Using a SSD to improve browsing speed

I'm not really a Superuser, just a regular user, but I do have a problem to solve.

I have an old laptop (Acer 5315). Specs as follows: * HDD: 2.5" format - 250Gb * RAM: 2Gb * Processor: 560 @ 2.13 Ghz * System Type: 32 bit * USB: 2.0 * OS: Windows 10 * Browser: Firefox v50.0.2

I'm using a 1Tb HDD as a backup drive connected to a USB socket.

My problem is slow browsing, despite the fact that my internet download speed is nominally 70 Mb per sec.. Whist browsing I frequently get a message saying a script has stopped, or is busy.

I understand that if I buy a SSD, that I could use that to speed up my browsing experience. Two questions: Is it true, I can use an SSD to increase browsing experience? If it is true, how would I use a SSD for this purpose? I am assuming at the moment that slow browsing is the result of my HDD, that it's a bottleneck of sorts. Thanks. Rich

richard2998

Posted 2016-12-04T14:32:53.500

Reputation: 11

1What does the back up drive have to do with this question? No I don't think you'll see much difference in regards to browsing. Think that it is a hard drive so it will affect things on disc. It may mean the browser opens quicker but after that... No. – Dave – 2016-12-04T14:35:29.567

Have you tried using a script blocker, or just disabling Javascript? That sounds like it would fix most of your problems. – Herb Wolfe – 2016-12-04T14:39:47.117

8.75 MB/s is slow for you? Try using another browser. Clean your system using CCleaner.

– Michael S. – 2016-12-04T14:48:47.970

This PC was designed for Windows XP/Vista, to be honest, your laptop is underpowered for Windows 10 and Firefox... Unless you need Windows for a specific task, I would consider installing Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon (or other lighter DE distro) on a new SSD, you will see significant increases in performance in all areas, including browsing. – acejavelin – 2016-12-04T15:13:52.660

Answers

It is possible that an SSD will cause some improvement (e.g. loading cached resources will be faster, swapping will be faster), it certainly will improve other things (start up, etc.) but it is likely that other issues are the limiting factor in this scenario, probably RAM/CPU, the easiest improvement in such cases usually is adding more RAM.

The script is busy messages simply indicate that a script is running for too long, this could indicate one of a few things: the script could be too CPU intensive (either because of the script or because something in the way adds such scripts to the pages you load, which could be a proxy or a malware), the CPU could be too weak for the scripts or most likely - you are using more RAM than the machine have (could be caused too many open tabs/application, malware, RAM heavy pages or most likely too little RAM on your machine), this causes the OS to swap memory to disk which causes a significant slowdown (this case would be improved by using SSD because the swapping will be faster, but adding RAM would probably generate more improvement by rendering the swapping unnecessary).

I would start by diagnosing the limiting factor, open the performance tab in task manager and see if the CPU reaches 100% for a long type when rendering a page, or how much memory/swap is used, also try to check if you have add-ons/malware/etc. installed and if less script intensive pages (usually those without ads, such as http://google.com) are affected, possibly installing an ad/script blocker.

Ofir

Posted 2016-12-04T14:32:53.500

Reputation: 1 434

1I would bet though, when your system is starting to run slow, you are using over 2 GB of RAM in total. When that happens, it must continually swap out RAM to disk, when switching programs, tabs, etc. These days, I'm suggesting that at least 8 GB is about the right amount with a lot of tabs and apps open. -- Firefox plugins can also consume a lot of resources, depending on what they do. – DaaBoss – 2016-12-04T15:25:31.350