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Is it worth replacing the SSD on 5 year Laptop?
I have an Inspiron 15 5000 Series - 5584 laptop that I purchased in August 2019. It came with a 100Gbyte SSD as a C: Drive which runs Windows 10 and a 1Tbyte HDD as a D: Drive. The computer works and I have had no issues but I am trying to prevent potential future issues by seeking your help.
My C: Drive is down to 1.6Gbytes free space and for the life of me I can't figure out where all the space has gone to since Windows 10 should only take up about 20GBytes and I have a total of 15Gbytes of other apps installed on there. I know that over time, Windows uploads fixes and patches, but this storage issue seems to have really hit critical since the Windows 11 upgrade was offered, which I declined. I think the Windows 11 files are downloaded to your computer whether you want to upgrade or not.
I have done a disk clean up but this did almost nothing and I know it is an old computer but I am reluctant to buy a new computer if the old one is still working. I am wondering if anyone knows or could advise if the SSD in this machine can be replaced to a larger capacity or if the cost would be prohibitive and I would be better off buying a new PC. Before you suggest doing it yourself would be cheap, I should say that I am not comfortable with hardware so I would not attempt doing this myself and would have to employ someone to do it for me. Any advice would be helpful.
Has anyone had the same/similar issue and how did you overcome it?
Chino de Oro
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April 16th, 2024 09:47
To give a straight forward answer YES, you do need to replace your current SSD to a higher capacity SSD.
It does not matter the age of your device. The performance and health of an SSD will be degraded when its used capacity exceed the recommended 75% of drive capacity. In your case, 98% of capacity is used up.
Without the need to go into reasons or technical details about limited number of read and write of SSD, the current low cost of a higher capacity replacement is a most effective solution to restore performance and give more life to your laptop.
One method is creating a backup image onto a USB and use it to restore the image back onto a new, larger capacity SSD. But the easy method is to perform a clean Windows installation on a new, larger capacity SSD and reinstall needed apps to it. That will give you a clean slate with up-to-date OS and drivers without any bloatware, and all other old stuff that was accumulated over time.
You can review this Windows installation tutorial to be familiar with the process and well prepare prior to working on your laptop.
Blueberry12
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April 17th, 2024 00:25
@Chino de Oro thank you for your response. I have searched for parts and can see that the SSD's are reasonably priced, but as I said, I am not comfortable with hardware and I would need to employ someone to do it for me. I know everyone says it is easy, but it is easy if you know what you are doing and I don't in the case of hardware. Any idea of how long the process should take so that I know what kind of hours to expect to pay for?
Chino de Oro
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April 17th, 2024 07:28
I would be lying if I told you that it is easy as replacing battery in a remote control. It will require a bit more work than that. But, a PC or laptop does require users to learn and perform basic hardware tasks along with software knowledge in order to operate the machine efficiency. With a small screwdriver and 10 minutes of your times, it can be done if you can understand the procedures from these instructions:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Dell+Inspiron+15+5584+Hard+Drive+Replacement/149702
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6_h6Re_n54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJg2nVPNsX4
From reviewing the videos, you should get some idea of the process and the time it takes. It's understandable if you want to employ computer shops to work on yours, contact a few shops and get a quote. Compare the part and labor cost to the market value of your laptop and making your decision.
If you plan to employ mail-in service, considering Parts-People (from one of the video) as they are well known with Dell OEM genuine parts and providing services for a fixed rate.
gravitycoil828
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April 18th, 2024 10:46
Hey! Sorry for ramming in.
Before you consider buying a new SSD, try clean up the disk a little.
Press Win + R then type "%temp%" and click enter.
Delete any files that are in there. There's probably a lot. I have 2.83GB before I commented on this post!
Your 1TB HDD also saves to your temp folder on the SSD, so if you installed a bunch of apps on the HDD then it'll be flooded.
If that doesn't work, go to Windows Explorer by Pressing Win + E. Right click on your C: drive and click "Properties". Once done, click "Disk Clean-up". Wait for it to scan files, then hit "Delete files". Make sure you do this for System Files too.
If THAT doesn't work, then I have one last solution.
Delete some bloatware that you haven't used in a bit. This can include bloat that was installed with your computer [Spotify, TikTok, etc] and all of that.
If none of those work just get a new SSD.