Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Binch Lover]

I have a 3 year old Toshiba laptop with pretty good specs. It's been running a bit slowly especially in the last year. I've heard formatting the hard drive and reinstalling everything could be a good solution. Is that right?

There are a few issues though. First of all, I'm not very skilled with computers. If I had step by step instructions, I think I could do it myself but I'm not totally sure. Is it pretty easy?

Second, I don't have a copy of Windows. Can I download one from a torrent? Would that work?

Third, I have about 50 gigs of music and pics I really don't want to lose. I guess I should probably buy an external hard drive, but I don't have one at the moment.

What are my options? Can I bring it to a place in Yongsan and they'll do the whole thing for me? Or should I buy an external and do it myself??

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

[Join Me]

You could try a "system restore" which would restore your system to the way it was performing at a prior time. Doing this will not effect (delete) your files but will delete any software you may have added. I am not sure if the version of Windows you have will allow you to do a system restore but I am almost sure a three year old version will have system restore. Just search in help for "system restore" and read up on it. It can delete some of the spyware and crap that may be on your computer and slowing it down. It is worth a try before you re format.

[Binch Lover]

So if I restore to a date just after I bought the computer, it won't delete all the files I've added since then? Will it delete all the programs??

[Join Me]

It won't delete your files. It will delete any programs you have installed that did not come installed on the computer when you bought it.

[spliff]

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1526151/3283845/

[Binch Lover]

[blackjack]

A system restore will not work as it normally only creates a limited number of "snapshots". Depending on your settings it will only have around a months worth of 'snapshot'

you could try a registry clean (check download.com)
also try installing ccleaner and running that.
check how many programs are starting on startup
how many processes are running? (crtl alt del)

[dkoryo]

You never really have to reformat unless you can't remove a certain virus or trojan.

Just clean your system out, if you know how.
If you reformat your hard drive, you'll need your OS CD.

[rocklee]