TeknoBlast
Active Member
So last week, I was given the task to fix my mother-in-law's old Gateway computer (Windows Vista). It's actually a pretty decent laptop, but years of downloading games and installing all sorts of software has slowed it down a bit.
At first I wanted to upgrade the HD with a SSD. The problem is that the laptop is IDE, not SATA. I found an adapter that converts SATA to IDE. When the adapter arrived, it was a tad too big for the hard drive bay.
I went ahead and tried the SSD just to see how it performed with the IDE adapter. Surprisingly, it worked great. Not as fast if it was all SATA connection, but much better than the original HD.
Since the adapter didnt fit in the day, I reinstalled the original HD and installed Windows 8.1.
After several hours of updates and restoring her data, she has a running laptop. Mind you, she's never seen Windows 8.1. So I was concerned with her logging into her laptop every time it booted up. Also, no traditional Start button.
So I figured out that I can bypass the login screen. I set it up to boot to desktop and I installed a Start button add-on.
This morning, I had her boot it up and just gave her a little quick tutorial of Windows 8.1. Since she enjoys games, I showed her how to download them from the Store and not have to worry about any bugs coming from the store. I also showed her the Start Screen and by surprise, she liked it.
I ordered a new laptop for her for Christmas, but wanted to get her going on her old laptop first. By the time she gets her new laptop on Christmas, she'll be very familiar with Windows 8.1, that she wont need much assistance from me.
Good thing about her, she does enjoy tech. Not as much as I do, but she does like it. I also removed an old BD player and Apple TV from my living room center and replaced it with an Xbox One. At first she was thrown off, but after a few tutorials she was good to go. I pinned the Media Player, NetFlix, Hulu, and Vudu apps on the pinned area for her and that made it much easier. One console to rule them all. Oh yeah, she babysits my son while my wife and I are at work all day. Thats why I had to teach her how to use the Xbox One.
Just thought I'd share this to show that not all older people are against change.
At first I wanted to upgrade the HD with a SSD. The problem is that the laptop is IDE, not SATA. I found an adapter that converts SATA to IDE. When the adapter arrived, it was a tad too big for the hard drive bay.
I went ahead and tried the SSD just to see how it performed with the IDE adapter. Surprisingly, it worked great. Not as fast if it was all SATA connection, but much better than the original HD.
Since the adapter didnt fit in the day, I reinstalled the original HD and installed Windows 8.1.
After several hours of updates and restoring her data, she has a running laptop. Mind you, she's never seen Windows 8.1. So I was concerned with her logging into her laptop every time it booted up. Also, no traditional Start button.
So I figured out that I can bypass the login screen. I set it up to boot to desktop and I installed a Start button add-on.
This morning, I had her boot it up and just gave her a little quick tutorial of Windows 8.1. Since she enjoys games, I showed her how to download them from the Store and not have to worry about any bugs coming from the store. I also showed her the Start Screen and by surprise, she liked it.
I ordered a new laptop for her for Christmas, but wanted to get her going on her old laptop first. By the time she gets her new laptop on Christmas, she'll be very familiar with Windows 8.1, that she wont need much assistance from me.
Good thing about her, she does enjoy tech. Not as much as I do, but she does like it. I also removed an old BD player and Apple TV from my living room center and replaced it with an Xbox One. At first she was thrown off, but after a few tutorials she was good to go. I pinned the Media Player, NetFlix, Hulu, and Vudu apps on the pinned area for her and that made it much easier. One console to rule them all. Oh yeah, she babysits my son while my wife and I are at work all day. Thats why I had to teach her how to use the Xbox One.
Just thought I'd share this to show that not all older people are against change.
