Windows 7 Would it be a waste of money?

[wilhelm1]

To invest in a hard drive for my 4 year old Toshiba A665 Laptop? When I try to "Rate This Computer" , it hangs up when it gets to 'Primary Hard Disk". Therefore no Performance Check. I like the laptop, keyboard and the larger screen, so is it worth saving it and what would it cost to do? Thanks

PS could I replace the hard drive or do I need a special person to do it?

 

[Drew]

If I can jump in w/out offending anyone, I trust...

Having read all the above, I do agree replacing the drive would be a good direction to go or thing to try. As for HDD vs SSD, I have a lot of enthusiasm for SSDs, especially, in laptop applications. If there is a concern about the size & storage, one can always store heaps of data on an external drive when the is no internal drive in addition to the SSD OS drive.

CHKDSK is brilliant. One thing that I didn't see mentioned which, I recommend, would be to run the following:
> cmd, Run as admin
Type sfc /scannow and hit ENTER

Cheers,
Drew

 

[wilhelm1]

@Drew, I did what you suggested and ran the scan it passed the Integrity part with no problems. Now it is
showing a prompt and I don't know what to tell it. I am on my desktop now. I tried several cmd's and it did
not accept them. Any suggestions?

 

[Trouble]

if it's a DOS prompt / CMD prompt simply type
exit
and hit enter
If it is done with the scan that is all you need to do

 

[wilhelm1]

Okay Thanks, I thought there was more.

So, apparently my drive checks out with this test completely. Did not hang up like it has done. Going to try and run a performance check where it rates the computer

 

[Drew]

@Drew, I did what you suggested and ran the scan it passed the Integrity part with no problems. Now it is
showing a prompt and I don't know what to tell it. I am on my desktop now. I tried several cmd's and it did
not accept them. Any suggestions?

Guess, it's ok. I see someone (else) answered the question you put to me.

I'll stay out of the conversation.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[wilhelm1]

Well, I have narrowed my purchase down to a SSD Crucial M500 240GB drive as a replacement for my Toshiba Satellite A665 S6050 HHD.

 

[Drew]

Well, I have narrowed my purchase down to a SSD Crucial M500 240GB drive as a replacement for my Toshiba Satellite A665 S6050 HHD.

Kewl. There was a time, not long ago, when we thought of 240GB drives as large, LOL. As I mentioned, you might consider an external... 1TB or 1.5 TB... they are not expensive & not only offer storage space but, also, backup opportunity which, is always prudent.

Also, you were asking about anything after the Recovery discs are done. Maybe, you already know this part, so no offence... 1st, you need to put in MSE and ALL the Windows Updates need to be done. Further, I recommend putting in CCleaner, Malwarebytes & SpywareBlaster. Also, > Folder Options > View. Change, under "Hidden files & folders" to "Show hidden files, folders and drives" and just below that UNcheck "Hide extensions for known file types". (The General tab of Folder Options is where you can change to Single Click, BTW.) Beyond this, obviously, any programmes have to be loaded, such as Office. It is a good practice, as well (even though some may not do it or argue w/ me) on a new build, once it is all done, to Defrag... after that it will do it wkly, by default.

NB:
Only use the Cleaner in CCleaner
Grab the FREE versions of Malwarebytes & SpywareBlaster
That means Malwarebytes is 'on demand' only and SpywareBlaster requires the Manual Updating selection.

Cheers,
Drew

 

[wilhelm1]

Kewl. There was a time, not long ago, when we thought of 240GB drives as large, LOL. As I mentioned, you might consider an external... 1TB or 1.5 TB... they are not expensive & not only offer storage space but, also, backup opportunity which, is always prudent.

Also, you were asking about anything after the Recovery discs are done. Maybe, you already know this part, so no offence... 1st, you need to put in MSE and ALL the Windows Updates need to be done. Further, I recommend putting in CCleaner, Malwarebytes & SpywareBlaster. Also, > Folder Options > View. Change, under "Hidden files & folders" to "Show hidden files, folders and drives" and just below that UNcheck "Hide extensions for known file types". (The General tab of Folder Options is where you can change to Single Click, BTW.) Beyond this, obviously, any programmes have to be loaded, such as Office. It is a good practice, as well (even though some may not do it or argue w/ me) on a new build, once it is all done, to Defrag... after that it will do it wkly, by default.

