laptop - improve performance

angeldaisy

I'm looking for somewhere in the city or thereabouts, who can have a look at my laptop, its fairly old about 4yrs and its a Dell Vostro 1000. There's nothing major wrong with it but it won't open certain downloads, so just want it 'improved and refreshed':D

Any recommendations??

The Snipe

There used to be a Poster called Xsiborg but he's after leaving, if you want I can PM you his number and he could have a look at it for you!

phill106

1.Backup your documents/pics anything that you have saved on it that did not come from the factory.
2. Reboot machine, pick the option for factory recovery. Agree as it tells you it will wipe everything back to normal.
3. Make tea with 2 sugars (thats the important bit) and watch some telly
4. Check on it in half an hour or so, then marvel at all the money you saved

Just to be clear, what the above does is wipe your laptop back to exactly what it was like when it came from dell. BACKUP YOUR STUFF FIRST!

Saying that, if your not comfortable with doing it, let me know, I can do it easily.

Harcrid

To add a little more detail to Phil106's reply above, at step 2 to access the factory recovery partition you need to press the F8 after the Dell logo disappears on boot up and select Repair my computer from the menu. Fairly self explanatory after that.

phog

The Snipe wrote: »

There used to be a Poster called Xsiborg but he's after leaving, if you want I can PM you his number and he could have a look at it for you!

Xsliborg repaired my latop before and I'd have no problem in recommending him.

MarkR

Another alternative, less scary for most than wiping the machine, is to try to do a bit of software maintenance yourself.

Download Microsoft security essentials and install it. This will be your new antivirus software. Uninstall any other one you have. Download malwarebytes, and run it. Get rid of any malware it finds.

Download ccleaner.

And run that.

Uninstall any crappy programs you've downloaded but don't use.

If it's still slow, backing up and reinstalling is a good way to make sure you're backing up your data!

redron74

MarkR wrote: »

Another alternative, less scary for most than wiping the machine, is to try to do a bit of software maintenance yourself.

Download Microsoft security essentials and install it. This will be your new antivirus software. Uninstall any other one you have. Download malwarebytes, and run it. Get rid of any malware it finds.

Download ccleaner.

And run that.

Uninstall any crappy programs you've downloaded but don't use.

If it's still slow, backing up and reinstalling is a good way to make sure you're backing up your data!

This is all good advice.
But I would also defragment your hard drive. You can download Defraggler, which is better than the utility built into Windows (IMO). It's made by the same people who make CCleaner.

Also, if you have a few euros to spend, you could consider upgrading the RAM. Lots of websites have little utilities that can scan your computer and tell you what kind of RAM is compatible with your machine and how much your machine can take (bear in mind that if you have a 32-bit version of Windows installed you will not be able to use any RAM above 4GB). I use this one from Crucial. Obviously you don't have to buy from them, but it will give you all the information you need to shop around for compatible RAM modules.

angeldaisy wrote: »

I'm looking for somewhere in the city or thereabouts, who can have a look at my laptop, its fairly old about 4yrs and its a Dell Vostro 1000. There's nothing major wrong with it but it won't open certain downloads, so just want it 'improved and refreshed':D

Any recommendations??

Getting back to the OP's actual problem...
If some of the file association info has been lost/corrupted, the easiest way to re-associate a particular file type with a certain programme is to do the following:

1. Browse to where the file is stored using Windows Explorer/My Computer
2. Hold down _SHIFT_ while right-clicking on the file
3. Hover your mouse pointer over the "Open With" option (depending on what programmes you have installed, this will probably appear approx one third of the way down the list)
4. From the sub-menu that appears, click "Choose Default Program..."
5. a) If the programme you want to use is listed in the "Recommended Programs" list, select it
5. b) If the programme you want to use is not listed in the "Recommended Programs" list, click the arrow head to the right of "Other Programs" to see a list of other programs Windows thinks might be able to open your file and select the programme you want to use
5. c) If you have not found the programme you want in either of the above options, you can use the "Browse" button to browse through the folders on your hard drive to find the executable file for the programme you want. But you may not be comfortable with doing this unless you know what you are doing
6. If you want this type of file to always open in your selected programme, make sure the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" tick box is checked, otherwise make sure that it is cleared
7. Click the "OK" button

If the options at 5. a) or 5. b) don't give you what you're looking for and you don't feel comfortable with the 5. c) option, then the best thing is to uninstall the programme that you want to use to open the particluar file and then re-install it. If it doesn't do it automatically, then there is probably a manual step in the installation routine for associating file types with the programme.

Every few months you should make sure you have all the latest security updates from Microsoft, check that your virus scanner is up-to-date and run a full scan, run Checkdisk, and defragment your hard drive(s).
This routine is like checking the oil, water and tyres of your car.
And just like your car maintenance, you know you can get away without doing it for a long time, but don't be surprised then when things start to go wrong!

Stuxnet

you could probably do with a RAM upgrade also, have a look on crucial and give your laptop a much needed boost, most laptops and pc's 4 years ago, packed very little ram, you are expected to upgrade youself, you will notice a huge difference, also backup all your stuff and reinstall your system is good practice minimum once a year, to keep it in tip top running order,

If all that's a bit technical for you, pm me, and ill help you out.

eta, just read the post above me :-) same recomendations