Extending the life of your equipment

So you have older equipment and you REALLY LOVE IT and want it to last FOREVER. But realistically, what are your options?

Most computers, phones and tablets have a life span of 3-5 years. If you are beyond that – good for you!

We frequently get asked about older equipment so I’ll give you a breakout of how we look at that.

If the equipment is older than 7 years – there isn’t much that can be done to speed it up or make it work better. Most equipment of that age will not support new software (operating systems) so no amount of hardware assistance will change that. Upgrading the hardware is equal to the price of buying new equipment, so we just don’t upgrade it forever.

However if your device is on the line between not too old yet but still a bit slow, here are some things you can try to speed it up a bit.

. Remove any apps you are not using.

. Remove any apps you don’t have to use on that device. Do you need Facebook, Pinterst & email on the tablet. Consider they are all resource hogs so if you have another device you normally use for those apps, remove them.

. some devices can be upgraded with a SIMM card. This allows for more programs, but won’t speed things up unless your device is already crammed full.

. Reset it. Take it back to factory reset to remove everything and start over.

. Hardware reset it. Unplug it and leave it until the battery completely drains from the device and will not turn on at all. Then plug it in and charge it to 100% before using it. This empties caches you may not be aware of or able to get to.

. Upgrade the RAM – this upgrade is rather common for older machines. If you have 4GB of RAM on any (older) computer, (newer RAM is more efficient) it’s not enough. Upgrade to 8GB. Your operating system uses over 3GB of RAM to run. That doesn’t leave much for what you want to do. (streaming, internet, music, cat videos, Facebook and your anti-virus solution). All business computers should be running at minimum 6GB RAM now; we recommend 8GB.

When sharing old Apple products with family members, be aware the device is registered to YOU with Apple. That means if not done correctly your niece or nephew could be reading your text messages and email. Be sure to re register hand me down machines to the new owner to avoid embarrassing events!