PC solution needed

[itsromanorc]

My laptop has been giving me BSOD and after getting an IT guy to check it, he says that the Hard drive is damaged and causing the issue. The laptop is around 7 years old but has good specs and its expensive to buy another laptop right now.

Is there any way to still use the laptop but without the hard drive?

 

[davids355]

Just get an SSD and get your IT guy to clone it over.

Assuming there is nothing else physically wrong with it you will have a new lease of life from it.

 

[itsromanorc]

Just get an SSD and get your IT guy to clone it over.

Assuming there is nothing else physically wrong with it you will have a new lease of life from it.

Is it simple to do myself and more cost effective than buying another laptop?

He just helped me once, wont do it again since he has his job that keeps him busy so Im on my own

 

[davids355]

Is it simple to do myself and more cost effective than buying another laptop?

He just helped me once, wont do it again since he has his job that keeps him busy so Im on my own

Some drives come as part of a pack that includes the cable and software required to do the clone.

If not then it's not that simple. I normally use acronis true image and I do an image from drive to external USB drive then put the SSD in, boot using their boot disk and clone from the external USB drive back to the SSD (because acronis doesn't like direct disk to disk clone when it's concerning the current boot drive).

Alternative is to get a windows disk and load windows from scratch on the new SSD drive - that's probably easier but just make sure a) you back your data up so you can transfer it and b) you download your drivers first, so you can get networking back up and running etc.

As for cost effectiveness I've recently sold a few pcs that were around 5-7 years old - I put SSD drives in then and it turned them from almost unusable into machines that perform better than brand new equivilants.
As a rule of thumb an SSD drive will boost performance of a home pc tenfold.

The only thing to watch out for is the overall health of the rest of the device. For example, if it suffers from over heating or any other big problems then it's probably not worth it, otherwise, go for it.

 

[mynameisfrankenstein]

SSD is quite expensive though and OP is broke it seems.

 

[itsromanorc]

Some drives come as part of a pack that includes the cable and software required to do the clone.

If not then it's not that simple. I normally use acronis true image and I do an image from drive to external USB drive then put the SSD in, boot using their boot disk and clone from the external USB drive back to the SSD (because acronis doesn't like direct disk to disk clone when it's concerning the current boot drive).

Alternative is to get a windows disk and load windows from scratch on the new SSD drive - that's probably easier but just make sure a) you back your data up so you can transfer it and b) you download your drivers first, so you can get networking back up and running etc.

As for cost effectiveness I've recently sold a few pcs that were around 5-7 years old - I put SSD drives in then and it turned them from almost unusable into machines that perform better than brand new equivilants.
As a rule of thumb an SSD drive will boost performance of a home pc tenfold.

The only thing to watch out for is the overall health of the rest of the device. For example, if it suffers from over heating or any other big problems then it's probably not worth it, otherwise, go for it.

Well the guy did mention that there could be other issues too, and my laptop does heat alot. So maybe its best to buy a new one. The cheapest I can find is something with a N3060 Processor (apparently its not the best) but there is a i3 which I can afford. Not exactly cheap but I have no choice

 

[davids355]

Well the guy did mention that there could be other issues too, and my laptop does heat alot. So maybe its best to buy a new one. The cheapest I can find is something with a N3060 Processor (apparently its not the best) but there is a i3 which I can afford. Not exactly cheap but I have no choice

Same with a new one - if you feel like you can do the install of an SSD, get one.

I bought a £300 laptop not long ago and put an SSD in it, and I also bought a £1500 laptop. And I really couldn't tell them apart in terms of performance.

But please, at least get an i3; you do need a little bit of processing power

 

[itsromanorc]

Same with a new one - if you feel like you can do the install of an SSD, get one.

I bought a £300 laptop not long ago and put an SSD in it, and I also bought a £1500 laptop. And I really couldn't tell them apart in terms of performance.

But please, at least get an i3; you do need a little bit of processing power

Thanks I will try and get the i3 and an SSD When I have extra cash

 

[datsunguy]

after 7 years i highly recommend you dump it and get a new one, laptops are good for up too 5 years and after that once a problem develops it usually goes downhill fast with other parts failing too.
Its only on the higher end stuff that they tend to be worth fixing after that long.

 

[nickcruz]

My laptop has been giving me BSOD and after getting an IT guy to check it, he says that the Hard drive is damaged and causing the issue. The laptop is around 7 years old but has good specs and its expensive to buy another laptop right now.

Is there any way to still use the laptop but without the hard drive?

Buy a new laptop. But it depends what you do with you it, what are your requirements? If you just surf and download stuff, you can get a new $400 laptop that will be decent. If you game or do editing your gonna want to spend a lot more, $1000+. There are lots of sales all over the place. Shop around and you'll find a good deal. Ncix, Newegg, Amazon, Ebay, Best Buy. Sometimes you can get lucky with used ones too.

 

[Shadow Mike]

My laptop has been giving me BSOD and after getting an IT guy to check it, he says that the Hard drive is damaged and causing the issue. The laptop is around 7 years old but has good specs and its expensive to buy another laptop right now.

Is there any way to still use the laptop but without the hard drive?

If you're ÜBER broke, you can always go with UBUNTU LIVE CD + a pendrive to store information! (You could also check this way if the hdd was the responsible for your hardware problems!)

 

[GoDesain]

why not use USB drive..and ask your IT to bot from USB..
or you can setup in BIOS...