Is my laptop worth saving or should I let it die a dignified death?

[Konini]

Hardware has never been my forte, so hope someone can help. I know that without inspecting the hardware it's impossible for anyone to say for certain, but would like to know if it sounds as though there may be some way of not consigning it to the rubbish heap as it seems so wasteful.

My laptop is just over 3 years old and appears to be on it's last legs - I haven't had one last this long before as in the past we were out on the road most of the time and they tended to get thrown around a lot more than would be normal. I've been going to buy a transformer-type laptop as soon as I get around to doing a bit of research on them, the performance of the laptop over the last couple of weeks has spurred me on a bit, so a getting new one was something I was going to do anyway (eventually).

It wasn't a real cheapie, I think I paid 23,000 baht for it. No big deal really as it's on at least 12 hours every day so nobody can say I haven't had my money's worth, but I wonder if it really is junk. I intend to install Kubuntu or Chrome OS and hook it up to the TV and use it for streaming so it doesn't have too much work to do, perhaps I'll get another year or so out of it, but I wonder if anything could be done to revive it by spending a little money on it. It's a Samsung i5, so midrange.

Like me, it's getting slow in it's old age. Does some things no problem, but more and more often if I give it a big job, even just moving big files between partitions, it slows to a crawl; sometimes it hangs or is going so slowly I give up altogether. Even when re-assembling files downloaded by Internet Download Manager it comes to an almost standstill, things like this that would previously have been done in seconds is taking minutes. I've always been careful to use cooler pads and if it seems to be getting too hot I turn it off for a while. It now seems always warm and often very hot in the top left quarter where the power cord goes in, I thought that was the problem but it slowed to the point of me having to reboot it this morning pretty much as soon as I'd turned it on (unzipping a big file) so now I'm not sure if it's a chicken or egg thing.

It's not operating system related, I use drive imaging and have a nice clean install of Windows every week or so and I did a whole new install of a different version of Windows from scratch last month. The battery has been on it's way out for a while and now lasts only about 20 minutes before shutting down if I forget to plug it in - not a problem as it is only used at home. Yesterday I thought maybe the battery was somehow involved so I tried running it without the battery inserted, but it doesn't work at all without it. I don't have the original power cord, the replacement is not genuine but if that were a problem I think it would have shown up a few months ago when I first got it (it has been gradually getting slower over the months, but I've put it down to old age).

If it's junk, it's junk, as I said I've had my money's worth out of it, and I know we live in a disposable world but it seems such a waste. If it could be revived to it's former glory without spending huge amounts of money on it, I could pass it on to one of the family when we go back home later this year.

Any thoughts on this will be appreciated.

[sean in udon]

Initial thoughts are over heating or hard drive issues.

Try downloading crystaldiskinfo or similar free hard analysis software.

Out and about at the moment, so unable to offer much assistance.

If no one else is able to help earlier, I'll happily guide you through some checks later. Will be after 5pm (Thailand time).

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[sean in udon]

Sorry that should read ' or similar free hard drive analysis software'

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[NanLaew]

Strange that a new image or re-installed o/s does not restore the laptop to 'as new' performance. I reckon there's another issue, possibly the HD as pointed out earlier? However, I reckon the hot spots may be due to clogged cooling fins on the CPU and VGA (if add-on installed) heat sinks. Next time you do a restore, re-image or clean o/s install, take it to the local laptop specialist, open it up and get it cleaned out.

If that solves the problem and there are no obvious hardware issues like dead USB ports or dodgy optical drives and you plan on keeping it longer, you may consider shopping around on Ebay or similar for a spare motherboard. I had a couple of Asus laptops that gradually died with various issues but after shopping around on Ebay, I acquired a tested mobo and all the other broken bits for less than $150 and the local laptop shop took 4 hours and 800 baht to restore both of them to store-bought condition.

[GuyL]

I suspect that your laptop internal parts might be a bit dirty (which wouldn't be unusual for a 3-year old notebook). Try to clean it thoroughly (or make it cleaned by a notebook specialist) not only externally, but also internally.

Just in case, you can run the free version of Advanced System Care and repair all the errors found, then restart your computer: it usually solves the most common problems that are not caused by a dysfunctional hardware part.

If it doesn't solve the problem, then, you might have one or several faulty components (RAM is often the culprit, but it also could be something else such as a hard disk issue, for instance).

The i5 processor is still a quite good one for a laptop computer, therefore, it should not be necessary to replace your notebook right now unless it has a faulty component that is rather expensive to repair or replace (such as its motherboard, for instance).

Edited February 14, 2014 by GuyL

[muratremix]

Take your laptop to a laptop service for cleaning internals (dust) and ask them to apply thermal paste to cpu/gpu cooler by removing old one.

Then, you can buy a new harddrive or ssd and let them install for you. You can install same windows using same windows key noted under your laptop or you can backup entire harddrive and restore into new drive using another computer, or can ask them to do it.

mechanical harddrives tend to wear out especially in small 2.5" size. You can get a 240gb sata 3 kingson v200 series ssd for 5590 baht at memorytoday in fortune town, should be enough for general purpose usage.

