New Laptop, Some Questions...
05-01-2008, 08:43 PM
#1
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Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
Okay, this new laptop, it's got a 20 GB HDD, but it's partitioned into a C and D drive, 10 gigs each. The C is filled and after uninstalling everything I could and deleting a TON of shit, it's only got about a gig free. Mcafee won't even let me defrag it, says it needs 15 percent free to do it, and I've got 11. I've ran all of the windows update stuff, and it upgraded IE to 7, but it won't open any pages, only firefox will.
1. What should I do? Just format and reinstall XP on this bish?
2. Can anyone tell me a bit about laptop upgrades? I mean how do you add ram and the like? I know almost nothing about these things.
3. If I do 1, will that put it all as one partition (I should be able to pick that, right?) Is there any way for me to put this all back into one partition?
Just lookin for some help. Decent lappy for what I need it for, but I'm a bit lost here.
1. What should I do? Just format and reinstall XP on this bish?
2. Can anyone tell me a bit about laptop upgrades? I mean how do you add ram and the like? I know almost nothing about these things.
3. If I do 1, will that put it all as one partition (I should be able to pick that, right?) Is there any way for me to put this all back into one partition?
Just lookin for some help. Decent lappy for what I need it for, but I'm a bit lost here.
05-01-2008, 09:20 PM
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Ideally, and especially if there's not really anything worth saving on it, reformat it and start over. I've tried deleting and uninstalling lots of things on full up computers, but there's nothing like a full reformat. During the reformat, you can partition the drives however you want, preferably all in one. I believe you can simply delete one partition now, but I'm not sure if the remaining partition will automatically take up the open space or what, but I think it is possible. Again, a reformat will take care of that much easier.
Laptop upgrades are similar to regular computer upgrades, except you don't have as much room to expand. For instance, in a regular computer, you could probably pop in another 1gb of RAM and be set. With a laptop, you probably have to pull out an old 256mb stick and replace it with a 1gb, rather than just adding on. It's possible, but not quite as easy. You can also upgrade your hard drive pretty easily. Find a compatible one that's a larger size and swap. Obviously, you'd have to save anything on your old hard drive on an outside source and reformat the new one, but at least you can upgrade over your current 20gb one.
Laptop upgrades are similar to regular computer upgrades, except you don't have as much room to expand. For instance, in a regular computer, you could probably pop in another 1gb of RAM and be set. With a laptop, you probably have to pull out an old 256mb stick and replace it with a 1gb, rather than just adding on. It's possible, but not quite as easy. You can also upgrade your hard drive pretty easily. Find a compatible one that's a larger size and swap. Obviously, you'd have to save anything on your old hard drive on an outside source and reformat the new one, but at least you can upgrade over your current 20gb one.
05-02-2008, 09:44 AM
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1. if you just bought this one from someone else definently reinstall. If you don't think you can do it most shops charge ~55 to install windows, thats what I charge.
Most likely ie is damaged and you could spend alot of time repairing it when a reinstall will do it and have much better total results.
2. upgrades are dependent on the system you have. Memory type and space need to be checked out. Really with a laptop the only upgrades are hdd and memory. Everything else can be done but will be a royal pain in the butt. I've replaced processors and optical drives but it takes more time and effort.
3. during install make sure to delete all the partitions then install to the empty space and it'll set it up for you.
Most likely ie is damaged and you could spend alot of time repairing it when a reinstall will do it and have much better total results.
2. upgrades are dependent on the system you have. Memory type and space need to be checked out. Really with a laptop the only upgrades are hdd and memory. Everything else can be done but will be a royal pain in the butt. I've replaced processors and optical drives but it takes more time and effort.
3. during install make sure to delete all the partitions then install to the empty space and it'll set it up for you.
05-02-2008, 10:24 AM
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Sounds to me like someone did a poor job partitioning the computer and tried to put the OS on a small partition. Now you can't defrag because the computer doesnt have enough space to move things around in that area. Definitely reformat, if you have a factory reboot CD (or whatever they're called) use that, and don't partition. a 20 Gb HDD is way too small to partition, you'll have problems defragging all over the place.
05-02-2008, 10:26 AM
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Before you start blowing stuff away lets answer a few questions,
1. When you picked this up did they give you a driver CD or was it the laptop and a power cord?
2. Do you have a copy of windows you can throw on there?
If they gave you a disk with the drivers on it, it will make the install go a lot smoother. I personally would erase everything as the web surfing habits of people can put a lot of nasties on the computer that you may not know about. If ithe computer is showing that it is that full it will take a performance hit as well. Windows does not like super full hard drives.
I would go the reformat from scratch route if you have all the tools necessary to get yourself a laptop you know will run good.
1. When you picked this up did they give you a driver CD or was it the laptop and a power cord?
2. Do you have a copy of windows you can throw on there?
If they gave you a disk with the drivers on it, it will make the install go a lot smoother. I personally would erase everything as the web surfing habits of people can put a lot of nasties on the computer that you may not know about. If ithe computer is showing that it is that full it will take a performance hit as well. Windows does not like super full hard drives.
I would go the reformat from scratch route if you have all the tools necessary to get yourself a laptop you know will run good.
05-02-2008, 11:40 AM
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^^ got this one for free from somebody. well apprently he was going to break their legs so they paid him with a laptop.
http://www.rdtiburon.com/index.php?showtopic=27378&hl=
Socks thats a good idea on a larger harddrive to keep down fragmentation of the OS but with a 20 gigger its a bad idea. I really only bother doing that on gaming rigs or servers. you know redz, he'll fill up the c: drive with crap and have an empty storage drive...
http://www.rdtiburon.com/index.php?showtopic=27378&hl=
Socks thats a good idea on a larger harddrive to keep down fragmentation of the OS but with a 20 gigger its a bad idea. I really only bother doing that on gaming rigs or servers. you know redz, he'll fill up the c: drive with crap and have an empty storage drive...