Need help cleaning a Windows 7 laptop

pamccabe

My parents wanted to toss their laptop because it was 'slow'. They bought it in 2009 and has Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium on it. The laptop has 4GB RAM, and a Duo core processor. Not sure if any of that matters. I told them not to toss it and that I could clean it up.

Now that I sit down and power it on.. yikes. Thing takes FOREVER to boot. I'd say a good 60 seconds. It sits at the Windows emblem screen for awhile. Now, my mom doesn't touch computers, he is scared of them. My dad is an avid hunter. All he has are a few pdf files about hunting guides, and about 30 favorites for weather/hunting/baiting sites. That is all it is used for.

When I open IE, it takes forever for it to show a webpage, but the home page is something like an ad. I change it to google, but it always changes back. My dad said it brings him to a page offering to clean his computer if he enters in his credit card number. I made sure he never did that. lol I disconnected it from the network and booted into safe mode. I ran AVG (which amazingly was up to date) and it said it found 77 threats, but didn't list them. There was no option to clean or delete either. I booted up normally (no internet access) and ran a scan again. No threats found. Now, I just booted to Windows Offline Defender and am running that. I can't believe there isn't more on this laptop with the way it performs. I went into control panel and removed some programs that had to do with games and Wild Tangent. My dad said he doesn't know what those are.

Anyone have some tips for cleaning a laptop like this? I know some basics but am no Windows expert.

sthomas

Don't throw it away, with the specs you gave it sounds like a pretty decent laptop. In that particular situation I would just format the hard drive and reinstall Windows 7.

sratakhin

Throw away the hard drive and get an SSD. This alone will make it almost as fast as a brand new machine.

j23evan

I am a PC equipment hoarder, and never believe in throwing anything away unless it is truly broken. You have two options.

1. Format/Fresh Install (If you have the CoA Key on the PC and a copy of the OEM install)

2. Download Malware Bytes, reboot the PC in safemode and install/update/run malware bytes. With 4GB of ram I would go into My Computer-> Properties -> Advanced -> (Then Advanced Tab) -> Settings under performance -> Hit the radial for Best Performance -> Advanced Tab -> Virtual Memory (click change) -> I assume it isnt running an SSD so I would boost the page file size, go big.

Close out of all those windows you just opened. Double Click on my computer, right click on C:\ and select properties -> Under General click "Disk Cleanup" (That should erase error logs/**** files/temp files) -> Click on the Tools Tab -> Run both the Error Checking and Defrag options.

You should have to restart, after that you will have a speed demon on your hands.

pamccabe

sthomas wrote: »

Don't throw it away, with the specs you gave it sounds like a pretty decent laptop. In that particular situation I would just format the hard drive and reinstall Windows 7.

Yea, that is what I told him. I said if he really wanted to 'toss' it, I would throw him some cash for it. Personally, I'd throw some Linux on there to mess around with seeing as I already have a Win8 laptop. Anyway, he wanted to see if I could clean it up first. It is a Toshiba laptop, and I saw in Disk Management that there is a recovery partition. Found the Toshiba Recovery Media program and am burning the DVDs now. Think I might just restore it to factory settings and consider it done. I do hate doing that though, i always look at this stuff as a challenge, not just reformat practice. At any rate, I don't want to spend too much time on it. lol This type of work is not my favorite.

I won't need a Windows key will I??

pamccabe

sratakhin wrote: »

Throw away the hard drive and get an SSD. This alone will make it almost as fast as a brand new machine.

Good idea, however, I think it has more to do with a user clicking on anything and everything. Not a hardware fault. Unless SSD can stop my dad from clicking on anything he pleases while he looks up fishing lakes in Canada with a whiskey and water in one hand. I actually might price one out... that has me interested.

pamccabe

j23evan wrote: »

I am a PC equipment hoarder, and never believe in throwing anything away unless it is truly broken. You have two options.

1. Format/Fresh Install (If you have the CoA Key on the PC and a copy of the OEM install)

2. Download Malware Bytes, reboot the PC in safemode and install/update/run malware bytes. With 4GB of ram I would go into My Computer-> Properties -> Advanced -> (Then Advanced Tab) -> Settings under performance -> Hit the radial for Best Performance -> Advanced Tab -> Virtual Memory (click change) -> I assume it isnt running an SSD so I would boost the page file size, go big.

