Revive your old PC - Part I - Hardware Upgrades - Portable Computers

After years of usage, time comes for every computer to be revived. For the first stages, utility cleanups, reinstalling the OS may improve the performance, but with loads of security patches, upgrades, fixes etc. every Windows system becomes too heavy to bare at some point.

Though Microsoft hoped to revamp its operating system legacy by introducing Windows 10, the old systems actually became to feel really slow.

Eventually, you decide to buy a newer and faster machine. But, there are alternatives otherwise.

This post shows you the alternatives you have other than buying a new system for your need for speed.

You can achieve your goal both by upgrading some hardware for a reasonable cost as well as installing alternative operating systems. I will explain both.

Part One: HARDWARE

Facts About Components
1. In the last 10 years, CPU's haven't actually developed much other than adding more cores to the architecture to manage the applications better. Yes, the fastest commercially available CPU in the market is the new Intel Core i9-9900K (5 GHz), which is priced around 800$ including the mainboard that supports it. Otherwise, the latter is the  Core i7-3970X which is stuck at 3.5 GHz, but still very pricey.

2. Memory modules' speeds haven't increased much either. Instead by adding more memory to the existing systems proved that it does improve Windows performance. Of course there those overpriced gaming memory modules, but that's not what we are talking about here.

3. The traditional hard disks (HDD) have a streamlined alternative these days: the solid-state drives (SSD), which are generally a box packed with an IC, where chips are embedded, that are counted to be more reliable, eco-friendly, robust, faster than the traditional hard disks.

Though the world isn't still sure enough about the SSD's reliability, it is speedy indeed. Even the most basic ones are at least 20x times faster than the fastest commercially available HDDs. Plus, their price range is nearly equal to hard disk prices!

4. Graphics Processors (GPU): Though the manufacturers boast about the performance of their GPUs, they haven't developed so much in the last 10 years also, other than the improvements that are made to it. The bit rates are increased, the memory levels are steady and the graphics are more stable by adding more cores to the processors, just like the CPUs. As a downside, for some reason I cannot fathom, the power requirements of the GPUs have increased beyond boundaries, as there are some commercially available GPUs available out there with nearly 500W power requirements. These GPU's feed on direct power with a cable connecting to the power outlet of the PSU in the PC casing (the traditional power was obtained via the bus on the mainboard).

The other fact is, desktop PC's are getting less popular day-by-day as the cost of ownership of mobile machines become less. I admit I see more portable machines these days than I did 10 years ago. But as you have already discovered, mobile machines are not so upgradable as desktops machines. I will try to shine a light to both of them in parallel.


1. Hardware Upgrade: 

1.1 Laptops / Portable Computers

Upgrading the hardware of your existing portable isn't so much possible, it is not impossible.

1.1.1 Hard Disk
If you wish to revamp your old machine, the first thing you should consider is replacing your old hard disk (HDD) with a new SSD. It is the main hardware on your system that makes it SLOW !!

Windows operating systems use a lot of memory and hard disk utilization due to its virtual memory management system. Due to the constant read/write of HDDs, the waiting periods and more the annoying hourglass will be on your screen.

First things first, check online for a reliable and budget SSD for your laptop/portable. Most preferred reliable brands are Kingston, Samsung, WD, Sandisk. The price of a new SSD is as low as 30$ these days.

Please note:
1. The ideas here are for computers that have been manufactured 2005 onwards as the older machines may have IDE ports instead of the SATA ports which are compatible with today's mainstream and sorry, there are no SSD's with IDE ports. Check your hardware specs to be sure.

2. Though newer SSD's have SATA 3.0 ports which provide faster throughput, they are backwards compatible with SATA 2.0 and SATA 1.0 technology and are still faster than the regular HDDs.

3. Most of the premium laptops, the hard disk isn't very easy to access and may require a technician to replace it for you.  

1.1.2 Memory (RAM)
Most probably the original OS installed on your system was good enough in the good old days, but with so many patches, antivirus software and loads more stuff it has become very little and insufficient. When RAM becomes insufficient, it loads more burden on the HDD as the operating system tries to compensate the loss by using more virtual memory; disk utilization.

Good news is, though your system is old, the memory modules are still globally available as brand new and 2nd hand. Depending on the specification of the RAM compatible with your system, you can upgrade your RAM for a fairly reasonable price up to 8Gb (on some systems it's 16Gb). Please refer to your system's manual for a compatible memory module specification. Good brands for memory modules are once again Kingston, Samsung and Adata. I strongly suggest avoiding buying used memory as no one sells memory modules unless there's something not right about them.

In most systems, it's a simple DIY task which I can guide your through (there are thousands of DIY videos on Youtube for changing memory modules specific to your hardware). Only on a small proportion of systems the memory modules are inaccessible by the user and may require a technician's intervention.

1.1.3 Battery
Yeah, it must be dead a long time ago, right ? Most probably the manufacturer either does not sell the spare battery still or it's available at a price of a new system! Good news is there are OEM batteries that can be trusted that are available globally; also that cannot be trusted. Depending on the model of your system a spare battery can be bought from sites such as Amazon or AliExpress.

