The majority of notebook owners recoil in horror at the idea of opening their obsolete laptop to make it fit for more demanding applications by upgrading the components.

Even if the system starts up extremely slowly, performance with more than a couple of applications open is dreadful and the hard disk is overflowing, most owners aren’t brave enough to arm themselves with a screwdriver and some patience and go down the route of rejuvenating their notebook PC.

Obviously, for mobile computers the rules are different to those for desktop PCs. Whilst there is plenty of free space in a desktop PC casing and all the components are easily accessible, notebooks are highly integrated items. Without a toolkit and a little ingenuity it’s not really possible to get at a notebook’s innards.

Don’t be scared off
You shouldn’t let these limitations scare you off however, as at least some individual parts can be swapped and brought up to date. Even for businesses the expense of upgrading could be worth it as it increases the machine’s useful life. You could, for example, upgrade an older notebook so that it can run Windows Vista.

To ensure that upgrading a notebook goes successfully, it’s very important – more so than with a desktop computer –

to check which components are accessible and what the compatible replacement parts are. There is limited room for manoeuvre: for example, as a notebook motherboard is

built-in to the chassis and can’t be swapped as on a desktop PC, and things like the interfaces for drives and expansion cards or bus clock speeds and power supply voltages for the processor and Ram are all fixed. The type of case will also determine the form factor for the replacement components.

Plan ahead
Before changing any hardware it’s vital to make a precise inventory of what hardware’s already fitted and the technical specifications of the components. Start your research with the manufacturer’s data sheet from the handbook or downloaded from the internet. Before you unscrew the notebook to actually look directly at the components inside, you can also make use of software tools to carry out a detailed analysis of the hardware. As examples, the freeware programs SIW (www.gtopala.com) and PC Wizard 2007 (www.cpuid.com) can provide extensive information about the motherboard, processor, Ram, hard disk and graphics chip.

Important: update the Bios
Before you change any of the hardware, you ought to update the notebook’s Bios to the latest version. This is often the only way in which faster processors, larger amounts of Ram and new hard disks can be correctly recognised. The latest Bios versions and tools for Bios flashing are available for download from most notebook manufacturers’ websites.

Where to buy components
Finding suitable notebook components for upgrading is not a problem. The large PC component retailers generally carry a wide range of them. At many online retailers such as Scan or Ebuyer you’ll find not only 2.5in notebook hard disks and SO-Dimm memory modules but also notebook processors. Other useful sites are those of memory manufac- turers such as Crucial and Kingston Technology, who offer tools to help you to find the exact type of memory needed for your particular notebook.