If your laptop has a core i3 or i5 cpu, it should be fine no need to buy a new laptop, unless you want a new one.

[almodeller]

Buy one of the laptops fan units , see if you can see a build up of dust in the ventilation slots and clear if possible, check how much space you have on the hard drive and if you can remove all the old restore points (when you do a windows update it takes sometime about 3GB of space clear all the old ones out) select My computer right click on disk drive, select properties, disk cleanup, more options , system restore

[brucegoniners]

These days any piece of hardware over 1.5 - 2 years old is outdated. Get a new one.

[umbanda]

I have 2 old laptops. In the US its will be in the trash already.....but here I found a young Thai guy, a university student, amazing good in computer repairs. He was living in Chiang Rai and now is working in BK. I do not know your location.

He was helping me many times with my laptops...sometimes resolving in minutes configuration problems....and many times for free, just because it is very easy for him to do it. He is a genius!

If you speak Thai.....will worth a call to him,. 082-7978543. I will recommend this guy to anybody with computer troubles.

Anyway....if not him...you may get lucky and find your own computer savvy guy here....Chances are better than in the US.

[jackflash]

Yes, get the fan serviced. Possibly full of dust causing the processor to overheat.

And upgrade to a Sold State Disk Drive. Sounds like the old drive is sick.

Worth doing anyway as a SSD really speeds things up.

Edited February 14, 2014 by jackflash

[Konini]

Thank you very much everybody - definitely hardware, likely the hard drive as well as being a bit grubby all around. I'll take it in to be fixed and generally cleaned up. I ran the Crystal Disk tool (thank you Sean) and it's showing a lot of numbers which mean nothing to me, but the word BAD in a red box tells me more than I need to know. I may as well get a new battery too. I'll even splash out on an SSD as it's going to save me the effort of researching transformer computers and leave time for them to come down in price.

Can anyone recommend a competent repairer in Chiang Mai?

[natb19]

Think like a Buddhist, assisted reincarnation is the way... http://hackaday.com/2013/12/26/re-purposing-an-old-laptop-display/

[Frank James]

Thank you very much everybody - definitely hardware, likely the hard drive as well as being a bit grubby all around. I'll take it in to be fixed and generally cleaned up. I ran the Crystal Disk tool (thank you Sean) and it's showing a lot of numbers which mean nothing to me, but the word BAD in a red box tells me more than I need to know. I may as well get a new battery too. I'll even splash out on an SSD as it's going to save me the effort of researching transformer computers and leave time for them to come down in price.

Can anyone recommend a competent repairer in Chiang Mai?

Chiangmai Notebook Service

Pantip Plaza 2nd Floor, Rm 2125

084-1511684 or 080-6723414

The boss' name is Kiatchai. Speaks English. They do good work for a very reasonable price. Brought my laptop back from the dead. I recommend this shop 100%.

[marko kok prong]

I am /have been writing a book for some time on word,i have noticed latley,that sometimes the cursor[is that what it's called jumps backwards into already written text,i really have to watch it as i go,any thoughts why it should do this?

[thailandbeachisland]

Just bu ya new one, this is what they are mode for !

[Konini]

Chiangmai Notebook Service

Pantip Plaza 2nd Floor, Rm 2125

084-1511684 or 080-6723414

The boss' name is Kiatchai. Speaks English. They do good work for a very reasonable price. Brought my laptop back from the dead. I recommend this shop 100%.

Thank you

[Konini]

I am /have been writing a book for some time on word,i have noticed latley,that sometimes the cursor[is that what it's called jumps backwards into already written text,i really have to watch it as i go,any thoughts why it should do this?

Heel of your hand brushing against the touchpad?

If so, there will be a keyboard combination to press to turn it off - you'll find it in the small 'pictures' that are just below F1, F2, F3 etc. These are your function keys and can be used to control things like display and volume etc when pressed at the same time as the FN key (usually next to or very close to left bottom row corner). The one you need is the picture of a box with an X in it - the picture represents a touchpad. You have to remember to turn it back on (by pressing the same key with the FN key) when you want to use it.

Hope that helps.

[Thaiready]

Lenovo for 9,900 today..in Khon Kaen...I purchased 2.

[biplanebluey]

Just bu ya new one, this is what they are mode for !

Yea------ I had a Toshiba for about 4 yrs and got the impression that no-one really wanted to repair----too costly----- Do not know if my method was "dignified" but I bought a new and took the oldie to farm and had a cremation for it

[astral]

My old laptop is 7 years old and still doing good service

Not fast, I will grant you, but acceptable

A good service as suggested above should work wonders.

[sean in udon]

If crystal info is saying 'bad' in red on any of the info it's reporting, that's usually a good indication of a dying hard drive.

If you would like, and you can post a screen shot, there's info that will give an indication of the internal temperatures the hard drive has been exposed to. This should allow me to say with some certainty whether you do have an overheating problem. Everything considered, probably not essential, but I thought I'd offer.

