Concerned that my laptop is screwed.

[Pool Hall Ace]

I have noticed lately that it seems to be running slower and slower. I showed it to my neighbor, an IT professional, and he suggested that there was too much junk on it. By "junk," he meant Malwarebytes, CCleaner, Revo Uninstaller, etc.

He removed all of that and told me to use Microsoft Security Essentials. I told him that what I really wanted was a different operating system, such as Ubuntu. He scoffed at that and told me what a great guy Bill Gates is.

Last night, an update ran, but the computer was frozen, so I rebooted. That didn't help. I booted it in Safe Mode, downloaded Malwarebytes and CCleaner, and ran them. Nothing found. X-(

I performed a System Restore going back to the previous day. At first, it seemed to reboot okay, but then it froze again.

I don't have any of the operating system disks, so I can't reinstall Vista. I don't have a lot of money for a new laptop. I'm posting in Safe Mode right now, but I don't have any idea what to do, and I have no idea what a professional would charge to fix it.

Any ideas? Did I tell you that I don't like Windows?

[ChromeFoundry]

1. If you want to give Linux a try...

you can download most any distro on a LiveCD to try out before you install.

Most LiveCDs can be gotten here: http://www.livecdlist.com/

This way you won't lose anything on your current OS until you are good and ready.

[Mnpaul]

2. I just tried Ubuntu from a usb drive

It needs to be at least 4gb to run of the drive. CCleaner and Malware Bytes shouldn't be slowing down your computer. IT must be something else(virus). You might have a restore partition on your hard drive containing the disk for Vista. Look for something in the menu that has the manufacturers name and a restore program. Make sure to back up your files when prompted to do so by the program or they will be lost.

[RC]

4. My first suspect would be the hard drive.

How full is it? Have you run check disk?
Does it run longer after it has been off for several hours? Fan and cpu heat sink full of dust.

[Pool Hall Ace]

6. Oh, I've had that problem before

with the fan and heat sink.

I haven't run check disk.

[sir pball]

5. MSE is actually very good.

Probably the best free AV out there, but I digress.

If you want Ubuntu, install Ubuntu. Me, I prefer PC-BSD but there's nothing wrong with the former and it should be quite a bit faster than a bloated aged Vista install. If not, there's much lighter Linuxes to be had.

Or if you're technically inclined, you could start mucking around and figure out what is bogging your laptop down; if it ran fine with Vista when it was newer, you CAN get it back to that point. Question is, how hard do you want to try.

[gvstn]

7. Just to follow up on what MnPaul said

See if you have a recovery partition or the ability to write recovery disks. That would give you options for doing a factory reset.

Take a look at Start>All Programs for a folder with the laptop manufacturer's name and see if there is anything relevant to a restore program. Did you ever burn recovery disks when you first got the notebook? They only allow one set but if you never burned them then you should still have that option. You might also be able to initiate the restore directly from Windows. (Note: a factory restore wipes the HD of all your personal data, pictures, music etc.)

The other place to look is go to Start and type disk management into the search box and hit enter. Take a look at Disk 0 in the graphs and see if there is a recovery partition that still exists. Should be around 10gb.

[AgingAmerican]

8. I would not reinstall Vista

Vista is crap.

If you want to try something more stable, try xubuntu. Xubuntu is the Ubuntu version for older hardware. It is the latest version of Ubuntu but very light weight, a very good way to dip your toe into the linux world. I run it on my netbook and it is five times faster than the 'Windows 7 starter' that came with the netbook AND the wireless runs right out of the box.

http://xubuntu.org/

[Warpy]

9. Go to a book store and get "Ubuntu for Dummies"

It comes with a fairly recent Ubuntu build on a CD. Just slap that puppy in the tray and use it to boot the machine up. Then sit with the book in your lap and figure out what it can do.

Ubuntu is very user friendly. It was easier to cope with going from XP than it was going to Win 7.

My own roadblock with Ubuntu came with my rotten ass wireless system. When it dies, I'm going to a competitor that will work with Ubuntu.

ETA: I agree with everybody else who said open it up and blow the dust out of there and see if that helps. It could also be the power supply, but my first guess is dust.

[Pool Hall Ace]

10. I have no problem with blowing the dust out. That being said . . .

I still don't miss Windows !