[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

a smaller OS ssd would load much faser than a BIG FAT SATA SSD.

Why do you say this?

I would have suggested a much larger SSD. Prices are so reasonable now, and even if there was a sacrifice in OS speed due to the larger SSD, the advantage of having additional data on your SSD (rather than HD) would easily make up for that IMO.

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Why do you say this?

I would have suggested a much larger SSD. Prices are so reasonable now, and even if there was a sacrifice in OS speed due to the larger SSD, the advantage of having additional data on your SSD (rather than HD) would easily make up for that IMO.

Older board would support lesser L3 and lower frequency of RAM. Smaller OS SSD would be much faster to access. Again, going for larger SSD would eventually make the older and perfectly fine HDD redundant. Why increase e-waste, even if the cost differential is less, without any significant improvement in data access speed. I don't thing (happy to be stand corrected) that OP would use a 10 year old "upgraded" laptop for any data heavy usage. For all other day to day usage, faster OS boot would solve 90% for "Faster Machine" senses.

Just my 2 bitcoins.

[Rohit_Quad]

Originally Posted by VRod_24

Need advice on which laptop would be a good deal
1) Asus vivobook 16x with ryzen 5 5600H costing 47k
2) Hp pavilion 14 with ryzen 5 5625u costing 56k
Use case web browsing, casual games like GTA V and media consumption.

If your use case is mostly desk use, always go with the 'H' variants of the same processor family. These will also give very good battery on media/ browsing usage, but will perform very well in power applications as well. The 'U's will perform similarly in light tasks, with maybe a bit better battery life, but will not come close to the 'H' variant in heavy loads. Also to note, the 'H' variants batter size is mostly larger/ higher capacity. It would be better for some to suggest, if you put the URL's of both the laptops.

[carboy]

My laptop has a single disk which is an SSD. I am planning to replace the SSD with a newer one.

How do I reinstall the OS & also the license etc? The laptop originally came with the OS & I neither have an installable disk/USB nor do I know the license key - how do I then reinstall the OS & transfer the license to the new SSD?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by carboy

My laptop has a single disk which is an SSD. I am planning to replace the SSD with a newer one.

How do I reinstall the OS & also the license etc? The laptop originally came with the OS & I neither have an installable disk/USB nor do I know the license key - how do I then reinstall the OS & transfer the license to the new SSD?

Are you keen to actually do a clean reinstall?

If you don't need to, then the best thing to do would be to do a disk clone / disk image.

That way, you'll get a bit-to-bit exact copy of your existing SSD. You won't need to re-install anything or re-copy your data, or worry about licence keys etc.

You can use a software like Macrium Reflect, or AOMEI / Acronis etc.

You will however need an external enclosure for one of the SSDs (OR an external drive with enough space + a create a bootable USB for the software you plan to use).

Finally you might need to increase the partition on the new disk, so you can use the full size of it. You can use MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Older board would support lesser L3 and lower frequency of RAM. Smaller OS SSD would be much faster to access.

I don't really agree with this... Do you have any test that show this?

Either way, up to OP to decide what size SSD he wants

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by carboy

My laptop has a single disk which is an SSD. I am planning to replace the SSD with a newer one.

How do I reinstall the OS & also the license etc? The laptop originally came with the OS & I neither have an installable disk/USB nor do I know the license key - how do I then reinstall the OS & transfer the license to the new SSD?

Thankfully, after the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the product key is no longer solely attached to your hardware. The great news is that you can link it to your Microsoft account. If you arent using a Microsoft account to log in, you could start by doing so and then checking your activation settings to see if your copy of Windows is activated with a digital license or not. See reference image below:



I login to my PCs with a Microsoft account (my @outlook.com email address) and all my PC are activated by a digital license linked to the same account. Even if I reinstall Windows on the same PCs, I do not have to do anything new w.r.t activation - they are automatically activated once I complete setup. See here for directions on linking a Windows 10 / 11 product key to a Microsoft account.

As for a copy of the original OS - I download Windows 11 from this Microsoft page. You can either use the Windows 11 Installation Assistant which will download and walk you through the entire process of installation, or, you could download the ISO (see bottom of said page) and then use a tool like Rufus to format and create a bootable USB drive to then install Windows from. It's all pretty straightforward and hassle free. If you are at all prompted to enter a product key during installation, go with the 'I don't have a key' or 'Do this later' option(s).

If you prefer Windows 10, the most current ISO can be downloaded from this Microsoft page.

Please feel free to DM me if you require further assistance.

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Hi, Need advice on SSD.

I have a 10 year old dell laptop (service tag 6NV42Z1) which I had got from US through a friend. The laptop has gotten very slow and takes ages to boot up. I think the hard drive might be giving up and switching to an SSD will make a big difference. Other than that, there is no issue with the laptop.

Is it worth spending money on this?

As per DELL website, the hard disk on my laptop is listed as below

PJGMP HD,750,S3,5.4,2.5,512E,500M-6G


Does this mean I need to buy a SATA3 SSD?

Any recommendations for good SSD either 500 GB or 1TB with in reasonable price?

