SSD installs were, for the longest time, the single best ROI on upgrading a laptop. I think a SATA SSD in that 2012 bad boy could considerably boost its performance.
I still do this for friends and family: put in an SSD and maybe add a bit of RAM.
Either, clone the OS or else do a fresh install. The old drive goes into a USB enclosure if it's a laptop.
It feels like a brand new computer, going from minutes to seconds to do anything.
(Going from a Raspberry Pi 4 on a MicroSD to a pi5 with an nvme drive is a similar night and day difference. The pi5 feels like a snappy modern computer. Previous pis always felt slow.)
