Is my laptop old at five and half years?
Discussion
My HP Envy is so slow these days. Even a PDF takes forever to open and waiting for a photo to appear on the screen now becoming ridiculous. Also, unplug it from the mains and the battery is dead within the hour just using Excel. I run the usual decluttering software etc. but I'm just wondering if 5 1/2 years is now considered old in computer years?
Impossible to tell without giving us some more details on the specs.
If it were mid-top range five years ago, it'd still be holding it's own today for light usage.
If it were budgetish brand new with minimal RAM and spinny disk, there may be opportunity to breathe some new life into it.
If it were mid-top range five years ago, it'd still be holding it's own today for light usage.
If it were budgetish brand new with minimal RAM and spinny disk, there may be opportunity to breathe some new life into it.
Edited by eltawater on Sunday 27th June 19:08
eltawater said:
Impossible to tell without giving us some more details on the specs.
If it were mid-top range five years ago, it'd still be holding it's own today for light usage.
If it were budgetish brand new with minimal RAM and spinny disk, there may be opportunity to breathe some new life into it.
I'm not good at this stuff. Just looking at the spec it has a 64 bit operating system, intel core i7 6500U @ 2.5GHz, 12 GB installed RAM, windows 10 version 2004. No idea what that lot means. It does have a disc drive which I'd miss, as there have been times when I could throw in a dvd when I'm somewhere without wifi.If it were mid-top range five years ago, it'd still be holding it's own today for light usage.
If it were budgetish brand new with minimal RAM and spinny disk, there may be opportunity to breathe some new life into it.
Edited by eltawater on Sunday 27th June 19:08
That hardware spec should be more than ample for today, the only question mark is whether you still have spinny disk hard drive or have a solid state drive. If you're still on spinny disk hard drive, an inexpensive replacement solid state drive (SSD) would likely see a significant improvement.
So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
eltawater said:
That hardware spec should be more than ample for today, the only question mark is whether you still have spinny disk hard drive or have a solid state drive. If you're still on spinny disk hard drive, an inexpensive replacement solid state drive (SSD) would likely see a significant improvement.
So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
That's a great help, thank you. So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
Buy a crucial ssd drive and use their free software to clone the existing drive
Swap drives and be up and running in about 1 hour
All existing programs, files, pictures etc etc will still be there
Chances are it will be ( to you) exactly the same but a heck of a lot faster
Oh. And as said, that was a high spec laptop when you got it, it'll be fine as long as you run it on the mains
Swap drives and be up and running in about 1 hour
All existing programs, files, pictures etc etc will still be there
Chances are it will be ( to you) exactly the same but a heck of a lot faster
Oh. And as said, that was a high spec laptop when you got it, it'll be fine as long as you run it on the mains
Edited by hersh on Sunday 27th June 21:55
Agree with most of the above - SSD and a clean install of windows 10. Don't worry about cloning, just find all your files and copy over (while this is a faff, it's important to learn what and where your files are so you always look after them). Because you're changing to a new physical SSD drive, you've got your old one that you can pop back in if you forget to copy something.
My main laptop is about that age and runs very well on an i7 CPU. I also have a 12 year old laptop with an SSD and clean windows 10 and it runs well enough to get the internet up or watch any HD streaming service. I keep it around and alive as it's my last computer with a disk drive!
If your laptop will take a M2 SSD then definitely get that as it'll be much faster than a SATA SSD. If you post the exact model number then we can tell you if it takes a M2 SSD.
My main laptop is about that age and runs very well on an i7 CPU. I also have a 12 year old laptop with an SSD and clean windows 10 and it runs well enough to get the internet up or watch any HD streaming service. I keep it around and alive as it's my last computer with a disk drive!
If your laptop will take a M2 SSD then definitely get that as it'll be much faster than a SATA SSD. If you post the exact model number then we can tell you if it takes a M2 SSD.
