Will wiping my Dell laptop return it to 'as new' quality?

chunter

Timmne wrote: »

Hmmm..... have just undone the laptop and it's already 1gb ram! (i.e. 2 x 512).
Does this mean I just need to clean the laptop up as above or wipe it?

undone ?? where are getting this information from?

basmic

Some of own tips, to free up space.

Deleting Windows Update files

1. Open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer)
2. Browse to C: > Windows
3. Starting from the top, you should see some folders starting with dollar signs ($) - usually in blue, but not always.
4. Click the first folder that starts with $, scroll down until you see the last folder that starts with $ (usually before the addins folder) hold down Shift on the keyboard, and left click that last folder
5. Keep holding Shift, and press Delete on your keyboard - windows will ask you if you want to delete these files. It's safe to do so, so click yes.

Deleting temporary files
Part 1

1. Open Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer)
2. Browse to C: > Windows > Temp
3. Highlight everything in here, and press Delete. If you can't delete a bunch of files, because Windows says it can't delete a single file, then delete each file and folder one by one.

Part 2

1. Click Start menu > Run...
2. Type in CMD and press OK or enter
3. Type in the following, and press enter after each line:
   1. CD %TEMP%
   2. DEL *.* /F /S /Q
   3. EXIT

Run CCleaner, and run the default clean. Then run the regstry cleaner, within CCleaner.

Personally, I hate Ad-Aware. I much prefer Spbot: Search & Destroy - Link. Be sure to update all the files, before scanning.

Timmne

chunter wrote: »

undone ?? where are getting this information from?

lol - see penrhyn's post from earlier!

An accountant dismantling a laptop was my wife's concern too but I'm posting this so I think it went OK!

shadowdragon

Timmne wrote: »

Hmmm..... have just undone the laptop and it's already 1gb ram! (i.e. 2 x 512).

Does this mean I just need to clean the laptop up as above or wipe it?

Yeah just wipe and reinstall. There are easier ways to find out if both of your Memory slots are full rather than with a screw driver!!!

The only way to increase the ram would be to buy 2x1gig sticks of ram (ensuring your laptop supports 1gig sticks).

How easy was it to get to both sticks on my compaq one of the slots you have to dismantle the laptop down to removing the keyboard!!!

Timmne

It was just a panel on the back - very easy to remove and didn't have to poke about with anything precious...

I wanted to do remove the keyboard anyway to clean it a bit - scary how much rubbish falls out!

alared

To check your RAM,right click "my computer" and it will show you the amount on your PC.

Download and install this free program and it`ll show you everything that`s on your PC:
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

totalsolutions

A bigger 2.5" HDD ok- but faster- don't think so, they are all the same. In fact the bigger you go for a laptop the slower it is as I have been trying new laptops out and the more densely packed the bigger drives are slower on RPM and access times. This is with >300Gb drives to 150Gb drives.

shadowdragon

totalsolutions wrote: »

A bigger 2.5" HDD ok- but faster- don't think so, they are all the same. In fact the bigger you go for a laptop the slower it is as I have been trying new laptops out and the more densely packed the bigger drives are slower on RPM and access times. This is with >300Gb drives to 150Gb drives.

I agree the seek times increase a lot with bigger drives. And also bear in mind the RPM is maximum RPM so although offers better seek times doesnt run at the full RPM constantly (same with DVD/CD drives its not constant).

To be honest, I have a 250gig HD in my main PC and I am nowhere near getting to the point where its not big enough. Infact I dont think I have every run out of HDD space (but I do back up to DVD/CD regularly and remove unneeded data).

basmic

totalsolutions wrote: »

A bigger 2.5" HDD ok- but faster- don't think so, they are all the same. In fact the bigger you go for a laptop the slower it is as I have been trying new laptops out and the more densely packed the bigger drives are slower on RPM and access times. This is with >300Gb drives to 150Gb drives.

But if the OP has a 4500rpm drive installed, and upgraded to a 7200rpm one, there would be no question of speed increase - it's common knowledge, that the higher the rotation speed, the faster the access speed.

shadowdragon wrote: »

I agree the seek times increase a lot with bigger drives. And also bear in mind the RPM is maximum RPM so although offers better seek times doesnt run at the full RPM constantly (same with DVD/CD drives its not constant).

I think you're mixing up old technology, with new - the drive does not spin faster the closer the drive's head gets to the inner track. It stays at the same speed.

I think you might be thinking of Western Digital's Green drives, which adjust their spin speed to save power.

shadowdragon wrote: »

To be honest, I have a 250gig HD in my main PC and I am nowhere near getting to the point where its not big enough. Infact I dont think I have every run out of HDD space (but I do back up to DVD/CD regularly and remove unneeded data).

I strongly recommend the two posters I have just quoted research the Samsung F1 harddrives.

The tighter packed the data on a drive, the faster the drive can read it - data density.

Note the capacity and spin speed of the top four drives, for the following links:-
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hard-disks/average-read-transfer-performance,675.html?modelx=33&model1=425&model2=414&chart=157
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2-5-hard-drive-charts/Random-Access-Time,690.html

shadowdragon

basmic wrote: »

Note the capacity and spin speed of the top four drives, for the following links:-
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/hard-disks/average-read-transfer-performance,675.html?modelx=33&model1=425&model2=414&chart=157
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2-5-hard-drive-charts/Random-Access-Time,690.html

But the top four drives have the same RMP, looking at the random access times its the MB of the cache that seems to me to make the difference,

For the read tranfer rate again the top four have 16mb of cache opposed to 8mb bar the top one, therefore looking at the charts RMP has little effect on the speed opposed to MB cache.

Also (i havent read all the site) but how much data is on the drives when the test was made? This would make a significant difference.

What if the drive was half full and defragmented? (I know you should keep your drive in a good order but it doesnt happen).