Upgrading my laptop

[Rossko_UK]

OK I need some help/pointers.

I have an old laptop that I want to upgrade for my Niece. The laptop runs Windows XP but a super-slow rate it's unbelievable and unusable. I ran a check and the program (Everest 4.0) said I needed to upgrade my "system memory".

Basically I need a place where I can get really cheap parts to add into the laptop. I have no idea where to look for cheap stuff and figured it'd be easier to ask you guys! I also need a new hard drive, as the current one is 30GB (yes, the laptop is a tad old!).

I'm hoping I can upgrade the thing for around £100-£150, and to make it a bit of an investment for the future. My Niece is four, so if it could see her through Primary School that'd be great.

Thanks for the help guys, and don't forget I'm in the UK, so no US shops unless it's an import place!

Oh and I'm aware upgrading laptops is not as easy as a desktop, but it's out of warranty and I have nothing to lose!

[Bleach22]

www.ebuyer.com

i buy my parts from there.
make sure you know which motherboard connections you have, if its old it might be AGP.

[JasonA]

Best bet...cos someone I know did this - in yellow pages usually find computer doctors or computer medics. The free line listers usually are frauding and dont pay tax or vat so have parts stored up and fit really really cheap. Maybe worth a shot - not sure of your knowledge on taking apart laptops.

(No offence any frauding computer fixing type people)

[wakeboardnmoto]

I also need a new hard drive, as the current one is 30GB (yes, the laptop is a tad old!).

lol ive got an ibook g4 that came with a 60gb hdd but when it broke i shipped it back to apple they sent it back with a 30gb one, i was so pissed
and how old are we talking?
http://www.podsystems.ch/Pictures/StepFour/DSC00023.JPG

[JasonA]

ive come back and just realised the niece is 4yrs old with a laptop, she must be a genius! I shall be expecting her first review here then by 5 lol

[max2663]

she'll be reviewing all the pokemon/tweenies games

[Rossko_UK]

www.ebuyer.com

i buy my parts from there.
make sure you know which motherboard connections you have, if its old it might be AGP.

How would I find out if it's AGP or not?

ive come back and just realised the niece is 4yrs old with a laptop, she must be a genius! I shall be expecting her first review here then by 5 lol

Haha, she likes to go on the BBC play site or something, and I'm sure she'll need one in school to do help with her homework or whatever!

[Rival24]

Laptops don't have an AGP slot. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to change the graphics card (since that's what an AGP slot is for).

But anyway, you have to find out what kind of memory your laptop uses and the best way to do that is to either open up your laptop and look what's on the memory module tag or find the laptop model on your manufacturer's website and see if they have any information there.

Secondly, what the hell does a 4 year old need a bigger hard drive for? If it's just Windows XP, internet, Office and a few other programs, 30 GB is plenty of space. But for fucks sake, please reinstall the laptop because it's probably full of shit and spyware.

[charmed699]

Maybe check if you can change the parts inside as some laptops already come as a whole unit with most hardware connected. If she needs a whole new laptop that is cheap then maybe check Dell uk as the prices are quite low. :)

[JasonA]

Maybe check if you can change the parts inside as some laptops already come as a whole unit with most hardware connected. If she needs a whole new laptop that is cheap then maybe check Dell uk as the prices are quite low. :)

I had an old Toshiba Laptop and could only change memory, HDD, Disc Drive and that was it. In fact I have a brand spanking new laptop now & I don't think I can still change anything else...

[Veritas]

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

Use that site to find out what kind of memory the laptop is using. I dunno if it's US or import or anything, but they do offer to sell you memory specifically for your laptop. If you want a RAM increase you can also play around with virtual memory, but I wouldn't recommend that with such a small HDD (and I'm not even sure how safe it is to do, myself; I'm still reasearching).

You honestly may just be better off buying her a new one. It may cost about £300, but for all the work you'd need to do to get that one up to par...

[Rossko_UK]

Laptops don't have an AGP slot. It's very unlikely that you'll be able to change the graphics card (since that's what an AGP slot is for).

But anyway, you have to find out what kind of memory your laptop uses and the best way to do that is to either open up your laptop and look what's on the memory module tag or find the laptop model on your manufacturer's website and see if they have any information there.

Secondly, what the hell does a 4 year old need a bigger hard drive for? If it's just Windows XP, internet, Office and a few other programs, 30 GB is plenty of space. But for fucks sake, please reinstall the laptop because it's probably full of shit and spyware.

Well the new HDD would mean I wouldn't have to go through the whole process of wiping the HDD, and she could use it for her music or whatever; who knows what the next six years holds for her! :P

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

Use that site to find out what kind of memory the laptop is using. I dunno if it's US or import or anything, but they do offer to sell you memory specifically for your laptop. If you want a RAM increase you can also play around with virtual memory, but I wouldn't recommend that with such a small HDD (and I'm not even sure how safe it is to do, myself; I'm still reasearching).