Lord Flashheart said:
eltawater said:
That hardware spec should be more than ample for today, the only question mark is whether you still have spinny disk hard drive or have a solid state drive. If you're still on spinny disk hard drive, an inexpensive replacement solid state drive (SSD) would likely see a significant improvement.
So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
That's a great help, thank you. So now it's probably worth looking at whether you have any programs and unnecessary services running which may be sapping CPU resources or accessing the hard drive unnecessarily. You may have factory installed bloatware which is responsible and so it might be beneficial to backup everything important and then reinstall Windows 10 cleanly.
The battery life is a separate issue and is likely to just have declined with age. Without knowing more about which model number of Envy you have, it's difficult to advise whether battery replacement is a straightforward swap or whether it needs the case removing to do so.
In fact I've just checked and I bought mine in 2013 so it's nearly 8 years old. Swap the battery on yours, put an SSD in it and reinstall Windows, it'll be like a new machine (better than it ever was, most likely, with an SSD).
hersh said:
Buy a crucial ssd drive and use their free software to clone the existing drive
Swap drives and be up and running in about 1 hour
All existing programs, files, pictures etc etc will still be there
Chances are it will be ( to you) exactly the same but a heck of a lot faster
Oh. And as said, that was a high spec laptop when you got it, it'll be fine as long as you run it on the mains
Don't clone, needs to be a fresh install of Window, else you don't get rid of all the crap Windows builds up over time which will be the reason it's slowed down in the first place.Swap drives and be up and running in about 1 hour
All existing programs, files, pictures etc etc will still be there
Chances are it will be ( to you) exactly the same but a heck of a lot faster
Oh. And as said, that was a high spec laptop when you got it, it'll be fine as long as you run it on the mains
Edited by hersh on Sunday 27th June 21:55
mph999 said:
Don't clone, needs to be a fresh install of Window, else you don't get rid of all the crap Windows builds up over time which will be the reason it's slowed down in the first place.
True, but cloning gets the system up and running quickly and easilyCan always do a system reset to factory default in Windows 10 if its still slow afterwards
Lord Flashheart said:
(my laptop specs are) intel core i7 6500U @ 2.5GHz, 12 GB installed RAM, windows 10 version 2004.
I had to laugh when you asked is it too old at 5 1/2 years! Mine is an Intel Core i3-3110M @ 2.4Ghz, 6Gb RAM (processor came out in summer 2012 and my laptop has a sticker with Sep 2012 on it, so almost 9 years old!)Your processor 'score' (CPU Benchmark) is 3282, mine is 1587 (bigger is ALWAYS better!) https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-3110...
Mine has an SSD (has done for years!!) and mine is still perfectly usable for my needs - fast enough that I've no real need to change it out for a few fractions of a second faster pace. With an SSD in yours and a fresh Windows install (not clone), your laptop should 'fly' quite nicely.
S6PNJ said:
Lord Flashheart said:
(my laptop specs are) intel core i7 6500U @ 2.5GHz, 12 GB installed RAM, windows 10 version 2004.
I had to laugh when you asked is it too old at 5 1/2 years! Mine is an Intel Core i3-3110M @ 2.4Ghz, 6Gb RAM (processor came out in summer 2012 and my laptop has a sticker with Sep 2012 on it, so almost 9 years old!)Your processor 'score' (CPU Benchmark) is 3282, mine is 1587 (bigger is ALWAYS better!) https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i3-3110...
Mine has an SSD (has done for years!!) and mine is still perfectly usable for my needs - fast enough that I've no real need to change it out for a few fractions of a second faster pace. With an SSD in yours and a fresh Windows install (not clone), your laptop should 'fly' quite nicely.
If the laptop suits your purpose, it's good enough. I'm struggling with the idea of an i7 with 12gb RAM being old hat.
It could just be the 5 years of crap that's built up - and some of the 'decluttering' apps are no better than junk themselves (which ones are you using).
