Consider: After you max out the RAM and change the drive, you\u2019ll still have an old laptop with aging electronics, an aging power supply, aging batteries, aging fans, aging LCD panel illuminators, aging keyboards, etc. etc. etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s expensive to replace a laptop piece by piece! That’s especially true when you’re propping up an old machine that was built to yesterday’s standards; the gear you invest in today may not be able to be transferred and re-used in the new system that’s inevitably in your not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your laptop is more than a couple years old and you’ve clearly outgrown the RAM and\/or hard drive, I think you can make a pretty good case for upgrading to a whole new system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if that\u2019s not possible, start with RAM — as much as the system can use!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2364<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> In general, \u201colder laptops\u201d were mostly 32-bit systems, which mathematically max out at 4GB of RAM. If the laptop has less RAM than that, I\u2019d consider starting there, to bring the laptop to its full memory complement. Because it\u2019s an \u201colder system,\u201d you probably can buy RAM for cheap. If the laptop is already maxed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-C8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1156,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/26\/a-reader-asks-how-much-ram-do-i-need-for-my-laptop\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":0},"title":"A reader asks: How much RAM do I need for my laptop?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-11-26","format":false,"excerpt":"Q: How much RAM do I need for my laptop? I mostly use it for word documents, Internet browsing with multiple tabs, and, occasionally, light video editing. I currently have 4GB but I'm considering going up to 8GB. (via Quora) A: Here\u2019s an easy way to see if you have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ram-use-fig-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1214,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/03\/a-reader-asks-why-wont-my-laptop-charge-when-its-running-it-only-charges-when-its-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":1},"title":"A reader asks: Why won’t my laptop charge when it’s running? It only charges when it’s off.","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-12-03","format":false,"excerpt":"Q*: \"How do I fix my laptop? When it is turned on and I plug it in, it will not charge, and will only charge when it is plugged in while turned off. What's going on?\" A: The most common cause for this is an aging battery that draws too\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5099,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/28\/what-is-the-difference-between-sleep-hybrid-sleep-and-hibernate-on-a-laptop\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":2},"title":"“What is the difference between sleep, hybrid sleep, and hibernate on a laptop?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2020-05-28","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Shreya Mehta) In\u00a0sleep mode\u00a0(sometimes called\u00a0suspend), your PC goes into a low-power state, consuming just enough electricity to keep the RAM contents intact; to monitor for system events (such as a key- or mouse-click, or closing the lid on a laptop); and to run similar low-power processes. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/sleep-hybrid-hibernate.jpg?fit=404%2C442&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2864,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/31\/is-8gb-enough-ram-memory-for-a-laptop-in-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":3},"title":"“Is 8GB enough RAM memory for a new laptop in 2019?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-05-31","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by\u00a0Ellie Williams) Yes, for ordinary use \u2014 office tasks, browsing, streaming media, etc. \u2014 8GB is fine for a current-generation 64-bit PC. If you have occasional heavy use that bogs down an 8GB PC, or if you want to build in a little future-proofing, go for 12GB. If\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1744,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/29\/taking-my-own-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":4},"title":"Taking my own advice","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-29","format":false,"excerpt":"Uncle! OK, OK, I give in! When I recently resurrected the Langa.Com site, and started working again with the old Windows Secrets gang over at AskWoody.com, I assumed my current laptop would be up to the task. After all, it had served me well for the last few years. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/31\/a-reader-asks-how-do-i-know-if-i-have-enough-ram\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":5},"title":"A reader asks: How do I know if I have enough RAM?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-08-31","format":false,"excerpt":"A reader asks: How do I know if I have enough RAM?\u00a0\u00a0(Question sent to me via Quora) Every device (PCs, tablets, smartphones\u2026), and every user, has a unique answer for \u201cwhat\u2019s enough RAM?\" In a perfect world,\u00a0RAM would you hold all of your running programs and processes in their entirety,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2364"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2417,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364\/revisions\/2417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1280px-Samsung-1GB-DDR2-Laptop-RAM.jpg?fit=1024%2C649&ssl=1\")
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