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Advice from resident PC Geeks...



B

Baron Pepperpot

Active member
Jul 26, 2012
1,558
Brighton
I've got a Packard Bell Easy Note laptop that's two years old. It does get a lot of use and is now starting to slow down and hang a lot. I'm happy to lay it to rest and get another one if that is it, but I wonder if changing the battery first would be a good idea. After all it does seem like a rather short life span, even less than the rubbish Acer I had before.

Any advice folks.
 




StonehamPark

StonehamPark

#Brighton-Nil
Oct 30, 2010
9,775
BC, Canada
1: Copy all your important info/documents/photo's etc onto USB sticks or external hard drive.

2: Restore laptop to Factory Settings.

3: Transfer documents from usb/external drive back onto laptop.

= Laptop as good as new.

(Restoring laptop to Factory Settings WILL REMOVE EVERYTHING that you've added to the laptop over the last 2 years so it's essential you transfer anything you need to keep onto USB's or another Hard Drive.

I've had my laptop for 3 years and do the above every 6-9 months.
 


B

Baron Pepperpot

Active member
Jul 26, 2012
1,558
Brighton
StonehamPark said:
1: Copy all your important info/documents/photo's etc onto USB sticks or external hard drive.

2: Restore laptop to Factory Settings.

3: Transfer documents from usb/external drive back onto laptop.

= Laptop as good as new.

(Restoring laptop to Factory Settings WILL REMOVE EVERYTHING that you've added to the laptop over the last 2 years so it's essential you transfer anything you need to keep onto USB's or another Hard Drive.

I've had my laptop for 3 years and do the above every 6-9 months.
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking time to reply. It's interesting that I did that very thing only a few days ago after the computer froze and went a bit loopy. It was the last available option. Alas not much has improved :-(
 


StonehamPark

StonehamPark

#Brighton-Nil
Oct 30, 2010
9,775
BC, Canada
Baron Pepperpot said:
Thanks for taking time to reply. It's interesting that I did that very thing only a few days ago after the computer froze and went a bit loopy. It was the last available option. Alas not much has improved :-(
Click to expand...

Are you 100% sure it was reset/reformatted to factory/default settings? I only ask as the option; 'reformatting to an earlier time', could possibly be confused with a complete restore.

If you did a complete restore, please could you give me some details of what's starting to hang or slow down.
 


DanielT

DanielT

Well-known member
Jun 25, 2010
2,217
Brighton. On matchdays, I'm in ESU
Baron Pepperpot said:
I've got a Packard Bell Easy Note laptop that's two years old. It does get a lot of use and is now starting to slow down and hang a lot. I'm happy to lay it to rest and get another one if that is it, but I wonder if changing the battery first would be a good idea. After all it does seem like a rather short life span, even less than the rubbish Acer I had before.

Any advice folks.
Click to expand...

After 2 years reinstall is a great idea. Battery life is effected by keeping it plugged in all the time. Batteries in laptops need to be used. start running it down to 50% and then plug it in to recharge. Unplug and repeat forever
 




B

Baron Pepperpot

Active member
Jul 26, 2012
1,558
Brighton
StonehamPark said:
Are you 100% sure it was reset/reformatted to factory/default settings? I only ask as the option; 'reformatting to an earlier time', could possibly be confused with a complete restore.

If you did a complete restore, please could you give me some details of what's starting to hang or slow down.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was a complete restore. Basically what is now happening is that the PC struggles with multi-tasking, and takes a while to log on to web pages now and then. Even struggles with quick movements between Excel pages. Funny though, since I started this thread it's been behaving itself :lolol:
 


D

Deleted member 22389

Guest
Baron Pepperpot said:
Yeah, it was a complete restore. Basically what is now happening is that the PC struggles with multi-tasking, and takes a while to log on to web pages now and then. Even struggles with quick movements between Excel pages. Funny though, since I started this thread it's been behaving itself :lolol:
Click to expand...

It shouldn't do that. I have a laptop that is at least 8 years old and still run fine. The problem with these restore options is that these manufacturers like to lots of extra rubbish to the os. If you had just a plain copy of windows to install I bet the laptop would fly. Linux Ubuntu or mint is a really good option to install as well.
 


T

thony

Active member
Jul 24, 2011
576
Hollingbury
Try removing the battery and running on Mains only. If performance drastically improves, then it's worth getting a new battery.
 


StonehamPark

StonehamPark

#Brighton-Nil
Oct 30, 2010
9,775
BC, Canada
bashlsdir said:
It shouldn't do that. I have a laptop that is at least 8 years old and still run fine. The problem with these restore options is that these manufacturers like to lots of extra rubbish to the os.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. With a fresh install on my HP laptop it's fairly sluggish due to all the HP crap. At every restore I spend the first 40 minutes removing all the 'bloat-ware' which makes a huge difference.

OP: Have a go at:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disc Cleanup.
Check every box and clean. Might make a small difference.

With computer problems, it's always difficult to properly diagnose and fix without actually seeing it!
 


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