Most experts estimate that three to five years is the average lifespan of a laptop. Though it can survive longer than that, provided you maintain it well, and have done the required RAM and HDD upgrades. Beyond a certain point, even such component upgrades won’t help in any way.

That’s when it’s best to upgrade to a new system altogether. Otherwise, it will take a heavy toll on your productivity and actually slow you down instead of speeding up your work.

1. Your PC has been freezing ever since you upgraded to the latest Windows OS

You managed to get your hands on the latest version of Windows and can’t wait to try out some of its new features. However, the moment you load it, the laptop comes down to a crawl. It takes ages to do even the simplest of tasks. This is a sure shot sign that you need to replace it.

2. Your PC takes ages to boot

A good machine takes 5 to 10 seconds to boot up while a little slower machine can take up to 20 seconds. However, if your laptop takes more than 20 seconds, then it’s giving signs of being on its last legs! You may of course like to try out some free PC optimization tools like C Cleaner and see if it helps.

3. Your PC can’t handle new applications

You want to run some of the latest applications, but your laptop either doesn’t support them, or they take ages to load on your system. That’s a sign to wind up the old machine and unwind a new one!

4. The PC crashes/reboots without any warning

Would you like to work on a PC that keeps crashing randomly? That can be really frustrating especially when you have unsaved work or are in the middle of making an important presentation to your management. A laptop can crash when it’s unable to support the application or handle the workload anymore.

5. Taking longer to start or run a program

It takes longer than usual to start a program, and runs much slower than earlier. You will experience slower response from your day-to-day applications. It will take a long time to do simple toggling between apps.

These are indicators that laptop is no longer capable of handling the current load. However, do clean up your system and remove unwanted apps to see if it helps.

There are apps that load at startup and unnecessarily hog the memory, thereby slowing down your system. If the speed remains slow even after removing applications, then well…..

6. You Keep Getting the Blue Screen

We’ve all heard of the infamous Windows Blue Screen. As frustrating as it may be, but the blue screen is actually a mechanism that windows follows to protect your PC or laptop from major issues.

Usually, it happens because of hardware failure, and Windows will indicate whether it’s due to hardware failure. If it’s happening too frequently, then it might be more cost-effective to replace the entire laptop instead of changing internal components. Unless of course, your PC is in warranty. HP Business laptops for instance come with 3 years warranty.

7. Memory upgrades don’t work anymore

In the initial few years of a laptop’s life, upgrading a laptop’s RAM can really help boost its performance. However, beyond a point, RAM upgrades simply won’t cut it, because the remaining components are applications are just not able to utilize the additional memory.

8. Your laptop is overheating and becoming very noisy

A laptop can start making noises primarily due to two reasons. One, there’s a hardware fault, like the fan, which you can get rectified by getting it replaced. The other happens when the PC is struggling to run an application. When that happens, it will overheat and eventually reboot.

9. Frequent Internet Drops and Slow WiFi

You tried to connect wireless devices to your laptop but it’s not working. Similarly, your pc keeps dropping Internet intermittently. These issues can occur when either other devices are not working properly or your PC has some issues in connecting.

Also, if the WiFi connection seems slow, then maybe it’s running on an older version, which has inherent speed limitations. The latest WiFi 6 standard for instance, can connect at speeds of up to 10 Gbps. HP’s Elitebook range of laptops for instance, support this standard.

10. Hardware repairs are becoming expensive

If your vendor is charging you a bomb to replace a failed piece of hardware on your machine, then one of the indications is that it has become grossly outdated. It’s expensive for vendors to maintain an inventory of old parts, so the older the part, the more expensive it would get.

Moreover, if your machine is spending more time at the service center than with you, then it’s time to bid it farewell and bring in a new replacement.