Getting windows to work on a low spec laptop

[AD]

Hi all.

So I was asked to fix a laptop to make it faster. It runs Windows 10, and has a whopping 4 gb ram and a quad core pentium processor. It's not very powerful and Windows runs horribly on it.

Just wanted to know, is there a way to make Windows run decently on something with those specs?

If it was mine I would probably put Linux on it, but it's for an elderly person, and I'm not sure Linux is a good choice for someone who barely know what a browser is. Seriously thinking considering just buying them an iPad as a present, because they had one in the passed and it worked well for them (yeah, I know it's Apple and I don't like Apple, but for this person a locked down system like the iPad is actually a good fit).

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Add more RAM and clean install Win10 64bit 22H2 to an SSD. Learn how to tweak Win10 and get rid of the bloat. It's not hard to do.

[Jaunitta 🌸]

4 gb ram is not good 16 works great.
GPU should be dedicated not integrated onboard on motherboard.
PSU? how many watts?
CPU how many cores? GHZ?
old is HDD? Old means speed problems.
Tablet - ipad is good if they are used it.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

For a senior, 8GB should be enough, they won't be using as much apps or multitasking enough to really justify 16-32GB RAM. But this depends if you can just add another 4GB in that Laptop to make 8GB dual channel. If the price is right and it actually has two physical dimm slots, then sure, a 16 (2x 8GB) kit might be worth it.

An SSD like WD Blue or something similar from Crucial or Samsung will do wonders for any Laptop. Especially if the user was used to always using a HDD, which are painfully slow in Laptops.

[Haruspex]

If you can upgrade the RAM, do it. Windows 10 will run with 4 GB, but it won't be a good experience and won't be very useful.

If the RAM isn't upgradable, then I recommend you look into a lightweight version of Linux for that machine instead. Something like Ubuntu Mate[ubuntu-mate.org] should be okay, as it will run on a machine with as little RAM as 512 MB. And the Mate desktop environment is kind of nice. Old-school, like MacOS 8-9, or what Gnome used to be like.

For an elderly person, honestly, Linux is an excellent option. As long as they have a desktop and an icon to click on that will open a browser, they won't run into any issues. Maybe a solitaire game and a folder full of photos of grandkids too. And if they do the usual old-person thing and manage to download a virus, chances are it will do absolutely nothing, as the virus is probably made for Windows. I had put Linux on my grandma's PC before she passed, and she was very satisfied with it.

[Agent]

You should just put 8 gigs in. You can't do any trickery around that on Windows even with the "minimal" install guides.

[Tonepoet]

You folk are a bit too quick to proffer advice without even asking what laptop it is. What if it doesn't have user upgradable R.A.M.? What if it's all soldered in? Even if it is user upgrade-able, we need to know which variety of R.A.M. it takes too.

Also, if you're considering getting this person a gift, and the prospect of getting an Apple tablet is disdain for Apple as a company, you might consider getting this person an Android tablet or a chromebook instead. Well unless you hate Google at least as much as you hate Apple anyway. Android is close enough to I.O.S. that I'm doubtful this person would notice the difference.

[Agent]

Originally posted by Tonepoet:

You folk are a bit too quick to proffer advice without even asking what laptop it is. What if it doesn't have user upgradable R.A.M.?

Also, if you're considering getting this person a gift, and the prospect of getting an Apple tablet is disdain for Apple as a company, you might consider getting this person an Android tablet or a chromebook instead.

iPad will be so much better for an elderly person.

[JacquesPatat]

For the elderly person, question is, what do they use the laptop for, is it mainly for browsing, checking email, playing solitaire. if its pretty much basic stuff then Ipad will be good choice for them. but if they want the laptop, if ram can be upgraded maybe to 8 gigs and a SSD and fresh installation of windows

[nullable]

Originally posted by AD:

Hi all.

So I was asked to fix a laptop to make it faster. It runs Windows 10, and has a whopping 4 gb ram and a quad core pentium processor. It's not very powerful and Windows runs horribly on it.

Just wanted to know, is there a way to make Windows run decently on something with those specs?

If it was mine I would probably put Linux on it, but it's for an elderly person, and I'm not sure Linux is a good choice for someone who barely know what a browser is. Seriously thinking considering just buying them an iPad as a present, because they had one in the passed and it worked well for them (yeah, I know it's Apple and I don't like Apple, but for this person a locked down system like the iPad is actually a good fit).

Sometimes the hardware is just the hardware and it's bleh. And the only way to speed it up meaningfully is spend some money. I've been there, wanting to magically improve performance for $0, but a hundred dollars of your time.

