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Dell Inspiron 630m UPGRADE.
Hope I am posting this in the correct section.
I have received the above model laptop which originally had Windows XP system. It has been changed to Windows 7 by a local IT firm. I find it is running slowly and freezing, and is much slower than my Dell Inspiron 1545 which runs Vista.
Searching the internet I gather I need to upgrade the memory by installing a :2GB kit DDR2 PC2-5300. I thought the best place to find out would be here on the Dell Community Forums. Is that the correct memory module for this machine, and if so, I am led to believe that it will make the laptop perform much faster.
Hoping someone can clarify matters for me. Thanks.
ejn63
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September 16th, 2015 07:00
Added RAM will help reduce the use of virtual memory but temper your expectations - you may see 10% better performance but you will not see a dramatic improvement.
The single best performance/price upgrade would be to replace the hard drive with a sold state drive - that will dramatically improve performance in a way the added RAM will not.
justanovice
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September 16th, 2015 09:00
ejn63,Thanks for your reply. I understand the point you make. Others, elsewhere, seem to suggest a great improvement by adding 2GB of RAM. I will probably replace the memory first, then if not satisfied, consider upgrading the hard drive with either another hard drive, or even a SSD.
Any observations from others in here would be welcome.
Thanks.
justanovice
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September 16th, 2015 10:00
natakuc4, Thanks for your interest. I was given the laptop only last week for free, and became interested in it as it is using Windows 7, which I am unfamiliar with. Replacing the memory with 2GB modules will only cost £20. However I see your point re wasting money since another upgrade hard drive, or even an SSD will cost a lot more.
Philip_Yip
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September 16th, 2015 10:00
That's a mid 2005 model over a decade old!!!
It has an IDE HDD and is not worth wasting money on an OS or components. Your performance upgrade with more RAM will be limited. Look to replacing the entire system with a less old second hand one or a new system.
Philip_Yip
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September 17th, 2015 04:00
Well the issue is the HDD interface is IDE and not SATA making it incompatible with most SSDs. Another issue with the system is the Intel 915 video which is not upgradable. You can get a Vista driver for this which works with Windows 7 though.
ejn63
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September 17th, 2015 04:00
That's not correct. The D620/D630 and D820/D830 all use SATA drives. The D610/D810 were the last of the D-series to use the older EIDE parallel ATA drive type.
justanovice
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September 17th, 2015 04:00
natakuc4, Thanks again. A bit more clarification for me. As regards drivers, when I first received the laptop I could not connect with wi-fi, until I downloaded a Vista driver for that, and now it works perfectly.Regarding videos, I am not too bothered about such.
It looks as though my best course of action will be to upgrade the memory which should make it work a bit 'smoother', and forget about replacing/upgrading the hard drive.
Philip_Yip
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September 17th, 2015 06:00
This is an Inspiron 630M (Late 2005) and not a Latitude D630 (Mid 2007):
http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/inspiron-630m.html
Philip_Yip
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September 17th, 2015 08:00
That's the official XP only drivers. Unofficially these will work with Windows 7 32 Bit:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/driver-sets/inspiron-laptops-windows-7/inspiron-630m-windows-7-32-bit/
justanovice
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September 17th, 2015 08:00
Thanks both for your latest replies, but as you can see from my user name "just a novice", you may be getting a little too deep for me. BUT, I will certainly have a look at the link re the 'downloads.dell......630m.html , and probably learn a bit more !