help with PC...

[HTH AMPS]

Ok guys, I've got a Sony Vaio laptop thats around 6 years old and it's getting to the stage where it takes a good ten minutes before I can start using it, even then the windows take a good ten seconds to respond to mouse-pad clicks.

Essentially, I want to get it back to somewhere approaching the speed and response when it was new.

Any ideas?

[Toe-Knee]

It's quite hard to say without seeing it in person as there could potentially be  lot that could be done that's not too drastic.

Have you checked for spyware, registry errors and just had a general cleanup?

Or if you want the sure fire way back up everything that's important. Format the hard drive and reinstall.

The latter is generally a lot quicker and essentially gives you a fresh start so to speak.

[Andrew W]

IT costs money but Spinrite is worth a look. If the slowness is comeing from a slow, dodgy-sectored hard drive then a good does of Spinrite can work wonders.

[_tom_]

When computers get this bad I tend to just format them/reinstall windows and it seems to do the trick!

[gwEm]

i would agree with the reinstall option.

if you can't be arsed to back it up, then buy a new hard drive and put the old one in a £20 USB caddy so you can pull stuff off it later.

[HTH AMPS]

I don't have all of the discs for the software - it came pre-installed.  There is an option to set the laptop back to 'factory specs', but I'm not sure how much good that would do.

I've checked for spyware, defragged and generally got rid of anything in the startup that isn't required.

How do I check for registry errors?

How about a rundown on 'general cleanup' - my PC skills ain't all that great.

Cheers to all that have replied.

[Toe-Knee]

The restore to factory settings should format and reinstall.

it will be like you just got the laptop.

You've done a good portion of the cleanup yourself.

Registry errors can be a bit tricky and can do more harm than good if you don't really know what you are doing.

I'd be tempted to try the factory reset in your position

[dragonfire709]

I'm not too technical but have somehow ended up being the pc guy at work. We had a couple of PC's running slow and was pointed in the direction of this site;

http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/drammemory.aspx?gclid=CM7Qqd_nybECFSQhtAodJHsAUA&cpe=pd_google_uk&ef_id=-UxOCOWLESAAAE7E:20120802204455:s

They have a scanner that will tell you what you need and its a piece of the proverbial to fit.

Cheers

Roy

[Frank]

Here's a radical suggestion - clean the dust out of it. My PC regularly overheats then slows to a crawl because the CPU fan gets clogged with dust. Dismantle, unclip CPU cooler, remove a mat of dust thick enough to serve as William Shatner's stunt wig, reassemble, works at full speed again.

[Toe-Knee]

I really should have thought about the cleaning thing....

It just comes automatically to me but I did waste two years of my life doing ICT A levels.

[Philly Q]

I don't have all of the discs for the software - it came pre-installed.  There is an option to set the laptop back to 'factory specs', but I'm not sure how much good that would do.

I'm glad you asked that question!  :lol:

Last time I bought a PC, it came with the Windows XP disc (yes, it was that long ago), and I know they don't provide discs any more.  I've been wondering how it's possible to do a clean install.

[Toe-Knee]

I don't have all of the discs for the software - it came pre-installed.  There is an option to set the laptop back to 'factory specs', but I'm not sure how much good that would do.

I'm glad you asked that question!  :lol:

Last time I bought a PC, it came with the Windows XP disc (yes, it was that long ago), and I know they don't provide discs any more.  I've been wondering how it's possible to do a clean install.

Some have a program installed that will do it and most have a button you can press when you first power up (usually F3 or F9) and it will load the installers from a hidden partition on the hard drive.

It works surprisingly well and really does return it to exactly how it was when you first turned it on.

[HTH AMPS]

Only thing is, I also don't have the discs for putting the broadband software back on or any of that stuff.  Same with getting the laptop to recognise the wireless router - I seem to recall that was a pain in the arse job to do as well.  I should just get a longer ethernet cable and run it from the cable modem as I typically only use my laptop in bed now to watch films (and surf the BKP forum).

Think I'll go with the cleanup options and the dusting and use the factory reset as a last ditch solution.

Cheers guys  8)

[Toe-Knee]

Only thing is, I also don't have the discs for putting the broadband software back on or any of that stuff.  Same with getting the laptop to recognise the wireless router - I seem to recall that was a pain in the arse job to do as well.  I should just get a longer ethernet cable and run it from the cable modem as I typically only use my laptop in bed now to watch films (and surf the BKP forum).

Think I'll go with the cleanup options and the dusting and use the factory reset as a last ditch solution.

Cheers guys  8)

If all else fails you can contact your ISP and they should send you out a new modem/router that's plug and play or at the very least a replacement disc.

Your router you can always download drivers using Ethernet.

[Roobubba]

The single best thing you can do to any computer is change out the hard disk drive for a solid state drive (SSD). Especially now, as the prices have been steadily dropping over the last 18 months, and have stabilised recently.

I recently did this to a 6-year old Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo 1718 (a cr@p laptop when it was made!, 1GB RAM and a slow Pentium4-based processor). It had got to the point where it was barely usable, and very frustrating. Once I'd put in a £45 60GB Samsung SSD, it now flies for all the usual laptop stuff - web browsing, some office applications, streaming video either from BBC or over the network. The boot time is stupidly short, as are the sleep and wake-from-sleep times.

It can be a a pain to get your data from a large HDD to a smaller SSD, but there are places online that are very helpful, provided you can still get online (ie is it your only computer, or can you browse on another machine/phone etc).

It's worth having an external USB disk that's  large enough to write all the data you intend to copy (if it's an HDD, this won't be an issue!), and a 2GB+ USB stick to put on the bootable software to enable you to clone the drive. I can dig out the links I used if you decide to go down this route, they were very helpful!