Old gaming laptop rebuild

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

goproguy

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2014
Messages
90
Location
Santa Rosa, California
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Cloud Service
Hi guys, I have an old Asus G750jw I want to "rebuild." It's in quotation marks because I only plan to replace the hard drive with an SSD and add another SSD or HDD. (it has 2 SATA 3 drive ports) I plan on using it for light audio and video editing for our church. I saw a 120GB SSD for about $30 that would be the OS drive, but I don't know if I should get an SSD or HDD for the scratch disk.
Questions:

Q1: 120GB or larger SSD or HDD for the scratch disk?
Q2: The main problem I have is that I think I got some viruses on it as it was really slow and I fell for a scam..... I know better now and it was a good excuse for a new computer hehe!
Do I need to replace the OS or can I salvage it? I think it has Windows 10 but maybe 8.
Thanks guys/gals ;)
 
There is nothing else important on the drive, to my knowledge.
Q3: How involved do you think this will get? I'm not a techy person as far as rebuilding computers, so should I get somebody to help me or just read the instructions?
Q4: Is there anything else I need to fix while I'm at it? Right now, RAM is 8GB, i7-4700HQ 2.4GHz boost to 3.2
Q5: If I need to get the new OS, is there one I should consider? PRO, home, etc. Will the new OS disk or drive just plug and play?

Thanks, guys/gals. I appreciate the advice.
 
I do not do audio or video, so you may want to take my advice with a grain of salt, but I will try to offer a few suggestions.
  • If you are truly doing light video and audio, then your hardware will probably suffice with the installation of a new SSD or two. This is still not going to be lightning fast, but it should be somewhat tolerable.
  • A 120GB disk is awfully small. I would strongly recommend a 256GB at a minimum. You will need the space for the OS, the software, your files and working space. That is going to be tight with 120GB, especially if you are working with video files. And a packed drive is not going to perform well. Consider a 256GB drive. Samsung makes a number of nice, affordable models if you need a suggestion.
  • Back up your important files for transfer, but install a fresh OS on you new SSD. You can go with Win 7 or Win 10. If you go with Win 10, I would not worry too much about the Pro version. The Home edition will suffice.
  • Installing a fresh OS on a new drive should not be too difficult. Read up before you start, but it should involve more time than tech savvy. Do you have a good internet connection or the original install discs? The latter will make this quite easy. If you are not comfortable, then seek out somebody who can help.
Good luck,

--Ken
 
Anything is better than it's normal speed..... "Battery low"

I thought I put it in the original post, but I plan on putting a 120 in for the OS and another for the actual work files and storage. It would probably be a HDD of at least 1tb but I'm not sure.
Would a 500gb SSD suffice for the OS and all the working files? I would have a backup drive for actual storage too.

I know Samsung is the best, but what about Patriot, Kingston, SanDisk, or Silicon power.
 
It will all depend on how big the files are that you are processing. I guess that you could work with two drives, but I still believe that 120GB does not offer much space if needed. I would think that a 512GB drive would suffice if you do not store too many files on it. Regarding what brand to purchase, it will depend on the specific model. I know that Sandisk has some great drives and some slower models as well, and I suspect that is the case for all of the brands. I only have experience with Samsung, and they are generally rated well when when reviewed by many sources that I respect. I would search out a respectable review or two for any drive that you are considering, Samsung or otherwise.

Good luck,

--Ken
 
I agree with @Replytoken. I did some video editing converting old sVHS tapes, and it's amazing how quickly the space goes, especially if you need to convert formats, and really especially if you do anything in larger resolutions like 4K or 8K. Audio takes no space or power, but video does.

One caveat: You said "The main problem I have is that I think I got some viruses on it as it was really slow and I fell for a scam..... I know better now and it was a good excuse for a new computer hehe! "

I would not let anything touch that old computer, do not copy things from it without an incredible level of care and advice. "Cleaned" computers generally are not, it is awfully hard to get rid of some newer malware. If my computer were infected I would stop, wipe, low level format, flash the bios, and rebuild from scratch and backups known to pre-date the infection.

Also, to " I saw a 120GB SSD for about $30 " I would suggest that buying an SSD based on lowest price is a big mistake. Don't buy based on highest either, but look online for reviews of each specific model, and generally stick with some of the bigger players. I've had good luck with Samsung, and find their EVO line (not the highest) quite reliable. There's a lot of junk out there, plus a lot of counterfeits - buy only from a known, reputable dealer (e.g. Amazon is OK, Amazon Marketplace is not).

But you are going to need space, unless your volume is incredibly low. Video is big. If you are so budget constrained it is either small SSD or big HDD, consider big. Yeah, it will slow you down a lot, but slow still moves; out of space just stops. And don't skimp on memory either, and get a decent GPU.
 
I was looking at reviews on Amazon and saw that Silicon Power was the cheapest, but also like 4 stars. But literally all the SSDs are that way, even ones I would never want so I think you're right and I will be looking for a more reputable company and model.

Budget is a big concern, but I know that it will fix the computer or if not, become an extra drive for my school computer.

As for the virus, will totally taking out and destroying the old HDD work? Then starting from scratch, or will there still be some viruses lurking somewhere? I know you can't guarantee it, but in general, would that fix it, assuming it's not some super-destructo-virus?

Thanks again
 
Oh and thanks for the advice about marketplace vs regular Amazon. Good to know.
 
As to malware, the answer is really "it depends" and frankly I do not keep up with that realm well enough to offer complete advice, other than "be worried". I have seen reports of malware that will re-flash the bios of a computer, so it can survive replacement of all hard drives, but I have no idea if that's just stories, or real. I have also read of malware that will move into the firmware of hard drives and do the same. Certainly some lives in boot partitions of drives, where a regular format won't touch it.

Now there's millions (literally) of variants of malware, and only some are so persistent, most are much more mundane, killed off by most any anti-virus.

Hopefully someone more up to date than I can offer better advice. As I mentioned above, on mine I'd probably reflash the bios (and worry whether that actually was adequate -- mine will auto-flash from a USB, no OS or boot required), and delete and rebuild all hard drive partitions. And then still worry. Actually the first thing I would do is probably spend days on my laptop (if it was my desktop dead) reading before forming a plan.

Sorry I can't be more helpful, hopefully someone else can, though be aware that all your questions are not really best answered on a photography forum vs various computer oriented venues.
 
Yep, that's what I was afraid of....
Thanks though, I will definitely have a computer guy look at it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top