SSD & Memory Upgrades
If you want to increase the speed of your PC or laptop, get a quote from us to fit more RAM or install an SSD (solid state hard drive).
We can analyse all of the components in your system to see if you have a current bottleneck and which components would benefit from being upgraded first.
We can also perform a full system health check to ensure that no malware is running on your system and there are no other applications hogging resources.
SSD Installations
An SSD contains no moving parts and read / write speeds are several times faster than a traditional (spinning) hard drive. Manufacturers claim they are up to 20 times faster. This can be a little optimistic, but you will certainly notice a big improvement in the overall speed of your system. They are one of the best ways to improve the performance of most computer systems.
- SSDs can be fitted to desktop PCs, laptops, Macs and iMacs.
- An SSD can usually be fitted as an additional drive in a desktop / tower system.
- We can clone your original drive or we can re-install your operating system.
- A table of common disk sizes is included, but please contact us if you are interested in a different size.
- The drive can usually be fitted within a few minutes but it can take much longer on some laptops that don't have easy access to the hard disk.
- Cloning the disk normally takes between one and three hours depending upon the
size and speed of existing disk.
- We can fit the drive at a time and place of your choosing or we will collect and return your system.
- If you decide to re-install the operating system rather than clone the drive this can take much longer and will depend upon how many applications need to be re-installed and amount of data that needs to be copied.
- If the estimated time to complete is over two hours, we
prefer to take the machine away and return next working day.
If the machine is taken away, maximum labour charge will be £50. If you wish all work to be completed on site, this will be charged at £25 per hour. - Free call outs within WR postcode area.
- Systems can be sent by courier for areas outside of Worcestershire.
Costs
Costs are based on the actual cost of supplying the drive and the time taken to fit the drive and clone the contents or re-install the operating system. The table below are typical costs including fitting
| Capacity | Price |
| 120 GB | £50 |
| 250 GB | £80 |
| 500 GB | £115 |
| 1 TB | £180 |
The actual cost depends upon the time taken: fitting the drive on some laptops is very straight forward, but on others, a complete disassembly is required. The time taken to clone or re-install the system will depend upon how much data needs to be copied and how many programs are installed.
N.B. SSDs tend to be more expensive per
Gigabyte than traditional spinning drives, but the speed
improvements make this worthwhile, especially as the cost of SSDs
has come down recently, and reliability has greatly improved. If you need to store lots of data
(photos, documents etc.) but if you are on a tight budget, it is
recommended that you use a smaller capacity SSD for the operating
system drive and have a separate hard drive to store your documents.
On a PC these can both be internal drives, but on a laptop there is
normally only room for one internal drive. However, you can purchase
an external drive enclosure for £10 that allows your original hard
drive to be connected via the USB port and used as an external
drive. If your system has a standard 9.5mm optical drive bay,
another alternative is to fit an adaptor that allows a second hard
drive to be fitted in place of your DVD (or other optical) drive.
This also has the advantage of allowing a different operating system
to be installed on both drives and allows for a dual-boot system.
If you are uncertain on how to proceed or would just like some advice, please email us or give us a call on 01905 371289.
RAM Upgrades
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the "working" memory used by a computer to run programs etc. Lack of RAM results in information having to be swapped to disk and will slow down performance. Adding extra RAM to a PC or laptop is one of the easiest, and cheapest ways to improve overall speed and will allow you to concurrently run more programs. If you can provide the exact make and model of machine, we can provide a quote for additional RAM. If you are uncertain, we can connect remotely to scan the machine for the correct type of memory required. RAM can normally be fitted within 5 mins and can cost as little as £30 to supply and fit.
N.B. If you are still using a 32 bit operating system, the maximum amount of RAM that the computer can use is 4 GB.
However, if necessary we can re-install a 64 bit operating system on your computer which theoretically allows a maximum of 2 TB of RAM though the amount that can be physically fitted will depend upon the number of DIMM (or So-DIMM) sockets in your machine.
We would suggest 8GB of RAM is a good amount for a typical user.
If you are uncertain of how much RAM is currently installed in your system there are a number of ways to determine this. If you are using Windows 10, the easiest way is to right-click in the start menu (windows logo normally located in the bottom corner of the screen). Then select System from the pop-up menu. This will give a screen similar to the one below, which shows the amount of RAM fitted (highlighted in red) and whether you are using a 32 bit or 64 bit operating system.
If you are using an earlier operating system, such as Windows 7, you can get to a similar screen by right, clicking the "My PC" icon on your desktop and selecting properties or selecting the System applet in the control panel. You can also run the command MSINFO32 from the run box.
If in any doubt, give us a call and we will be happy to help.
N.B. due the many different types of RAM available, we do not keep stock, but order parts as required. However, most parts can be obtained next day if required.