My lady's Dell Vostro 1500 is now getting on for 3 or so yrs old. It has 2GB RAM (top of the range when bought) so shouldn't need to page too much (but is is encumbered with Vista), yet after an hour of use with 3+ programs running, switching between a pdf and MS Word for example will take up to 30 seconds, whilst the HDD light goes nuts and much clicking can be heard. When she gets fed up and reboots, it is almost tragic watching chrome take 10 seconds just to close one tab.
The plan is to replace the laptop entirely if we win the lottery. However, in this parallel universe where we clearly won't, I'm looking to replace it at some point (on hold due to the SSD price hike) with the same type 64GB Crucial M225 I put in her desktop. Her entire HDD contents only reach 39GB.
So,
1) is there anything software-related I can do? I enforce defragging every couple of weeks, and have run CCleaner. but have little experience of more in-depth maintenance. Windows and antivirus etc are always fully updated, which provides an amusing 2hr distraction
2) the clicking noise when the computer spins the hard disc has always been rather loud, but seems to be getting even worse. Do I need to sprint to the nearest computer shop that stocks any old 2.5" HDD and leap across the aisle yelling "noooooooo..." to get a replacement ASAP? Or will be OK for a few more months? The important documents are backed up to a USB HDD but I don't have any experience of saving a system image (except in Win7 which does everything for me, bless it)
