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Hello all,
My parents have two computers... a new i5 that is wonderful and an old one (Intel® Core™2 Duo E6600) that takes ages to start.
It is clear that the HDD spins endlessly.
Would you spend 100€ in a SSD?
I don't know if that would mean a huge improvement in the performance of that computer or not...
Should SSD work despite being an old computer?
Any hint?
Of course I could buy a new computer, but in this case I don't think it is needed as my father is using it only to download kitchen recipes... 
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YES!
Oh yes, yes yes...
I run a E6700 @ 3.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM - and a 1TB SSD (plus a 1TB HDD for data).
The performance difference when I fitted the SSD was phenomenal. Windows booted quickly, VS loaded fast, even Corel PaintShop Pro X8 became usable! 
It genuinely changed the way I worked: instead of loading everything - because they took forever to start - I load, use, close and everything is quicker because the load time is so short, and the RAM is free.
Well worth the money!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Thank you OG for both answers!
I'll take a look at it, but probably I'll reinstall everything as I'm planning to get a 256 GB SSD... It has no sense getting anything bigger but the current HDD is much bigger so I don't know if AOMEI would cope with that...
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Depends how much is used space - if it's using less than the new SSD, then repartition it to the same size and the wizard will move everything. And that way bookmarks, passwords, logins, and the app someone forgot about but desperately needs right now still work exactly as it did, but better.
If it isn't, then you're going to be looking at having both installed anyway (organised as OS/app and data perhaps?) so a good solid backup first would be a damn good idea... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I'll definitely look at it.
Thank you!
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100% agree with Griff, about a year back it's exactly what I did...
1. large (1TB) HDD to smaller (500 G) SSD - used space on HDD was about 300G
2. Aomei Partition Assistant - the Free version
Ran the wizard, chose the options (simple, obvious), off she went.
Less than a hour later without unplugging anything (just Bios change) booted from the SSD - zero issues.
After initial housekeeping on the SSD I used the Aomei to do the reverse copy (yes, even though it says it's for HDD->SSD it 100% works the other way too) - done in case needed to re-restore after some heavy duty cleaning up I had planned (i.e. removing spurious software, device drivers and other windows system cruft.)
signature upgrading ... please wait.
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Did you mean to respond with this to Joan?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Hi Lopatir,
Thank you for your comments.
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My +1 with the others. I rejuvenated a 10 year old Thinkpad with one.
Arguing with a woman is like reading the Software License Agreement. In the end, you ignore everything and click "I agree".
Anonymous
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Thank you theoldfool! 
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I also have two old core 2 systems, but I think they would benefit more from adding ram.
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I guess it wouldn't harm too... but by now I've seen it not using all the ram... only internet browsing...
But it takes literally ages to start... and you can hear the HDD noises continuously...
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On mine, "internet browsing" takes all my RAM. 
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For what it's worth: I have an Acer Aspire 6930 laptop, which originally came with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2G of RAM, a 320G hard drive, and Windows Vista Home Premium. I bought it in 2007, ten years ago. I'm typing this post on it as we speak. It's been upgraded to 4G of RAM, from Vista to Win7 to Win10, and to a 1TB SSD. I originally paid around $650 for the machine, and have spent around $400 upgrading it. As far as a timing benchmark goes, it runs Visual Studio 2015 successfully. I've upgraded my daughter's college laptop in a similar fashion.
Max out the RAM and switch to an SSD for less than half the price of a new laptop, and you'll breathe new life into an old one.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Thank you Gary!
Very similar experience... thank you for your comments!
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Look for boot times on Youtube .. You can even type in the type of Computer you have and actually watch the boot time for yourself and make a better decision .. There are many examples on youtube for SSD start times w/ an i5 i7 that have SSD added ..
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Joan M wrote: and an old one (Intel® Core™2 Duo E6600) that takes ages to start
The first thing I would do is max out the RAM on this PC. Adding RAM is cheaper than moving to an SSD, and it's likely that the OS is swapping (to a slow HDD) due to lack of RAM. If more RAM cannot be added, I recommend upgrading the PC to one that can accept (at least) 8GB of memory.
/ravi
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Thank you Ravi!
It would be a good thing too to add more RAM... let's see if I can find some spare parts...
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Had you said before I went to Barcelona, I could have brought you a 128 Gb SSD that I have in spare
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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El don de la oportunidad... 
Thank you anyway Nelek...
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BTW... If I go again I will contact you anyways (if I don't forget it, again...  ), we can have a coffee
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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One minor technical note: the old system needs a SATA interface. I'm assuming it does, but I see no mention of it.
Charlie Gilley
<italic>Stuck in a dysfunctional matrix from which I must escape...
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country." B. Franklin, 1783
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
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It has it!
But thank you very much for the comment Charlie! Those small things can mean throwing money if they are not under control.
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I'll second what everybody else says: Yes, go for for the flash. Actually, an old PC can benefit more from a flash disk than a modern one, percentage-wise.
If the disk is the real bottleneck, the biggest effect will be on how fast programs start up, not how fast they run. But it is very convenient having the program window opened before you have liftet your finger from the key (or mouse button). System startup will also be much faster.
If the HDD is spinning all the time during ordinary operation (not just on restart), you are probably short on RAM. (Take a look in the Task Manager to see the actual RAM usage.) A flash disk will speed up paging operations, but that doesn't really solve the problem, it just makes the emergency solution (i.e. paging) run faster. The Right Solution(tm) is to add more RAM.
The only problem left is that new RAM "standards" come in a steady stream. Every new PC I have bought (for home use) the last 20 years have used a different kind of RAM from the previous one. When hunting for the right type, pick out one of the old chips (RAM boards) from the computer and compare it closely to the new one. Give special attention to the notch(es) at the edge, they must match your old RAM board exactly. ... And, make sure that either, the PC motherboard has got unused RAM slots, or you'll have to buy a so large new RAM board that you can throw away the old one. (In fact, that is rarely a problem: The new RAM is probably four times as big and more than enough by itself.)
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