SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Breathing life into an older laptop… can somebody hold my hand through it?
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| Team Apathy |
I use to assemble and upgrade PC’s a lot, but this was MANY years ago in the XP era. I currently have what was a high end laptop probably 5-7 years ago, but should still be more than enough hardware for my very basic needs these days. It was originally bought for light video editing but it would not be used for that now. It runs very very slowly. I’m currently just trying to uninstall the various Adobe creative programs and it is going on 30 minutes and I haven’t gotten the first one off yet. So, I want to make it run like new. I have photos and stuff on it that I need off, though. And, I want to reuse the Windows key, of course. I want to purchase a new 2.5” SSD to use as the primary drive. I believe this particular machine actually has a pair of 2.5” slots, one currently empty. Additionally, I have a USB interfaced hard drive to use as a backup to facilitate this project. What is my best bet for getting data off, then installing the new drive and installing Windows? And then, of course, get the pictures and various photos back off the old spinning drive? The machine is an HP Envy M7. | ||
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| Savor the limelight |
You should figure out what the issue is with the 30+ minute uninstall of one program before spending any money on your computer. Could be the hard drive, could be clogged fans or vents, could be old thermal paste, etc. If it’s the hard drive, replacing it with an SSD will be great. Otherwise, you might be better off with a new computer. Just searching the web for HP Envy M7 shows it might be older than you think. What is the CPU’s model number? That may be the same computer my dad has. His has an Intel i7-4700mq and I put and SSD in it a few years ago. It does what he needs it for just fine. Email, short letters, web browsing, etc. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
Blowing out the dust and cobwebs, swapping the HDD for an SSD, formatting and reinstalling the OS (goes along with the previous if doing that), and adding more memory are the four low-hanging fruit for making an older computer run faster. | |||
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Get Off My Lawn |
Before spending money, back up your important files and do a factory reinstall, basically erasing everything and installing a fresh operating system. Then do the Microsoft updates for the OS. Lots of things could be slowing your laptop; bloat with certain apps, your hard drive might be dragging because it is nearly full, etc. I have a 9 year old Thinkpad x230 w/ Windows 7 that still works fine, same with an 11 year old Macbook Pro. Both machines have been reset to factory, and most of the apps and files not reinstalled back into them. No bloat, just the minimal software and they still function just fine. Both were machines that were stuffed with too much crap. "I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965 | |||
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| Team Apathy |
I assume Windows has a built in backup utility. Is that sufficient? EDIT: it is running better now… initially while it was bogged down I opened the task manager and saw the HDD performance window was reporting 100% usage. After managing to remove a couple of programs it has dropped to much more normal levels and is working better. Perhaps it was a ton of stuff trying to start upon turning on the machine that was bogging it? Ultimately I want to replace the spinning disk with a SSD. Prices are so low that it’s a no-brainer. I’ll check into RAM too… I’m not sure how much this system can use but it has 12GB now, I think via a 8 and a 4, if I recall. I did have the cover off this laptop last year, as I recall, so I would have blown out any dust so I’m confident the vents aren’t blocked. I would have cleaned out any heat sink I ran across as well. I seem to recall my intention was to install a m2 style ssd but I think I discovered the slot was on the wrong side of the keyboard and would require disassembly past my point of comfort and abandoned the idea. | |||
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| Thank you Very little  |
Copy off the files you want to the external USB Remove and install the new SSD and memory Install windows onto the new drive, you could use the old drive in a USB external drive enclosure, that way you don't delete the old drive in case your original copy of documents missed something. Once you're sure the new drive is operational and you have all your documents stored, format the old drive and use it for a backup USB drive https://www.amazon.com/externa...hard+drive+enclosure | |||
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| Team Apathy |
But how do I re-install windows from the old drive? Last time I did anything like this Microsoft still sent out discs with the OS and a sticker with the key number. | |||
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quarter MOA visionary |
Just pull the old drive, install the SSD, OS, Apps. Plug your 2.5" drive (laptop drive) into this: https://www.amazon.com/StarTec...d%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-5 Plug it into the laptop and copy over the data. You could do an additional backup first if you like which would be more prudent but actually unnecessary. | |||
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| Thank you Very little |
https://answers.microsoft.com/...9b-adf6-45d18a481b0d you can reinstall Windows 10 at any time and it will not cost you anything ! Click this link: Link to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool Then connect that flash drive to your PC, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS) to begin installing Windows 10 You said you have a product key, so it will ask for a product key and select the option 'I am Reinstalling Windows 10 on this PC', and activation will not be an issue, your PC will have a digital entitlement stored on the Microsoft Activation Servers If you have problems booting from a boot disc, you may have UEFI BIOS: Insert the Bootable Installation Media, then go into your BIOS and make the following changes: 1. Disable Secure Boot 2. Enable Legacy Boot 3. If Available enable CSM 4. If Required enable USB Boot 5. Move the device with the bootable disc to the top of the boot order 6. Save BIOS changes, restart your System and it should boot from the Installation Media | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Ok thanks, this helps. I get files off and create a back up on the Seagate portable HD. Then I’ll make a bootable USB flash drive using your link above… Then I can use that flash drive to install a fresh copy of windows (thereby formatting the hard drive in the process). Alternatively (or later) I can physically swap the old spinning drive with a new SSD and use the bootable flash to install Windows. Once that’s done I can load the back up file from the Seagate portable. Sound about right? | |||
