How to Truly Speed up an Old Computer Using an SSD

Computer starting to run slowly? As computers age it seems with each passing year they become slower and slower but why? As programs are installed, hard drive space becomes filled, updates are applied, and newer technology requirements become the standard older computer's just get slow. So what is the trick to extending the life and speeding up your old system?

You might be surprised to know that the slowest part of most computers, especially laptops, is the hard drive. Many manufacturers will tout the biggest and baddest processor, more and more memeory, and larger hard drive space but what are you really getting? The hard drives in most laptops are the slowest produced, starting with 4200 RPM drives and maybe getting 5400RPM with a premium model. So with that being said what can we do about it?

The easiest and highest impact improvement you can make is to switcxh out that stock hard drive with what is called an SSD (solid state drive). these drives are made with simialr technology as a flash drive (or thumb drive, usb stick, whatever you want to call it). the benefits are a much much faster read and write time as well as lower power consumption and shock resistance. Replacing your current hard drive with a solid state drive and you will be surprised at home much faster that old computer can be.

The process consists of four easy steps:

1.  Remove the old hard drive from the computer. Whether laptop, desktop, or all-in-one, this process may vary. In the video below I show how to do this with a laptop.

2.  Once you have the old hard drive out it might be a good idea to purchase a hard drive enclosure. This will allow you to hook up the old hard drive with all of your data on it to the computer to use as extra storage.

3.  Install the SSD. The drive is very easy to install and should look just like the one you took out (except desktops and older all-in-ones which have a larger drive). If you have a desktop you might need an adapter bracket to mount it in the same spot or you can screw it to the framing anywhere you see fit. These drivers are shock proof and do not need to be oriented in any certain way. Just throw it in there if you want( although not really recommended).

4.  Using an operating system disc or the recovery media that came with or was pcreated from your computer when purchased you will now need to reload the new hard drive. This process is fairly automated on new computers but you may have to do some installing of any other softwre you use such as office, security software, or others.

Once this is done you now have a computer that will last you many more years and might even run faster than the day you bought it!

Solid State Drives (SSD) -

120 GB - http://amzn.to/1Eso06r
240GB - http://amzn.to/1UdIw1K
480 GB - http://amzn.to/1NOHmVd

Hard drive enclosures -
Laptop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1DlVoZr
Desktop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1yQ8U1Z

All of these products and more recommended items from the SSL Family are available at the Simple Suburban Living General Store

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How to Recover Data From a Dead Computer

Most people don't know that there is a way to get your files from a dead laptop or desktop computer. It is a horrible feeling when your computer won't start up and you can't get access your photos, or that important paper, tax document, or business presentation. In this video I show you a simple way to get the data directly from the hard drive and onto a working system.

 

The first step in the process is to pickup the correct adapter to be used with your hard drive. There are a couple options for this that I have listed at the end of this article. Once you have the correct universal data transfer cable or hard drive enclosure you are ready to get started.

 

Step 1 - Remove the side panel of the desktop computer or locate the access panel on the bottom of the laptop. Locate and remove the hard drive from the computer using either this video tutorial or the manufacturers guides. On a desktop computer the hard drive is normally located in a small "rack" or metal bracket close to the front side of the computer. In a laptop the hard drive should be accessible from a small access panel on the bottom. This should be labeled with a hard drive icon or the acronym HHD. Once you have located the hard drive you are ready to get things connected.

 

Step 2- Connect the universal data transfer cable to the hard drive or insert the hard drive into the appropriate hard drive enclosure. there are two main types of hard drive connection options for both laptop and desktop computers. The older of the two will be an IDE type connection with a group of small pins used. The newer of the two will be a SATA type connections. The newer SATA connection is the same for both desktop and laptop computer hard drives. However the older IDE type connection has a desktop version and a laptop version so keep this in mind when selecting a hard drive enclosure (if you chose that option). Once you have the correct cable connected or correct enclosure is used you are ready to get plugged into a working computer to transfer your data.

 

Step 3- Connect the hard drive to a working computer. This should be done in order of connecting the power cable for the drive first and then connecting the cable or enclosure to the working computer. Once the drive is connected you should here a noise representing the connection and then you can move onto the computer to start transferring the data.

 

Step 4 - Open your "computer" or "my computer" window and look for a new hard drive listed. You should see something listed as "local" or "HP, Acer, Dell, etc." This will be the connected hard drive. Click to open the hard drive to view the file structure. You may get a message asking to grant yourself permission to view these files. You will need to click "ok" to allow yourself permission and this process might take awhile. Be patient, go grab a snack and come back to check on it but do not interrupt the permission dialog.

 

Step 5 - look for the "users" folder. If you are using Windows XP look for "documents and settings". Open this folder and then locate your user name. If you had multiple users you will want to copy all of the user accounts over tot he working computer. All of your personal files are located under your user account folder. If you open the folder you can see the categories such as music, documents, pictures, etc. You can copy individual folders or files from here or just drag and drop (or copy and paste) the entire user account folder onto your desktop. This will start the process of copying the data to your working system. If you have a lot of data this process could take some time.

 

Step 6 - Once the data is done copying you can then disconnect the hard drive from the working computer. At this point you have a couple of choices. If you are going to get the broken computer repaired, put the hard drive back into the computer and take it in for repair. If you are not getting the broken computer repaired then you can save the hard drive in a safe place as an extra backup of your data or use a hard drive enclosure to use this hard drive as a backup device for your files.

 

 

 

 

 

Where you can find the following products: 

 

Amazon -
USB Universal Transfer Cable - http://amzn.to/1DlV7pb
Laptop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1DlVoZr
Laptop IDE Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1v4uUED
Desktop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1yQ8U1Z
Desktop IDE Hard Drive Enclosure - http://amzn.to/1LU2ibW

 

BestBuy
USB Universal Transfer Cable - http://tinyurl.com/krvrjec
Laptop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://tinyurl.com/nmtawmc
Desktop SATA Hard Drive Enclosure - http://tinyurl.com/l5j6eh4
Laptop IDE Hard Drive Enclosure - http://tinyurl.com/mr4o4mf
Desktop - IDE Hard Drive Enclosure - http://tinyurl.com/pbfwsx7

 

 

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