk cleanup automatically when I'm at work, and I keep the power setting for performance instead of energy saving.

Offline CG6468

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2013, 09:27:06 AM »
Yes, definitely. You can get small drives for 40-50 dollars.  I have one on my desktop.  It boots up in 10-15 seconds and shuts down in half that time.

I'M BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP, BLUE SEA ON THIS.

The machine weighs a ton (compared to today's models) and it's 7 years old.

I'll ask the grandson about things..
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town

Offline CG6468

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2013, 10:28:13 AM »
Talked to grandson. He upgraded hard drive from 120G to 500G, and RAM from 2.5 to 4. Total cost: $100. He works for Best Buy and got the hard drive at a discount, and he had the RAM.  :-)

There were 2 antivirus programs running at the same time. He got it going again with the original stuff but upgraded it to suit my needs.

I'll pick it up on Sunday, when we go up there for our granddaughter's birthday.

That sure beats a new laptop, especially one with WIN8!
:yahoo:

I forgot - he's also trying to put in the solid state drive I had in the old desktop machine.
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town

Offline Chris_

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2013, 10:29:03 AM »
Wow, that's a big drive.
If you want to worship an orange pile of garbage with a reckless disregard for everything, get on down to Arbys & try our loaded curly fries.

Offline CG6468

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Re: My Laptop Computer
« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2013, 10:32:25 AM »
Wow, that's a big drive.

Yeah, but I have Office Pro, Corel Suite, and lots of files on it, in addition to Home Inventory Pro, Family Tree Maker (over 7600 individuals) and other programs.
Illinois, south of the gun controllers in Chi town