Overwhelmed - New Computer or upgrade.

Spencerphoto wrote in post #19000815
Bearing in mind how easy it is to add RAM to the average PC, I would fit the SSD first and see how it performs with the existing 8GB RAM. You might be pleasantly surprised and save yourself some money.

LOL. Too late. I already installed the 4GB Ram. I did that first because it was the easier. Things improved re: having multiple programs open at once. Thank you for your kind suggestion though.

If you go for the updates.
And do a win10 install, do also a update for the graphic intel processor.
There is just a update https://www.intel.com …tel-hd-graphics-4600.html

I had forgotten that you are doing the drive swap (HDD >> SSD) on a desktop which means you might need a couple of special cables. I suggest you review the thread at https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=18969989 taking special attention that the OP on that thread was swapping a drive in a laptop, not a desktop. Can you provide a link or the exact model of the Crucial drive you have/

I saw a comment earlier about some cloning software and you are correct the Crucial software will work fine and may even eliminate some problems since it is specifically for the Crucial drive.

[Edit added info]See https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=KeUsRtTLeoQ for what might be involved moving forward.

https://ubuntu.com …d-software-considerations

Good thorough article I'll leave here. If interestinterested, wait till April. Ubuntu Linux will issue a new Long Term Support (LTS) release in April with support through 2025.

Hopefully CCleaner can straighten some things out.

StarlingGirl wrote in post #19001561
LOL. Too late. I already installed the 4GB Ram. I did that first because it was the easier. Things improved re: having multiple programs open at once. Thank you for your kind suggestion though.

You would be surprised at how cheaply you could rip out that 8GB (two 4MB) and replace it one 16MB card.

Wilt wrote in post #19001651
You would be surprised at how cheaply you could rip out that 8GB (two 4MB) and replace it one 16MB card.

As inexpensive as it might be, the OP needs to proceed with the swap of the HDD >> SSD and then access her needs.

StarlingGirl wrote in post #19001558
...I'll look into Macrium. From some preliminary research, I believe Acronis by Micron is similar in that I can clone my HDD. Acronis has lots of info in a PDF on how to do just that. I'll take a look at Macrium however; it may be a little easier to use - less intimidating.

It may be worth mentioning that cloning software available from HDD/SSD manufacturers
is typically simpler to use than their commercial counterparts. Macrium and Acronis are both
available as their own products for purchase(and for free, but limited),
while the drive manufacturers offer these programs in a simplified version
for users of their hardware. As they are free AND tailored towards success
with the given vendor's hardware offerings, this is likely to be the most
trouble-free option.

Some vendors make their own software available, as well.
They may be entirely their own creation, or they may be a heavily customized version
of another well-known program. In some cases, it may be impossible to know if
it's a customized rewrite of a third-party product, or a product of the vendor's
own development.

Wilt wrote in post #19001651
You would be surprised at how cheaply you could rip out that 8GB (two 4MB) and replace it one 16MB card.

If you look at the OP's computer, its maximum memory is 16GB. So highly doubt it will support a single 16GB card (Crucial says 2x8GB for this model).

davesrose wrote in post #19001710
If you look at the OP's computer, its maximum memory is 16GB. So highly doubt it will support a single 16GB card (Crucial says 2x8GB for this model).

...in which case it is likely that buying two 8GB cards is considerably less expensive than buying a single 16GB, as the demand is less for the smaller RAM.

My point, in mentioning expanding RAM in my earlier post was to point out that RAM expansion is quite easily done, and involves minimal time (as already experienced by the OP), and will result in yet more performance gain, while HD-to-SSD conversion is a more arduous and expensive task (relatively speaking, compared to RAM expansion) The sequence, IMHO, is to do the relatively easy and cheap upgrades first, then tackle the more arduous and difficult upgrades.

And I was validating that the OP's computer doesn't support a single 16GB chip: 2x8GB is the max....so requires replacing the original and just bought RAM. The OP already bought a SSD: there are plenty of resources showing how to first add it as a second drive to mirror and then make it the boot drive.

I highlighted the action I was proposing to be considered, in my earlier post.

And I indicated you can't upgrade to 1 16GB chip on the OP's computer....it's not a matter of 2 8GB chips being cheaper....it's the only configuration that's compatible.

Why can she not remove two 4GB RAM cards and replace them with two 8GB RAM cards? Is one a 4GB chip soldered directly onto the motherboard, rather than a 4GB card in a RAM slot?

Read the OP and my post #40. She has just bought the one 4GB card, and she already bought a SSD drive. Why not install what you already bought, instead of pay extra to replace what you just bought? I'm also not sure what additional RAM would do with a system that's overall sluggish (leads me to suspect some software issues).

Just read the two posts you suggest...It only tells me what I knew...16GB max RAM supported, and OP already installed 4GB RAM to the existing 4GB so it totals 8GB right now. Nothing suggests it is not possible to remove and replace the two 4GB RAM and replace them with two 8GB units.

As for lost 'investment', adding 4GB RAM only seems to be about $15-20 per unit (per web search immediate hit, w/no serious digging for lowest price available!)...hardly a huge loss of money spent. Two 8GB is about $30-35 per unit, so about $70 to max out RAM. OP noticed when running multiple programs the improvement, even in going to 8GB total, so "why not go to 16GB to try to get more performance?", is the way I look at it.

OTOH, there just might be some hardware issue that is slowing performance, and throwing more money at the issue with the exiting PC might not resolve the speed issue. Right now I have encountered a speed limiting issue with my laptop, and reloading OS did nothing to improve it, even with few applications to burden it! So rather than going thru the effort to change to SSD, it might be better to cut future losses and get a new PC, and put the new SSD in an external enclosure and use it to have data redundancy via its usage.