And honestly considering the age and the cost of meaningful upgrades, your time, and the user's goals. Getting the cheapest laptop you can find as a replacement is probably going to be the easiest/best result.

[AD]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Add more RAM and clean install Win10 64bit 22H2 to an SSD. Learn how to tweak Win10 and get rid of the bloat. It's not hard to do.

Yeah, but a lot of debloating Windows stuff is a bit sus, hence why I wanted to ask for advice first. Will have to check if the RAM is upgradable.

Originally posted by Jaunitta 🌸:

4 gb ram is not good 16 works great.
GPU should be dedicated not integrated onboard on motherboard.
PSU? how many watts?
CPU how many cores? GHZ?
old is HDD? Old means speed problems.
Tablet - ipad is good if they are used it.

It absolutely does not have a dedicated GPU, it has an UHD Graphics 605 iGPU.
The CPU is a quad core Intel Pentium Silver N5000 clocked at 1.1 GHz.
It has an SSD, so that's at least good.
And as mentioned it got 4 gb ram, though some of that is shared with the iGPU.

After using it a bit more, I think the main reason it was slow was because I'm currently updating it. It has missed a LOT of updates, and it seems the CPU gets to 100% rather easily. It was ok when I looked up the specs a bit more.

Still don't know if I can upgrade the RAM or if it's soldered, don't know how to look that up.

Originally posted by JacquesPatat:

For the elderly person, question is, what do they use the laptop for, is it mainly for browsing, checking email, playing solitaire. if its pretty much basic stuff then Ipad will be good choice for them. but if they want the laptop, if ram can be upgraded maybe to 8 gigs and a SSD and fresh installation of windows

Browsing, streaming maybe, email and writing (think they have an idea for a book). No gaming or anything advanced, they barely know what a browser is. Hence why I figured an iPad would be a good option. Word exist for it, and from what I understand, you can use wireless keyboards with it. So it seems to be a good fit.

Plus they are familiar with iPads, since they had one in the past. It was just from work, so when they stopped working they lost it.

Originally posted by Haruspex:

If you can upgrade the RAM, do it. Windows 10 will run with 4 GB, but it won't be a good experience and won't be very useful.

If the RAM isn't upgradable, then I recommend you look into a lightweight version of Linux for that machine instead. Something like Ubuntu Mate[ubuntu-mate.org] should be okay, as it will run on a machine with as little RAM as 512 GB. And the Mate desktop environment is kind of nice. Old-school, like MacOS 8-9, or what Gnome used to be like.

For an elderly person, honestly, Linux is an excellent option. As long as they have a desktop and an icon to click on that will open a browser, they won't run into any issues. Maybe a solitaire game and a folder full of photos of grandkids too. And if they do the usual old-person thing and manage to download a virus, chances are it will do absolutely nothing, as the virus is probably made for Windows. I had put Linux on my grandma's PC before she passed, and she was very satisfied with it.

I have mentioned Linux to them, but they weren't convinced. It's also that I don't live near them. I'm just here during my vacation. So if I put Linux on it then I'll probably be the tech support, but if they keep Windows or use an iPad then the tech support becomes local tech people and businesses. I want to do as little tech support as possible :P.

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by AD:

Hi all.

So I was asked to fix a laptop to make it faster. It runs Windows 10, and has a whopping 4 gb ram and a quad core pentium processor. It's not very powerful and Windows runs horribly on it.

Just wanted to know, is there a way to make Windows run decently on something with those specs?

If it was mine I would probably put Linux on it, but it's for an elderly person, and I'm not sure Linux is a good choice for someone who barely know what a browser is. Seriously thinking considering just buying them an iPad as a present, because they had one in the passed and it worked well for them (yeah, I know it's Apple and I don't like Apple, but for this person a locked down system like the iPad is actually a good fit).

Sometimes the hardware is just the hardware and it's bleh. And the only way to speed it up meaningfully is spend some money. I've been there, wanting to magically improve performance for $0, but a hundred dollars of your time.

And honestly considering the age and the cost of meaningful upgrades, your time, and the user's goals. Getting the cheapest laptop you can find as a replacement is probably going to be the easiest/best result.

What? You’re telling me that downloadmoreram.com doesn’t work?!?

In all seriousness I’d concur that a cheap laptop or an iPad are probably the best option, I’d lean toward the iPad for an elderly person.

[AD]

Originally posted by nullable:

Originally posted by AD:

Hi all.

So I was asked to fix a laptop to make it faster. It runs Windows 10, and has a whopping 4 gb ram and a quad core pentium processor. It's not very powerful and Windows runs horribly on it.

Just wanted to know, is there a way to make Windows run decently on something with those specs?

