What to do with a 2011-2012 laptop?

Question

linux

There is a laptop, like and not weak. TOSHIBA Tecra r940.
Core i5 3320m
intel hd 4000
4 Gb RAM
Regular HDD 7200 rpm
Whistled it on the resale at a delicious price last year for ~$230
It looks like a good machine. But there are specific questions for Toshiba with their proprietary drivers. Specifically. On Windows 10 Anniv.UPD, after the official release of the Creators Update, the driver for the touchpad was no longer installed (for some mystical reasons). The driver was downloaded from the off-site of the "tech support" section. There is only one driver version. However, the Creators Update for some reason noticeably slows down on a laptop. Also on the latest update there is no problem with installing drivers, as they are installed automatically. Anniversary Update immediately updated to the latest build of the OS.
Windows 8 also suffers from crooked touchpad drivers. The difference is that they are installed normally, but somehow the "duct tape" with a sad smiley often flies out after almost every use of the scroll gesture or "pinch to zoom".
Windows 7 - Works fast, has no problems as such, but it's painfully tired, and it takes about 40 seconds from hibernation. It's ancient in one word. And the laptop often lies in hibernation.
Windows Vista - there are no drivers, and if there were, then the system is purely nostalgic, it would be difficult to use it today.
Linux is a dense forest. I did not master it on a laptop. Everything was easier on PC. And here the battery lives less than 2 times (on Windows 4-5 hours, on Ubuntu, Fedora - 2-3 hours with an interference fit), and TLP used to be a chore to set up, and the hard often parked the head, and the heating is noticeable.
Mac OS X - bios problems. More precisely, with the fact that it does not digest other people's WiFi modules, and the built-in one is not compatible in any way.
So that's the question. I use a laptop (more precisely, I already used it) purely for home purposes. These are the expanses of the Internet to surf, listen to music, watch videos, typewriter.
I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. Perhaps there are some methods to speed up the latest Windows (its lags are not clear to me)?
And if you climb into GNU / Linux, how are things now with autonomy and heating? Which distro would be more rational?
It's a pity to throw it away, to sell it - I won't earn much, it certainly won't be enough for a new one.
Who deals with such problems?

Answer 1

Replacing HDD with SSD, adding DDR up to 8.

Answer 2

• Core i5 3320m is a good processor, it will work quickly if everything is fine with cooling.
  

  Who deals with such problems?

  Adding memory, and SSD, there are no other options.

Answer 3

you can put ssd instead of dvd drive

Answer 4

FCU is a really buggy update. Try Windows 10 LTSB, take a walk what it is and try it. And you definitely need an SSD.

Answer 5

Regarding poppy, if you really want it, it's easier to buy and change the waffle for a compatible one.
Regarding Linux, a similar laptop itself has only a slightly younger percentage and a screw of 5k revolutions, it costs opensuse + xfce, 4GB of RAM, everything flies and suits more than.

Answer 6

1) Replace HDD with SSD
2) Add Memory
to use in that order.
not memory and maybe ssd.

Answer 7

Send it to me, I'll give it to my wife - let him pick it.

Answer 8

Install LMDE (linux mint debian edition) on it with XFCE as graphical environment. The barrier to entry is low. Itself recently to the dude on similar iron this distro delivered on udalenka. The person was satisfied with the result. At the very laptop from lenovo, this is it, but with debian on board:
Everything flies, even in WarThunder I ride without brakes. With autonomy, everything is fine, but depending on the running tasks, as well as with heating. In the tundra, for an hour and a half, he definitely played on the battery, holding the laptop on his knees. At work, I solved the turnover on servers via ssh and rdp with music in the background on the battery for 3 hours.