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New RAM memory for laptop

Thanks again for all the replies and advice. 2 x 4GB RAM is on the way (the most a T410 can take as far as I can tell) and I am now also looking at increasing the internal SSD size to 1 or 2TB. When preparing to install a new internal SSD, am I correct in thinking that I just need a USB - SATA cable in addition to the new SSD drive, in order to use software to clone the old drive? I see Crucial have their own cloning software if I purchase a new hard drive from them but is there a better/recommend cloning system to use?
 
A new ssd is an opportunity to clear any old crap out that may be slowing your laptop down could you now consider a fresh install of windows?
 
garyi said:
A new ssd is an opportunity to clear any old crap out that may be slowing your laptop down could you now consider a fresh install of windows?
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I concur. You can download a Windows installer to a USB with the current operational OS drive in place, and use it to later reinstall from scratch on the new SSD.

It will mean reinstalling/downloading your programs, restoring any custom settings, and copying any actual data (docs, sheets, music, etc) from the old SSD to new, with a USB caddy or similar.
 
starbuck said:
Thanks again for all the replies and advice. 2 x 4GB RAM is on the way (the most a T410 can take as far as I can tell) and I am now also looking at increasing the internal SSD size to 1 or 2TB. When preparing to install a new internal SSD, am I correct in thinking that I just need a USB - SATA cable in addition to the new SSD drive, in order to use software to clone the old drive? I see Crucial have their own cloning software if I purchase a new hard drive from them but is there a better/recommend cloning system to use?
Click to expand...
Yes but I'd recommend a hard disk drive caddy that will fit in the Optical drive slot of the T410.

2nd Hard Disk Drive Caddy SATA for IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Slim Ultrabay,fits T400, T400S, T410, T410S, T420S, T500, W500 : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

You can then use your old SSD/HDD in the caddy for backup or other duties e.g a second O/S.

There are many very good free cloning software and I've used most of them. I rate Minitool Partition Wizard as it has a lot of other valuable functions that I use.

DV
 
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Tumeni Notes said:
I concur. You can download a Windows installer to a USB with the current operational OS drive in place, and use it to later reinstall from scratch on the new SSD.

It will mean reinstalling/downloading your programs, restoring any custom settings, and copying any actual data (docs, sheets, music, etc) from the old SSD to new, with a USB caddy or similar.
Click to expand...

I have a brand new in its packet 32GB Kingston DataTraveler USB stick here, bought a couple of months ago from a charity shop for the princely sum of £1.00 because it looked like it might come in handy at some point. Is now the some point that I had in mind? I think I also have a 1TB external hard drive somewhere which I have previously used to back up files, so I guess I can back up my music/photo/document files to the external hard drive and used the USB stick to download a Windows installer to? Is there a 'how to' guide anywhere as to how I go about downloading the installer with current operational OS drive in place? For dummies, I should add, if this thread and posts on it don't make that obvious.
 
Darth Vader said:
Yes but I'd recommend a hard disk drive caddy that will fit in the Optical drive slot of the T410.

2nd Hard Disk Drive Caddy SATA for IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Slim Ultrabay,fits T400, T400S, T410, T410S, T420S, T500, W500 : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

You can then use your old SSD/HDD in the caddy for backup or other duties e.g a second O/S.

There are many very good free cloning software and I've used most of them. I rate Minitool Partition Wizard as it has a lot of other valuable functions that I use.

DV
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion but I use the optical drive slot for an optical drive which is still in use. That's two votes for the Minitool Partition Wizard.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Tumeni Notes said:
I concur. You can download a Windows installer to a USB with the current operational OS drive in place, and use it to later reinstall from scratch on the new SSD.

It will mean reinstalling/downloading your programs, restoring any custom settings, and copying any actual data (docs, sheets, music, etc) from the old SSD to new, with a USB caddy or similar.
Click to expand...
I can assure you that that faff can often take a lot more time than simply cleaning up a Windows installation by hand if you know what you are doing. I have done this several times when peeps have brought me a poorly laptop.

You don't need to waste time downloading a windows installation. Instead make a clone as a backup and then reset Windows. You can select 'keep my files' or 'remove everything'.

Windows lies about keeping files as it sometimes deletes stuff that microsoft is not happy hence a clone so you don't lose anything.

DV
 
Tony Lockhart said:
I don’t think a larger SSD would improve speed, unless maybe the old one is almost full. Perhaps a newer SSD would be faster?
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Typically no. It might do better in benchmarks for sure and certain tasks like copying files, but in day to day use of normal desktop apps, I would say having an SSD in the first place represents the majority of any hard drive related speedup there is to be had.

That is getting the "seek time" down to 0 and as a result, making fragmentation a complete non-issue.

Doubling RAM is a good idea if you can see that you are regularily using most of what you have already.
 
I now have the maximum 2 x 4 GB RAM installed and I have also now received my 1TB Crucial SSD hard drive to fit internally too. Along with a 1TB external hard drive (Western Digital, I think) for backing up my photos and music files, I also have the 32GB USB stick and also purchased a hard disk drive caddy available too. What am I missing now before wanting to go ahead with a fresh install of Windows and installing the internal 1TB SSD? Is the USB - SATA cable still needed or can the fresh install be done in some other way?
 
starbuck said:
I now have the maximum 2 x 4 GB RAM installed and I have also now received my 1TB Crucial SSD hard drive to fit internally too. Along with a 1TB external hard drive (Western Digital, I think) for backing up my photos and music files, I also have the 32GB USB stick and also purchased a hard disk drive caddy available too. What am I missing now before wanting to go ahead with a fresh install of Windows and installing the internal 1TB SSD? Is the USB - SATA cable still needed or can the fresh install be done in some other way?
Click to expand...
If you want a fresh install rather than to migrate your existing Windows installation you don't need a USB/SATA cable.

Build a USB Windows installer from the Microsoft web site then install the new SSD in the laptop. You can then boot from the USB installer and off you go.

DV
 
starbuck said:
I am wanting to purchase an 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 RAM memory kit for a Lenovo T410 laptop, to increase it from the 4GB (2 x 2GB) currently installed to try and speed it up a bit. Crucial is a brand name that is coming up when searching the internet but I just wondered if there is/are others to consider and if buying from marketplace sellers (with dispatch by Amazon) on Amazon is an okay source to purchase from (about £32 compared to about £55 if purchased direct from Crucial)?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Plenty of other sites selling the same
 
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