The free stuff — try these before you spend a penny
I charge £40 an hour to fix slow laptops, and I will happily tell you that half the time the fix is free. Before you book anyone or browse Currys, do these five things:
1. Restart properly
Clicking "Shut down" in Windows 10 and 11 doesn't actually shut down — it hibernates by default (Fast Startup). Your "uptime" in Task Manager might say 42 days. Click Restart, not Shut down. It forces a clean boot and clears out whatever's been gumming up the works for weeks. I've seen laptops that felt terminal go back to normal after one proper restart.
2. Check what's eating your resources
Press Ctrl+Shift+Escape to open Task Manager. Click the CPU column so the heaviest users sit at the top. If something is sitting at 90% CPU and it's not a program you're actively using, that's likely your culprit. Common offenders: Windows Update running in the background, a browser tab mining something it shouldn't, or antivirus software scanning itself in circles. Google the process name if you don't recognise it.
3. Kill your startup programs
In Task Manager, click the Startup tab. Every program with "Enabled" next to it launches when your computer starts and sits in the background whether you use it or not. Spotify, Steam, Adobe, three different printer utilities, some "helper" your mouse software installed — disable everything you don't need every single day. Your laptop will boot faster and run cooler. You can always open programs manually when you want them.
4. Run a malware scan
Windows Security (built in, free, already installed) is good enough for most people. Open it, run a Full scan — not Quick — and let it finish. Cryptominers and browser hijackers are the most common cause of "my laptop suddenly got really slow" complaints. They don't announce themselves. They just quietly eat half your CPU and make everything feel like treacle.
5. Check your disk space
If your C: drive has less than 20 GB free, your laptop is suffocating. Windows uses free space as working memory for things like updates and temporary files — when the disk is full, everything slows to a crawl. Empty the recycle bin, run Disk Cleanup (type it into the Start menu), and delete or move anything you don't need. Aim for at least 40 GB free.
Do all five of these. It'll take half an hour. If your laptop is still slow, then we're into the territory where spending money makes sense. But you've ruled out the free stuff first — which is exactly what I'd do if you brought it to me.
Repairs worth paying for
These are the repairs I actually recommend to customers, because they cost a fraction of a new laptop and genuinely transform the experience. Prices are real UK rates — what you'd pay in a shop or with a local IT person in the Nottingham/Derby area.
SSD upgrade — £60–£120 (best value by miles)
If your laptop has a traditional hard drive (HDD), replacing it with a solid-state drive (SSD) is the single biggest speed improvement you can buy. We're not talking "a bit faster" — we're talking boot times dropping from 2-3 minutes to 15-20 seconds. Programs open instantly. Everything feels snappy.
A 500 GB SSD costs about £40-50. Installation takes 30-60 minutes. Total with labour: £60-£120 depending on how tricky your specific laptop is to open. This is the repair I do most often, and customers almost always say it feels like a brand-new machine afterwards.
RAM upgrade — £30–£80
If your laptop has 4 GB or 8 GB of RAM and you regularly have lots of browser tabs open, or you switch between several programs, upgrading to 16 GB makes a real difference. Windows 11 really wants 8 GB minimum, and browsers eat RAM like it's going out of fashion. The upgrade itself is usually a five-minute job — open a panel on the bottom, slot in the new stick, done.
Caveat: some modern laptops (especially thin ones and MacBooks) have RAM soldered to the motherboard. If yours is one of those, you can't upgrade. Check before you buy the RAM — your laptop's model number plus "RAM upgrade" on YouTube will tell you in 30 seconds if it's possible.
Thermal paste replacement — £30–£50
Thermal paste is the goo between your processor and its heatsink. Over 3-5 years it dries out, and your laptop starts running hotter and throttling performance to protect itself. If your laptop's fan is loud all the time and the bottom feels hot even when you're just browsing, this might be the issue. It's a messy but straightforward job and costs very little. Makes the laptop run cooler and quieter — and cooler chips are faster chips.
