Slow Computer? Why You Should Upgrade To An SSD
Are you getting frustrated by how long your computer takes to boot up? Has your computer started slowing down in the past 18 to 24 months? The main cause of of this is simply your internal mechanical hard drive has started to wear out, and causes longer boot up times.
Most PCs, Laptops and Apple Mac computers are sold with a traditional mechanical hard drive. These hard drives have a life span of between 3-5 years. Sometimes they can start wearing out after 18 months and most customers will notice their computer slowing down around the 3 to 4 year mark.
Most customers think their computer is too full, or they have a virus, but almost 100% of time we test a customers hard drive, it’s always an aging mechanical hard drive causing long boot up times.
What a lot of people don’t know is that there is a simple upgrade we can do, that will making your computer 200% faster and boot up in 2-3 seconds and programs load instantly.
This is called an SSD hard drive upgrade, and this article will go through all the benefits of an SSD hard drive and why we recommend them as a cost effective upgrade.
1. What is an SSD?
An SSD hard drive also known as a Solid State Hard Drive, is the size of a credit card and may have one chip or multiple chips on it. Essentially SSD drives use flash memory to store data, unlike traditional hard drives which use spinning disks and mechanical parts to store data. This leads to a whole host of benefits over a traditional hard drive.
2. Speed
The biggest advantage of SSD drive is the lightening fast boot up speeds. Since the hard drive has no moving parts, it is around 5x to 7x faster than a mechanical hard drive. The speed increase is so noticeable we have had customers actually ask us if this is still their old computer, as they simply cannot believe how fast it is. Boot up times are reduced to 1-2 seconds, and when you click on desktop icons they load instantly.
3. Reliability
Another significant advantage of a SSD hard drive is reliability. Since SSD drives have no moving parts, they actually don’t wear out like a traditional mechanical hard drive. Mechanical hard drives last between 2-4 years on average, while SSD drives can last upwards of 6-8 years.
4. Improved Performance
Upgrading to an SSD hard drive, will have an impact on your computer’s boot up times. But you will also see the dramatic speed increase in things like transferring files, opening emails, multi tasking and playing games. Once you have used a computer with an SSD hard drive, you will never use a computer with a traditional mechanical hard drive again.
5. Quiet & Energy Efficient
Unlike mechanical hard drives, SSD drives are completely silent as they have no moving parts, and don’t use much electricity or emit any heat. For laptops this is a huge advantage as it will extend the lifespan of your battery. Using your computer late at night or in a quiet office, the computer is completely silent, unlike a traditional hard drive that can spin up each time you open a program.
6. Longevity & Reliability
Early SSD hard drives had issues with longevity and reliability, but those issues have been fixed with SSD manufacturers now offering up to a five year warranty on higher end SSDs.
Whenever using a computer that has a SSD hard drive installed, it’s important to keep around 20% free hard drive space. Unlike mechanical hard drives, SSDs require some free space to operate effectively. If you fill up a SSD, and don’t leave any free space, the SSD may aggressively fail.
When you are considering a SSD upgrade or purchasing a new computer with an SSD, you may want to upgrade to the next size of SSD hard drive, to make sure you always have adequate free space.
7. Why You Should Upgrade to an SSD?
The biggest reason you will want to upgrade to an SSD hard drive is if your computer is very slow to boot up, programs take forever to load, Windows is freezing all the time, or your Mac rainbow spinning wheel appears all the time.
These are all signs of a old, mechanical hard drive wearing out. If you don’t do anything, you risk the hard drive eventually failing and losing all your data.
With an SSD upgrade, we will clone your Windows or Mac computer and all its data and programs to the SSD, so when you turn on the computer its exactly like it was, - same icons, same programs. The only difference is the computer now boots up in seconds.
Book Your SSD Upgrade Today
Make your PC, Mac or Laptop lightening fast again with a new SSD hard drive upgrade. Your computer will boot up in seconds and programs will load instantly. Call us today on 131 546 or fill out the form on this page and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
Paul Zdzitowiecki is an IT specialist and contributor at Jim’s IT, with extensive experience in computer repairs, managed IT services, and business technology solutions across Australia. Paul regularly writes about computer repairs, Wifi and internet optimisation, cybersecurity, and business IT support, delivering practical, easy-to-understand advice that helps readers solve real-world tech problems.