Hey guys recently my laptop is being really shitty. It just feels....bleh...you know? All the shit I have downloaded, tons of useless pictures, games that i dont want etc... So is there a way to restore my laptop to exactly how it was when I got it? I probably want to sell it soon anyway and don't want to sell it with all my stuff on here like personal details, stuff to do with weed, porn etc. The only things I want is my iTunes library and I will put that on a usb or something.
format your hard drive. you will want to have a windows operating system on a CD before you do that however. You could also try to delete all unnecessary things, then go to start, all programs, accessories, system tools, and do a disk cleanup and a disk defragment. This will basically move all your stuff around so it takes up the least amount of space on your HD, creating more room for your system to use.
Yeah, let's search Google for "make PC faster". Jesus fuck. I cannot imagine a single more SEO-flooded search term than that. That's almost as bad as searching for "Viagra". 99.9999% chance of the result you click ending up on some Nigerian scam page selling "PC OPTIMIZE 2012 NOW ONLY $29.95". Those programs don't do shit. Well, they do... they fuck up your computer. Slow computer? It's a learning experience. Computers are not disposable for software problems. Computer hardware doesn't just slow down with age. Hard drives, maybe, but that's another topic. Dust, maybe. Open the case side (desktop) and blow it out with a can of gas duster, or put it on its side (laptop) and shoot it through the vent (heat sink) to blow the dust out the bottom/sides. Don't worry about blowing it into the computer. Generally, the dust gets broken up and airborne by the force of the blast. Just keep dusting until dust stops coming out. Other than that, general maintenance issues are all software related. A quick reload with your system's restore partition (NOT "System Restore" - that's a rollback feature of Windows to "band-aid" configuration problems) will get you back to day 1 performance. Check with your system manual, but generally, if it's a newish Vista or Windows 7 computer, you can mash the F8 key (repeatedly) immediately after turning the power on, which should bring up a startup menu (if you get to the Windows loading screen/scrolling bar, you were too slow, reboot and try again). Select the "Repair your computer" option. This will load the special recovery mode of Windows (some Vista and any 7 only). In there, depending on the OEM, should be an option to restore or "recover" your computer. Just be sure to back up ALL YOUR SHIT. I highly recommend using "Windows Easy Transfer" (click start and search for it) to back up and restore your files and settings. Much more thorough than "just" backing up your files. Be sure to go "Advanced" and deselect your recovery partition for backup... it can be stupid like that. Also root through the advanced selections of your C: drive, and deselect other folders in the root of the drive EXCEPT for AppData and Users. If in doubt, just deselect your recovery partition, although it's unlikely to cause major problems if you forget/don't understand that. If you're using XP, it's time to upgrade anyway.
Download this and run a scan, you might have a virus or registry errors. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com
I would also download CCleaner and a spyware program. Spyware is usually the cause of bad performance
yea seriously do this. You can fiddle with av apps and registry cleaners, but a fresh install will yield your best performance. Also check for stuff running that your not using, like IM apps, old apps, search engine toolbars. Registrycleaner is a good app to use on older pc's. Registry errors slow down your pc sometimes.
CCleaner is a very nice tool. Don't forget to also run an anti-virus scan, also check out spybot (Search & Destroy) it is a nice program for catching spyware among other things. If that fails, uninstall old programs you don't run anymore. Then if all else fails reformat.
What brand of computer and what Operating system? Chances are it has a recovery partition that you can use to restore it to factory default. You should prolly also make a set of OS discs after you do, hard copy discs are always better.