Clean Windows install — £40–£60
Windows accumulates cruft over years: old drivers, leftover registry entries, update debris, bits of uninstalled software that never quite left. A clean install wipes all of it — you end up with exactly the Windows Microsoft ships, plus whatever you choose to put back. Combined with an SSD, this is the closest you'll get to a new laptop without buying one. Back up your files first (I'll do it as part of the job), and expect to reinstall your programs afterwards.
Repairs that usually aren't worth it
Not every repair makes financial sense. These are the ones where I usually tell customers to save their money toward a replacement instead:
- Motherboard replacement: £200-400+. At that point you're paying new-laptop money to keep an old one alive. Only worth it if the laptop is under 2 years old and was expensive (£1,000+).
- Screen replacement on a laptop over 4 years old: £80-£200. If the laptop's worth £150 working, spending £120 on a screen is bad maths. Use an external monitor for now and put the money toward a replacement.
- Liquid damage (coffee/water/wine): Corrosion is unpredictable. You might fix the obvious damage today and have something else fail next month. Unless it's a very expensive machine, liquid damage usually means it's time to let go.
- Battery replacement on a 5+ year old laptop: Batteries degrade. A new one costs £30-£80. If the laptop is otherwise slow and showing its age, you're just putting fresh batteries in a tired machine. Better to invest in a replacement.
"Should I fix it or bin it?" — four questions to decide
When a customer sits across from me with a slow laptop, I run through four questions. The answers almost always make the decision obvious:
Question 1: How old is it?
Under 3 years: Almost certainly worth repairing. Even a £200 repair is cheaper than a new laptop and you're not even halfway through its useful life.
3–5 years: Worth repairing if the fix is under £150 and it meets your needs. An SSD upgrade at this age typically buys you another 2-3 years.
5–7 years: Repair only if it's cheap (under £80) and the laptop still does what you need. Beyond 7 years, the hardware is outclassed by even a £300 refurbished machine.
Question 2: Can it run Windows 11?
Windows 10 reaches end of support in October 2025. After that, no more security updates. If your laptop can't run Windows 11 — which requires an 8th-gen Intel or newer, or a Ryzen 2000 or newer — you're on borrowed time. A laptop that can't run the current OS is not worth repairing beyond the absolute minimum to bridge you to a replacement.
Question 3: Does it do what you actually need?
This is the question people skip. If your laptop is slow but the screen is good, the keyboard feels right, the battery still holds charge, and it runs the software you need — fix it. A laptop you like is worth keeping alive. If you've always hated the keyboard, or the screen is too small, or you secretly wanted a reason to upgrade anyway — this is your excuse. Be honest with yourself on this one.
Question 4: Is the repair more than half the cost of a replacement?
Simple maths: if a repair costs £200 and a refurbished replacement with better specs costs £350, the replacement is the better use of money. The £200 fix leaves you with an old laptop that's still old in every other way. The £350 gets you something faster, with a fresh battery and a warranty.
If you're buying — what to look for in 2026
If the decision test pointed toward "replace", here's what actually matters when you're shopping — and what's just marketing:
What matters
- SSD, not HDD: Non-negotiable. If a laptop still ships with a spinning hard drive, walk away. 256 GB minimum, 512 GB is the sweet spot.
- 16 GB RAM: 8 GB is the bare minimum for Windows 11 and you'll feel it. 16 GB gives you breathing room for years. 32 GB is overkill unless you edit video or run virtual machines.
- Full HD screen (1920×1080): Anything less feels cramped and cheap. IPS panel (better colours and viewing angles) is worth the small premium.
- 8th-gen Intel Core i5 / Ryzen 5 4000 or newer: These are the floor for a responsive Windows 11 experience. Anything newer is gravy.
What doesn't matter (for most people)
- Processor GHz: The clock speed numbers on the sticker are meaningless. A 2.0 GHz modern chip smokes a 3.5 GHz chip from five years ago. Ignore GHz entirely.
- 4K screen: On a 14-15 inch laptop, 4K is invisible to most people and destroys battery life. Stick with Full HD.
- "Gaming" branding: RGB lights and aggressive styling do not make a laptop faster. A business-grade laptop with the same specs is usually built better and costs less.
