I'm a senior so not real knowledgeable about this. I have the above Dell computer. It's a laptop and the past few months it's been really slow. I have hi speed internet...not that. I moved the majority of my files off the computer so it's pretty empty. I thought it was slow because of too many files but not so. It will take forever for Internet Explorer to open when I first turn it on. Basically, pretty slow as I try to get around in my programs. It has also started just powering off and going black when I haven't asked it to! The last few weeks I get the warning from Dell "your battery is charging ok but it is near the end of its life". It tells me this even tho the computer is plugged into power and that's how I've always used it. I was going to buy a new battery for it because I like the computer. I work from home and use it on a laptable in my easy chair.............very comfortable and for the work I do I don't need all the bells and whistles of a new machine.......(I have a new desktop 4 mos old and a notebook (purse size)). So looking at the cost of a replacement battery it's worth it to me if that's what's causing it to act so slow? Thought I better check it out on this forum before making the purchase.
a new battery will not make a laptop go faster as ram, cpu & hard drive do that. do not buy a new battery from dell as you are looking at $135 & up plus shipping from dell & they do not make batteries but buy it from somebody else & charge 1 hell of a markup. check with ebay as i've bought a couple of batteries from there for a dell inspiron & hp pavilion. the dell cost about $55 which included the shipping.
thanks for your response....I most definitely wasn't going to buy from dell....I know that markup game and know good products can be replicated for less cost. What should I be checking then on my computer to see if I should keep it? It's the slowness that I don't like. Is there something I can empty out or clean up? I've done the defrag etc. Even though I've removed 98% of my files maybe I should remove the programs I won't be using on here (could use but don't HAVE to). Would that help? I'm looking for the steps on how to troubleshoot this.
what are the system specs on the laptop as in ram(used & available), cpu speed & hard drive capacity(free space & used space)? what anti-virus program are you using?
anti virus is Avast. computer partitioned...c drive: 28.2 used 1.07GB free d drive 15.9 used 47.8 GB free where do I find system specs, cpu speed?
either in control panel under system or do a right click on "my computer" if on desktop & left click on properties. 1 physical hd partioned into 2 or 2 physical hds? need more room on your c:drive.