How the hell do Currys stay in business?

I'll upgrade your SSD for an hour labour if you want.


//On a more serious note however, you have to be really hamfisted or stupid to screw up a PC upgrade or even complete assembly nowadays. If a PC was a Lego set it'd have 10+ on the box.


Back when I was a wee lad, I built a few PCs out of whatever scraps I could find. And when I say scraps, I mean literal scraps. Hard drive from school, motherboard from an old junker found at my mum's work, etc. I then had to connect it all using nasty-ass old SCSE cables which were extremely unreliable, using jumpers on the drives to sort out master and slave drives, and cycle through all the RAM I had to find sticks that worked to eventually get an image on a screen. Looking back at the process, it wasn't far off trying to crack a coded lock. Start with a sequence and move to the next one until it worked, over and over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

And over.

Etc, you get the idea. You kids nowadays don't know how easy you have it :D
 
FBi7 said:
What upgrade(s) do you want to do?
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A lenonovo ideapad 3's internal 250gb internal drive.
After I've download and installed my games and other softare The mods and DLC (especially Skyrim), and the DLC for my creativity software (DLC Music loops and instruments for Magix Music Maker and 'brushes' for Particleshop)* soon mount up and even downloading my steam/GOG games onto an externnal SSD drive have left me with 79gb onto the internal drive.

Apart from the low confidence (thanks for the encouragement you lot) I'm stuck between having it done professional by a reputable company which'll cost more after I've ordered the drive and tools and doing myself for cheaper but there's more risk for somebody who's never done it before and has only replaced a screw on a previous laptop that had somebow become loose. I've got a ONE TB internal SSD drive in mind but for extra it comes with the cord and tools (yeah, I know, order the bundle and don't touch any drugs or alcohol beforehand).

As you can see I'm lacking the confidence and trust in myself and the guy in currys said that the OS'll have to be reinstalled if I replace the SSD drive)

*These are real and legit and have legit websites so you won't get any virus, malware or spyware.
 
1664kronenbourg said:
Never tried any of the above.
I've got an interna; SSD in mind but if I include the tools and the lead it'll cost extra and what about the OS?
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You get an 8gb USB stick then you go the microsoft website
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d

if you need a new product key you go the auction site and get one for about a fiver.

get a USB > Sata cable to take whatever from your old drive and put it on your new (if it's a laptop)

if it's a desktop pc you can either get a sata cable have have 2 ssd or replace your old ssd with the new
 
arknor said:
You get an 8gb USB stick then you go the microsoft website
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d
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I've got windows 11 on my external SSD drive. I'd have some more confidence if I had somebody with experience and knew what they were doing to sit with me and intervene if I don't think I can continue.
A few examples of what could go wrong-
1. I might lose a few screws or not screw them in properly.
2. I might break something when pulling the bottom off
3. I might touch something I shouldn't?
4. What if I break the laptop in the process?
 
Malevolence said:
This has to be a wind up.
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No. It's serious and so's my lack of confidence. I wouldn't be posting about it and raising my doubts about my ability to do it otherwise. I just don't feel confident enough.
I can access the screw driver required, I've got to order the drive and the kit but I don't have a spare Lenovo ideapad 3 and internal SS to practice on. Even if I do [ pull it off sucessfully, what do I do with the drive it came with (Yeah, I know, back it all up first, unplug it, make sure i've got seperate secure containers for the screws). I can clear a space and I've seen the Youtube videos
Part of me wants to attempt it myself but another part says get it done by a pro.

But if doing it myself doesn't work out, nobody can't say I haven't had a go at it can they?
It's knackering the computer I'm most worried about. But then again, if I can use advanced software like Magix Music, Maker, Paintshop Pro, Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo (None of which come with manuals) I can swap internal SSDs round. After all, mianiny about removing and replaceding the screws.
Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid.
 
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I get it. I have the same sort of thing with my car or bike. People tell me how simple it is to do a certain job, but it's not something I've done before and it's expensive kit we're dealing with so I often 'pay a guy' to do it for me. With a PC, yeah I would swap a drive out myself, no problem. It's almost hard for those of us that know how to do it, to comprehend why someone wouldn't do this themselves, but I get it. This year I've been gradually training myself on home maintenance though and it puts you in a strong place for maintaining things in the future, so I would encourage you to give it a go.

What part of the UK are you in? How much where PC World going to charge? Maybe for a few beers/coffees a local OCUKer would observe and advise while you did it? Maybe even over Zoom?
 
In the interest of balance I needed a new work laptop so went down to curry’s last week

sales assistant was knowledgeable asked what I was planning on using it for excel outlook and browser based stuff offered sound advice in that I may and I stress may want to look at models with 8gb of ram if I’m multi tasking between multiple tasks or browser tabs.
Ended up with a i5 based hp note book with xe graphics which is ideal for my needs

as an aside there’s a 32gb ram kit in the post for a cheeky and pointless upgrade just because but the actual purchase experience was painless and well supported.
 
AndyCr15 said:
I get it. I have the same sort of thing with my car or bike. People tell me how simple it is to do a certain job, but it's not something I've done before and it's expensive kit we're dealing with so I often 'pay a guy' to do it for me. With a PC, yeah I would swap a drive out myself, no problem. It's almost hard for those of us that know how to do it, to comprehend why someone wouldn't do this themselves, but I get it. This year I've been gradually training myself on home maintenance though and it puts you in a strong place for maintaining things in the future, so I would encourage you to give it a go.

What part of the UK are you in? How much where PC World going to charge? Maybe for a few beers/coffees a local OCUKer would observe and advise while you did it? Maybe even over Zoom?
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ninety quid. Forty five for the transplant itself and another fourty five to reinstall the operating system but I can't remember who around here said it wouldn't on another thread. That's why I'm struggling to decide whether to do it myself or have it done by a pro. The guy at Curry's told me it'd take half an hour (enough time to hopefully ni into Tesco for some chicken portions and a few beers), get something to eat or go for a pint but I'd have to provide the drive myself.. It's not that won't do it myself, I just don't trust myself.
 
I'm going out on a limb here, but maybe you need to speak to someone. Those kinds of self-confidence issues and fears of failure need to be addressed rather than running away from them. I'm also basing this on things you've posted in other threads.

If you're anywhere near the North East, I'd happily do the upgrade for you.
 
Ayahuasca said:
I'm going out on a limb here, but maybe you need to speak to someone. Those kinds of self-confidence issues and fears of failure need to be addressed rather than running away from them. I'm also basing this on things you've posted in other threads.

If you're anywhere near the North East, I'd happily do the upgrade for you.
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I did say in a previous post that nobody can't say I didn't have a go at it if it doesn't work out. It's just that I've never done it before. It looks straightforwards enough but have you lot ever tried doing something while wathcing a how to video on Youtube?
I've got the OS backed up on external hard drive, access to the screw driver but \i need somewhere to keep the screws safe and seperate.

Anyway, BOT. I've had good service from Currys and had no complaints.
 
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I would expect the cable going to the current SSD will work for the new SSD?

If you have everything, personally I think I would just start and see what happens... As you go, maybe even take photos of how it all looks before you change things to either help you reverse any changes you make, or make sure new bits go back in the same place as they came out. Make a start and see if you come to anything that really stops you from progressing.
 
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