If it's a HDD then it could be having issues in itself, and becoming slow due to having to re-read/re-write blocks all the time. How big is the HDD and how much of it is in use?
Do you have multiple AV products installed, or just one of the resource hog ones, or just Windows Security?
If it's a HDD then it could be having issues in itself, and becoming slow due to having to re-read/re-write blocks all the time. How big is the HDD and how much of it is in use?
Do you have multiple AV products installed, or just one of the resource hog ones, or just Windows Security?
Derek Smith said:
I'm struggling with the idea of an i7 with 12gb RAM being old hat.
It is the 6500U though so was only 2 cores 4 threads so not really worthy of the i7 moniker. I'm still using an i7 3630QM circa 2012 laptop for all my zoom and teams calls and whilst a couple of generations older than the low power 6500U it is still a more powerful CPU. Derek Smith said:
Before Lockdowns I used a Dell Inspiron of 1998 vintage, powered, if that's the word, by a Centrino, for word processing when writing in coffee shops. It had been turfed out of an insurance company because it refused to connect to the internet wirelessly. I replaced the HDD they'd removed, and about four years ago or so, replaced that with an SSD. I have another laptop which I use for meetimgs, email, zoom and stuff.
If the laptop suits your purpose, it's good enough. I'm struggling with the idea of an i7 with 12gb RAM being old hat.
To be fair, it's a little more nuanced than just 'being an i7' - in automotive terms it's like comparing a 1980s petrol engine to a modern 2021 petrol engine - they're both petrol, they both still run but they're very different. In the same analogy, huge advancements have been made in speed, power consumption and things like heat management. My old PC was pressed back into service when I started working from home last year and that's an i7-860 which dates back to 2009...If the laptop suits your purpose, it's good enough. I'm struggling with the idea of an i7 with 12gb RAM being old hat.
An early i7 IS old hat, it's just often still serviceable and not really comparable with modern-day equivalents.
Edited by Funk on Monday 28th June 11:39
Blimey, there's a lot more to this than I thought and I don't understand 90% of what's been said!
So it's likely there's plenty of life in the laptop if I save everything onto an external hard drive and then reload Windows 10 first to see what happens? I have a 1TB Seagate Back Up Plus Slim, so presumably I'd bung everything on that. Then where do I find Windows 10 and do I have to pay for it?
The battery just pops out from the back too, but I've no idea whether I have a SSD. How do I find out?
Sorry for all the questions!
So it's likely there's plenty of life in the laptop if I save everything onto an external hard drive and then reload Windows 10 first to see what happens? I have a 1TB Seagate Back Up Plus Slim, so presumably I'd bung everything on that. Then where do I find Windows 10 and do I have to pay for it?
The battery just pops out from the back too, but I've no idea whether I have a SSD. How do I find out?
Sorry for all the questions!
Download Speccy (pick the free version and unclick any bundled software) - this will tell you what you have in your PC.
You want the download tool from here to create a bootable USB stick for windows 10. But prior to that you will want to link you existing windows key to your MS account then windows will activate when you first log in after the fresh install.
You want the download tool from here to create a bootable USB stick for windows 10. But prior to that you will want to link you existing windows key to your MS account then windows will activate when you first log in after the fresh install.
Lord Flashheart said:
where do I find Windows 10 and do I have to pay for it?
It's free and you just download it from here (use either the create Installation Media option): https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/...Lord Flashheart said:
I've no idea whether I have a SSD. How do I find out?
Right click your start button and select 'Device Manager'. When it opens, look for 'Disk Drives and there will probably only be one disk listed. Double (left) click it and if you can't see it saying either SSD or HDD anywhere, go to 'Details' and use the property drop down to select 'Hardware ID' (or just cycle through them all ) and assuming it doesn't say HDD or SSD, Google the codes or descriptions it gives.HDD is spinning disk - slow
SSD is solid state disk - fast(er)
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff