Cleaning up Laptop software advice please

soprano

soprano

soprano

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4 Mar 2010
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My friend knows nothing about laptops and I know a 'wee bit'
her laptop is full of junk and she has duplicated files all over the place, has no antivirus or firewall and its running like a snail thru treacle

so basically can you advise what free software to use to clean it up/organise it/make it run faster and offer ongoing protection?
think its either xp or vista she's running.


thanks
 
I'd uninstall any programs that she doesn't use anymore, run msconfig from the run box on the start menu and take out any unwanted startup programs, use CCleaner to remove any temporary files and registry entries etc. Stick Microsoft Security Essentials on for virus protection, probably worth defragging it after all this and job done! :)
 
thanks street and thanks for the reply, CC Cleaner I've used so thats on the list, didnt know about the msconfig thing so thats very usefull, is it easy to foloow and do? dont want to delete anything she needs
 
Decrapifier from yorkspace.com (hope that doesn't get word filtered) is aimed at people with a new laptop, but it probably can't hurt to remove the junk that OEMs preinstall on your behalf.

Before doing anything else I would get it virus and spyware scanned (Malware Bytes is my preference) it's probably teeming with nasties.
 
1. Uninstall any unwanted programmes from control panel etc.
2. Copy any photos, work documents etc to external hdd or to another pc.
3. Microsoft security essentials (antivirus)
4. Malwarebytes
5. ZoneAlarm Firewall
6. CCleaner
7. MSconfig to remove unwanted startup programmes and services
8. Defragment with Defraggler.

OR, do a format and complete reinstall as suggested by "mangobreeder"
 
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