More computer advice needed

[BobR]

I have an older Compaq Presario 3000 laptop that has become unusable due to being so slow. I have run all of the normal stuff like CC, anti-virus and malware scans. It doesn't help much, if at all.

What I want to do is kill it and start over, but I am reasonably clueless about that.

I have the CD's for the operating system (Windows XP) and also recovery discs.

So what do I really need to do? Just reformat the hard drive (which is also new) and use the OS disc to get it up and running again?

Please use ssmall words and baby steps  , this is a first for me but from what I have read it shouldn't be too traumatic. Right?

TIA

bob

[Jim147]

Check in the programs and see if it has a restore program. You will lose all your information if you do this! If you have changed out the harddrive it may not have the factory image partition on it anymore.

If that doesn't work insert your windows disc. You may have to watch the start up screen and hit F2 or F12 or something to make it boot from the Cd. follow install instructions and it will warn you when you get to the point that you will lose all you info.

If you have some programs or data you want to save you need to back it up to a flash drive or cd or something before you start.

jim

[Perd Hapley]

The Compaq CDs I've used required me to use one of the Restore CDs first, then insert the Windows CD, then the rest of the Restore CDs. Just sticking in the Windows CD didn't work. The Windows install should re-format the drive for you.

So, yeah, just figure out which order to use the CDs in, and follow the instructions on the screen. As long as you copy your docs/pics/vids/etc to an external hard drive, or flash drive or something, you aren't likely to mess anything up.

The hard part is going to be other programs (besides the OS) you've had installed for years, but no longer have install disks for. Thought of that?

[never_retreat]

Even this won't fix windows rot, what you experiencing right now.

[lee n. field]

I have an older Compaq Presario 3000 laptop that has become unusable due to being so slow. I have run all of the normal stuff like CC, anti-virus and malware scans. It doesn't help much, if at all.

What are the specs?  How much RAM?  If you're at 512MB or less, that's likely a big part of your problem right there.

What I want to do is kill it and start over, but I am reasonably clueless about that.

I have the CD's for the operating system (Windows XP) and also recovery discs.

There's recovery disks, and there's recovery disks.  Are these ones Compaq/HP provided?  If so, likely they'll do a full (and destructive) factory restore.  Boot off them and follow the bouncing ball.

So what do I really need to do? Just reformat the hard drive (which is also new) and use the OS disc to get it up and running again?

Please use ssmall words and baby steps  , this is a first for me but from what I have read it shouldn't be too traumatic. Right?

TIA

bob

[BobR]

The recovery discs are the factory ones. I don't need much from this computer, internet access, and a ballistics program is about all I will use it for.

I will check the RAM and add more if I can, I seem to remember all of my slots are taken up. I may have to go with all new RAM to get it up to 1G.

It has been running since replacing the hard drive. I had to replace it and the cooling fan about 6 months ago.

I was going to send it to a friend for parts, but I can try this first and possibly get it running a little better.

bob

[RocketMan]

Have you defragged the hard drive?  If it's badly fragmented, that will slow things down considerably.
Also, is your new drive at least a 5400 RPM unit with 8mb of cache?  Slow RPM drives with little cache memory dog a system pretty badly.
Solid state drives, while more expensive per GB, can really boost an older system if configured correctly.  Something to consider.

[AZRedhawk44]

Reloading the OS just about always speeds up a computer.

IMO, it should be done annually to every computer.

Microsoft could really make a killing by selling a software package able to take a differential picture of what an OS install "should" look like on the computer in question, offloading all reg keys/files/etc to something similar to an image file, reinstalls a clean OS then re-deploys the files after passing them through a crapscanner so that the computer is identical to its original state in appearance, but the drive is defragged like a new install and the contents are filtered for any crapware and removed if found.

I typically spend a solid day just wiping and reinstalling software when I do a computer reload.

512MB is pretty small any more... after WinXP sp2 you pretty much need 1GB or more to make a PC run properly.

[Ben]

This is one thing I hate about Windows. When you want to do a clean reinstall, you have to reinstall not only the OS, but all your prgs. I'm not around Macs much, but my understanding is that you can just drag and drop the prg folders to a new install and you're done.

The way I end up doing refresh installs on my Windows machines now is on a new machine, doing an image of just the OS, then doing an image of the OS and "mandatory prgs" like MS office, my imaging prgs, Tbird, etc. These are kept as long as I keep the machine. I then do weekly backups and keep the last four. I also do monthly and yearly manual backups of critical data to DVD.

If I run into a major problem, I first try a reinstall from a weekly image. If that fails I go to the archived image with my "base prgs". If that fails I go to the OS only image. I do like the Win7 backup prg. Much slicker than previous Win versions.

If that fails I load Ubuntu.  

[lee n. field]

IMO, it should be done annually to every computer.

Microsoft could really make a killing by selling a software package able to take a differential picture of what an OS install "should" look like on the computer in question, offloading all reg keys/files/etc to something similar to an image file, reinstalls a clean OS then re-deploys the files after passing them through a crapscanner so that the computer is identical to its original state in appearance, but the drive is defragged like a new install and the contents are filtered for any crapware and removed if found.

"Windows Active|Live Repave(R)", automatically reformats and reloads every month, whether you need it or not.

[lee n. field]

This is one thing I hate about Windows. When you want to do a clean reinstall, you have to reinstall not only the OS, but all your prgs. I'm not around Macs much, but my understanding is that you can just drag and drop the prg folders to a new install and you're done.

Timewise, Ubuntu+"apt-get dist-upgrade"+customization takes about as long as "XP + SP3 +IE8 + finding drivers+installing apps + Windows update."

[AZRedhawk44]

Timewise, Ubuntu+"apt-get dist-upgrade"+customization takes about as long as "XP + SP3 +IE8 + finding drivers+installing apps + Windows update."

Yes, but it only involves 1 reboot and you can use your Ubuntu computer while all that's going on in the background.

Windows requires dozens of reboots, constant user interaction and software source shuffling.

[Ben]

Windows requires dozens of reboots, constant user interaction and software source shuffling.

Yeah, that.

[BobR]

Well, I took the bull by the horns and tackled the restore. So far so good. The only glitch was after getting everything running again I lost the WPA capability on my wireless card. But now I know more about a wireless network than I ever did before. It seemed as though a lot of the stuff you have to do is intutitive, or with the help of the internet you can find answers to nearly anything. To get the the WPA back I uninstalled, reinstalled and updated the drivers. Now all is good in the world.

I still need to run to the store and get some new memory so I can upgrade from 512 to 1G. Maybe that will help even more. Now about all this computer will be used for is a ballistics program, web surfing and playing music. Even this computer should be able to handle that.

Thanks for the comments. It made going into uncharted territory a little bit easier.

bob

[lee n. field]

The only glitch was after getting everything running again I lost the WPA capability on my wireless card.

Go digging for drivers.