If it was mine I would probably put Linux on it, but it's for an elderly person, and I'm not sure Linux is a good choice for someone who barely know what a browser is. Seriously thinking considering just buying them an iPad as a present, because they had one in the passed and it worked well for them (yeah, I know it's Apple and I don't like Apple, but for this person a locked down system like the iPad is actually a good fit).

Sometimes the hardware is just the hardware and it's bleh. And the only way to speed it up meaningfully is spend some money. I've been there, wanting to magically improve performance for $0, but a hundred dollars of your time.

And honestly considering the age and the cost of meaningful upgrades, your time, and the user's goals. Getting the cheapest laptop you can find as a replacement is probably going to be the easiest/best result.

Yeah, I know. It just infuriates me that Windows is such a resource hog for what I consider little benefit. Personally I use Linux, and one of the more bloated versions at that, but it still a lot less resource demanding than Windows. This is not saying Windows is bad, btw, it's saying my brain has hard time to wrap around the concept that 4 gb ram isn't enough to run the OS itself well. If it was a game or a video editing tool, sure, but the OS? It's weird to me.

Suspect this is what I will have to do, in which case I'll probably buy them the laptop or iPad as a gift. My economy is far better then their, since I have a job and they are retired.

[A&A]

Intel Pentium Silver N5000?
This thing doesn't have AVX.
And it is fast as my Pentium J2900.

I am sure an old Thinkpad will be better than this.

[N3tRunn3r]

a copy-paste from me ::

16 GB should be run, however, with 4 GB RAM you can also set a "FIXED" pagefile of 8192 MB . . .

Originally posted by N3tRunn3r:

With 16 GB RAM, you can create a "FIXED" pagefile of 8192 MB within your Windows Performance Settings to even add additional (slow) 8 GB "VRAM" for your system by this. So in other words, instead to have just 16 GB of RAM you likely will own 24 GB of RAM. This should be enough, performance wise!! Then you still have additional 8 GB GPU VRAM ..

-> SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe
-> Advanced Tab
-> VRAM
-> Custom size
-> Start/End "8192"
-> apply and restart your machine

System RAM is always more neccessary than a GPU VRAM. Then ::

-> Check your PC case, dust/wires/loose hardware
-> Add a "fixed" pagefile of "8192 MB", dont exceed that value performance wise
-> (Re-)Install and/or update all your drivers... system drivers, GPU drivers, ...
-> or do a complete fresh and clean reinstall of Windows 10

So clean your PC from any dirt and dust, especially your CPU fans as well as GPU fans carefully, and maybe re-apply thermal paste (ARCTIC MX-6) on your CPU at least, also carefully . . .

And a complete fresh & clean install of your OS will highly push performance too. That is why i do a fresh & clean OS installl in every quarter a year..

Do NOT reset your machine
Do NOT use a recovery
Do NOT use any rollback

DO a fresh & clean install, delete ALL disks and partitions while doing so ::

Reformat/reinstall a fresh and clean W10/W11:
Win11: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Win10: https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10

W10/11 Clean Install

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsinsider/cleaninstall

1. Plugin your USB with Windows 10/11 install media
   
2. Keep your correct IRST drivers ready inside an extra folder, to be save ..
   
3. Open Windows Start menu
   
4. Restart your PC while holding the Shift key to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). Once in the Windows Recovery Environment, choose to boot from the USB drive.

Once your drives and partitions are ALL deleted & formatted in setup, continue..

During later stage of fresh install, @ Language Selection

1. cut LAN/WLAN
   
2. "Shift + F10" to open console
   
3. type:

   oobe\bypassnro

4. auto-reboots
   
5. select:

   "I don't have internet"
   "Continue with limited setup"

6. Install your "LOCAL ACCOUNT" and disable all telemetry stuff during setup
   >> Profit

Later you can even setup a PIN in Windows Options without being online/Microsoft account, and if you like - and I suggest it - uninstall Windows OneDrive straight after you enter your freshly installed Windows and disable UAC (User Account Control)!! Afterwards let your machine connect to the internet and use Windows Update and Microsoft Store Apps update.

If updates are done, install AntiVir as "ESET Premium" and "Mozilla Firefox + uBlock Origin" (by Raymond Hill). Then search for more and specific drivers manually, as latest NVIDIA drivers, more special Chipset drivers, latest BIOS firmware, etc ..

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/new/

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/

https://www.eset.com/int/home/free-trial/

Less is always more .. especially in IT

https://www.av-comparatives.org/comparison/

https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/summary-report-2023/


Good Luck !!

[Tora]

You stated debloating Windows is sus, you can still give it a shot to the https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil it's a great tool and I highly recommend it.