Chosen Solution

I inherited the laptop from my family, who asked me to erase it and didn’t want it back (I got to keep it this year, well past its prime). I tried using it as-is, I can’t; it’s too unbearably slow. While I am not opposed to installing an SSD, the version I have is pretty abysmally specced (A10-4655M/8GB DDR3L - hard to access/15” 768p TN LCD/Realtek wireless/1TB HD - Samsung ST Spinpoint), so the specs are a pretty serious negative on this one. I even tried to use it once and I hung it up again when it took 10 minutes to startup fully; I was tired of waiting. How much will an SSD help this laptop? Like I said, not opposed but the CPU and overall performance was pretty bad at the time, so I was hesitant to do so after that.

Yes, I would recommend installing an SSD in this computer. I might also recommend upgrading the RAM to 16 GB (the memory types this computer supports are DDR3L-1600[recommended] and DDR3L-1333). A lightweight GNU/Linux distro may also help speed up your computer. Recommended SSD: WD Blue SSD Recommended GNU/Linux Distro: BunsenLabs

While this is not the best machine, I do feel like adding an ssd into it would definitely help. Also, if you would not mind learning it, a lightweight Linux distribution can really bring life into older PCs.

Did you mention exactly which model of the Pavillion 5-P you have? For the SSD the main thing, in my experience, is if the SATA port is 6 Gb/s or 3 Gb/s ( HWINFO64 is a good app for checking this as it shows both the SATA port speed and the hard drive’s speed.) If it is 6 Gb/s then yes by all means upgrade. Also after a basic Windows install updating drivers and the BIOS are everything for performance. Personally I don’t find the RAM or processor makes that much difference for general computer use. For drivers the updated chipset and GPU are important. Any how have fun with it.

going from a regular HD to a SSD would help in most cases. if the laptop is that old though it probably hasnt been cleaned in a while either. i would say if youre going in you might as well put new thermal paste on the heatsink and clean all the dust out as well! doing that may help quite a bit.