Buy a new laptop - or format the laptop? | Warrior Forum - The #1 Digital Marketing Forum & Marketplace

Patrick

13 years ago

Getting slow...then upgrade your RAM.......

Use CCleaner to delete unnecessary files taking up hard disk space..

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madmmd

13 years ago

Your computer speed depends on a lot of factors.. check your system specifications and think yourself.. if your computer is infected then only formatting it would make it faster.. if your laptop has pentium iv processor with speed around 2 ghz, i dont think you need to buy a new one..

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Alan Cheng

13 years ago

A 3 year old laptop is not that old. Unless you're doing heavy stuff like 3d graphic design and HD movie editing, formatting the laptop should do the trick.

Just like internet marketing, you won't know for sure until you test. So format your laptop and see. Best of luck.

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Daniel44

13 years ago

Formatting will essentially wipe your hard drive to clean, so make sure you have a recovery disk and/or a regular Windows disk and drivers for your laptop if your going to go ahead.

Formatting should actually make it work better than new, as it won't come with all the crap the vendors put on it. Most people do not know how and just go ahead and buy a new computer, but a laptop can easily last 10 years.

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secrets2010

13 years ago

thanks for your answers...ok then I guess I should format the laptop and use it a few years more...so I save some money that I can invest on my online business...

Originally Posted by Daniel44

Formatting will essentially wipe your hard drive to clean, so make sure you have a recovery disk and/or a regular Windows disk and drivers for your laptop if your going to go ahead.

Formatting should actually make it work better than new, as it won't come with all the crap the vendors put on it. Most people do not know how and just go ahead and buy a new computer, but a laptop can easily last 10 years.

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christopher jon

13 years ago

I reformat my laptop at least 2 times a year. It's an HP so it has an easy button for factory reset reformatting. Yours should have something similar considering it's only 3 years old. Most manufacturers have something like that or a recovery disk.

Backup your stuff and do it! Then kick yourself when you remember what you forgot to backup. Then sit around for half a day while you download years and years worth of updates. Spend the rest of the day reinstalling software.

I'm sure your computer is fine, reformatting it should have it humming along like the first day you bought it.

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markv 13 years ago

Why not run disk defragmenter first after emptying your recycle bin and temp files and internet temporary files.
It might make a big improvement and save you having to do a rebuild which you might find difficult.
Dont format anything until you have backed up your files and checked you have the rebuild disks for all your software :-)
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aussieroo1

13 years ago

It is better if you format your laptop first before buying a new one and test its performance if it is still working fine.

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hireava

13 years ago

Format your laptop . .it will be much cheaper than buying a new one.

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Tashi Mortier 13 years ago

I'd also suggest that you format your laptop. Most applications run just as fine on a 3 year old model as on a brand new one.

As the others suggested, make sure you have backups, all the drivers you need and copies of the software that you can't just download from the Internet again. Especially the drivers are crucial, you can be trapped in a bad situation, if you need to download the drivers for your networking cards but don't have an Internet connection yet.

The only thing that you may need to replace is the battery, if you want to work without having it plugged into a wall socket.

However, if your laptop only has a single-core processor, I would recommend that you buy a new one. Really, you will feel the difference dramatically. Don't overcharge your credit card for this, though! But maybe you want to save up some money for an upgrade in the near future.
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stefalex

13 years ago

Format your laptop. Even if you take it to a profesional to do it for you, it is cheaper then to buy new one.

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seasoned

13 years ago

Originally Posted by secrets2010

I have a laptop (is 3 years old) and is getting slow for my im activities....

I've heard that if I format the laptop...the laptop would work as if it is new...if that's true nobody would need to buy a laptop again....would maybe every 10 years...

Should I buy a new one or better I try to format it?

p.s I have never formated a laptop...so I guess it would take me some work...

Well, even if a laptop ran TWICE the speed it did when it was new, that wouldn't cut it in 5 years, let alone 10. NOTEBOOKS can be simply reformatted, and reloaded with the software. NETBOOKS have to be reloaded through the BIOS.

Steve

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rickfrazier1

13 years ago

Originally Posted by seasoned

Well, even if a laptop ran TWICE the speed it did when it was new, that wouldn't cut it in 5 years, let alone 10. NOTEBOOKS can be simply reformatted, and reloaded with the software. NETBOOKS have to be reloaded through the BIOS.

Steve

As long as you are running the same applications, a notebook is useful as long as you want to keep it, so long as it doesn't die on you for one reason of another. My last laptop lasted over 10 years and was just as serviceable the day it died as it was when I got it. I typically ran Xp, Office and Photoshop on it, especially while traveling, and though it wasn't nearly as fast as my current notebook, it was certainly quite serviceable and useful. I wouldn't dream of trying to load Vista or Win7 on it, but given the OS and applications loaded on it, there wasn't any reason to replace it until it finally did quit working.

