Is my friend's laptop doomed?

Tinky · 12-07-2022, 01:19

At the risk of repeating myself, my friend has entrusted me with his precious laptop as he is going on holiday. It takes a lifetime to start and is unresponsive to most clicks. I have tried settings to reset but it tells me it can't do that. Any thoughts/ideas please?

DocDutch · 12-07-2022, 06:05

if you have a large usb external hard drive I would copy this folder onto it c:\users"username"\ copy all there then reinstall windows fully if a reset doesn't work than only thing that might help is a full reinstall of Windows.

GrimUpNorth · 12-07-2022, 08:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocDutch

if you have a large usb external hard drive I would copy this folder onto it c:\users"username"\ copy all there then reinstall windows fully if a reset doesn't work than only thing that might help is a full reinstall of Windows.

I'd do what the Doc says, but also do a search for images, documents etc because if they're like me there's no guarantee that they've stored things in the folder above. If in doubt I'd try and grab a copy of the whole drive just in case! As the Doc says, I find sometimes a fresh install is easier then spending hours battling with a pc that is as unhappy as this laptop seems to be.

Tinky · 12-07-2022, 08:25

Would 64gb memory stick be large enough?

Halcyon · 12-07-2022, 08:29

It depends how much stuff they have in their user account.

As others have said, take out the hard drive, hook it up to a USB caddy and browse to the users folder and copy it. You can always just copy it to your machine first to then check what needs copying, eg. my documents folder, my photos, etc.

Then once you've got it backed up, put the drive back in the laptop.

If you have a Windows Installer USB boot from that and re-install Windows.
If you dont have Windows then there may be a re-install partition on the laptop.

Jaymoss · 12-07-2022, 09:36

If you go to to the below site download the download tool and create a bootable usb installer. Google this term ( replace make and model with real one) "make and model boot select menu" this should tell you what key to press at boot to get to the menu to select the USB stick. Go through the motions until it comes up with repair option and see if it will do it from there. It might not be able to do it from windows due to corrupt files. Back up first

It is a shame you are not close as I would install an SSD in it for you as it likely has a mechanical drive (guessing but educated)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...load/windows10

Another thing you could try before all this is create a new user and boot to that. Often users can become corrupt and I have seen many times simply making a new user can fix issues .

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ion=Windows_10

You could also try running ccleaner to clean up everything then hit start and type cmd, when it shows the item right click on it and select run as administrator and then type exactly sfc /scannow this will scan for corrupted system files and attempt to repair them. It might be worth having the windows 10 installer you made earlier as it may need files off it

tweetiepooh · 12-07-2022, 12:35

Depending on model changing the HD can be very easy. On the Lenovo Thinkpads it's one screw to remove drive cover, pull out the caddy, change disk in caddy, push back in and replace cover. (If changing to SSD there maybe a BIOS change to get it to work at best speeds).

Then you can install Windows or Linux. In either case separate off admin/root from user accounts.

Install software as needed. (You may need to find keys for some software.)

Now put the old disk into external caddy and copy back the user files that are needed. You may lose some settings.

Tinky · 12-07-2022, 19:26

Thank you everyone for your concern, firstly I do not have a large enough USB to copy c drive, and the rest of the instructions are far too complicated for this old woman to understand, also the search button is not working properly on his laptop, which is making life very difficult.

I guess I am going to have to concede defeat, and I don't like that one bit.

Jaymoss · 12-07-2022, 19:29

You could install teamviewer if it will let you and I could remote and try to set up a new user then you could see if that fixes it at all? I could also run the file checker and do a couple of other things. I know you do not know me from Adam but the offer is there

Tinky · 12-07-2022, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaymoss

You could install teamviewer if it will let you and I could remote and try to set up a new user then you could see if that fixes it at all? I could also run the file checker and do a couple of other things. I know you do not know me from Adam but the offer is there

Very kind offer Jay, it's been a long day for me. I will try and see if I could set up a new user tomorrow and let you know how I get on, and perhaps we could take it from there?

Jaymoss · 12-07-2022, 19:52

cool

Halcyon · 13-07-2022, 09:48

Note that it isnt the entire C: drive you need to copy, just the users area.

pip08456 · 13-07-2022, 11:35

All good suggestions you've been given so far but I'd be interested in the following.

Make and model of laptop?

Is it possible for a CPU upgrade?

Is it possible for memory upgrade?

HDD to SSD will definately make a difference but for the rest answer the first question.

**Paul** · 13-07-2022, 15:18

How old is it ?

Perhaps time for them to just get a new one.

Halcyon · 13-07-2022, 16:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul

How old is it ?

Perhaps time for them to just get a new one.

Thats what I was thinking. Often laptops will have components soldered on so unless its just the RAM, harder to upgrade.
Once backed up, get a new laptop.