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General discussion

Will reformatting help?

Nov 23, 2009 4:27AM PST

Hi, I have a Toshiba Tecra thats been serving me well for almost 3 yrs now. It serves most of my personal computing needs, but has become awfully slow lately despite a 2GB RAM. Would it be a wise idea to reformat and load it with Windows 7? (I currently use XP + SP3) Will its performance get any better after a full disk clean up? I worry I'll lose all the Toshiba hardware drivers though. I really do not see the need for a new laptop, just a tune up should do just fine. Please help!

Discussion is locked

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Re: reformat
Nov 23, 2009 4:34AM PST

If it turns out that you can't find drivers for Windows 7, a reload of XP should be just as fine performance-wise.

Kees

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Re: reformat
Nov 24, 2009 3:48AM PST

Thanks for your inputs Kees. My version of XP came pre-installed with my laptop, so it did not get a disk. Are there other options you might suggest?

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In all my laptops ...
Nov 24, 2009 5:34AM PST

that's mine, my sons and 2 of my daughter (Dell twice, Toshiba, Fujitsu Siemens) the OS was pre-installed and they came with an OS disk. So you "so" isn't so so.
There might be a recovery partition then? There should be a way to reinstall the OS. Just call their helpdesk if you can't find it in the documentation.

Kees

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Check performance and maintenance
Nov 24, 2009 2:47AM PST

Check you computer's performance and maintenance: go to the 'start' menu, select 'control panel' and check your computer's 'performance and maintenance'- you can go through your computer to 'free up space on your hard disk' and manage programs that are slowing your computer down.

If you are interested in upgrading to Windows 7, you will want to make sure your PC is compatible and go through the installation steps here:http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/help/upgrading-from-windows-xp-to-windows-7.

Cheers,
Tara

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performance tuning
Nov 24, 2009 3:50AM PST

Thanks Tara. I have looked at multiple preformance tuning options and the machine still takes a while to get anything done. Have uninstalled a bunch of apps, cleared all temp files etc.

If I do go for a Windows 7 upgrade (all compatibility checks working fine), will it help improve speed in any way or will I still run into these problems?

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Try a custom installation
Dec 5, 2009 1:54PM PST
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Which Tecra?
Nov 24, 2009 4:59AM PST

"Press and hold the 0 (zero) key on your keyboard while powering on the computer. When the computer powers on, the. Toshiba Recovery Wizard " is found widely of the Tosh.

Recovery media creation is now OUR RESPONSIBILITY yet you find most ignore it. I think I can lay part of the blame on the stores that want to not scare the customers off about backup being OUR RESPONSIBILITY.

BestBuy tends to talk the owners out of letting them see the first boot screens that tell you to make the recovery media so again the stores are not doing anyone any favors.

Ok, now that we know about the zero key you have choices to make about backup. You can also explore if you can make recovery media today.
Bob