- Touch screen: Nice on a tablet, pointless on a laptop for most people. It adds cost, weight, and battery drain.
The smart money is on refurbished business laptops
Here's a thing most consumers don't know: the best value laptops in 2026 aren't new ones from Currys. They're refurbished business laptops — ThinkPads, Dell Latitudes, HP EliteBooks — that were £1,200-£1,800 new and now sell for £300-£500 after a 3-year corporate lease ends.
These machines were built to be repaired, not glued shut. They have proper keyboards, proper ports, and parts are cheap and plentiful. A refurbished ThinkPad T14 with a Ryzen 5, 16 GB RAM, and a 512 GB SSD costs about £350-400 and will comfortably outlast a brand-new £400 consumer laptop that creaks when you pick it up.
Look for a seller with a warranty (most good refurbishers offer 12 months), check the battery health (they'll usually say "80%+" or similar), and buy a generation or two behind current — that's where the value lives. I've set up dozens of these for customers, and I've never had one come back.
What Vengera charges for laptop repairs
I'm one person based near Long Eaton. I do straightforward laptop repairs — no upselling, no "we found six other things" phone calls. Here's what that looks like:
- SSD upgrade (drive + installation): £60–£120 depending on the laptop. Includes cloning your old drive so everything looks exactly the same — just faster.
- RAM upgrade (part + labour): £30–£80. I'll check compatibility first so you're not buying the wrong thing.
- Diagnosis and advice: £40/hour, one-hour minimum. If the fix is simple and takes ten minutes, I'll tell you and you'll only pay for the time. If the laptop isn't worth fixing, I'll tell you that too — I'd rather lose a sale than sell someone a bad repair.
No call-out fee within Long Eaton, Beeston, Stapleford, Sandiacre and the immediate area. Further out we'll agree the travel upfront, but it's usually nothing or very little.
If you're not sure whether your laptop is worth fixing, the first conversation is free. Tell me what you've got, what it's doing, and I'll give you an honest answer — not a sales pitch.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a laptop last?
With reasonable care: 5–7 years for a consumer laptop (£400-£700), 7-10 years for a business-grade machine (£800+). The hardware usually outlasts the software support — the limiting factor is whether it can run the current version of Windows. An SSD upgrade around year 3-4 often adds 2-3 years of useful life for under £100.
Can I upgrade a MacBook?
Modern MacBooks (2016 onwards) have soldered RAM and storage — you can't upgrade them after purchase. What you buy is what you've got. This is the single biggest reason I recommend Windows laptops for people on a budget: a £350 refurbished ThinkPad can be upgraded over time, where a £350 used MacBook is frozen at whatever spec it shipped with. If you're buying a Mac, buy the spec you'll need in 3 years, not the spec you need today.
My laptop won't turn on at all — is it dead?
Not necessarily. The most common cause of "dead" laptops I see is a failed charger or charging port — both cheap fixes. Try a different charger first (borrow one if you can). If that doesn't work, bring it in — I can usually diagnose the issue in 10-15 minutes and tell you if it's worth fixing.
Should I fix it myself?
If you're comfortable following a YouTube tutorial and the repair doesn't involve soldering or prying glued components apart, go for it — an SSD or RAM upgrade is genuinely beginner-friendly on most laptops. But if the laptop needs to be opened in a specific order, or the part is glued rather than screwed, you risk turning a £60 repair into a £300 write-off. When in doubt, ask someone who's done it before. A good local IT person will tell you honestly if it's a DIY job or not.
What's the cheapest laptop that's actually decent?
A refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T480 or T490 — currently £180-£280 on eBay from reputable refurbishers. 8th-gen Intel i5, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, Full HD screen. It won't win any beauty contests but it'll run Windows 11, handle all everyday tasks, and last another 3-4 years. For a new laptop that's genuinely decent, the floor is about £450 — anything below that has corners cut somewhere (usually the screen or build quality).
Got a slow laptop? Let's talk
I'll tell you honestly if it's worth fixing — no charge for the first conversation. Drop me a message with what you've got and what it's doing, and I'll give you a straight answer.