How to improve performance on my laptop for generally everything, and sometimes gaming?

[llsunny77]

I have checked fragmentation on my HDD, it appears good health.

But my laptop is getting slower and slower.

I tried to run dolphin, the wii emulator, but the sound lags and it only got ~20 fps.

i3 3110M CPU @ 2.4GHz
4GBx1 DDR3
Intel HD graphics 4000
750Gb hard drive

 

[volcanoscout]

We'd need to know what specific laptop you have to make any specific recommendations. What your budget is would help too.

Depending on what laptop you have, upgrading your RAM and HDD would definitely speed things up, but don't get your hopes too high as far as gaming. Without a discrete graphics processor, it's just not going to do very well with games, and adding one will probably require a new motherboard, which can be problematic at best and impossible at worst.

 

[llsunny77]

We'd need to know what specific laptop you have to make any specific recommendations. What your budget is would help too.

Depending on what laptop you have, upgrading your RAM and HDD would definitely speed things up, but don't get your hopes too high as far as gaming. Without a discrete graphics processor, it's just not going to do very well with games, and adding one will probably require a new motherboard, which can be problematic at best and impossible at worst.

Thanks for the reply!
Mine is Fujitsu Lifebook LH532 Notebook.
I don't have much budget (adjustable but I want to avoid overspending) , around $3~500, not enough to get a new nice one, I want to see what can I get to at least run a game smoothly.

 

[volcanoscout]

Here is a spec sheet for it - http://www.fujitsu-shop.sk/download/261-lifebook-lh532.pdf

Does yours have a graphics card, like the GT 620M?

 

[llsunny77]

Here is a spec sheet for it - http://www.fujitsu-shop.sk/download/261-lifebook-lh532.pdf

Does yours have a graphics card, like the GT 620M?

I am not knowledgeable about computers, wan't sure what to look at. I checked online and here is what I have

Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC type: Internal
Display Memory: 1696 MB
Dedicated Memory: 64 MB
Shared Memory: 1632 MB
Current Mode: 1366 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: LGD033F
Native Mode: 1366 x 768(p) (59.978Hz)

I forgot to mention, I sometimes use it for photo editing. and I am going to work on video editing in the future.

 

[volcanoscout]

Sorry for the delayed response. Your best options for improving your current rig are to upgrade the DRAM and drive. For the DRAM, you could add a 4GB stick or replace your current stick with two 8GB for a total of 16GB. That will help speed things up in general, and for photo and video editing in particular. Replacing your current HDD with an SDD will put some serious zip into your startup and file retrieval. From the specs, it looks like you have a SATA II drive, but SATA III drives are backwards compatible so they'll work. You can also transfer both to a new laptop, as long as they're compatible.

For the DRAM: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d16grsl
For the SSD: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te500bw

That's about $150 for the Corsair DRAM and $250 for a 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, so smack-dab in the middle of your budget. You can go smaller and cheaper, but both of these are very good. One variation you could look at is to get the 250GB 840 EVO for $130, and pick up an HDD caddy. You could remove your operating system from your HDD, mount the HDD in the caddy, then install that in place of your CD/DVD optical drive. That would give you the SSD for OS, applications and currently working files, and your 750GB HDD for media storage.

Neither of these is going to do a whole lot for your gaming experience, but they'll definitely improve your overall computing experience.

As a side note, every variation of your laptop that I've found online has a discrete GPU listed. There's a nifty program called Belarc Advisor (link below) that will tell you just about every important detail of your PC. Try downloading and running it. When you get the report, the first part is a full breakout of your hardware. If you can copy and paste the info listed under "CPU", "Main Circuit Board", and "Display", into a post, that would be helpful in identifying any other options for upgrading.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

 

[sr1030nx]

I must agree with the previous poster, more ram and an ssd.

 

[llsunny77]

Sorry for the delayed response. Your best options for improving your current rig are to upgrade the DRAM and drive. For the DRAM, you could add a 4GB stick or replace your current stick with two 8GB for a total of 16GB. That will help speed things up in general, and for photo and video editing in particular. Replacing your current HDD with an SDD will put some serious zip into your startup and file retrieval. From the specs, it looks like you have a SATA II drive, but SATA III drives are backwards compatible so they'll work. You can also transfer both to a new laptop, as long as they're compatible.

