Factory restore Toshiba Satellite

Richard53

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop about 4-5 years old. I'm pleased with it, it does everything I need, and I am more than happy with Windows 7 that it runs. So I'm not much interested in replacing it. However, over the last year or so it has become very slow. I have antivirus and adblocker programs running, but these have been installed for a while, and the loss of speed is more recent.


What I would like to do is do a factory reset. I have all the data backed up and mirrored using the inbuilt backup program and I believe there is a restore function using a partition on the C drive. However, the days when I understood computers was in the time of DOS5 and Windows 3.1, and I would be afraid of getting out of my depth and ruining all my stuff if I tried it on this one. I don't think I need to upgrade anything, as I am not doing anything with the machine that I haven't always done. Hard drive is less than half full. I don't do any gaming or stream movies.


Is there a simple way to perform a clean install? If it's possible, explain like I'm five, if you would be so kind As far as computers are concerned, I am a user, not a techie.


Many thanks.

Browntoa

I didn't think Toshiba did restore partition , are you sure you can do it ?

toshi

Richard53 wrote: »

over the last year or so it has become very slow. I have antivirus and adblocker programs running, but these have been installed for a while, and the loss of speed is more recent.

Why slow down ? Because of sluggish hard disk!

Hello there, I understand this may not be your option, however, still I am tempting to suggest an SSD upgrade as a hard disk replacement.

What you would need to clone the hard disk to an SSD, and swap it. You won’t have to make a clean installation anymore. Your computer will run blazingly fast and never slow down again. This will be the most cost effective upgrade and investment for your notebook, as you would be able to use your notebook for another 3-5 years at least very comfortably.

This videos computer is as “dirty as yours, but simply replace with an SSD, dramatically increase the performance.

https://youtu.be/yQjc-XW0G7Y?t=3m14s


HDD vs SSD - What is the difference?
https://youtu.be/O4ykrNhI5xk?t=27s

I strongly agree that you have no reason to replace your notebook itself as it is already powerful enough, then if you upgrade your slow hard disk with a superfast SSD. You will be in the paradise. Mobile Phone, Tablet use a flash memory based strorage, it is time for computers to catch up with the latest flash memory SSD revolution!

If interested, please let me know the exact model name.

Happy computing

WAYT

Richard53 wrote: »

I have a Toshiba Satellite laptop about 4-5 years old. I'm pleased with it, it does everything I need, and I am more than happy with Windows 7 that it runs. So I'm not much interested in replacing it. However, over the last year or so it has become very slow. I have antivirus and adblocker programs running, but these have been installed for a while, and the loss of speed is more recent.


What I would like to do is do a factory reset. I have all the data backed up and mirrored using the inbuilt backup program and I believe there is a restore function using a partition on the C drive. However, the days when I understood computers was in the time of DOS5 and Windows 3.1, and I would be afraid of getting out of my depth and ruining all my stuff if I tried it on this one. I don't think I need to upgrade anything, as I am not doing anything with the machine that I haven't always done. Hard drive is less than half full. I don't do any gaming or stream movies.


Is there a simple way to perform a clean install? If it's possible, explain like I'm five, if you would be so kind As far as computers are concerned, I am a user, not a techie.


Many thanks.

Begin with the part number. It's written on the bottom of the laptop. e.g. PSLB1E-090088EN

It is likely that this will cover it; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8xCcPj7ss

But come back with the part number regardless.

Richard53

Sorry not to have more detail - I am posting from work and don't have the laptop nearby. Will post part number tomorrow.


There is a partition on the C drive, but I can't remember what it is called. When I get back to it I will post it, but I'm sure it is labelled 'Restore' or something similar.


I don't really want to upgrade anything, as I said above. When the computer was new it was as fast as anything I have had, and I'm not doing anything different with it now - same OS, same programs - so all I want is to return it to its factory state. I know that modern drives are faster, but I don't need that. I just need it to be as it was when I bought it.


Thanks all.

Norman_Castle

Richard53 wrote: »

I have antivirus and adblocker programs running, but these have been installed for a while, and the loss of speed is more recent.

About 5 months ago my 8-9+ year old pc started running slow when online. I stopped using Adblock Plus and installed uBlock Origin. This made a big difference.

I use Linux Mint and Firefox. Not sure if this would affect your OS, browser and ad blocker combination the same way but swapping or disabling your ad blocker is easier than reinstalling your OS.

Richard53

Browntoa wrote: »

I didn't think Toshiba did restore partition , are you sure you can do it ?

You were right. There is no restore partition. Must have been thinking of something else, no idea what.

WAYT wrote: »

Begin with the part number. It's written on the bottom of the laptop. e.g. PSLB1E-090088EN

It is likely that this will cover it; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8xCcPj7ss

But come back with the part number regardless.

PSC9SE-00T00DEN

Will check out Youtube now I have a couple of days off. Thanks.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

About 5 months ago my 8-9+ year old pc started running slow when online. I stopped using Adblock Plus and installed uBlock Origin. This made a big difference.

I use Linux Mint and Firefox. Not sure if this would affect your OS, browser and ad blocker combination the same way but swapping or disabling your ad blocker is easier than reinstalling your OS.

It got noticeably slower when I installed Adblock Plus (but price worth paying, and all that), and then recently slowed down a lot more. I will give this a try. Many thanks all.

DoaM

+1 for uBlock Origin ... I've used it for a while and find it faster and better than ABP.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

is this any help:

Make sure the AC Adapter is plugged in and working. Press and hold down the 0 (zero) key on the keyboard while powering on the computer/tablet. Release it when the recovery warning screen appears. If the recovery process offers a choice of Operating Systems, select the appropriate one for you.

WAYT

Richard53 wrote: »

You were right. There is no restore partition. Must have been thinking of something else, no idea what.



PSC9SE-00T00DEN

Will check out Youtube now I have a couple of days off. Thanks.



It got noticeably slower when I installed Adblock Plus (but price worth paying, and all that), and then recently slowed down a lot more. I will give this a try. Many thanks all.

The YouTube guide should work, but your real issue is this;



coupled with the unnecessary software that will likely be reinstalled when you run a Factory restore.

But with 4GB of RAM is should be ok.

Richard53

DoaM wrote: »

+1 for uBlock Origin ... I've used it for a while and find it faster and better than ABP.

ABP gone and uBlock installed. Web browsing is noticeably quicker, so thanks to you and Norman Castle.

[Deleted User] wrote:

Hi,

is this any help:

Make sure the AC Adapter is plugged in and working. Press and hold down the 0 (zero) key on the keyboard while powering on the computer/tablet. Release it when the recovery warning screen appears. If the recovery process offers a choice of Operating Systems, select the appropriate one for you.

Thanks, will give that a go.

WAYT wrote: »

The YouTube guide should work, but your real issue is this;



coupled with the unnecessary software that will likely be reinstalled when you run a Factory restore.

But with 4GB of RAM is should be ok.

I'm at work, so all I see is a placeholder there, but will check when I get home. Sorry not to respond for the last few days - real life took over for a bit.