PC911

Advisor

What should I upgrade first?

Most slow machines need one part, not three. Describe what yours does and this returns a short list ranked by what actually helps — with the free fixes in front of anything you have to buy.

About the machine

What is it

Its main drive

Memory

What goes wrong

Do these in order

3 steps
  1. 1

    Fit an SSD as the system drive

    Needs a part

    Nothing else changes a machine as much. A spinning hard drive is why a two-minute startup, slow-opening apps and a disk pinned at 100 percent all happen at once — an SSD starts in seconds and makes the same processor feel modern. On any machine still running one, it is the first thing worth money.

    How to fit an SSD
  2. 2

    Trim what starts with Windows

    Free to do

    Every program set to launch at sign-in delays the desktop and keeps running afterwards. Turning off the ones you did not choose to install is free, takes ten minutes, and still helps after an SSD upgrade.

    Speed up startup
  3. 3

    Add memory

    Needs a part

    8 GB covers one thing at a time. If the freezes arrive with many tabs, a spreadsheet and a call open together, another 8 GB keeps Windows out of the swap file and costs far less than a new machine.

    How much RAM you need

How the advice is ranked

A spinning hard drive outranks everything else because it holds back the whole machine: startup, opening apps, updates and antivirus scans all wait on it, which is why a machine that feels finished is often just waiting for a disk. Memory comes next — 4 GB forces Windows to swap to the drive, which turns a fast computer into a stuttering one. Free fixes come first whenever they apply, because a nearly full drive or a dust-filled heatsink causes the same symptoms as failing hardware. If none of that applies, the honest answer is that a new part will not help, and the guide to making a PC faster without buying one is the right path.

Once a part is fitted, the other half of the job is what arrives at the machine — check your connection with the internet speed test and, if the numbers are short, speed up the connection before spending anything.