I think it was January when I complained that my desktop computer had given up the ghost. Since then I've been using a lovely little MacBook Air that Nera has given me on long-term loan and the old HP all-in-one still sits on its pedestal, looking at me accusingly as if demanding that I do something about it. I nearly said 'gathering dust' but Marilyn would never allow that to happen.
Still, after 8 months I need to get my act together. "Get rid of it," I said to Jamie. "Maybe you could cannibalise it for parts. Whatever you decide, I want it off my desk."
He thought for a moment and wondered whether we might, in fact, be able to upgrade it enough to make it useful for some basic writing or something. "Have a look on Youtube and see whether anyone has ever put in any extra RAM to one of these things."
Youtube, of course, has videos on everything and I found one explaining how to fit some extra RAM using only a Philips Head screwdriver. The cheerful fellow on the video said that what we really needed was a new hard drive: get rid of the old optical drive and fit a new solid-state one instead. It turned out that Jamie had a solid-state drive left over from some other job.
He came over yesterday and we laid the computer out on the dining room table. Two screws held the back in place and it was soon opened up. There were a few bits of loose plastic rattling around inside and the RAM stick wasn't sitting well which might have meant that had been a problem but that was soon fixed. A new SS drive was fitted and held in place by a couple of strips of black gaffer tape and the back was replaced.
It works just like a new one. I've been warned not to clog up the hard drive by saving everything but it's great. Of course, I don't want to give up the MacBook so I'm not going to be too enthusiastic.
No comments:
Post a Comment