How to extend Lap Top memory / disc space?

Avoriaz

There are 4 things that are affecting your laptop performance.

The Processor – This is the brains of the laptop. Your 1,400 mhz speed is fine and anyway replacing laptop processors is not normally an easy or sensible option.

Memory – This is very fast memory that the processor uses when it is doing something. 512 mb ( half a gb) is fine for what you are doing. More would be nice but is not really necessary.

Disk - This is relatively slow memory that is mainly used for storing software and data when the laptop is switched off. Your 10gb disk is quite small by modern standards.

A clean, tidy and efficient set up. You have had good advice on this already above but you could also consider reinstalling Windows XP and all your applications from scratch. This will give you a fresh clean system. However, only attempt this if you know what you are doing or have someone to help you. It is quite easy to do provided you follow all the steps in a logical manner and make sure that you safely back up all your data.

I suggest that you buy a bigger replacement disk drive. 40gb would give you plenty of space and room to grow. You can probably get a used one for under £20 on ebay or a new one for under £40. All you need is a small screwdriver to install it. Don’t worry, even a complete novice could do this with proper instructions. I would suggest this in preference to an external disk or to saving stuff to DVD or CD.

£20 - £40 on a new disk and a few hours work reinstalling software will give you a fresh and fast laptop.

Blacksheep1979

If you have loads of files on your desktop this will slow your computer down as they get cached on startup. Also do you have loads of programs loading at startup ie are there loads of little icons in the taskbar in the bottom right?

imho

Blacksheep1979. I keep telling people the same thing but they laugh at me !

If you have loads of files on your desktop this will slow your computer down as they get cached on startup.

Blacksheep1979

yup had a arguement on another forum about startup and items on desktop - not even files but links and nobody would believe me, until someone tried it and sheepishly agreed.

devizes18193

Have you tried resizing the recycle bin .The default size is 10% of your hards drive . you can get by with less

IvanOpinion

imho wrote:

Blacksheep1979. I keep telling people the same thing but they laugh at me !

If you have loads of files on your desktop this will slow your computer down as they get cached on startup.

The files that get cached are in the directory c:\windows\prefetch. If you install and remove a lot of programs then this directory may contain some 'ghosts'. I have been told (although I have never had the nerve to do it) that deleting everything in this directory and then restarting windows will cause it to 'reanalyse' its caching requirements and clear out some deadwood.

Ivan

inmypocketnottheirs

Avoriaz wrote:

I suggest that you buy a bigger replacement disk drive. 40gb would give you plenty of space and room to grow. You can probably get a used one for under £20 on ebay or a new one for under £40. All you need is a small screwdriver to install it. Don’t worry, even a complete novice could do this with proper instructions. I would suggest this in preference to an external disk or to saving stuff to DVD or CD.

£20 - £40 on a new disk and a few hours work reinstalling software will give you a fresh and fast laptop.

Following the ebuyer link in albertross's post above would get you an internal 2.5" hard drive for under £30, then you could buy an external case for £7 from here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2-5-USB-EXTERNAL-HARD-DISK-DRIVE-CASE-LAPTOP-PC-HDD_W0QQitemZ130064853236QQihZ003QQcategoryZ31521QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
So you would then have an extra 60gb of hard drive, without having to dismantle your lap top. I did this when my old laptop crashed, salvaged my hard drive, and now have an extra 60gb of memory.

[Deleted User]

Avoriaz wrote:

I suggest that you buy a bigger replacement disk drive. 40gb would give you plenty of space and room to grow. You can probably get a used one for under £20 on ebay or a new one for under £40. All you need is a small screwdriver to install it. Don’t worry, even a complete novice could do this with proper instructions. I would suggest this in preference to an external disk or to saving stuff to DVD or CD.

£20 - £40 on a new disk and a few hours work reinstalling software will give you a fresh and fast laptop.

This sounds promising. I have a mobility disability so if I can avoid using an external HD it would be better (less chance of breaking/dropping/losing it etc)

There's one panel which can be unscrewed underneath laptop (haven't had the nerve to do it yet). But laptop came with XP pre-loaded so I don't have the software to re-install. Is there any way around this?

Also I had a look at recycle bin & my computer etc but can't see how to resize recycle bin...how do i do it?

Thanks for the advvice everyone, I am actually learning alot from you guys

albertross_2

bushbaby1103 wrote:

But laptop came with XP pre-loaded so I don't have the software to re-install. Is there any way around this?

Disk imaging software such as Norton Ghost or Acronis Trueimage.

Avoriaz

To resize the Recycle Bin, right click on the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop or in Windows Explorer and select Properties.

You will see a slider that is probably set at 10%.

Change it to the value you require, say 5%.


The disk drive is more likely to be accessed at the side of the laptop rather than the base. Post the make and model and I will look up the specification for you and see where the disk is.

If you do replace the disk, you will need to reinstall Windows XP and all your software and data. Unfortunately I don't really know the procedure if you don't have the original XP installation disk. Who supplied the laptop? They really should have given you a means of reinstalling XP. You will also need installation disks for all your other software.

Maybe Albertross can help you with disk imaging software.