Windows 10 general clean up help
Windows 10 general clean up help
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Discussion

E65Ross

Original Poster:

36,729 posts

243 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
Hi,

I have a laptop running windows 10 (as well as a desktop, but I mainly use Linux on that) which has been running really rather slowly for a long time. It takes ages to boot up. I have just spent some time uninstalling all of the unnecessary programmes, I have run a virus scan (I use Bullguard....I hear Defender is adequate so I may ditch Bullguard...? My licence expires in 2-3 months anyway), and I have also run "Bleachbit".

Is there anything else I should be doing? What about clearing the registry some how or anything else? I'm always dubious of various programmes for this so, if necessary, any recommended programmes would be ideal. The hard disk doesn't have much data on it so I don't think it should need defragmenting, although I could try.

Anything else much appreciated.

snuffy

13,434 posts

315 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
Whack in SSD in it and it will be like a new machine (assuming it's not already got one that is).

grumbledoak

32,571 posts

264 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
Defragmenting a desktop PC makes no difference in the real world.

You need to look at what is running at Start Up, which you can do from Task Manager or CCleaner.

deckster

9,631 posts

286 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
Putting in an SSD and reinstalling Windows from scratch will transform the machine. Well worth the half day of effort.

E65Ross

Original Poster:

36,729 posts

243 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
Thanks everyone. It's mainly a "second" laptop which I generally leave at work. The one I use at home is quick (and has an SSD) and runs really, really quickly, but this older one just doesn't. Perhaps it is the HDD becoming slower. Not sure if the laptop is worth the investment as it's about 4-5 years old and was reasonably cheap when it was new (I think I paid £250 for it) so it doesn't owe me much!

I have used CCleaner, and done all of the other stuff I have mentioned and I think it is running a bit better thanks smile

Interesting that an SSD is recommended. My other laptop is so quick but I assumed a lot of that was down to the spec (it's an Alienware R17 that I picked up 2nd hand for a good price).

Cheers!

snuffy

13,434 posts

315 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
If you don't have much data a 240GB SSD are under £30.

I upgraded the missus's laptop a few months ago with an SSD (just cloned the disk, not a clean W10 install) and now all the moaning and groaning has stopped !


E65Ross

Original Poster:

36,729 posts

243 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
snuffy said:
and now all the moaning and groaning has stopped !
Is it immature of me that I chuckled at this? hehe

Blimey, didn't realise they were so cheap! SSDs have definitely come down in price then over the last couple of years! How do you clone the drive and copy that to the new drive when the laptop only has 1 port for a HDD? Thank you!

Edited by E65Ross on Sunday 18th August 20:17

snuffy

13,434 posts

315 months

Sunday 18th August 2019
quotequote all
E65Ross said:
snuffy said:
and now all the moaning and groaning has stopped !
Is it immature of me that I chuckled at this? hehe
Oo-err missus !! Stop tittering at the back !

E65Ross said:
Blimey, didn't realise they were so cheap! SSDs have definitely come down in price then over the last couple of years! How do you clone the drive and copy that to the new drive when the laptop only has 1 port for a HDD? Thank you!
I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Dr...

Then you'll need some software to copy from your hard drive to the SSD (there area few free ones. I used the cloning software I have to backs up my desktop, so I already had that).



Jim1064

457 posts

236 months

Tuesday 20th August 2019
quotequote all
snuffy said:
E65Ross said:
snuffy said:
and now all the moaning and groaning has stopped !
Is it immature of me that I chuckled at this? hehe
Oo-err missus !! Stop tittering at the back !

E65Ross said:
Blimey, didn't realise they were so cheap! SSDs have definitely come down in price then over the last couple of years! How do you clone the drive and copy that to the new drive when the laptop only has 1 port for a HDD? Thank you!
I have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-SATA-Adapter-Cable-Dr...

Then you'll need some software to copy from your hard drive to the SSD (there area few free ones. I used the cloning software I have to backs up my desktop, so I already had that).
Yep that cable, plus Macrium free edition to make a clone: https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree