Speeding up an older computer

even long after the warranty period .

Using one as your boot drive makes a huge difference.

My computer is a middle-aged office machine. With a SSD upgrade when it was wiped and rebuilt, I can go from "off" to Windows 7 login screen in 20 seconds.

https://linuxmint.com/

You can take a ten year old computer, add a solid state drive and max out the memory, install Linux Mint, and you'll have a perfectly usable computer that runs fast with up-to-date security and apps.

There's a bit of a learning curve, but I think it's worth it.

It's possible you'll never have to buy a new computer again, and you may learn enough in the process to repair your own computers.

I'm not someone who recommends a Linux install on anyone's primary computer.

Basically if someone is asking for advice, they shouldn't be running Linux!

These days many Linux distributions "just work." The browsers are solid, LibreOffice is solid, and there are plenty of fun and useful apps that are free.

If anyone really wants to avoid trouble, I recommend Chromebooks. I'm writing this on a Chromebook. People who use Chromebooks rarely bother me with their computer problems. Newer Chromebooks run Android apps as well. You can use the same apps on your laptop that you use on your phone.

I also have a desktop running Debian Linux, and a dual-boot Windows laptop. I think Windows spends most of its time downloading and installing humongous updates.

I won't use a Windows or Apple machine unless someone is paying me.

Needless to say I'm not a modern gamer, nor do I use Adobe products such as Photoshop.

A 21.5" iMac with SSD and plenty of RAM is my current desktop. The 6-year-old iPad Mini I used as a portable was getting long in the tooth and I wanted something newer with a bigger screen. Saw a 14" ASUS Chromebook on sale for $199.00 and said "what the hell". You can't beat that price for something portable or to use if something breaks in my iMac. Chrome OS turned out to be easy to learn, and the performance is adequate for most tasks I will use it for. Am I wrong, but isn't the Chrome OS basically a version of Linux?

But until recently Linux was mostly inaccessible.

Newer Chromebooks have access to Linux, sandboxed in its own directory. This makes it difficult to screw up your computer.

You can select which of your personal directories you want to give Linux programs access to.

https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/9145439?hl=en

I find Chromebook Linux useful for running command line utilities such as pandoc.

It doesn't support hardware video acceleration, microphones, or cameras yet, which makes some apps unusable.

SSD makes the biggest difference. I recently replaced the original HDD in my 2009 MacBook for an SSD and now it runs like brand new!

It all depends on what's slowing down the machine. If it's low on memory, adding more RAM will be a big win, otherwise it'll be a waste of money. If it's waiting on disk I/O then replacing a spinning hard drive with a solid-state disk can make it fly. If you're waiting on the Internet (a slow ISP), then making your machine faster won't really be that noticable!

Depending on what the driver does, a driver update could help with RAM management, disk I/O, offload some computing to your graphics card or even help your Internet run a little faster.

Results will vary depending on what's slowing down your particular configuration / usage pattern.