Switched from a Macbook Air

[Hayden Elder]

Hey everyone,
I just switched over to windows the other day. My Macbook Air took a dump and i was not willing to spend $1000 on a new computer!! I went ahead and picked up a Lenovo 310-15ABR at Best Buy for $450. Its has all the specs i need. I'm only using it for school and the internet. I've noticed that it is very slow when it comes to booting and some other tasks. I updated it to the most recent software (windows anniversary) and it helped a little bit. Is Windows 10 fairly buggy right now? I'm a tad worried that I may have bought a bad PC. Could one of you guys point me in the right direction?
Thanks alot!
-Hayden

 

[Calby]

Hey everyone,
I just switched over to windows the other day. My Macbook Air took a dump and i was not willing to spend $1000 on a new computer!! I went ahead and picked up a Lenovo 310-15ABR at Best Buy for $450. Its has all the specs i need. I'm only using it for school and the internet. I've noticed that it is very slow when it comes to booting and some other tasks. I updated it to the most recent software (windows anniversary) and it helped a little bit. Is Windows 10 fairly buggy right now? I'm a tad worried that I may have bought a bad PC. Could one of you guys point me in the right direction?
Thanks alot!
-Hayden

Well, what spec do you have on it?

According to me Windows 10 is buggy in some areas but not in the speed areas, my boot fast and are not lagging - maybe sometime but not all of the times.

Do you have SSD? How much ram do you have?

 

[catilley1092]

Looking at the specs of your computer, at the price, looks to be the 8GB model, it's likely the slow 5400rpm HDD.

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Otherwise, even with 8GB DDR4 RAM, which is faster than 8GB DDR3, and a quad core CPU, it should be running well. OEM's that configures 'Best Buy' deals will skimp on something, it's usually the HDD speed, or sometimes a lower grade CPU. I don't believe that either the CPU nor the RAM is holding you back, rather the HDD, the slowest link in the chain.

A couple of years back, acquired a Samsung notebook from a relative for work performed, one of their Series 7 ones that was supposed to compete with Apple's MacBook. Had the slowest HDD possible, looked up the model on Newegg, and it was a 2egg (same as 2 Star) rated HDD. I replaced it with a 256GB Crucial M550 & never looked back, the 1TB HDD is now in a USB 3.0 backup enclosure, the best place for it to be.

If you really want to see the speed of your computer w/out the HDD being a factor, download Ubuntu or Linux MInt (64 bit), and using Rufus, create a bootable USB stick, make sure it's set for UEFI/GPT mode & preferably on a USB 2.0 Flash drive, some USB 3.0 ones either are unbootable or buggy. All you need is a 4GB model, many of us has one laying around.

Once you boot from that, you'll can use the install media as a live OS, has a browser & all. Play with it some, and see the difference with the HDD bypassed.

Here's Rufus that you'll need to create the bootable Flash drive.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

And Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64 bit, this should run & look great on your computer.

Linux Mint 18.1 "Serena" - Cinnamon (64-bit) - Linux Mint

That's the best way to see if it's the HDD, as it's not running from it, rather the USB drive & RAM. If you like what you see, then maybe a 250-256GB SSD will speed your computer to a better comfort level for you.

You can use Macrium Reflect Free to clone the drive, and will need to create the bootable WinPE media that comes with it, it'll fetch what's needed from Microsoft, you'll see this prompt to approve. And you'll need some type of 2.5" SATA to USB adaptor, I have two of these on hand, the 2nd was purchased when on promo for $10 shipped. Still, this is a excellent cable, has never gave me any issues.

StarTech USB3S2SAT3CB USB 3.0 to 2.5" SATA III Hard Drive Adapter Cable w/ UASP - SATA to USB 3.0 Converter for SSD / HDD - Newegg.com

Of course, if you already have a docking station that takes both 2.5" & 3.5" drives, you can use that also.

Good Luck & let us know how you fare out!

Cat