Relating netbooks and reloading... Not necessarily... I know of a number of folks running netbooks that have been reformatted and reloaded with the same or alternate operatiing systems. Most netbooks are really not that different from regular notebooks. They do have a bios, just as a notebook, and a hard drive (whether regular or solid state) that contains the operating system and applications, also just like a notebook. However, because they are intended to be net connecdted, they are typically a bit more limited than a general purpose notebook, and therefore have much smaller hard drives.

Now, a tablet is often a different animal, or an ipad or smart phone. Very limited purpose and scope, with a non-violatile stored operating system (that would load in a similar manner to what you were describing).

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corsleymaxwell

13 years ago

Well, your budget can decide that concerned. If you have money then it is time to buy a new one. If you don't have then we can do nothing about it.

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22SunnySideUp

13 years ago

Originally Posted by secrets2010

p.s I have never formated a laptop...so I guess it would take me some work...

Formatting windows is easy and it is the most viable solution in your case.

Originally Posted by secrets2010

I've heard that if I format the laptop...the laptop would work as if it is new...if that's true nobody would need to buy a laptop again....would maybe every 10 years...

Formatting a HD too often (more than once a year) reduces its life significantly. The formatting works best the first few times and after that you are better off buying a new system.

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iamsuccor

13 years ago

There are several things you can do to speed up you computer without having to format it.

add additional ram (At some point even this becomes overkill.)
clean your registry (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
get rid of unwanted programs and files (You probably won't be able to tell the difference, but it is still a good practice.)
clean out your notification area (Look at what is there and decide what you don't need to automatically start, ie msn messenger, and then changes the program settings so it doesn't automatically launch at startup. Each thing in the notification area is using resources.)
defragment your hard drive (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
also, toolbars and the like can slow down your browser (Be choosy about what you install. If you don't use it, get rid of it.)

If you have your heart set on formatting then make sure you backup all of your files. Also make sure you have all of the install disks, or links, and keys for all of your software.

Good luck.

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seasoned

13 years ago

Originally Posted by iamsuccor

There are several things you can do to speed up you computer without having to format it.

add additional ram (At some point even this becomes overkill.)
clean your registry (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
get rid of unwanted programs and files (You probably won't be able to tell the difference, but it is still a good practice.)
clean out your notification area (Look at what is there and decide what you don't need to automatically start, ie msn messenger, and then changes the program settings so it doesn't automatically launch at startup. Each thing in the notification area is using resources.)
defragment your hard drive (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
also, toolbars and the like can slow down your browser (Be choosy about what you install. If you don't use it, get rid of it.)

If you have your heart set on formatting then make sure you backup all of your files. Also make sure you have all of the install disks, or links, and keys for all of your software.

Good luck.

With MOST older low end stuff, usable main memory stops at 2GB. Adding more than 2GB means you can only use the remainder as a solid state disk.

Cleaning your registry can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing, EVEN if you use a commercial program. You may end up having to reinstall various software.

Defragmenting can be done through windows, but since you can't actually do it on a system like windows while it is running, it will take LONGER(it restarts when it finds a change has been made). So if you do that, start it before some long trip, and check it when you get back.

Steve

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Mike Wright 13 years ago

For proper hard drive formatting and related utilities visit ....
HDDGURU: Software: HDD diagnostics and recovery

File fragmentation and inadequate Ram thrash hhds far more than formatting and
similar utilities which operate in a smooth sequential manner.

To state the obvious, hard drives are generally very cheap .... so why not
just install a brand new bigger drive and then put your old drive in an external
usb enclosure ....then you have a multitude of backup/boot and other options
available .... especially if your laptop can be set to boot from external USB drives.

If you have an old laptop with limited boot device options, then you can boot from
external USB hard and flash drives by installing the PLOP bootmanager after
installing your XP/Vista/7 or other OS.
Plop - Boot Manager - Free Boot Manager, builtin usb driver, native usb, boot different operating systems, cdrom, usb, freeware, option rom bios

I would also add that the CPU usually will start to throttle its operating speed
if getting too hot ....so maybe worth checking/cleaning the internal fan and
cooler fins as this is a major cause of laptop problems and terminal failures.
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JustinDupre

13 years ago

Time is money.. I think you should just get a new laptop.. decent one are not too expensive these days.

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seasoned 13 years ago

Originally Posted by JustinDupre

Time is money.. I think you should just get a new laptop.. decent one are not too expensive these days.

