Can I add extra memory/storage to my laptop

[clbclb7474]

I bought my HP 15.6" Laptop, Intel Pentium Silver N5000, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, Windows 10 Home, Scarlet Red, 15-dw0081wm online from Walmart on June 19, 2021 and I have used it maybe (6) times in (3) years b/c it takes a minimum of (45) minutes to turn on, upload etc. Then I ended up getting so frustrated b/c it is so slow & freezes just from one website to another that I give up. My last laptop was HP so I assumed buying another HP from a well known store like Walmart would be ok. A co-worker told me that it look like 94% of my memory/storage to download WINDOWS & that’s why it goes so slow b/c it thinks it is Full. It’s brand new so can I just add more memory/storage to it?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

There are two things you can do to improve performance:

1. Replace the 2.5" 500 GB mechanical hard drive with a 2.5" SATA solid state drive (SSD).

If you want a larger capacity hard drive, then I recommend this one:

Amazon.com: Western Digital 1TB WD Blue SA510 SATA Internal Solid State Drive SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s,...

2. Your notebook only has one memory slot that supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory.

You can remove the 4 GB memory chip and replace it with an 8 GB memory chip.

Crucial 8GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM | CT8G4SFS824A | Crucial.com

Below is the link to the service manual:

Maintenance and Service Guide HP 15 Laptop PC

These upgrades will help somewhat but they will not turn your PC into a speed demon.

Not with a Pentium processor and 8 GB of memory.

The next time you are in the market for a notebook, no matter who makes it, don't settle for less than an Intel core i5 or better processor, a M.2 NVMe SSD, and 16 GB of memory is recommended.

Otherwise, you will probably be disappointed again.

[tcsenter]

No guarantees with your particular model, but the Intel Pentium Silver N5000 in fact can functionally support 16GB RAM via a single SO-DIMM. Myself and another user have confirmed it on two separate Dell models (though they are very much shared designs), which you can read about in this link (and see screenshots of the system memory reporting). It would need the enabling BIOS meminit code (and processor microcode), which some PC makers may not provide.

Of course none of the PC companies are going to admit it is possible since even Intel's official datasheets specify 8GB MAX system memory (DRAM). But unfortunately, companies have a naughty history of sometimes imposing a "marketing limit", not a functional limit, because they want to position a product in a particular segment, not have it competing with another of their products. But instead of confessing it to be a 'marketing' limit, they will straight up LIE to the public assering it is a real technical or functional limit (until someone makes them confess, by exposing it, at which point they will just say there was a 'mistaken understanding'). Not the first time we've all seen it.