Got an oldish Samsung Laptop which seems very slow. Just check the specs and it has a Intel u7300@1.30Ghz Processor 4.00GB RAM and is running Windows 7.
I could try and take it back to factor settings but is this a waste of time and would it be best to look at buying a new one.
Just wanting a laptop for internet and also ideally some basic GoPro editing.

Thanks

bin

Linux it, I’ve put lightweight installations on much older machines than that and they run fine. Worth a try for the cost of a blank DVD,or use a pendrive.
Can recommend Elementary OS .

If you’re prepared to format and reinstall, then as above try Linux. It will be much quicker if you get on with it and can find useful apps for your needs.

I’ve seen old W7 clunkers get a reasonable speed boost from W10, too.

Don’t throw hardware at an old laptop though. Very diminished returns.

I suspect that machine might not manage editing of 720P files. Though it should be fine for some low key web browsing and old MS Office stuff.

It’s time for a new machine if you want to use 2016’s internet with its ad overload or you want to edit HD video files smoothly.

Linux – sure, if you like setting computers up and handling the odd peculiarity. My current favourite Linux distro is Mint. My daughter used to use Mint on an old former windows machine with a centrino processor and 4GB RAM. It was OK for homework, web browsing, mp3s. She complained about its performance with video and photo editing. She hasn’t gone back to it since I gave her my 2014 retina MacBook Pro 15″.

Factory reset will refresh it. Windows 10 update could be better though. However you’ve missed the free upgrade.

Hardware can’t do much with. CPU will be integrated in the motherboard so no upgrade there, although apparently these can be overclocked but it’s small returns and probably not noticeable in normal use, plus may make it run too hot.

Swapping the disk to an SSD is usually the one hardware change you can make that’s noticeable, more so in laptops that often have very slow discs anyway. However it’s an old processor that might be dragging the system down more than the hard disc speed is. Also you need Win 8.1 or 10 to take full advantage of an SSD.

Sounds as though we will probably need a new machine as I don’t really have the knowledge and time to go to Linux. I presume going with a i5 with a SSD drive and 8GB RAM would be ok? I presume with a SSD you keep the file storage to the minimum and then put pics o flckr etc or have a separate HD.
Any laptops people recommend or any to avoid?

SSDs tend to be smaller due to the high cost, but for a laptop or tablet I don’t store everything on it. Keep it in the cloud. I use OneDrive and just have the stuff I need synced to my tablet and rest is in the cloud. I do have a desktop and NAS though that has massive amounts of storage and act as backups on top of the cloud stuff.

i5 and 8GB should be fine I think.

I can at a push do basic video editing on my tablet and that’s a quad core Atom. Storage is an issue though as it’s eMMC instead of a proper SSD, and not much of it. Has extra storage but that’s micro SD card and very slow.

I’m out of touch with what’s good or bad, although generally I’ve stuck with Dell.

Windows 10 update could be better though. However you’ve missed the free upgrade.

Apparently, you can still install Win 10 using a Win 7 serial number. The free upgrade is also available to people with disabilities. It’s an honesty system, nobody checks if you are actually disabled.

It would be worth trying a full factory reset back to the original Win 7 spec and seeing how it performs.

How old is it ? My 2009 Mac Mini does all the basic stuff well and web browsing / email uses very little RAM really. You could spend £75 on a 250gb SSD and a usb caddy and upgrade the harddrive with a fresh OS install (all files backed up of course). May need an adapter too if it’s so old it’s not Sata (unlikely ?). If that makes no difference just take the SSD out again and you can sell it/reuse it anyway in the caddy or stick it in a new machine you buy. Depends how “techy” you are.

IME with windows (littoe since 2007 in all honesty) is that over time it just cloggs up with downloads from third parties hence a fresh install usually helps a lot. No doubt websites have lots of adverts now which suck up RAM and CPU but a browser with flash disabled etc can help there too.

Nothing wrong with Win 7 and an SSD, as long as TRIM support is enabled (which should be or can be enabled) or there always the assistive Win 10 upgrade (apparenlty they don’t check – going to try this later) .. I’d look at buying 500Gb SSD (not as expensive as they once were), doing a clean install on it and seeing what the performance is like. At worst most (£500) i5 8Gb new laptop’s don’t come with an SSD, so you could always move it into the new laptop later on.

..saying that, that CPU is getting a little long in the tooth

I don’t really have the knowledge and time to go to Linux.

I’m an IT numpty and I managed it. Basically, bought it already on disc and installed from the disc, which is easy. Linux mint cinnamon 17.2 in my case, which itself is pretty much Linux for the numpty.

With a fresh install ssd and decent amount of ram it will be ok for lightweight stuff but it isn’t worth the time/money unless you are really attached to it.

I’ve got an old laptop with a T9600 so about twice as fast as the u7300, with an ssd and 8gb of ram it is fine for for general use win7/10 but it’s age is really apparent when doing anything more heavy lime CAD or photo editing. The only reason i’m still running it is because it has an awesome dreamcolor display.

I’m a big fan of running Linux on old laptops but having seen small but perfectly adequate laptops for under 200 I sometimes wonder if it’s worth it.

bin

Mince.

Linux it,

Mince.

Factory reset will refresh it. Windows 10 update could be better though.

… is the right answer. CPU is a bit pish but a factory reset will put it back how it was when new. Was it slow when new?

I’d look at buying 500Gb SSD (not as expensive as they once were), doing a clean install on it and seeing what the performance is like. At worst most (£500) i5 8Gb new laptop’s don’t come with an SSD, so you could always move it into the new laptop later on.

Probably what I’d do TBH.

I’ve got an old laptop with a T9600 so about twice as fast as the u7300, with an ssd and 8gb of ram it is fine for for general use win7/10 but it’s age is really apparent when doing anything more heavy lime CAD or photo editing. The only reason i’m still running it is because it has an awesome dreamcolor display.

Mine’s a T5750 with half that RAM. It flies. Granted I’m not using it as a CAD workstation though.