I have refined the search links but you will still need to refine it more depending on the brand and the model of your system.

Revive your old PC - Part II - Hardware Upgrades, regarding desktop PCs' will be in my next post.

Tips on buying a used laptop - Part I

This question came up in one of the forums I frequently follow (from a programmer; programmers don't understand shit about hardware. They just code, they are not even IT, although HR departments usually confuse the two !)

Buying a 2nd hand laptop is always a big challenge. The reason is, noone really sells a laptop unless there's something wrong with it. Its not very common to see laptops on sale because of old age. If you are lucky, you may find one of the leased machines that has been returned to the financial institution. But, even that is risky as those are sold in bulk in auctions (and seller do not allow you to even touch the machine and are sold "as is" or "WYSIWYG". 


Advantages and Disadvantages
OK, you may not have the funds to buy a brilliant and high performance machine, but having a low performance but brand new laptop has it's advantages against the high performance but old machines. 

Things you need to know (that noone will ever tell you)
Unlike many bloggers, I will start with the disadvantages which may sound intimidating but will prove worthy:

1. Noone sells an old portable computer just because it got "slow"; some do, but the chances of catching one of those is pretty slim. So, there much be a "catch". It might be a defective component or worn out component such as the battery, hard disk, memory or worse the mainboard. Good news is, though sellers do their best to camouflage the defects deep, it is possible to spot them. Bottomline, there's no virgin laptop.
    
2. Unlike desktop computers, portable machines are more vulnerable to mishaps and accidents. A laptop get's dropped on hard surface at least 3 times in it's life cycle. Hard drops usually invisibly damage the hard disks, as the hard disks are the weakest component in portable machines (does not apply to SSDs, I will mention them soon). Hard disks are made of few magnetic platters spun by a tiny electric motor whilst a very sensitive head moves back and forward to read and write the data on it). Also as their function is mobility, they are used many environments, which some of them can be quite risky.
   
   Though many believe the life of a HDD is calculated by the amount of warranty length, by looking at it's MTBF specification by the manufacturer may actually give to a good insight on the predictability of the reliableness of the component. (MTBF: Mean Time Between Failure is an engineered rating that shows the reliability of the hard disk).
   
   Though MTBF values aren't advertised in the open, it is usually available from the vendor websites' technical specification leaflets.
    
3. As the technology trend enforces devices to be more miniature, robost and more mobile, devices reduce insize; not by miniaturization but by sacrifice. Yes, sacrifice of precautional elements inside the devices. For example, before the 2000's most laptops were heavy and chunky. The reason for that was that under the cover there were certain precautionary measures to ensure the durability of the system, such as aluminium skeleton to improve durability against falls to protect mainboard and LCD screens from getting wrecked or component bay doors to allow parts to be upgraded or changed. But, just like in our great looking but worthless cars, everything these days are engineered not for the durability, but the cost.
   
   Engineers has been convinced by the sales people that it is cheaper to replace the whole thing instead repairing components; even if you tried to repair a new laptop that has been damaged, you probably will not be able to reach the required parts for reasonable prices. So, the lesson is newer it is, less durable it is. Even the hard disks have less protective insulation in them these days. That's why they are so thin, so fragile and short lifed.
   
   So, best lifetime of a laptop of today's tech is around 2-5 years. That's if it doesn't get damaged by a short circuit or a fall. Oh yes, I have to mention this ! The old laptop power adapters were big and chunky. The main reason for it is the wattage. Today's laptop adapters are usually much smaller in size but the wattage is much lower too. Also less reliable as they are more vulnerable against power surges (a power surge generally fries the laptop's mainboard. It happened to me twice).
    
4. The screen: Though tech hasn't changed much on the screens in the last decade; other than the new 4k monitors, it is still the most fragile component. It's life is not longer than 1-5 years at most; really depends on the usage and production quality. As the bezels are so thin, they are more vulnerable against damage. Also as the new LCD panels are so thin, they get damaged VERY easily and no, it's non-repairable. But good news is, there are lots of OEM's that screens can be purchased online from resources such as AliExpress and replaced by people like myself. Most frequent sign of defect in LCD panels are dimm lights, stratches of screens, inequal light patches on screen (CAUTION: This means the screen has been smacked or damaged!) or missing pixels; dead pixels in the screen, which can be usually seen on white backgrounds.
    
5. The Battery: An optimal battery life of a laptop is around 1-5 years, depending on the usage. Machines that have been used offline tend to have longer lasting batteries, whilst the machines that have been hooked up to a constant power resource, tend to eradicate faster. Battery units are made up of parallel connected cells. Higher the number of cells, higher the long livety and the performance of the battery is. Generally 6 cell batteries are the best.
   
   There are hundreds of OEM brands which claim their replacement battery is the best with low prices, but it's generally a fake information. OEM batteries do not last as long as the originals ; even might be out of specification that may damage the system. 

continued on part 2 soon.