Speed Up Your Slow Computer with a Solid State Drive (SSD)

The estimated reading time for this post is 7 minutes

Within the past few weeks, many PCs and Macs have been updating to new operating systems: Windows 10 for PCs and OS X El Capitan for Macs. These new operating systems are filled with features to make your computer more functional.

But new operating systems can put a strain on older computers. If your computer is more than a couple of years old, it may be feeling sluggish with the new updates.

Turning on your computer and waiting for it to boot up may take much longer. Opening programs may seem to take an eternity.

Buying a new computer for the increase in speed may be tempting. But you may be able to make your computer faster while saving money over buying a new one.

Replacing your computer’s hard drive with a solid state drive (SSD) may save you money and make your computer run much faster.

Why Use an SSD?

If your computer starts running slow, you may want to replace your hard drive with an SSD. While hard drives have spinning discs that are slower, can crash and wear out, SSDs use chips and have no moving parts.

When your computer uses an SSD it will start, open programs and turn off faster than with a standard hard drive.

According to Bruce Berls of BruceBNews:

Installing a solid state hard drive (SSD) in place of a conventional hard drive will make more of a difference to your day-to-day experience than the processor or the amount of memory or any other component. It works so well that you’ll feel like the computer has been strapped to a rocket.”

SSDs used to cost a lot more money and have less storage than traditional hard drives. But today you can buy SSDs with 512GB of storage for under $200.

Should You Upgrade to an SSD?

First make sure that your computer is worth upgrading to an SSD. If your computer came from the bargain bin five years ago, then making the investment in an SSD probably doesn’t make sense.

But if you invested in a decent computer within the past couple of years, adding an SSD may make a big difference in speed and save you from buying a new computer for a while.

How to Upgrade to an SSD

You have two choices in upgrading to an SSD: do it yourself or ask someone else to do it.

If you’re not sure which to choose, check out YouTube. Search YouTube for a video of someone upgrading your model of computer to an SSD. YouTube is filled with videos, many by helpful computer experts who will walk you through the process of upgrading.

Watch the video and see whether upgrading your computer to an SSD is a task you want to tackle yourself.

Letting Someone Else Do the Upgrade

If taking apart your computer isn’t something you want to try, then ask around to see if any friends or family members have done this and are willing to do it for you. Check with techy folks who may actually enjoy taking on a project like this. Buy them a beer, milkshake or other appropriate beverage for their efforts.

If asking a friend isn’t an option, hire a pro who can do this for you.

Do the Upgrade Yourself

You can do the upgrade yourself if you are computer-savvy, brave or both. If the thought of opening up your computer sends shivers through you, perhaps you should ask someone else to do this.

If you know what you’re doing or are brave enough to try figuring it out, give it a go. Upgrading isn’t difficult and you could have a speedy computer in a few minutes with minimal investment.

What You’ll Need

• Screwdrivers
• SSD*
• Bootable operating system
• Thumb drive
• A backup copy of the data on your hard drive
• Time to restore the data onto your SSD from your Hard Drive
• Courage not to panic

* Make sure to check the manufacturer’s website to see which SSD drive is compatible with your model computer.

First Steps
Important => Be sure to back up your data to an external hard drive or the Cloud so you can restore your data to the SSD. See, Time Machine: My New Best (Tech) Friend! for information on backing up and restoring your Mac computer using Time Machine.

You’ll want to use your thumb drive make a bootable copy of your operating system on your computer. You will need this so your computer can operate after you install the SSD.

Use YouTube or do a Google search to find out how to make a bootable copy of your operating system.

Search “bootable copy of Windows 10” or “bootable copy of El Capitan” or whatever operating system that’s on your computer now.

Doing the Upgrade

If you haven’t done so already, find a YouTube video of someone upgrading your model computer to an SSD. Watch the video a couple of times and then follow the steps. (Make sure you have another computer, a phone or a tablet to watch the video while you’re taking your computer apart.)

Taking apart the computer and replacing the hard drive with an SSD should only take a few minutes. Restoring the operating system and uploading your data could take quite a while, depending on how much data you had on your old hard drive.

[tip] Don’t try this when you have a major project deadline due soon! [/tip]

Your (Feels Like New) Computer

When you turn on your computer with the new SSD you should find that the computer turns on very quickly. No more waiting for programs to load, opening them should seem instant.

My Story

I upgraded my late 2011 17″ MacBook Pro (a/k/a the “Beast”) from a 750GB hard drive to a 1TB SSD this week. My brilliant friend Mike had been encouraging me to do this for a while but I had been delaying the project.

When I updated the Beast to El Capitan earlier this month, I became well acquainted with the newly-designed spinning Beach Ball of Death.

My computer didn’t seem happy that it was being asked to do so much. I felt it straining under the weight of being, well, old.

I looked at buying a new computer but to get a new 15″ MacBook Pro with the specs I wanted was going to cost a whopping $3000. I didn’t want to spend that kind of money plus I’ve gotten quite accustomed to staring at a 17″ screen which Apple doesn’t make any more.

So I decided to take my friend Mike’s advice and try upgrading the Beast to an SSD and invested about $300 in an SSD with 1TB (1000GB) of storage.

I found a YouTube video that walked me through the process with a computer that is very similar to mine.  I also found an article at Ars Technica about making a bootable copy of El Capitan .

Tuesday evening I opened up the Beast and popped out the old hard drive. I nestled the SSD in place and closed up the Beast. I inserted the thumb drive with the bootable copy of El Capitan into a USB port and turned on the computer.

So far the process took about 15 minutes.

I went through the steps of partitioning the new hard drive, uploading El Capitan and restoring my data from Time Machine. Because I had about 500 GB of data on my old hard drive, restoring the data took about 10 hours.

The Beast now is acting more like a beast. It’s quick and agile, no longer appearing to stress when I open programs.

iTunes loads instantly. I can open Messages, Calendar, Safari, Word, and more without having time to make a cup of tea.

My only regret is that I waited too long and didn’t listen to Mike’s advice sooner.

Your Thoughts

Has your computer been running slowly? Have you ever upgraded your computer to an SSD? Have you ever opened your computer? Would you be willing to take on the task yourself?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!

* Children with computer image (edited) courtesy of StartupStockPhotos via Pixabay

* Hard drive image (edited) courtesy of ClkerFreeVectorImages via Pixabay

* Red thumb drive image (edited) courtesy of bplanet via freedigitalphotos.net

* Beach Ball of Death image via Wikimedia Commons

* Computer with mug image courtesy of sakhorn38