HECK, you can pay 1/3rd as much for a computer with 3 times the speed, twice the space, and 2-4 times the memory of only a few years ago. In fact, some new computers are SO cheap that you might as well SCRAP the older computers. A few years ago, with a computer as old, you might have gotten $300, but today you would be lucky to get $50!

Steve
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summerbuzz

13 years ago

format your laptop..but be sure to have your files backed up..
you don't want to lose important files do you?
all files and folders will be deleted once you formatted you laptop..
if it still didnt work, you may have to buy a new laptop..

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the11ryn

13 years ago

I am suffering from the same problem i usually used my laptop 6-7 hours a day, then suddenly it getting hanged after 15 minutes, and finally i found there is trojan in my laptop. so i format my laptop and all the issues are solved. so scan your laptop with any antivirus. Cheers

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CrowX

13 years ago

3 years isn't that old, you know.
Formatting it will make it run as fast as it did back when you bought it, assuming you're using Windows, or clogged it up with lots of programs

.

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John M Kane

13 years ago

CCleaner-Daily
Defrag-weekly
Advanced SystemCare-weekly
Malwarebytes-monthly
A pc shouldn't be "getting slow" if you do maintenance on it regularly.
Think of it as a Few Prunes daily or as a colonic for the systems pipes

to keep it all running "smoothly" and not all "Clogged up" (not meant to inflame the Irish dancers)

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Bradley J Anderson

13 years ago

Originally Posted by John M Kane

CCleaner-Daily
Defrag-weekly
Advanced SystemCare-weekly
Malwarebytes-monthly
A pc shouldn't be "getting slow" if you do maintenance on it regularly.
Think of it as a Few Prunes daily or as a colonic for the systems pipes

to keep it all running "smoothly" and not all "Clogged up" (not meant to inflame the Irish dancers)

Everyone should do this regularly. Typically, this will keep your system running smoothly and up to speed. If you are still having speed issues, then you should try these tips:

Originally Posted by iamsuccor

There are several things you can do to speed up you computer without having to format it.

add additional ram (At some point even this becomes overkill.)
clean your registry (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
get rid of unwanted programs and files (You probably won't be able to tell the difference, but it is still a good practice.)
clean out your notification area (Look at what is there and decide what you don't need to automatically start, ie msn messenger, and then changes the program settings so it doesn't automatically launch at startup. Each thing in the notification area is using resources.)
defragment your hard drive (There are both free and paid programs to do this.)
also, toolbars and the like can slow down your browser (Be choosy about what you install. If you don't use it, get rid of it.)

If you have your heart set on formatting then make sure you backup all of your files. Also make sure you have all of the install disks, or links, and keys for all of your software.

Good luck.

I don't think anyone mentioned running an anti-virus scan, but that could be a likely culprit, as well.

I would try all of these before re-formatting, though. That's usually something I do only when necessary.

My computer is 6 years old now, and the only re-install I ever did was when I upgraded to Windows 7. I didn't HAVE to re-install, but I figured it was safer, just in case. It still runs just as fast as the day I got it. In fact, according to benchmark tests, it still rates an 8 of 10 for speed. Considering all the new improvements in technology over the last 6 years, that's still pretty awesome!

Just FYI: Microsoft actually recommends re-installing Windows every year, but I've yet to see anyone that actually does it.

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Floyd Fisher

13 years ago

Before you try anything else.....

1. Use MS Disk Defragmenter. Disks get 'fragmented' from use, which slows down disk access speed, which slows down the computer in general. I once did a defrag on an old laptop which had been fragmented via 7 years of use (forgot to set up regular defrags lol)...and the speed increase was very much noticeable.

2. Try upgrading the hard drive. As the thing gets full, windows has less and less space for the swap file...which in turn slows down the computer itself. Getting a bigger hard drive fixes this problem, plus newer hard drives tend to be faster...which give you even more speed.

3. Remove unnecessary junk from startup....too many programs booting and running in the background does slow down the CPU because it's handling more and more tasks. Just get a free copy of pcdecrapifier and goto town....it will do the rest. Also, disable as many items from starting up when the computer boots as humanly possible....do you really need things like skype and yahoo messenger launching on startup...and having them gumming up the works when you're not using them?!?!

4. Invest in more ram. This is a no branier...more ram equals less dependence on swap files...which means more speed.

5. Try moving the windows install to an SSD device. Not exactly recommended for laptops (because if you lose the usb drive, you are uberscrewed lol), but on a desktop, putting the os on an SSD (solid state device) has been knows to cause windows to move faster than Northside (local joke...gotta watch the Northside auto repair commercials to appreciate).

6. If your bios allows such, try 'tuning' it for better performance. Goto Hard|OCP or Toms Hardware for details.

If the above doesn't give you enough speed....then it's time for overclocking or an upgrade.