Buying a new computer can be a daunting task. Financially, it’s a huge commitment. So, it becomes common that small businesses and at home PC owners struggle with an outdated device so they can ride out as many years as they can. We want to help. Let’s get into the best ways to revive an older computer.
Do you find yourself in this position? Smashing at your keyboard out of frustration? Looking up every tip you trick there is only to diagnose your computer as old and slow?
Well, you’re in luck. Finally, we are seeing some promising new upgrades to make your PC run like new. These upgrades will cost you a fraction of what it would cost to buy a new computer.
Here are some of our suggestions to get your old computer working better.
Switch to a Solid State Drive (SSD)
Over the years we’ve seen a drop in the price for a solid-state drive. Making them a cheaper upgrade that can revitalize a slowing down PC.
SSDs, unlike hard disk drives (HDDs), don’t contain any moving parts and rely on flash memory for faster response times. You can shorten the time it takes to boot up all the while enhancing your experience when searching for files, opening apps, and doing other tasks.
The following are some of the benefits of upgrading your computer’s hard disk to SSD:
- SSD can read/write at a rate of 2500 MB/second, compared to 200 MB/second for HDDs.
- SSD access time is 0.1 milliseconds, whereas HDD access time is 5.5-8.0 milliseconds.
- SSDs consume 2-5 watts of electricity, but HDDs consume 6-15 watts.
Improve the RAM
RAM has to do with your computers ability to process memory. Upgrading your memory is a low-cost was you can considerably boost your computers performance. If you bought a cheap PC with only 4GB of RAM, you will have noticeable difficulties opening too many tabs in your browser, especially any graphic-heavy pages.
If your PC has open memory slots, upgrading your RAM to 8GB or 12GB can make it seem like you did buy a totally new computer. It will definitely run much faster.
Upgrade your Graphics Card
When you run an outdated graphics card, you are impacting your user experience. Whether you are working on a video, images or even playing video games, an obsolete card will ruin the outcome.
Instead of having to replace the entire computer, upgrading your graphics card will drastically improve your PCs performance and extend its usable life.
Replace the Cooling System
The interior components of your computer are vulnerable to heat. Excess heat can build up within your device if your cooling system is wearing out and not performing as it should.
You’ll notice when this is happening because your computer will start to act funny. Apps will crash suddenly and it may constantly reboot itself.
If you believe at all that heat could be the issue, I urge you to get it checked out to see if it needs to be replaced.
Get a New Keyboard
There is nothing more frustrating than a keyboard that doesn’t work properly.
Older keyboards are prone to stickiness, loose keys and worn off letters. If the keyboard is the main pain point of your user experience, it can be a low-cost option to replace it and optimize your setup.
Have an External Hard Drive
When internal hard drives fill up with data, computers tend to slow down. Over the years it’s normal for files to build up and barely anyone ever goes through them and remove the unnecessary ones.
Investing in an external hard drive allows you to dump files that are weighing you down while keeping them easy to access.
Another advantage of an external hard drive is that it is portable and can be taken from home to work and back.
Get a Professional Check-Up
Let’s be real, those free online PC cleaning tool will basically do nothing for your computer if something can be replaced. You can’t get the kind of tune-up a professional IT service can do. We’ll do a deeper dive than just cleaning out your system. We can go through things like Windows Registry, duplicating systems files, and figuring out any growing internal problems.
We can also do a maintenance check for broken parts and offer our expert advice and service on upgrade options.
Get Help Improving the Performance of Your Computer Now!
Stop getting frustrated over an older computer! We can assist you with cost-effective upgrade solutions that are tailored to your specific system and budget.
Check out our blog discussing the best way to buy a computer.
Call us at (323) 761-2634. We’d be happy to assist you and all your technology needs.
We are located in West Hollywood, servicing the greater Los Angeles area!