LaptopQuery

[Tomliner]

My daughters Dell laptop is about 5 years old(running XP) and I suspect has not had much in the way basic mainetenance done on it.The 80 Gig disc was about 90% full and wouldn't even allow a full defrag to run.I believe that she has now tried to free up some space and I am thinking that another defrag should be tried then download and run Ccleaner and the get a copy of something like Registry Mechanic.Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this Personally I think it is time for a new laptop!Thanks guys. EricT

[DaveB]

Hi Eric

An easy solution would be for her to get an external drive and offload as much cr@p as possible onto it. Start going through programs she has used once or not for ages and uninstall them. When it's in a fit state.. go for a defrag.

As an aside.. I bought my daughter a 1TB external drive a couple of years ago and it's some of the best money I've ever spent on her!

ATB

DaveB

[petermcleland]

My daughters Dell laptop is about 5 years old(running XP) and I suspect has not had much in the way basic mainetenance done on it.The 80 Gig disc was about 90% full and wouldn't even allow a full defrag to run.I believe that she has now tried to free up some space and I am thinking that another defrag should be tried then download and run Ccleaner and the get a copy of something like Registry Mechanic.Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this Personally I think it is time for a new laptop!Thanks guys. EricT

Eric,

I agree...You will be amazed at just how much crap CCleaner will root out and Registry Mechanic will do a superb job of pruning the registry back to a normal size. I also agree with the suggested 1TB external drive suggestion...They are very cheap now from Maplins as the big ones are now 2TBs!

[ianhind]

This got a good response from an online bargain checker (http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/iomega- ... ive/842396)

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/3.5-inch-Deskt ... ive/688703


Note: beware of using that bargain review site - I've spent more money than I probably should have by keeping an eye on that

[DanKH]

5 years seems to be a good timeframe for a complete re-install.

Either XP again, og Win 7 Home edition .....

I'm sure it will actually "feel" like a new machine again.

[Tomliner]

Many thanks for the replies so far.I just wanted confirmation from those more knowledgable than I am thinking along the right lines.On my own pc I frequently defrag and occasionally run Ccleaner and Reg Mechanic.I also periodically run Acronis to due a complete backup to my external hard drive. EricT