Laptop suddenly very slow...

[Hork]

My son came home from college and complained that a few days ago his laptop started running very slow, with stuttering music and video. He couldn't tell me if anything had been installed or changed on the computer, as his roommates seem to use it more than he does.

I've run virus scans and spyware scans and the only think it is finding is the zango stuff associated with bearshare, which he had before and it was working fine.

I booted in safe mode, and it still seems slow. I'm thinking it must be the hard disk.

Is there diagnostic software or hard drive testing software out there that is free that I can use to find the problem?

 

[btcomm1]

Yes, there is usually. First you have to find out what kind of HD you have. Is it a Western digital? Is it a Maxtor? Is it something else? If right click on go to my computer and go to properties and then go to the hardware tab, then go to device manager then click the plus next to disk drivers. Post back what the exact model that it lists there. If it lists more then one post all of them. From there we can find out what model of HD you have and what utility you would need to download.