How to speed up an old laptop or PC, and when it's not worth it

Start with the free stuff

Before spending anything, spend 15 minutes on these. Sometimes that's all it takes.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager, go to the Startup tab, and disable anything you don't need the moment the PC turns on. Updaters, "helper" apps, and chat programs are the usual suspects. Leave your antivirus alone.
2. In Settings → Apps, uninstall trial software, toolbars, and anything calling itself a "PC cleaner" or "optimizer." Those tend to make things slower, not faster.
3. Search for Disk Cleanup, pick the C: drive, and click Clean up system files. A drive that's nearly full slows everything down, so aim for at least 15% free.
4. Run a full scan in Windows Security → Virus & threat protection.
5. Look at your browser. Remove extensions you don't recognize, and close the tabs you've been meaning to get to. Forty open tabs can eat all the memory an older PC has.
6. Do an actual restart, not just sleep or closing the lid. A lot of slowness clears right up.

Still slow? Then it's probably the hardware, which is usually cheaper to fix than people expect.

If Windows 11 feels slow on an older laptop

Windows 11 does more in the background than Windows 10 did, and it shows on older laptops. These settings help on any PC, but the difference is biggest on a machine that barely made the Windows 11 cutoff:

• Power mode: Settings → System → Power & battery → Power mode, then pick Best performance while it's plugged in.
• Animations: Settings → Accessibility → Visual effects, then turn off Animation effects and Transparency effects. Menus will feel snappier right away.
• Startup apps: Settings → Apps → Startup is the same list as the Task Manager tab above, just easier to find.

If it's still sluggish after that, the hardware is the bottleneck. Windows 11 really wants an SSD and at least 8 GB of memory, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

Check if you have an SSD or a hard drive (and how much memory)

Two things tell you most of what you need to know: what kind of drive you have, and how much memory.

Open Task Manager again (click More details if it opens as a tiny window) and go to the Performance tab. Click Disk 0 and look in the top right corner. It'll say HDD for an old spinning hard drive or SSD for a solid-state drive. Then click Memory. The number at the top right is how much you have, and under the graph you'll see how many slots are used and the form factor.

You'll also need to check your RAM type, DDR3 or DDR4, since they don't mix. Task Manager doesn't show that, but the free program CPU-Z does on its Memory tab. Crucial's free online System Scanner will also tell you exactly which parts fit your model.

If the drive says HDD and sits at 100% while you're just opening a browser, you've found your problem. The processor spends its time waiting on a spinning disk, and no amount of cleanup changes that.

Swap the hard drive for an SSD

An old hard drive is a spinning platter with a little arm that moves around to find your files. An SSD has no moving parts and finds things many times faster. On an older PC, that usually means startup drops from a couple of minutes to under 30 seconds, and programs open right away instead of after a spinning circle. Windows Update stops dragging the whole machine down, too.

Which kind you need

Most PCs with a hard drive take a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. It's the same shape as a laptop hard drive, and it fits nearly every laptop and desktop from the last 15 years. If you're not sure, get this kind.

Some PCs from about 2016 on also have an M.2 slot, a small connector for a stick-of-gum-sized drive. If yours supports M.2 NVMe drives, they're faster and right now often cost about the same as SATA or less. Check your model with the Crucial scanner before you buy one.

500 GB is enough for most people. Go to 1 TB if your files already take up more than about 300 GB.

Clone it, or start fresh?

A fresh install makes the most sense for a PC that's going to a new owner. For your own PC with your stuff on it, cloning is usually less hassle.

Add more memory

Memory is the computer's workspace. More of it means more programs and tabs open without everything grinding to a halt. Here's roughly how each amount feels on Windows 10 or 11:

Match what's already there: same type (DDR3 or DDR4), same size of stick (SODIMM for laptops and mini PCs, full-size DIMM for regular desktops), and ideally the same speed. If you've got an empty slot, adding one matching stick is the cheap way. If both slots are full of small sticks, you'll have to replace them.

What the parts cost right now

Memory and SSD prices have gone way up since late 2025, mostly because chipmakers are selling everything they can to AI data centers. An upgrade that cost $30 a couple of years ago is closer to $100 now. It's still usually a lot cheaper than a new computer, and new computers went up for the same reason.

Used parts are the easiest way to save. Buy memory from a seller that takes returns, then run Windows Memory Diagnostic (it's in the Start menu) to test it. For a used SSD, check its health with the free CrystalDiskInfo and make sure it says "Good." And don't overbuy. A 500 GB SSD and 8 to 16 GB of memory covers most people, and whatever you save can go toward a backup drive.

Notes for Lenovo, Dell, and HP owners

Every big brand publishes a free repair guide for each model, with the exact screws to remove and which parts fit. Search your model number (it's on a sticker underneath) plus the right phrase:

All three brands also preload their own apps. Uninstall the trial software and "optimizers," but keep the one that installs driver and BIOS updates (Lenovo Vantage, Dell SupportAssist, or HP Support Assistant). Run it once after your upgrade.

Is a 10-year-old laptop worth upgrading?

The ThinkPad T440 I used for years came out in 2014, so it's more than 10 years old now. For web, email, and documents it kept up long after most people would have retired it. Machines like that are worth a small upgrade, with two caveats:

• Keep the spend small. An SSD for about $100 makes sense. Pouring $250 into memory, a new battery, and a bigger drive usually doesn't, when a refurbished laptop a few years newer costs about the same.
• Mind the calendar. A 2014-era laptop can't officially run Windows 11, and its free Windows 10 updates end October 12, 2027. After that, plan on switching it to Linux or retiring it. The SSD carries over either way.

Is your PC worth it?

One more thing to consider. If your PC can't run Windows 11, its free Windows 10 security updates stop on October 12, 2027. An SSD still makes sense for the next year, and it's just as useful if you later switch that PC to Linux or move the drive into a newer machine. Read what to do about Windows 10 before you decide.