Is it worth to upgrade memory and HDD to a 2012 pavillion dv7?

[SullyPanda76cl]

Hi people!

I have a 17" pavillion dv7 (64bit os, 6GB ram)

It runs awfully slow, mainly because of constant R/W operation to the HDD 

Is it worth upgrading ram to 2 chanel and an SDD drive?

I use it just for office work, no gaming. (Many web browser tabs open, spreadsheets, etc)

I love this notebook and wouldn't want to buy a new one... especially 17" will be difficult / expensive to find.

I have already read this article:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/How-do-I-upgrade-my-notebook-t...

Also, all basic stuff have been done: No virus, latest updates, removed norton 

If the answer is "yes", then the second question is:

Notebook didn't come with recovery DVD, just a recovery partition on hard drive. So, how can I reinstall my legit windows?

Thanks!

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

8 gigs of RAM and a new SSD would give it a new lease on life. A 500 gig SSD maybe $135 if you are lucky and a 4 gig DDR3 module maybe $35-40 so just under $200 and if it gives you 18-24 months of happy use it is worth it. 

If you have never made an HP restore disk you have an app called HP Backup and Recovery Manager that will let you burn a DVD or make a thumb drive to restore to factory condition. Might be better to do a disk clone or a system image backup from Windows and restore that to the new SSD. Saves lots and lots of updates from factory condition.Not to mention saves reinstalling your apps. 

Post back with any more questions and please accept as solution if it is the information you needed. 

[SullyPanda76cl]

Thanks Provost for the quick answer.

Two questions:

a) My actual HDD have partitions (for recovery, etc), do you recomend cloning them to the new SDD?

b) this model (XZ029UAR#ABA 17" Pavillion) has a free secondary bay....  

the idea is add SDD for OS, and leave actual HDD for data

but there's nowhere to buy the necessary cable (from SDD to motherboard)

do you know anywhere to buy it?

PD: There's no HP support in my country (Chile), don't waste your time giving me the fictitious partners names

Thanks! 

[Huffer]

A clone would mean copying all partitions. I believe newmodeus.com sells your second hard drive caddy and cable and ships internationally. Post back if you find that is not true.