New
#11
Both the RAM and SSD upgrades make sense only after processor upgrade. *) It is not always possible; lowend CPUs are often soldered to notebook motherboard, and if it can be done (processor is placed in socket and motherboard supports different CPUs), it is task for PC technician, anyway.
*) I own older netbook Asus EEE with soldered Atom N450 processor, tried to add RAM & test SSD in it, still very slow & processor utilization very high during long time after start. I decided to use that SSD in other notebook where it makes much better job.
It is possible to disable unneeded tasks & services, it may improve response a bit. Unfortunately I still did not found/made reasonable list of them & howto. And overall efficiency of these changes applied to lowend system remains questionable.
Buying some more powerful system (not necessarily new) is the best alternative I think.
I'm not familiar with either! If both serve the same function, then both are fighting each other for priority and control to complete its function.Yeah, she has AVG and Windows Defender running at the same time...
If AVG is not a licensed install, then perhaps a temporary uninstall might prove beneficial?
Installing any 3rd party AV should disable WD so it doesn't run all the time while some of it's functions are retained, like possibility of manual scans. WD has became a quite good AV so no need for additional ones. When not configured properly AVG can be really "heavy" on system, every time you download, copy a file or install a program it checks it for malware and that can tax the system considerably. On inherently slow systems, with slow HDD it can wreck havoc with system performance.
Hard disks on such portable devices are very slow because they are made to survive much more abuse. SSDs are not sensitive to motion and hits and can be many times faster than such HDDs.
Considering performance of that machine, an SSD would do wonders for it's responsiveness.
Norton and Microsoft did some behind-the scenes wrangling. Windows Defender used to never show up in Task Manager. Within this past year, Windows Defender showed up alongside Norton. Any slowdown may or may not be coincidental with Meltdown/Spectre software remediation that came to pass.Installing any 3rd party AV should disable WD so it doesn't run all the time while some of it's functions are retained, like possibility of manual scans.
I think that laptop's fine with Windows 10. Windows Defender would automatically be disabled if you have an installed AV anyways.
It all matters to which processes is killing the drive, very typical for windows 10.
Hi folks
as others have suggested SSD would be the easiest and probably the most effective.
Of course there's always a facetious answer !! (please don't take offence but I think it's quite funny : ) get a new one !!!
The SSD though is the best idea - forget about RAM increase (unless you can easily add more) - most laptops have a very limited space
Reminds me the other day in a pub with a friend talking about making money on the Stock Exchange
question was how to make a small fortune
My answer was start with a large one. !!
Cheers
jimbo