Old laptop, new machine feeling.
Swapping a worn out hard drive for an SSD is the single biggest speed change you can buy, and it is $89 plus the drive. Everything moves across, so it boots up looking exactly like it did before, just fast. It is the closest thing to a new computer you can buy for the money.
This is the honest upsell. If you book a $79 tune-up and the real problem is the drive, I will say so, because the SSD is more money and it is the one that actually works.
Is this what yours is doing?
If one of these matches, you are in the right place. If none of them do, tell me anyway, because the list is not exhaustive.
Minutes to boot on a machine that used to be quick
The classic worn out mechanical drive. An SSD removes the bottleneck entirely.
The drive light is solid, everything waits
The machine is fine, it is just stuck waiting on a slow drive to answer.
Runs out of memory with a few tabs open
That is a memory upgrade at $49 plus the sticks, a different and cheaper fix.
You are shopping for a new computer already
Worth one conversation first. Often a $89 upgrade buys years and costs a tenth of a replacement.
The work, step by step.
Not a black box. This is the actual order of operations on the bench.
Confirm what your machine actually takes
2.5 inch SATA and M.2 are not interchangeable, and memory has to match type, speed, and form factor. I verify against your exact model rather than assuming, because guessing here is the classic mistake.
Health-check the old drive first
If the old drive is already dying, cloning it may fail. Then the right path is a fresh install plus a data copy, and I tell you which one you are getting before I start.
Clone everything over
Your files, programs, and desktop move across. It should turn on looking exactly like it did before.
Boot from the new drive and verify
I confirm it boots from the SSD, everything is present, and the speed jump is real. On memory jobs I run Memtest to prove the new sticks are actually good.
The part most shops do not mention.
Some laptops have the memory soldered directly to the board. There are no slots, nothing to remove, and no upgrade is possible at any price. If yours is one of those I will tell you before you spend anything, rather than taking the job and reporting bad news afterward.
Same with storage. If your machine uses eMMC rather than a real drive, it is soldered too, and it cannot be upgraded. Those are usually budget models from around 2013 to 2017, and on those the honest answer is that no repair helps and your money is better spent elsewhere.
Flat, and posted up front.
Parts are billed at what I actually paid plus 20 percent and I will show you the price before ordering. If cloning is not viable because the old drive is failing, I tell you before starting, not after.
One person, start to finish.
I am Dominic. The person who answers your text is the person who opens your machine and the person who hands it back. There is no counter, no ticket number, and nobody to get passed along to.
That is also why the prices are flat and posted. One person with a bench does not need to build an hourly meter into the quote to cover a storefront.
Del City and the east metro.
The bench is in Del City. I answer texts 9am to 9pm any day, and evenings and weekends is best for the actual hand-off. The price is the same whichever town you are coming from.
Tell me what is going on.
The more you tell me, the better I can help. I usually respond within one business day. Prefer to just call or text? (405) 458-0864.
Questions worth asking.
How much is an SSD upgrade?
$89 for the work, which includes moving all your files and programs across, plus the drive itself at my cost plus 20 percent. You approve the total before anything is ordered.
Will I lose my files or have to reinstall everything?
No. The point of the job is that your files, programs, and desktop move across, so it turns on looking exactly like before. If the old drive is too damaged to clone, I will tell you before starting and we do a fresh install plus a data copy instead.
How much faster will it actually be?
On a machine with a worn out mechanical drive, dramatically. Boot times commonly drop from minutes to well under a minute. It is the single most noticeable upgrade there is, which is why it is worth doing before buying a replacement.
Can every laptop be upgraded?
No, and this matters. Some have memory soldered to the board and some use eMMC storage instead of a real drive, and neither can be upgraded by anyone. I check your specific model and tell you for free before you spend anything.
Should I upgrade or just buy a new computer?
Often the upgrade, and I will give you the straight answer for your specific machine. An $89 upgrade that buys three more years beats a $600 replacement. But if yours is below the floor, I will say that too.
Something else going wrong?
Every job below is a flat posted price, same as this one. If what you have is not on the list, tell me anyway and I will point you the right way.