Help!!! Computer problems!

[Seconds Out]

Hey All,

I'm hoping someone might be able to give me a bit of advice. I have an older HP Laptop that is running at a crawl from years of accumulated junk. Does anyone know of a good program to clean up my comp? I'd like to figure out a way to clean things up without losing my music and pictures if possible.

Thank You all in advance for your help and Happy Holidays!

[Vigil80]

Unfortunately, there's no substitute for a hard drive wipe and an OS reinstall if that old laptop is really junked up. You can easily back up your music, pictures, and other keeper files to another computer, or to an external hard drive. If you have any spare internal hard drives around, you can do it on the cheap by simply buying an enclosure to make your own external hard drive.

Otherwise, here are my favorite, often-recommended, free programs you can try for a start.

CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/)
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php)
Spybot Search & Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html)

[violent]

What's your confidence level with a PC? My suggestion would be to back up your music and pics to an external location and do a fresh install. If it's been running for years without regular maintenance, there is likely no single tool to help you out. You would be better off becoming comfortable with installing an OS than to research all the different softwares out there that will allow you to sift through your system and weed out any issue or inconsistencies.

With a fresh install, it's like it just came out the box. Remember, the reason establishments like Geek Squad survive is because while they may fix the problem, they don't train the user in organization and protocol. 2 things you may take serious after dedicating yourself to doing something new like installing Windows for the first time.

If that's just too much, start with Spybot and a decent antivirus and scan the hell out of that thing.

[Kelegacy]

I did a fresh install a couple months ago and I can't believe how fast this thing boots up now. It's almost instantaneous.

[PathMaster]

If you decide not to do a backup and reformat, then I also suggest Ccleaner. Use the Cleaner part as well as the Registry cleaner. I registry cleaner has worked wonders when I have done cleanups before. Of course it always does a good job, just may not be noticeable.

[Wally]

Another vote for Ccleaner, Malwarebytes, and spybot.

[carnage11]

Depending on how old the HDD is, it might not ever be as fast as it was. Sometimes you just gotta replace the HDD. You can always buy a cheap-o HDD and only install the OS to it. Have the other HDD for storage. It will run programs and stuff fast, but the old HDD will still bog down when you're reading from it.

[johnperkins21]

Do a fresh install. I just did this with my PC a few months back. Of course, I took the opportunity to add a bit of RAM as well. It's worth the effort.

Just backup all of your files. Take note of the applications and stuff you use often, and make sure you have license numbers and/or install discs for them. Also, I'd recommend getting your network and video drivers off the web before doing the install. You will want those before anything else after an install, so just get them now.

[Seika]

TobTlBp3yuk

[evilgoodwin]

I kept watching the fuse and for some reason, wished it was one of those old-school completely round bombs.

Cue the Batman movie bomb scene.

[Seconds Out]

Thanks for all of your help guys. I would like to do a fresh install, unfortunately my comp did not come with any Windows disks. I have a separate "Restore" partition of the hard drive, might I be able to install the Windows files from there?

[DoctorFinger]

Most laptops come with a restore function which will return the OS to the state you bought it in. Just make sure to back up files and such before you run it.

[fitbabits]

HP Recovery Process (http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00608578&product=18703#N1005)

[Seconds Out]

Thanks Guys. I did a full restore the other day and everything seems to be running great so far. I really appreciate all of your help.

Thanks again.

Best,

Lee