If that doesn't work you can roll the dice with something used and probably be OK... can usually get a decent machine for a couple hundred. I don't see a graphics card helping at all and by the time you change out a CPU...

If it doesn't help, I guess I'll look for something economical.

That SSD is the only thing that will be usable in newer computers.

You do need a newer computer (more cores) to run modern software effectively.

I was kind of afraid of that. Guess I'll have to start saving my pesos for something else if a clean install doesn't help much.

You're trying to run a sports-car app (Lightroom) with a 2/4 cylinder engine (Intel Core 2 Quad).

I don't think you should take the well-meaning advice offered in post #5. Do not upgrade to Win 10, but do ensure that your Win 7 is 64 bit.

Start > Control panel > system

One thing I used to do to speed up my system was create a RAMdisk
with the upper memory and pipe my temporary files there. This helps a lot with old-style HDDs, and less so with SSDs. It does speed up certain operations, but you pay the price in free memory.

I think you need total replacement. Try Craig's List for used computers locally in your area. If you can do the clean install, you can probably deal with a used CL computer and do your install on that one.

Money's tight. I hear that. But, don't skimp. Get a good processor, like an i5, and 16Gb on the RAM.

I do have 64 bit but it has really been sluggish lately.

Although I've put this off for too long, I'll probably have to put if off for a little longer. Hope to have a little time and money in a couple months to make some changes.

Thanks!

Clean install. Format HDDs. Reload all programs. If you can be bothered, remove CPU heatsink, clean up and replace thermal paste. Dust & polish and you'll be good to go.

Thanks to YouTube!

Especially for grafics editing.

That said a board that old is going to throttle a new card.

Bang for buck in light room is going to be a graphics card imho since you already have an SSD.

That said a clean OS is always a good thing.

But the recent upgrades to Lightroom have really taxed they system. Since $ is tight, I'll try the clean install and see how that goes first.

IIRC 7 home premium is a 32-bit version but it looks like your system can probably handle a 64-bit OS in which case you can download the 10 pro installer to a USB drive and simply add it to your existing boot store. In other words if you create a partition for it and install it now, before you even wipe your old drive, it will create a boot menu automatically, giving you a choice to boot into 7 or 10 at start-up. You won't be able to activate it without a new license but in most cases you won't need to:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10

p.s. if it gives you grief about the COA at any point either click "skip" or if that doesn't work try your 7 COA.

This user probably has 64-bit since the system has 8Gb.

I forgot that part

and you can't beat the price of free!

p.s. the only time I didn't wind up adopting it full time was a Win10 home version which was annoying. But Win10 pro beats every earlier flavor by miles.

The general rule of thumb is: If upgrading components is going to cost more than 40% of replacement, go for the replacement.