Thanks a lot in advance

I looked up the Service Tag '6NV42Z1' in the Dell website and see that you have a Inspiron 15 7537 that originally shipped with a 750GB HDD.

My go to source for RAM and SSD upgrade recommendations is the Crucial Upgrade portal. From what I can see, your compatible options are:

500GB - Model Number CT500MX500SSD1. See item on Amazon.in

1TB - Model Number CT1000MX500SSD1. See item on Amazon.in

I have upgraded three laptops at home with RAM and SSD using recommendations from this portal and buying the same item from Amazon.in, and can vouch for their performance. If you really need the space, I would recommend the 1TB, otherwise the 500GB should do just fine. Swapping out the slow 5400rpm HDD with the faster SSD will make a world of difference.

[Everlearner]

Thank you everyone for your valuable inputs.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Check your main board, some older main board do have extra M.2 slot. If you have, you can get a smaller M.2 SSD which you can put as bootable with OS install and keep your old HDD for data.

I would suggest a small SSD (125 /256 GB) just to hold the OS. Your old HDD can be used as an external drive with a HDD case for your data. Considering a old system, a smaller OS ssd would load much faser than a BIG FAT SATA SSD. You never mentioned other config, such as RAM size and type etc. Considering a old system, please check the max RAM you can upgrade of the type and frequency.

For SATA ssd, you can try Crucial / Samsung /WD. Go for the better deal as all will perform similarly. Though I find software and support of Crucial to be slightly better than Samsung / WD.

How do I check if my MB has an M2 port. Can I check it in windows without opening up the laptop.

Regarding using existing HDD for data, since the HDD is old, I'm wary that it might give up and I may lose data. What do you think?

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Why do you say this?

I would have suggested a much larger SSD. Prices are so reasonable now, and even if there was a sacrifice in OS speed due to the larger SSD, the advantage of having additional data on your SSD (rather than HD) would easily make up for that IMO.

True, 500GB SSD is costing ~2-2.5k and 1TH ~5-5.5k. I don't want to spend too much on an old laptop, so thinking of the 500GB one.

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Older board would support lesser L3 and lower frequency of RAM. Smaller OS SSD would be much faster to access. Again, going for larger SSD would eventually make the older and perfectly fine HDD redundant. Why increase e-waste, even if the cost differential is less, without any significant improvement in data access speed. I don't thing (happy to be stand corrected) that OP would use a 10 year old "upgraded" laptop for any data heavy usage. For all other day to day usage, faster OS boot would solve 90% for "Faster Machine" senses. Just my 2 bitcoins.

Agree completely on reducing ewaste, but as said above, I'm just wary that it might completely give up soon. Is there a way to check this.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I don't really agree with this... Do you have any test that show this? Either way, up to OP to decide what size SSD he wants

I'm thinking of mid range capacity of 500GB to have reasonably enough space for OS and some data even if non-required data can be purged.

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

I looked up the Service Tag '6NV42Z1' in the Dell website and see that you have a Inspiron 15 7537 that originally shipped with a 750GB HDD.

My go to source for RAM and SSD upgrade recommendations is the Crucial Upgrade portal. From what I can see, your compatible options are:

500GB - Model Number CT500MX500SSD1. See item on Amazon.in

1TB - Model Number CT1000MX500SSD1. See item on Amazon.in

I have upgraded three laptops at home with RAM and SSD using recommendations from this portal and buying the same item from Amazon.in, and can vouch for their performance. If you really need the space, I would recommend the 1TB, otherwise the 500GB should do just fine. Swapping out the slow 5400rpm HDD with the faster SSD will make a world of difference.

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. Much appreciated.

When I check Amazon/Flipkart, Crucial BX500 series are costing lesser than MX500 series. Ex: for 500GB, the diff is ~Rs.800. Is it worth going for MX500 series?

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Do you have any test that show this?

Either way, up to OP to decide what size SSD he wants

I think I explained pretty bad of my point in last post. I do that quiet a lot . What I meant, considering OP put a large SSD on a old laptop, obviously all his data would be stored on the same SSD as the OS. Speed of a tanked up SSD marred with old chip-set, lower frequency and small L3 shouts slowness. Anyway this is a school of thought that points at least 30%-40% SSD to be blank for faster access. A separate data disk would ensure, OS SSD remain mostly empty for faster access.

From where I was coming from, especially when I upgraded my old one last year, I put a very strict tight budget. For me, spending anything more than 5k on just SSD and RAM on a 10 year old computing device, without touching the chip-set and main board wouldn't justify the investment. And if I go for entire hardware overhaul, it is better to get a new one.

Do I have a test data, Nah. Too much of a drag to test properly with actual hardware just for a old machine, isn't it. I rather fall flat belly up and concede.

100% agreed that it is OP's choice in the end.

Originally Posted by Everlearner

How do I check if my MB has an M2 port

Sorry, saw your post after I wrote my post. Hopefully edit button worked here, else Rehaan to help merge.

If you open your laptop and check your MB, it is like a RAM slot. You can check your MB model over google to find out. Also there are softwares like CPU-Z that shall give out detail information on machine.