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eh-TEE-oh-clez |
The roadmap overview: 1) Backup your files to an external drive. 2) Create a backup of your backup. Confirm both are working. 3) Double check 1 and 2. 4) Download Windows using the Media Creation Tool and create a bootable USB flash drive. 5) Download the network/wifi drivers onto a separate USB. 6) Open up the computer. Blow or vacuum out the dust from the heat exchangers. 7) YouTube how to re-paste the heat sink to the CPU for your particular model computer. 8) Strip out the HDD and replace with SSD 9) Boot from the USB stick with Windows, changing BIOS settings if necessary to get it to boot from USB. 10) Install Windows. 11) Install driver updates. If you can't get a network connection, use the network/wifi driver that you had downloaded in Step 5. 12) Install Windows updates. | |||
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| Thank you Very little |
Yes follow the steps at the link and you should be good to go... You do need to tell it you have a product key, I noticed the instructions I posted said to skip, but since you are doing a fresh install, when it asks enter the product key. As long as you have the old drive out of the PC and not connected you won't trash your old files during the install. Aeteocles has the correct steps I will add, if you have a way to connect a cable from your PC's hard wire network RJ45 port to your router, do that, it will be significantly faster, and, you should not have to mess with wifi drivers and setup since it's hard connected to the router. | |||
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| quarter MOA visionary |
If it's just the disk speed that concerns you then use disk migration software (usually available from the SSD mfg such as Samsung, etc) to move it to the new disk. Unless you just want a clean install on the new disk but it is quite a bit of work if you are up for it. You could do the W10 upg then on the new disk and have the old W7 disk as an archive/bu disk. | |||
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| Member! |
Hey Thumper, send me your address and I'll send you a 256GB Samsung 840 Pro 2.5" SSD for free! | |||
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| Live long and prosper  |
i do that a lot. Old hardware is my new hardware. Make a list of the programs you REALLY need. Lees is more!!!! Since the drive is a goner, i would install ccleaner and privezer and run them. Clear as much crap as possible, will save you time. I love to Copy contents to another drive and i love Total commander for that. One window for your origin drive and the other panel for the destination. 0-0 "OP is a troll" - Flashlightboy, 12/18/20 | |||
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Member |
I'd get a license key software & get all your license keys before wiping the old drive. We've had a few instances where the fresh drive didn't inherit the windows key. Reinstall the old drive, pull the windows key, then try again. I'll look tomorrow for the key retrieval software we use. It's jellybean something, IIRC. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Thanks! Email has been sent!
I was able to pull the Windows key after doing some googling, and using a program available for free from the Microsoft store. I’ve got it tucked away. It didn’t give me the key for Microsoft Office on the machine, but given it is 2010 I’m not going to worry about that one much. I spent time copying files onto the portable as well as set the portable as the backup location. There wasn’t much on it to be copied, so that’s good. I’ll just need to pickup a thumb drive that is at least 32GB. I know I have one around here somewhere but I’ll just grab a new one. It’ll save me the headache. I think the spinning drive is functioning fine, but since this machine has 2 slots I think I’ll use the gifted SSD that was offered by Xer0 as the boot system drive and once that is working as expected and the files are copied over I’ll just use the original spinning drive as secondary storage, though I don’t expect to need it too much. | |||
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| Member |
Your last line is how I have a (currently idle) desktop setup. Small SSD for the OS & a 1TB spinner for storage. The Enemy's gate is down. | |||
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| Member |
I got cheap Win11 + Office 2019 keys here a couple months ago. win & office I think it was 5-machines for $30 of win11 pro & office 2019 standard. It's a little goofy, but it's legit - they buy volume licenses & resell. They want you to download their .iso files so you get the correct one. I did that for Office, but I used an .iso strait from MS for win11 on 1 computer & it worked fine. I've used 2 installs of win11/office & 1 of just office with no issues 12GB of RAM is plenty for win10 and home-use. If you are using photoshop or other 'professional' tools, they may benefit from more RAM, but I wouldn't do it first. The SSD will be a huge upgrade. I wouldn't re-use the spinner in 2nd bay, it's a power hog vs SSD & more prone to failure especially at age & if the 2nd bay has more heat. If you need more space, consider a small NAS (network attached storage) -or if you have another PC, just add HDD & make it the NAS. | |||
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| Team Apathy |
Thanks for the link, I will look at that for office. Is there any real reason for a basic home use machine to step up from the Home editions of Windows to Pro’s? While I used to use this machine for editing I don’t anymore. I don’t do any of that work on the side anymore, only for my employer, and they spent serious money on computers at work for that purpose, so that’s where it stays. I have a MyCloud NAS, but it was ‘End of Lifed’ by WD this spring and I’m not sure what to replace it with. I mostly just used it for backup of our photos and then I’d use it store my music collection so I could stream it anywhere. However, that use is mostly dead too with our Prime Music subscription. My my, how things have changed.This message has been edited. Last edited by: thumperfbc, | |||
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SIGforum.com Main Page The Lounge Breathing life into an older laptop… can somebody hold my hand through it?
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