Reformat laptop

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Marcan

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Hi guys, bought a nice Toshiba Sattelite L-755 laptop in Aug 2012. i5 Processor, standard 4Gb RAM, immediately upgraded to 8Gb, 2 Gb dedicated graphics, BluRay reader/writer, 640 Gb HD. Windows 7 Home Premium.
But,not surprisingly after this time it started to get all kinds of bugs, became very slow, often froze completely, etc.
I'm not in IT or Telecoms, and my son, an engineering student (not in IT or electronics)and quite able to sort out PC issues is helping to repair it or reformat. He built his own PC and reformatted several times and installed a SSD as primary ROM.
He suggested a total reformat with a different Windows 7 version.
He tried yesterday the installed Toshiba Hard Drive recovery system, took about 20 Hours, and it still seems to work slowly. And we have not installed anything as another browser, anti virus software and all the rest.

As I maybe preferred to keep the legal W 7 edition, he suggested to download another version of W 7 and than put it on a new SSD in my laptop, and clear, wipe the existing HD completely and fit it in a separate portable 2.5" HD casing.

What are your opinions ?? Any help would be sincerely appreciated.
 
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if it's still slow after a fresh install check the HDD SMART status, you might have a dodgy HDD. Taking 20hrs to do recovery install does not sound right.
 
There usually is a recovery partition to enable one to reload the original Windows OS.

Performance issues are difficult to track down.
1) Check the windows performance score on your laptop and see if it shows up any problems.
2)Alternatively, there maybe some application that is causing the problem.
Check the windows task manager to see what is eating up the most resources.

3) Reinstall default OS. If it is still slow after reinstalling the default OS, there maybe some other hardware problem like RAM or HD malfunction.
(Shut down. Remove the battery and then hold down the power button sometimes may reload the original default system)
 
Bomb it and start again.
If you still have issues it's hardware.
Have you checked for malware or the likes?

My wife always complains that her laptop installs **** on it's own and causes problems for her.
She actually doesn't read any of the notices and just clicks continue.
Chances are you've installed a program that had numerous malware or viruses piggy backing the install.
 
ahmedK said:
There usually is a recovery partition to enable one to reload the original Windows OS.
Click to expand...

:D I worked on a Proline PC that had a recovery partition. I booted into it, and ran the recovery. When it completed prompted me to restart. I was then greeted with somthing in the lines of "Operating System Not Found". I booted the PC with a Windows CD only to find that the entire hard drive was wiped out, including the recovery partition. :wtf:
 
ahmedK said:
There usually is a recovery partition to enable one to reload the original Windows OS.

Performance issues are difficult to track down.
1) Check the windows performance score on your laptop and see if it shows up any problems.
2)Alternatively, there maybe some application that is causing the problem.
Check the windows task manager to see what is eating up the most resources.

3) Reinstall default OS. If it is still slow after reinstalling the default OS, there maybe some other hardware problem like RAM or HD malfunction.
(Shut down. Remove the battery and then hold down the power button sometimes may reload the original default system)
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. will try. Maybe indeed a dodgy HDD.

And for the attachments, that can install bugs. I really try to avoid clicking on those.
The laptop came without any CDs or drivers.
 
Have you got adblock or something like malwarebytes installed?
If not there's very little you can do to prevent malware from infecting your machine.

General use of the internet allows pops-ups through etc.

Just the other day I sat laughing when my wife opened an innocent link and about 20 pops ups appeared including 5 Pornhub webpages lol.
 
I guess, we will try to download a W 7 version at night, when our data allows it and put in the original W 7 Home premium key that came with it. And just forget about the Toshiba Windows version.
 
Changing Windows won't help. Your problem is very likely related to the hard drive as others pointed out. Boot MiniXP from Hiren's Boot CD and scan with Victoria entire surface for delays. Check SMART first. Also run memory test from the same CD, just to be sure.
 
Marcan said:
View attachment 129145
Here is a pic of the Crystaldisk info:, so indeed the HD is having issues.
Click to expand...
Based on the picture I am not sure, you can ignore it. This parameter has different meaning for each manufacturer, even family. Note that SMART parameter is 100, not degradated at all!

Just do as adviced before - full scan for delays. I wonder why people always ignore this important step?
 
Rickster said:
People with laptops fail to realise how sensitive a hard drive is, I always warn laptop users not to use it on their lap, bed or pick it up while its on.

Toshiba :sick:
Click to expand...

I always use the laptop with a stand that gives somewhat better cooling, never in bed, and almost never on my lap. And never picked it up roughly while still on.

Does Toshiba give actually a 2 year guarantee ? Still have to look for the original slip from Takealot, and the small booklet that came with.
 
sajunky said:
Changing Windows won't help. Your problem is very likely related to the hard drive as others pointed out. Boot MiniXP from Hiren's Boot CD and scan with Victoria entire surface for delays. Check SMART first. Also run memory test from the same CD, just to be sure.
Click to expand...

sajunky said:
Based on the picture I am not sure, you can ignore it. This parameter has different meaning for each manufacturer, even family. Note that SMART parameter is 100, not degradated at all!

Just do as adviced before - full scan for delays. I wonder why people always ignore this important step?
Click to expand...

Thanks for all advice, but this looks somewhat complicated. We will see what we can do. Is this not more for professional programmers ?
 
Marcan said:


Hi guys, bought a nice Toshiba Sattelite L-755 laptop in Aug 2012.
Click to expand...

Have you considered this to be a heat issue?

If you can - give it a blow down on the fan side with compressed air.

you could also look to replace the thermal paste.

Had a L500 Satellite, and the thermal paste did the job for me. Can get a syringe of it from Incredible or any PC shop.

I take it you have the issue after reformatting?


Edit - have you considered removing the drive and making a ghost drive - that way you can keep the windows and get a new drive in?
 
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TEXTILE GUY said:
Have you considered this to be a heat issue?

If you can - give it a blow down on the fan side with compressed air.

you could also look to replace the thermal paste.

Had a L500 Satellite, and the thermal paste did the job for me. Can get a syringe of it from Incredible or any PC shop.

I take it you have the issue after reformatting?


Edit - have you considered removing the drive and making a ghost drive - that way you can keep the windows and get a new drive in?
Click to expand...

Thanks for advice. We only have done the Toshiba Hard drive recovery from one part of the HD to the other one. The laptop still appears unbelievably slow. Will do the blow out, but all looks very clean from the outside. Applying new, fresh heatpaste requires opening the whole laptop. Will consider that at a later stage.
 
I wouldn't bother with paste if the laptop is under warranty.
Just take it back to the supplier.
 
Thanks all forumites with a positive contribution.
Found my original slip and booklets again and Toshiba only gives ONE year guarantee.
Tested the hard drive in different case and did not want to reformat properly. Installed 128 Gb SSD, and all works again like a dream.
So indeed faulty HDD was the issue.
 
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