Because of the age of the machine, as other people have posted, get the fan cleaned. This is a very common problem with laptops. Please get this done properly, as the home remedy of trying to blow accumulated dust out with a can of compressed air can cause chunks of fluff to jam the fan and make the problem worse.

An SSD is an excellent idea as your machine will speed up dramatically, particularly the boot up/shut down time. SSDs can take quite a few more knocks than a standard hard drive

[impulse]

In China, I had to take my Toshiba laptop apart once a month to clean the fan. Desktops got taken apart every quarter to clean the interior and fan.

I have similar problems to yours with a Dell I5. Turns out, the power settings were being changed (with no help from me) so the CPU was running at maximum 20% of clock speed.

Run Task Manager, and click Resource Monitor under the Performance tab to see if you have the same problem. Then check to see the percentage of CPU maximum speed.

I hold myself out as no expert. But I have learned a thing or two managing my fleet of 5 Windows machines for 10 years in China, where their first go-to is to wipe the hard drive and start over. Mostly by trial and error.

[natb19]

Yep, if it's overheating, or shutting down randomly, clean the fan (as many people have posted). It's best to take it to an authorised service shop for your brand of laptop, but it's possible to do it for yourself.

After the first time at the shop, I decided to research the problem and found a video on youtube of some one dismemberantling the same model laptop as mine. Beware, taking apart modern laptops is not for the feint hearted, but it is possible (I've done this numerous times now to clean the fan). If you're not good at taking things apart (and more importantly putting them back together) then take it to a shop.

The first time I cleaned it I removed a layer of fluff and dust that looked like a 15mm thick layer of felt - no wonder the fan was doing no good (and using a vacum wouldn't have fixed this).

Good luck!

[PhillyBoy]

I can't believe some of these answers. It sounds like you have a "worm" or some other type of "bug". Do you have a good anti-virus program like KASPERSKY or something else. Kaspersky is a Russian former hacker who turned something bad into a profit maker. Pure 3 covers everything and cost $69 for a year for 1-3 computers. Another help is a company called GuruAid. Google them. They have a service that costs $159 for a year but they will find out what is wrong with your computer and fix it remotely. I doubt seriously that you need to get a new computer. You also probably have too many programs running and don't know it.

Good luck.

[Amusements]

So long as your HD is not having problems, then you should definitely get it cleaned as mentioned above, and for another 500-600 baht you can probably get a new battery from Ali Express and be good for another couple of years, or at least have a decent backup/media center.

[Konini]

If crystal info is saying 'bad' in red on any of the info it's reporting, that's usually a good indication of a dying hard drive.

If you would like, and you can post a screen shot, there's info that will give an indication of the internal temperatures the hard drive has been exposed to.

Thanks again - sorry picture is bigger than I wanted but don't want to lose so much quality it's unreadable.

[sean in udon]

cunninghamcj, I had considered the possibility of malware/virus but the info given by Konini was not consistent with an infection.

The fact that crystal disk is flagging up problems, would indicate hard drive failing and although you recommend Guruaid, there is no way they can replace a hard drive remotely. Best they could do is confirm the problem.

Most people have antivirus installed on their machines, quite often a free version. These rarely detect malware.

cunninghamcj recommendation of Kaspersky is, imo, a good one as Kaspersky has been consistently good for years with all types of infections.

A good free anti-malware program is malwarebytes. Make sure you download the free one and not the trial version. The only downside with the free one is you have to run it manually. It does not give continuous protection. I would recommend updating and then running a full scan once a week.

[Konini]

I can't believe some of these answers. It sounds like you have a "worm" or some other type of "bug". Do you have a good anti-virus program like KASPERSKY or something else. Kaspersky is a Russian former hacker who turned something bad into a profit maker. Pure 3 covers everything and cost $69 for a year for 1-3 computers. Another help is a company called GuruAid. Google them. They have a service that costs $159 for a year but they will find out what is wrong with your computer and fix it remotely. I doubt seriously that you need to get a new computer. You also probably have too many programs running and don't know it.

Good luck.

I wish it were that simple - hardware might not be my forte, but keeping systems clean is. I worked in Internet security for 13 years, and although I've been out of the loop for almost 10 years I keep on top of my own and several other people's machines, moreso since I came to live in Chiang Mai where there are a lot of people I know who get themselves into all manner of (usually self-inflicted) bother. I can say without any shadow of doubt that I have the cleanest machine in the whole world as far as software goes. I've also been using drive imaging since I lost the ability to edit the sys.ini file in Windows 3.1, after realising I couldn't test shareware programs in Windows 95, and recommend to anyone I come across to do the same. It takes an afternoon to set it up, but once it is you can run from the same initial image for several years.

Thanks though - I've seen this kind of performance being the result of malware, unfortunately this was a gradual decline, sounds like it certainly is due a very good spring clean and a new disk.

[sean in udon]

Konini, am not able to see a picture.

Can you post again?

[Konini]

Konini, am not able to see a picture.

Can you post again?

Hmm. Do you think I might of omitted to click 'Add to post' after choosing it?.

D'oh!