You honestly may just be better off buying her a new one. It may cost about £300, but for all the work you'd need to do to get that one up to par...

Thanks for all of that.

[Curry]

Well the new HDD would mean I wouldn't have to go through the whole process of wiping the HDD, and she could use it for her music or whatever; who knows what the next six years holds for her! :P
Hopefully a new laptop :+

First thing to do is check how many DIMMs the laptop takes. Depending on whether it's 1 or 2: buy 2x512MB or 1x1GB RAM, since that's the bare minimum to run XP decently. A 4 year old CPU is fine, and not replaceable anyway. A 30GB harddisk is fine, give her a 250GB USB drive to store porn if she needs more: replacing laptop harddisks sucks and getting a 2.5" IDE drive (which you probably need for a 4 yr old laptop) sucks even more, plus they're pricey by now if you can find them at all.

So. Upgrade the RAM, it should be fine for a few years with a toddler then. Investing any more is just throwing money away, chances are she'll break the damn thing within 2 years anyway, and it's much too expensive even if it doesn't.

[Rossko_UK]

Hopefully a new laptop :+

First thing to do is check how many DIMMs the laptop takes. Depending on whether it's 1 or 2: buy 2x512MB or 1x1GB RAM, since that's the bare minimum to run XP decently. A 4 year old CPU is fine, and not replaceable anyway. A 30GB harddisk is fine, give her a 250GB USB drive to store porn if she needs more: replacing laptop harddisks sucks and getting a 2.5" IDE drive (which you probably need for a 4 yr old laptop) sucks even more, plus they're pricey by now if you can find them at all.

So. Upgrade the RAM, it should be fine for a few years with a toddler then. Investing any more is just throwing money away, chances are she'll break the damn thing within 2 years anyway, and it's much too expensive even if it doesn't.

And how do I find out about DIMMS?

[JasonA]

And how do I find out about DIMMS?

xboxuncensored.com :P

[Rival24]

And how do I find out about DIMMS?

Get a screwdriver.... (guess the rest :P)

[Curry]

And how do I find out about DIMMS?
Find... laptop's... original... specs :+

[Rossko_UK]

http://www.crucial.com/index.aspx

Use that site to find out what kind of memory the laptop is using. I dunno if it's US or import or anything, but they do offer to sell you memory specifically for your laptop. If you want a RAM increase you can also play around with virtual memory, but I wouldn't recommend that with such a small HDD (and I'm not even sure how safe it is to do, myself; I'm still reasearching).

You honestly may just be better off buying her a new one. It may cost about £300, but for all the work you'd need to do to get that one up to par...

Wow, that site is brilliant. Told me my DIMMS and everything, and was pretty damn cheap too! Just ordered it all, thanks for that.

Now, how do I completely wipe the Hard Drive?!

[Bleach22]

I have a program on my old PC that shows up all your hardware info, passwords, networks etc. etc. etc. etc. ill try and find the name for you.

[Rival24]

Reboot the laptop with the Windows XP cd and when it asks you to press a button, do so. You'll enter windows setup and you can format your drive there.

[wakeboardnmoto]

Find... laptop's... original... specs :+

y...e...s......

[Bleach22]

http://www.gtopala.com/

Download that foo'

[Veritas]

Wow, that site is brilliant. Told me my DIMMS and everything, and was pretty damn cheap too! Just ordered it all, thanks for that.

Now, how do I completely wipe the Hard Drive?!

No problem, glad to help.

[nofear360]

so you should purchase new laptop with latest technology.....:z:9~
You mean one of yours? 8)7

[Rossko_UK]

Heh the new stuff I put in the laptop was too powerful, and after two weeks exploded, causing an outage. Probably wasn't funny, but when my sister was reciting the story I couldn't help but laugh! They got a brand new one free though; God bless house insurance!

[Curry]

Heh the new stuff I put in the laptop was too powerful, and after two weeks exploded, causing an outage. Probably wasn't funny, but when my sister was reciting the story I couldn't help but laugh! They got a brand new one free though; God bless house insurance!
Exploded....? :D 8)7

[JasonA]

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2006/08/hot%20potato.png

[nofear360]

MI style? Damn ...

[Fanappy]

How did you get your gamer picture Zan?

[JasonA]

How did you get your gamer picture Zan?

Not that it's visible yet, but I just got the other style of that gamerpic amongst a few others now on the US marketplace... ESPN X ones look good too, so many free gamerpics !!

[nofear360]

How did you get your gamer picture Zan?
It's from the US Marketplace ;).

[Curry]

http://cache.lifehacker.com/assets/resources/2006/08/hot%20potato.png
That rocks.

[HylianHitman]

Guldammed Americans.