Speed up aging laptop?

truescot

Got an 8 year old HP laptop that has only ever been used for simple browsing, email and Word. Would like my daughter to use it this year for light schoolwork to save buying her a new one, but it can be really slow. What's the best way to speed it up myself, to save taking it to a "PC doctor" type place or buying new one? It's running Windows 10 and is not suitable to upgrade to Windows 11. I've removed unused apps and docs and run a security scan. Thanks 😊 

molerat

The best speed up option would be replacing the HDD with an SSD on top of a clean OS install and maybe upgrading / increasing the memory.  But is it really worth spending any money on it ?   I am still using my 2011 laptop and have no speed issues for day to day use so maybe yours is just a slow processor which will not really respond successfully to any upgrading. 

Ayr_Rage

3 essential questions.

1. What processor does it have?

2. How much RAM memory?

3. What type and size of hard drive (traditional or SSD) and what percentage is in use? 

Frozen_up_north

Some laptops can be painfully slow, an elderly relative was sold a near useless Celeron processor Acer Windows 10 laptop that was obsolete when bought, it too is so sluggish as to render it useless and it is not compatible with Windows 11.
While you might be able to improve matters by adding more RAM and replacing the disk drive with a solid state disk, Windows 10 support has ceased unless you use a Microsoft account and extend the support to Oct 2026, overall you are putting off the inevitable and wasting money adding an SSD and RAM.

Another option is to forget Windows and install Linux. Ubuntu has a look and feel of Windows, includes Libre Office and Firefox as standard. It is free and will run well on old hardware.

Vitor

Try running Chrome OS Flex off a USB as a 'live boot' to test it, it maybe what is being used in the skool

danthemoneysavingman

Assuming you want to stick with Windows: install "CCleaner Free" and let it have a crack at deleting all the rubbish that may have accumulated on there. Also clean the Registry using the tool within that app (Tools --> Registry). Uninstall unwanted software if you have any. These are all free so you can see if it helps.

There's also ADWCleaner, worth a run through after CCleaner:
Download and install AdwCleaner on a Windows device – Malwarebytes Help Center

Also free.

You may also want to try installing "uBlock Origin" on the browser (uBlock Origin Lite for Chrome). This speeds up web page loading as it blocks almost all ads.

best of luck! If none of this works, probably best getting a new one on Black Friday  

Eyeful

1. You may have
(a) slow processor
(b) insufficient RAM memory
(c) old fashion magnetic hard. Which could be small in size and nearly full.

2. If you do not want to spend any money, try this first
(a) Download the free version of "Wise Disk Cleaner Portable" and store it on a USB drive.
https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/wise-disk-cleaner-portable
(b) Run the Wise Disk Cleaner" from the USB, Use the
Common Cleaner
Advance Cleaner
Disk Defrag
I have used it many times, have found it safe and removed a lot of junk.
You might want to consider using some parts of the System Slimming

Observe how much it removes and see if your computers speed improves. 

3. Windows 10 & 11 Operating Systems have grown to a very large size.

Another free thing your might like to consider is replacing Windows with another operating system which work well on old or less powerful computers.

The two I suggest you look at are: Linux Mint or Zorin. 

You can look on You Tube for videos of how to do this

Newcad

Is everyone missing something here?

" .. would like my daughter to use it this year for light schoolwork"

What type of laptop does the school specify for pupils to use?

Many schools specify Chromebooks not Windows laptops. Mainly because they are cheap, readily available, and store things in the cloud.

The software used on a Chromebook is cloud based, the files (homework) created is stored in the cloud. (So I lost my laptop/it broke/the dog ate it, and so on is no excuse, another device can quickly pull  the homework down from the cloud).

Also - I do not seeing a school being happy.about an End of Life Windows 10 computer being connected to the schools network. (Extended support or not).

By all means use the suggestions above to keep the machine running and and out of ewaste landfill.

I'm just not sure about the suitability for schoolwork.

BFBW

molerat said:

The best speed up option would be replacing the HDD with an SSD on top of a clean OS install and maybe upgrading / increasing the memory.  But is it really worth spending any money on it ?   I am still using my 2011 laptop and have no speed issues for day to day use so maybe yours is just a slow processor which will not really respond successfully to any upgrading. 

Some interesting flights of fancy here Even with a slow processor, fitting an inexpensive SSD will improve the performance considerably.
Secondly, whilst Microsoft suggests that your PC is not compatible with Windows 11, it isn't actually true. Once installed, it will run normally on an eight year old device, at least until October 2027.

The starting point, before you do anything else, is to identify the device.

You can find an HP laptop's model number on the physical label or by using the Fn + Esc keyboard shortcut. The physical label is usually on the bottom, back, or side of the laptop. 

Eyeful

Newcad said:

Is everyone missing something here?

" .. would like my daughter to use it this year for light schoolwork"

What type of laptop does the school specify for pupils to use?

Many schools specify Chromebooks not Windows laptops. Mainly because they are cheap, readily available, and store things in the cloud.

The software used on a Chromebook is cloud based, the files (homework) created is stored in the cloud. (So I lost my laptop/it broke/the dog ate it, and so on is no excuse, another device can quickly pull  the homework down from the cloud).

Also - I do not seeing a school being happy.about an End of Life Windows 10 computer being connected to the schools network. (Extended support or not).

By all means use the suggestions above to keep the machine running and and out of ewaste landfill.

I'm just not sure about the suitability for schoolwork.

If i remember correctly
You can turn an old Windows laptop into a free Chromebook-like device by installing ChromeOS Flex, which is the official lightweight version of ChromeOS made by Google for older PCs and Macs. ChromeOS Flex is free to download and works well even on aging hardware, making it a choice for repurposing a device that can't run the latest Windows smoothly.

So this is just another free alternative.Chromebook operating system is another Linux OS. .