For the DRAM: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-memory-f31600c9d16grsl
For the SSD: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/samsung-internal-hard-drive-mz7te500bw

That's about $150 for the Corsair DRAM and $250 for a 500GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD, so smack-dab in the middle of your budget. You can go smaller and cheaper, but both of these are very good. One variation you could look at is to get the 250GB 840 EVO for $130, and pick up an HDD caddy. You could remove your operating system from your HDD, mount the HDD in the caddy, then install that in place of your CD/DVD optical drive. That would give you the SSD for OS, applications and currently working files, and your 750GB HDD for media storage.

Neither of these is going to do a whole lot for your gaming experience, but they'll definitely improve your overall computing experience.

As a side note, every variation of your laptop that I've found online has a discrete GPU listed. There's a nifty program called Belarc Advisor (link below) that will tell you just about every important detail of your PC. Try downloading and running it. When you get the report, the first part is a full breakout of your hardware. If you can copy and paste the info listed under "CPU", "Main Circuit Board", and "Display", into a post, that would be helpful in identifying any other options for upgrading.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Thanks! I just got a new SSD by now.
But how do I "extract" the OS from the HDD and put it into SSD?
Can I use an external drive to backup?

 

[volcanoscout]

You can clone the current OS drive onto the SSD using cloning software, and yes, you can use an external drive to backup - that's highly recommended.

http://www.maximumpc.com/how_clone_hard_drive_or_ssd_2014

 

[llsunny77]

You can clone the current OS drive onto the SSD using cloning software, and yes, you can use an external drive to backup - that's highly recommended.

http://www.maximumpc.com/how_clone_hard_drive_or_ssd_2014

OK.. so
1) I have to swap the HDD to the optical drive bay and put the SSD to where the HDD originally was.
so it sets the SSD to primary drive?
2) I restart my laptop and begin cloning the OS into SSD. (would it boot the system in the secondary drive?)

is that correct?

 

[volcanoscout]

You can install the SSD into the optical drive bay, then clone your C: to it. Then either leave them in place and change your BIOS boot priority so that it boots from the SSD (you can rename them also), or you can physically swap them so the SSD is in the main drive bay and the HDD is in the optical bay. Once you're sure that it's booting correctly from the SSD and your Windows and files are where they should be, you can reformat your HDD and start using that as a storage drive.

 

[llsunny77]

You can install the SSD into the optical drive bay, then clone your C: to it. Then either leave them in place and change your BIOS boot priority so that it boots from the SSD (you can rename them also), or you can physically swap them so the SSD is in the main drive bay and the HDD is in the optical bay. Once you're sure that it's booting correctly from the SSD and your Windows and files are where they should be, you can reformat your HDD and start using that as a storage drive.

I found the hardest part is to unscrew the laptop...
I almost wear out the screw and I still could not open it up...

 

[llsunny77]

You can install the SSD into the optical drive bay, then clone your C: to it. Then either leave them in place and change your BIOS boot priority so that it boots from the SSD (you can rename them also), or you can physically swap them so the SSD is in the main drive bay and the HDD is in the optical bay. Once you're sure that it's booting correctly from the SSD and your Windows and files are where they should be, you can reformat your HDD and start using that as a storage drive.

I swap them before cloning the OS, now I am at Aptio Utility Setting..
what should I do now?

I think I solved it... trying to put the OS in now..

 

[llsunny77]

You can install the SSD into the optical drive bay, then clone your C: to it. Then either leave them in place and change your BIOS boot priority so that it boots from the SSD (you can rename them also), or you can physically swap them so the SSD is in the main drive bay and the HDD is in the optical bay. Once you're sure that it's booting correctly from the SSD and your Windows and files are where they should be, you can reformat your HDD and start using that as a storage drive.

I have created an image and restored it into SSD, now it can boot from the SSD.

BUT, the thing is, after I shut down and removed the HDD caddy and tested the SSD.
I put it back and the HDD CANNOT be read...
It doesn't appear on disk management so...

What should I do now..?

 

[volcanoscout]

If everything is working with the SSD as a boot drive, and you have a good backup on another drive, with the power off reinstall the HDD in the optical bay. Power the system up and allow it to fully boot, then restart it again. Go back to your "Manage drives" feature and see if it shows up. If it does, right-click on it and select reformat. You may have to activate or reactivate it.

If that doesn't work, you may need to reinstall it in the original bay and reformat from there.