Options
My laptop is going slow
robbra
Posts: 524 Forum Member
✭✭
Hi,
Over the last month or so my laptop has slowed a considerably.
It hangs when loading sites and the green circle freezes for up to 30 seconds. I have done Malwarebites and other scans but nothing comes up.
I have been with Plusnet for around eight years and never had this before.
I did a speed test which shows download is 5285 kbps and upload is 361 kbps. I don't know if this is good or not.
My laptop is a HP pavilion g 750gb hard drive with 630gb free and 4gb ram. Around 4 years old.
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
Over the last month or so my laptop has slowed a considerably.
It hangs when loading sites and the green circle freezes for up to 30 seconds. I have done Malwarebites and other scans but nothing comes up.
I have been with Plusnet for around eight years and never had this before.
I did a speed test which shows download is 5285 kbps and upload is 361 kbps. I don't know if this is good or not.
My laptop is a HP pavilion g 750gb hard drive with 630gb free and 4gb ram. Around 4 years old.
Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks
0
Comments
Might seem a bit extreme but, IMO, no amount of faffing around ever completely eradicates the issues caused by fragmented HDDs, cluttered registries and the remnants of obsolete software and browser add-ons.
Course, it might be that your laptop is simply not quite cutting-it any more but there's no way to know, for sure, until you give it the best possible chance of running optimally - by doing a factory-reset.
If it's faster, it may be a Windows issue.
I'd try Your Uninstaller! For that! It wipes clean every trace including registries of an uninstalled program!
Do Not Download This!
It contains all manner of malware, PUP's etc.
Too late! I've already downloaded and paid for it! It's served me well and I have malwarebytes for any malware attached!
I have done a defrag and check hard drive which took 4 hours but it is still slowing so I think a factory reset is in order.
Three questions.
When I back-up how do I ensure I don't get all the rubbish that may be lurking on my hard drive etc?
Is it best to back up to disc or usb flash drive?
Do uninstallers work and if so presumably I do it after a backup?
Thanks again, not too up on the tech side.
Backup just your data files, rather than the whole disk.
You won't need uninstallers. Just use control panel to remove unwanted programs after you have done the factory restore.
In common with a growing number of programs it will try to install stuff you don't want.
Just use common sense, choose 'custom installation', read the installation screens.
As an added precaution this works on a lot of programs http://www.howtogeek.com/179758/how-to-avoid-junkware-offers-with-unchecky/
It's a paid application! It has no need to flog other sites or programs to fund it! It's genuine software and as I say it's served me well!
The FREE version of Revo Uninstaller will remove everything from any programme.
I also include safe-links to any software to save inexperienced users Googling and getting a dodgy download.
If I know that even a reputable download has Junkware included, I will say so.
Generally free software is recommended unless there is a good reason why Paid-For is more appropriate for a particular situation..
When backing up your stuff, prior to doing a factory-reset, always remember to write down stuff like forum user-names and passwords and make a note of internet bookmarks as well.
I should repeat that doing a factory-reset is a bit like using a hammer to crack a walnut but, personally, I find that if you can get into the habit of doing it without it being a drama it's actually quite liberating cos' it means if you ever screw up your PC or get a virus or whatever you can just do a factory reset without having to fuss over sorting the problem out.
It's really just a case of being a bit organised.
Personally, I've got a 1tb external HDD and I just copy and paste the entire C:\users directory onto it every week.
I then just have a text file with all my passwords and user-names stored on it and that's on the external HDD too.
I use webmail rather than an email client so I don't have any emails stored on my PC.
I think the problem is overstated. You can always use Explorer to delete any left over files and folders.
The crucial question - slow all the time or only when browsing websites?
Well excuse me for trying to help! Good grief!
And do you think I'd have recommended my product if I didn't think it would help or had the slightest doubt it was dodgy?
I maintain its a good option if the OP decides to go for it but if others work, that's cool too
Yes, as that's what I mainly use it for, very rarely anything else except writing letters or emails.
I've tried most recommendations and decided to go for the factory reset so will back up, do it over the weekend and post the result.
Thanks for all the input.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
(Ignore the adverts and misleading 'download' buttons)
The whole process will take around 10 - 15 mins, so it's worth doing if you haven't done so already.
It won't run iplayer or youtube video's in full-screen but, other than that, it's still fine.
I usually use Chrome as a browser but I did notice that all the add-ons which my Google+ account insists on installing seemed to slow it down noticeably so I just use Safari on the sub-notebook instead.
A 4 year old laptop shouldn't really have any problems with internet browsing, I wouldn't have thought.
The laptop ground to a halt yesterday, not loading any websites, after doing most things advised above I did the full factory reset and, hey presto, running well again.
My only gripe is that after backing up to a memory stick I didn't install my favourites and I had to do this all over again. Perhaps it was something I didn't do so no problem but passwords(forgot some).....I'll write them down now>:(
Thank you to all who contributed, I'm happier now.
How big is your harddrive? I'm considering getting an external harddrive to back up all my stuff to as its getting too big for my cloud storage and im getting to a point where my computer might do with a factory reset!