Getting an older, used laptop to run well?

[Torn Mind]

To answer the original question, I would prefer to do a reset to "out of the factory" reinstall from the recovery disk if it were me. It's a waste of a perfectly good Windows license to nuke the entire drive. Of course, if there's software you paid for and didn't come with the laptop, the decision becomes harder as to whether to meticulously find and install the software or just flush the software down the toilet.

You do have the option of selling it as well. If you need to move the inventory fast, lower the price and someone will bite.

 

[Torn Mind]

Do you also carry a briefcase-sized cell phone?

Your analogy is faulty because the "gap of advancements and changes" you speak between his laptop and a Chromebook's hardware. If it were say, a Dell Latitude CS series with a Pentium III, you had a point. His computer was produced during the Nehalem era, which is relatively modern.

The C2D era was the spawning moment for many current "modern" designs for laptop lines. The major flaw that is universally relevant today is the inability to play HD video.

Yes, there are some benefits to a Chromebook, no doubt; weight and battery life indeed superior. The matter is whether it is worth the cost for the person, not only in dollars but the sacrifice needed with using a less convenient environment.

 

[Virgorising]

To answer the original question, I would prefer to do a reset to "out of the factory" reinstall from the recovery disk if it were me. It's a waste of a perfectly good Windows license to nuke the entire drive. Of course, if there's software you paid for and didn't come with the laptop, the decision becomes harder as to whether to meticulously find and install the software or just flush the software down the toilet.

You do have the option of selling it as well. If you need to move the inventory fast, lower the price and someone will bite.

I posted similarly re part one.....almost exactly, in fact, esp with the premise his mom may well have paid extra to have MS Office loaded. If so, "flushing THAT down the toilet" in a clean install, would be a real crime.

Re selling the thing, clearly, and I totally respect this---it's those whose eyes are not even on the same planet with their tummys... the compulsive profligate CC running up humans I have little respect for--- the OP is trying to get a viable working lappy for classes, and with as low out of pocket cost as possible. An entirely laudable goal.

I can not bear it when humans try to either count or spend other peoples' money......and I see that a lot here.

 

[Virgorising]

Your analogy is faulty because the "gap of advancements and changes" you speak between his laptop and a Chromebook's hardware. If it were say, a Dell Latitude CS series with a Pentium III, you had a point. His computer was produced during the Nehalem era, which is relatively modern.

The C2D era was the spawning moment for many current "modern" designs for laptop lines. The major flaw that is universally relevant today is the inability to play HD video.

Yes, there are some benefits to a Chromebook, no doubt; weight and battery life indeed superior. The matter is whether it is worth the cost for the person, not only in dollars but the sacrifice needed with using a less convenient environment.

Nothin but net!:biggrin:

And it was I he was especially trying to impugn in the post you respond to, in my having tried to make a case for not getting sucked in capriciously to newer, lighter, thinner is necessarily BETTER, after he cavalierly called the Dell lappy a "relic" and told the OP, go buy a cheap Chromebook.

Being an unwitting slave to commerce.....is an actual form of slavery.