Only get Ubuntu if you feel like educating yourself about how to install and use it. It's not "so easy my grandma can do it!" as the linux crowd likes to say. Windows 7 + malwarebytes and windows security essentials should be enough. If you've reformatted twice and it's still doing it, it sounds like it's a hardware issue. Unless you're using Windows 8, then it's probably just windows. If you are, you can actually get a downgrade to Windows 7 for free. When the laptop is all laggy, open your task manager and see what it lagging shit up.
Ubuntu is fine for novices anymore. The software center is like app store; a trivial way to install software using a GUI program. The browsers (chrome, firefox, etc.) work perfectly fine.
Mac Mac Mac Mac Mac. I've had three or four pc's and 3 or 4 Macs over the years. Every PC I ever had got a virus at some point, and in one instance wiped the computer of all my work. Never had a virus of any kind with any Mac or Mac product. Honestly, this is why I will continue to spend extra on Mac. So much less stress.
im starting to think it's a hardware issue. I reformatted it again, and downloaded essentials. nothing showed up. But you know how you can hear the HD spinning? mine goes whir whir whir whirwhir, whir whir whir whirwhir, over and over and over and over.
is there a part I can buy to replace whatever has crapped out (if it is that?) The laptop did get knocked onto the ground a while ago, so maybe it jarred something loose or something.
I just don't know much about laptops. This is why I love my PC. I can pop open the tower and replace something when it craps out. I don't know enough about laptops to pop them open and mess with them. You could try Geek Squad or maybe Fry's.
Yes, a hard drive is pretty easy to replace. You can google how to replace the hard drive for your model of laptop. Fry's will probably do it for cheap if you buy a new hard drive from them.
^^ I would look into this. I've usually had a good experience with the guys in the tech department at Fry's.
Ok, so I did a diagnostic on my HD (via the "press escape" option when you turn on the computer) and yep...HD test showed it's failing. If you replace a HD on a laptop, does it have to be the same brand? Or does that matter at all?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st?k...eature_three_browse-bin:6797517011&sort=price SSD many times faster than your existing drive, but smaller. These are ~120G drives. Enough to hold a music collection of 15,000 songs or more. Installation/replacement is the same as for any other drive you'd do. It's really simple, too. Just google for your laptop's service manual or owner's manual. There's usually a set of instructions how to remove the drive.
Putting windows on a solid state drive (SSD) is an easy way to speed things up considerably, but if if you only use the laptop for surfing and word processing you won't notice the difference outside of a slightly faster boot up time. My laptop has an SSD that only has windows on it then a traditional HD for everything else and I run things like photoshop, flash and some music programs and it flies. Games I imagine would get a boost as well. It does take a wee bit of research to set it up though.
I finished putting the new hard drive in this morning. So far, so good. The old one was a toshiba..which leaves me confused.
Why does that leave you confused? Because Toshiba makes laptops also? Many of the parts in an iphone are made by Samsung who also makes a competing product. Many of the parts in the human body came from Africans who are a competing race. It's how the world works.
