[SOLVED] Is there hope for restoring this laptop or should I buy a new one?

[Red.wolf]

I have an acer aspire 5741g, since last year, it has been running very slow and would freeze (it doesn't restart, I usually hold the power button to turn it off, but when I turn it back on, sometimes the screen stays off but the CPU fan starts working and sometimes it restarts over and over again) it would sometimes show blue screen too but since the time I upgraded to win 10, that hasn't happened. Though something I noticed is that one RAM slot seems to be fine but as soon as I use the other one, the laptop freezes after a short while. (my RAM sticks are fine, I have tested them on my other laptop.)
Also, the laptop has a hard time loading very basic windows pages (it takes about 10 to 20 seconds just to open up my pc, the notification bar or even right clocking on the desktop!) but when I open them the second time, they open instantly. (I checked task manager and hard disk part goes up to 100% every time I open something.)
specs: CPU: core i5-430M GPU: geforce GT320M RAM: 2x2gb DDR3 HDD:640gb SATA II (15-16Mb/s transfer rate) OS: win 10 home 64bit
PS: I saw another user here who pretty much had the same problem as I do, but they said it was only the hard disk being used 100% made their computer freeze.

 

[velocityg4]

That's an old computer. It's using a HDD for booting. Critically it has very little RAM. Especially if only one works. Which leads to page filing.

If budget is tight. You can get really nice used laptops with an SSD and 8GB RAM for under $200. I'd look at a Lenovo Thinkpad T440s or T450s on eBay. Make sure it has an SSD. Preferably a 1920x1080 display.

 

[geofelt]

If you are reduced to 2gb, on one channel, windows is not going to work hardly at all.
If you took a chance and installed a supported 2 x 4gb ram kit then there is hope.
Such an experiment might cost you $20.

If that worked,
then, a ssd upgrade would turn your laptop into a decent performer.

But, considering that you have a dual core processor that can not be upgraded, I think I would not pursue resurrecting the laptop.

 

[Red.wolf]

That's an old computer. It's using a HDD for booting. Critically it has very little RAM. Especially if only one works. Which leads to page filing.

If budget is tight. You can get really nice used laptops with an SSD and 8GB RAM for under $200. I'd look at a Lenovo Thinkpad T440s or T450s on eBay. Make sure it has an SSD. Preferably a 1920x1080 display.

I have thought about getting a new one, but unfortunately I couldn't find a decent model with my budget (I don't have access to eBay, pretty complicated situation going on...)
I will see about upgrading the RAM and an SSD... Thank you for the great response )

 

[Red.wolf]

If you are reduced to 2gb, on one channel, windows is not going to work hardly at all.
If you took a chance and installed a supported 2 x 4gb ram kit then there is hope.
Such an experiment might cost you $20.

If that worked,
then, a ssd upgrade would turn your laptop into a decent performer.

But, considering that you have a dual core processor that can not be upgraded, I think I would not pursue resurrecting the laptop.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will try the RAM upgrade and see what happens.
Honestly I only want to play dotA2 on this laptop and this can handle that pretty well (the gaming experience is pretty smooth granted I can get into the game, it just freezes or the app crashes right now), my asus 1215b notebook still handles my web browsing and office well enough (I know, my computers are both ancient XD)

 

[geofelt]

Go to a ram web site like kingston or crucial and access their upgrade app.
Enter the make/model of your laptop and you will get a list of compatible ram upgrades.

I have upgraded many laptops using the samsung ssd migration aid and one of their ssd's.
Here is a link to the manual and app:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

The ssd must be large enough to hold the used contents of your C drive.