I have had a Toshiba laptop for over 3 years now, and it's starting to slow down.?

Question

I don't have much free space left, which I know is a problem and I need to delete some stuff. I've been told I should reformat my hard drive, but I'm not sure if that's too drastic of a step. So does reformatting the hard drive actually provide help? btw, the drive is not fragmented much.

Answer 1

There are some safe things that you can delete, and it may turn out to be a ton of data.

1. Delete your temporary files

First, open My Computer, go to tools > Folder Options > View > Show Hidden Files and Folders

C:\Documents & Settings\\Local Settings\Temp
You can delete everything in that folder, but don't delete the folder. If it tells you you can't delete an item, just deselte it and finish deleting the rest.

2. Clear your internet cache.

Go to Tools > Internet Options > Delete Files.

3. See if there's any programs you uninstalled recently which left their files behind.

Go to C:\Program Files

Look at the folder names, delete anything that you know you got rid of, don't touch things you have no idea what they are or do. - Also, kill any programs that you're not using anymore by going to your control panel and Add/Remove Programs. (Go back and make sure the folder is gone, lots of programs have messy uninstalls)

4. Check how many programs are running on startup.

Under your startup folder which is under your Start Menu > Programs area, check and see what all is starting up from the startup folder. If you don't need it right when you start up, just delete it. (Right-click delete to delete)

Another place where programs can be prevented from running on start-up is by going to Start>Run> type msconfig > hit enter.

Go to the startup tab.

Look for programs you recognize running on startup, leave alone those you don't know or are virus/spyware scanners. Disable what you don't need. You'll find you don't need a lot.

5. After all this, make sure the recycle bin is empty, just clear it out, you need nothing in it, or else why did you put it there? You need to defrag your drive to get it a little back in shape. Open My Computer, right-click on your C: drive select properties, go to the tools tab and select defragment.

Let it run. Then restart the system and see if there's a performance increase. There should be a slight one.

But remember, today's applications aren't the same as the ones 3 years ago, a 3-year old system might not be sufficient for today's needs, I just replaced my 3-year old laptop and felt like I should've done it sooner.

Answer 2

Defragmenting does very little in improving computer performance.

Cleaning the registry does very little and can sometimes hurt. Be careful using registry "cleaners."

Emptying your recycle bin, temporary internet files, and such is good to do regularly but also does very little to improve performance.

A hard drive that's almost full does have a small affect.

It sounds like you've never reformatted in the three years of owning it. I HIGHLY recommend you do that. I'd compaer it to changing the oil in your car every 3,000 miles. I do it about every 6 months. It's really not a "drastic" project. It only takes 2-4 hours. A clean install will delete all the junk you have that you forgot about or don't know about. Just because it doesn't show up in Add/Remove Programs doesn't mean everything it originally installed is gone. Submit another question if you need help doing that.

The power supply is usually the first thing to go bad on a computer in my experience. You could replace that but it wouldn't be easy on a laptop. I think you'll notice a HUGE difference if you do a reformat and clean install of Windows.

Answer 3

As you continue to use a computer through the years you will continually load and delete programs. The problem with deleting or uninstalling programs is that it still leaves bits and pieces in the operating system. While I agree that defrag, adding RAM, deleting cookies and deleting your cache all help, there does come a time when you need to reformat your hard drive. Personally, I will make sure that all of my critical data is backed up and will reformat about once or twice a year. It keeps the system files relatively clean and enhances the performance.

Answer 4

You could try a few things before reformatting. First go to www.trendmicro.com and scan your computer for spyware and another scan at that site for viruses(its free). Then download a trial of an excellent computer maintenance program System Mechanic 6(not the professional version) it has a 30 free trial. www.iolo.com
If that does not work and you decide to reformat, you will want to use a program Wipe Drive to completely remove bits of data that have been overwritten many times on your drive(which is all reformatting does) http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipedrive-erase-hard-drive.php
This will allow you to do a clean install of your operating system. Make sure you have all your driver disks before you wipe out your operating system.

Answer 5

I'd check the Recycle Bin and delete anything you definitely don't want, then scandisk, disk cleanup, and defrag. After that, go to Start, Run, and type IPconfig renew and cl o.k.
You might also want to try Tools, Internet Options, and get rid of cookies, delete file, clear history. This should all help some.

I would try deleting that which you don't need - files and programs, then trying all of the above, before I reformatted the hard drive - but that's me.

Answer 6

There are a few things you could try first. Clean up your drive by defrag and using disc clean up, both are in programs, accessories, system tools. Run a spyware program to make sure things are good there, then remove any old programs that you no longer need. This should help you some, try it and see how it works.

Answer 7

the respond is easy, you will possibly desire to comprehend something approximately computers. once you install a million specific game it would not decelerate the cost of your laptop, it makes use of area on your stressful force. examine how lots area you have on that and make sure you have a minimum of roughly 10% left, or you laptop will initiate slowing down. you're able to do this via real clicking my laptop and going to residences. likely, you will have lots of area. the reason some video games decelerate you laptop is by using the fact they run in the historic past, slowing it down. in simple terms be valuable you totally uninstall and it will delete all those information. In end, it won't decelerate your laptop.

Answer 8

Defrag the hard drive, that should help. Delete any files you don't use. Run a registry cleaner on it.

Answer 9

need to delete unnecessary files
need to get toniarts easycleaner to clean registry
need to disable services not needed.
need to defrag
update drivers

Answer 10

have u been updating your programs....cleaning out your cookies in internet options....defragging and disk cleaning???...u have to keep them clean of all that ****...also if u are running out of ram it will slow a puter down as well