Close out of all those windows you just opened. Double Click on my computer, right click on C:\ and select properties -> Under General click "Disk Cleanup" (That should erase error logs/**** files/temp files) -> Click on the Tools Tab -> Run both the Error Checking and Defrag options.

You should have to restart, after that you will have a speed demon on your hands.

Thanks for the input j23. Do you know if I'll need a key to reinstall from the recovery media? I'll look more closely but I don't see a key on this laptop anywhere, although, I don't want to flip it over while its burning a DVD.

Do you think Malware Bytes will pick up something AVG and Windows Offline Defender didn't? Or do they scan for different things?

Why boost the page file?

Not trying to offend you, just curious myself.

sthomas

You won't need the key if you use the recovery partition. If you want to get the key though you could run a program like Magic Jelly Bean KeyFinder to get the product key before you reinstall Windows.

I could give you a bunch of information on how to fix Windows to make in run better but it will take a few hours to clean it up. If it is infected with malware it could take longer or you may not be able to remove the malware entirely anyway.

Reinstalling Windows with the recovery partition is the fastest solution. Better yet I like the idea of installing Linux.

cyberguypr

This is systems security 101. In the absence of limiting factors (time, need to recover data, etc.) just go ahead and reformat/recover. No matter how good we think we are, there's always the possibility we (or the tools) will miss something. Best bet given what you describe is not no waste time trying to clean. Even if you successfully clean it there may be all non-malware related elements that could be making the machine slow.

j23evan

pamccabe wrote: »

Thanks for the input j23. Do you know if I'll need a key to reinstall from the recovery media? I'll look more closely but I don't see a key on this laptop anywhere, although, I don't want to flip it over while its burning a DVD.

Do you think Malware Bytes will pick up something AVG and Windows Offline Defender didn't? Or do they scan for different things?

Why boost the page file?

Not trying to offend you, just curious myself.

Newer PC's especially those made by more mainstream HP/Dell etc., have a hidden partition that contains the CD-Key/OS recovery. The OEM Key is usually by the battery on the bottom. Malware Bytes does amazing things, especially against 'ransomware' (The you are infected! Buy our russian solution to clean your PC). The page file, like a linux swap file, is virtual RAM. It doesnt have the speed of ram, but it can improve PC speed by having a cache to store temporary pages/code execution as they are sent to physical memory and back. Not having enough space, or having a fragmented hard drive can cause stuttering, delayed PC response, and general feelings of 'I wish I had a Mac'.

kriscamaro68

sratakhin wrote: »

Throw away the hard drive and get an SSD. This alone will make it almost as fast as a brand new machine.

Agreed. This and a clean install will give that computer a better than new feel. Even from the factory brand new that computer's HDD was far slower than an SSD. $150 to have a new computer feel makes all the difference in the world.

pamccabe

sthomas wrote: »

Reinstalling Windows with the recovery partition is the fastest solution. Better yet I like the idea of installing Linux.

Well, if he hands it off to me, it's getting Linux. With them, it's going back to Win7 and hopefully have another good 3 years. Thanks for your help and input. I appreciate it.

pamccabe

cyberguypr wrote: »

This is systems security 101. In the absence of limiting factors (time, need to recover data, etc.) just go ahead and reformat/recover. No matter how good we think we are, there's always the possibility we (or the tools) will miss something. Best bet given what you describe is not no waste time trying to clean. Even if you successfully clean it there may be all non-malware related elements that could be making the machine slow.

This is very good advise and something I never thought about. I guess my ego gets in the way sometimes.

pamccabe

kriscamaro68 wrote: »

Agreed. This and a clean install will give that computer a better than new feel. Even from the factory brand new that computer's HDD was far slower than an SSD. $150 to have a new computer feel makes all the difference in the world.

Yea, it sounds good to me, but I have to convince my parents on the benefits of an SSD drive. Well see how far that goes, if I happen to get this laptop handed to me, well, yea we are talking SSD drive. lol

pamccabe

Thanks all for the input. I consider the matter closed. I am done burning the recovery discs and am going to move forward in that direction.

WafflesAndRootbeer

Upgrade the RAM while you're at it. 8/16GB is dirt cheap and it will greatly increase the performance.