NB:
Only use the Cleaner in CCleaner
Grab the FREE versions of Malwarebytes & SpywareBlaster
That means Malwarebytes is 'on demand' only and SpywareBlaster requires the Manual Updating selection.

Update: The SSD is on order. I may need some explaining of the above, later. One question though, I plan to buy a scan disk etc. and was wondering if I could put my favorites on it before I take the drive out? It is a big enough of a pain to deal with all the updates. Will I be able to download them onto the disk all together or will I have to transfer them one at a time?

I have Avast, Malwarebytes and Microsoft Security Essentials on my laptop now, is SpywareBlaster better than Avast ?

Cheers,
Drew

 

[whs]

Here is a good $90 deal for the 240GB Crucial M500.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

And here is a fast 128GB USB3 flash drive for extra storage. With laptops, that is very handy.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...128gb_usb3_flash_drive-_-20-178-689-_-Product

 

[wilhelm1]

I just ordered that SSD from Newegg and they stuck me for 112.99 yesterday.

Update: I just got off the phone with Newegg and discussed the 89.99 price, they said they cannot give me the lower price but they will allow me to order a new SSD priced at 89.99 and I will have to ship the 112.99 one back to them at my expense. Even said to cancel my order that made no diff. told me to have a wonderful day and thanks for calling Newegg. Mr. Newegg will now become history after this. Should have ordered it from Amazon never had a problem with them. Duh
Another thing, I received yesterday that they had charged my CC already.

 

[wilhelm1]

I went with Newegg because I was going to save about 6.00 dollars. Guess what, I just looked at Amazon and the Crucial M500 is now selling at the same price as NE 89.99. Off to Amazon to order it.

 

[whs]

Yeah, their process is very fast. I ordered the same SSD from them 5 hours ago and within 30 minutes they had charged me. But ordering the $89,99 model and sending the other one back is not such a bad deal. Anything else is probably not planned for in their process. The shipping cost is pennies. Just ask them for an RMA number ahead of time so that you can be certain they accept your return.

I buy from Newegg since many years. I never really had any problems with them. I guess there is always a first time.

 

[wilhelm1]

I have been using Amazon for quite some time. I did order SSD from Amazon and got it even cheaper, used some of my credits. Will call for a RMA number. Used NE for the second time and a problem, hmmm not a good average. Kind of ticked me off considering I have to drive to the Post Office, stand in line and he said I would have to pay for the return. Realize it is not much money but time as well and it should not of needed to happen this way.

PS just found out the Bas Tards , Newegg, are charging me 16.95 restocking fee. Great Company.

 

[whs]

That restocking fee is indeed ridiculous. I think I understand your grief. Amazon is more reliable for returns.

 

[wilhelm1]

My rotten egg arrived from Newegg. As I speak, I am on the new SSD. Decided to keep it instead of allowing the B-T's steal
16.95 from me. The one coming from Amazon should be here shortly. My plan is to put it in my Desktop as soon as I purchase
the metal support. One question I have now, is if I have a backup on disk with my favorites etc will I be able to install it on the new
SSD or will I have to do it after I do a recovery? I just answered my own question, answer is no.

You may think I am making this up but it is the God's Honest Truth. "I was on my laptop, walked into the kitchen and my new SSD had arrived opened it up, walked back into the LR and I hear this clicking and clacking on the LT. Well, you guessed it
the HD was on it last leg. Could not get it to do anything. Artificial Resporation was a Failure. DOA" 100% Serious.

 

[whs]

Hmm, not good. That means all your stuff on the HDD is history ??

 

[wilhelm1]

Hmm, not good. That means all your stuff on the HDD is history ??

Correct for the laptop. Now I have to wait for the updates to catch up so I can upgrade to IE 11. Need SP1

 

[wilhelm1]

Another question, is there any sense to update things like Office 2007? I do not do anything with office that Iknow of and there are sure alot of updates. Okay to hide them and continue to update things that I think are important? Don't want to do anything to affect
the security.

 

[whs]

If you don't use Office, why don't you uninstall it. But as long as it is installed, I would update it. It could be a gateway for malware if it is not properly maintained - even if you don't use it.