If you believe your HDD would give up, then of course go for SSD. Ideally your SSD should have at least 30% empty area for faster access. Decide your SSD size based on your current data and future data.

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. Much appreciated.

When I check Amazon/Flipkart, Crucial BX500 series are costing lesser than MX500 series. Ex: for 500GB, the diff is ~Rs.800. Is it worth going for MX500 series?

The BX500 is also a compatible upgrade, and considering that MX series has only a slight performance gain over the BX series, you could go for the BX series instead.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

Thankfully, after the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the product key is no longer solely attached to your hardware. The great news is that you can link it to your Microsoft account. If you arent using a Microsoft account to log in, you could start by doing so and then checking your activation settings to see if your copy of Windows is activated with a digital license or not. See reference image below:

I am not using a Microsoft account to login but I still see this?



What does this mean? How do I figure out which Microsoft account of mine it's linked to - I may have more than one!!

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by carboy

I am not using a Microsoft account to login but I still see this?

Attachment 2487262

What does this mean? How do I figure out which Microsoft account of mine it's linked to - I may have more than one!!

You could fire up any Office app, go to Account and then look at what Microsoft account (if any) is available under User Information.

Did you upgrade to Windows 10? If you just want the Product Key, you could use the free app 'ShowKeyPlus' from the Microsoft Store. Do also take a look at what it says against OEM Key. Mine says "OEM key not present in firmware" - because my copy of Windows did not come preinstalled from the OEM. I hope this helps.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

You could fire up any Office app, go to Account and then look at what Microsoft account (if any) is available under User Information.

Yes, found it - it's a live.com id rather than an outlook.com id. I assume both are same/similar. Is there a way to be sure that the same account works is linked to the OS also? I mean you could have diff ids for Office License & Windows License, right?
How do I login to the OS using this id & making sure that the OS license is linked to that?

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

Did you upgrade to Windows 10?

No, laptop came with Windows 10.

Originally Posted by arnieshwartz

If you just want the Product Key, you could use the free app 'ShowKeyPlus' from the Microsoft Store. Do also take a look at what it says against OEM Key. Mine says "OEM key not present in firmware" - because my copy of Windows did not come preinstalled from the OEM. I hope this helps.

Got it, thank you. Mine show 3 keys, Original Key, Installed Key & OEM key. Installed & OEM are the same.

[arnieshwartz]

Originally Posted by carboy

Yes, found it - it's a live.com id rather than an outlook.com id. I assume both are same/similar. Is there a way to be sure that the same account works is linked to the OS also? I mean you could have diff ids for Office License & Windows License, right?
How do I login to the OS using this id & making sure that the OS license is linked to that?



No, laptop came with Windows 10.




Got it, thank you. Mine show 3 keys, Original Key, Installed Key & OEM key. Installed & OEM are the same.

I think in your case you could go ahead with the reinstall, and if prompted to login to a Microsoft account, could use the same live.com account (after resetting the password, if required). You also have the license keys, in case Setup asks you for the same. Chances are that you end up with a clean installation that seamlessly gets activated with your digital license.

One of the advantages of logging in using a Microsoft account is that you can have app preferences and data, browsing history, all backed up and sync'd between multiple devices. If you ever reinstall Windows, you could restore app data and preferences from a back up copy, just like with mobile phones.

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by Everlearner

Hi, Need advice on SSD.

I have a 10 year old dell laptop (service tag 6NV42Z1) which I had got from US through a friend. The laptop has gotten very slow and takes ages to boot up. I think the hard drive might be giving up and switching to an SSD will make a big difference. Other than that, there is no issue with the laptop.

\Any recommendations for good SSD either 500 GB or 1TB with in reasonable price?

Thanks a lot in advance

Am in the same boat as you. Have a dell Inspiron 7547 (i7-4510U CPU @ 2.00GHz/2.60 GHz & 12 GB RAM) which I bought from the US in 2014. Its 9 years now and its showing its age.

• Speakers do not work any more but can be connected via bluetooth.
• The rubbery plastic around the screen is coming off. The laptop is connected full time to the monitor so rarely use the screen.
• The battery has bloated and there is no back up but its fully on UPS.

It still works pretty fine except the disk 100% error which comes once in a while. But main pet peeve is the amount of RAM that is being used. Its usually around 9GB when browsing and google chrome itself takes 3-6GB based on the number of tabs that are open.

Given the condition, am planning to go for a new one.

• Need a good processor like I5-12500 or I7-12700
• Need 32 GB RAM. (can upgrade too)
• Need 1 TB hard disk (can upgrade too)
• Need longevity. Plan is to use another 10 years but am not sure how the longevity of the current laptops are.
• Need USB-C
• Need HDMI 2.1
• Decent Battery Life
• The Usage is mainly browsing and some video editing

Given all these above crtieria, there isnt much of choice except the Dell G Series (battery life isnt that great), XPS or Alienware in the 14-15 inch category!

Would it be worth plonking some moolah and get an XPS or Alienware? Would be extremely helpful.