So I've got an old laptop, about 6 years old on original Windows vista. It's now very slow and unusable really...

I've got a new laptop now but wanted to get it usable.

Is there a way to get a fresh copy of vista or format it without much hassle?

It's got nothing on that I want or need. I'd be happy with Windows xp or vista, Windows 7 might be a little bit much for it.

Time to grab a copy of lubuntu or xbuntu or any other light weight linux distro.

 

its really not that daunting! Linux should run ok and will do most everything you need of it. If it helps we gave a 80 year old ubuntu as his first computer for email/skype/web absolutely fine.

What make is it? There could be a recovery partition.

I googled Linux, the first three results are all security related.

I'd like to keep the same OS if possible, just want to get rid of all the rubbish over the last 6 year, it's never going to be great but only want to download music time to time and use iTunes or similar for my iPad.

The laptop is...

Fujitsu computers Siemens

Esprimo Mobile

Model: esprimo V5535

http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/COMP/fpcap/notebooks/previous/factsheet_v5535.pdf

Hope that helps

If it ran Vista, it should run Win7 - and probably faster than new as 7 isnt the resource-hog that Vista was.

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If you want to try-before-you-buy, download Tiny7, although 7 prices are very low now, I recently picked up a "refurbed" 7 Pro 64 bit package through Amazon for £28 (it was brand new and unused).

 

With any Win OS, they slow down over time as they get clogged up with old HotFix files, temp files and scraps left over from uninstalled programs; use CCleaner to clean up.

 

An elderly friend was using a 2001 PC running XP for basically net surfing; it came with a 20GB drive, of which 14 GB was filled with garbage files that CCleaner removed (this was last year). It went from so slow it took 5 minutes to start, to running at an acceptable speed (although he has now bought a new one running 8.1 that he complains is even slower !!!

SSD is the speed demon you need :3

Flatten the hard drive and reinstall the OS you will be amazed how quick it will be (given if the drive isn't ready to fall over on you)

How would I reinstall the OS, will it not ask for a new product key etc?

Have a read of this to see if you have a recovery partition and how to access it on a Fujitsu:

 

http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/restore-factory-settings-fujitsu-lifebook-19801.html

How would I reinstall the OS, will it not ask for a new product key etc?

 

Shame your not local I would of done this for you restored your files for a couple of quid and a few tinnies. 

Like greenstripe mentions see if you got a partition first - if you have your lucky.

SSD is the speed demon you need :3

 

Totally. I put a cheap SSD in an even older laptop and it goes like a rocket. I picked up a 120Gb Sandisk SSD the other week for £30.

 

If there is a windows product key on the laptop case then it shouldn't be hard to get a download of a Windows installer disk. MS have no issues with copies of the disks going around it's the key that you pay for.

 

It's quite possible the old laptop could run Win10 quite happily. Win10 is even more efficient than win7 or 8. But you would need to pay for it. Again a bit of luck and you could pick up a cheap copy of Win8 and use that to upgrade to Win10. [clicky click] Yes Win8 about for £35 which would let to move to Win10 for free. Win10 is £99.

 

But it might be the moment to try your hand with Linux. can be a bit tricky to get the drivers all working (especially wifi) but the Linux distros are much easier to install than they used to be.

Edited 5 October, 201510 yr by Aspman