Section

Upgrades and repairs that earn their keep

Most old PCs aren't slow because they're old. They're slow because of one mechanical hard drive, too little memory, or a fan full of dust. Each of those is an afternoon and a modest amount of money to fix, and the difference is dramatic.

Guides

Upgrades The SSD upgrade: still the best thing you can do to an old PC Which drive, which free cloning tool, and how to do the swap. Updated for the 2026 shortage. 4 min read Upgrades Adding memory to an old laptop: how to know what to buy Find out which of four incompatible types your machine takes, in two screens, before you buy anything. 3 min read Upgrades Why your old laptop is slow, and the afternoon that fixes it Startup clutter, dust, a hard drive, or dried thermal paste. Find out which, in order of effort. 4 min read Upgrades Back up before you do anything: the 20-minute version One external drive, Windows' built-in tools, and a test that proves it worked. 3 min read

The order to do things in

  1. Back up. Before anything else. Twenty minutes, one external drive.
  2. Clean it out and check what's running at startup. Free, and it fixes more than people expect. The speed-up guide.
  3. If it has a spinning hard drive, replace it with an SSD. The single biggest improvement available. The SSD guide.
  4. If it has 4GB of memory, add more. Worth it if you live in browser tabs. The memory guide.

One 2026 note: the memory-chip shortage has made SSDs and RAM cost more than they did two years ago. The SSD swap is still clearly worth it on a hard-drive machine. The RAM upgrade has become more of a judgment call, and the guide says where the line is.

The parts and tools

Everything the upgrade guides ask for.

Full gear list
SATA SSD SanDisk SSD Plus 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD Drop-in speed upgrade, free cloning software included. See price on Amazon Paid link USB adapter Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA adapter Clone the old drive before you swap it. See price on Amazon Paid link Precision screwdrivers iFixit Mako 64-bit precision driver kit The right bits for laptop screws. See price on Amazon Paid link Laptop memory Kingston FURY Impact 8GB DDR4-3200 laptop memory For 2016+ laptops with DDR4. See price on Amazon Paid link External hard drive WD Elements 2TB portable hard drive Roomy, simple backup storage. See price on Amazon Paid link Air duster XPOWER A-2S electric air duster Reusable dust removal for fans. See price on Amazon Paid link

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