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bakerman
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bakerman is offline
Mexico
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06-07-2020, 11:47 PM
1

Laptop help needed

I have an H.P. laptop that is giving me trouble. Microsoft windows keeps hounding me to make room for their latest update. But, apparently I do not have enough "free space".

Make no mistake about it, I know absolutely nothing about how these darn machines work. I feel like a monkey trying to fly the starship Enterprise.

I have attempted and failed to clean up the hard drive.

If anyone offers any suggestions, please explain it like you would for a 5 yr old. Seriously.

PS: I have never intentionally made any files except for a few photos. But that does not mean hidden files do not exist.

Thank you
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Judd
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07-07-2020, 12:44 AM
2

Re: Laptop help needed

What size is your hard drive? Have you an external USB drive you can plug in to copy your files to?
I would be more concerned about how much RAM you have on your machine, Windows eats memory like it's going out of fashion.
Dextrous63
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07-07-2020, 11:36 AM
3

Re: Laptop help needed

Apart from moving some files elsewhere - USB flashdrive, SD card, cloud etc, and deleting those programs which you rarely use and which can probably be reinstalled at a later date easily enough if they are actually needed, the simplest thing is just to ignore the Microsoft Update requests. They're rarely of any real importance if the machine has been working just fine.
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bakerman
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09-07-2020, 05:24 AM
4

Re: Laptop help needed

Originally Posted by Judd ->
What size is your hard drive? Have you an external USB drive you can plug in to copy your files to?
I would be more concerned about how much RAM you have on your machine, Windows eats memory like it's going out of fashion.
Judd, if I remember correctly, I think my hard rive holds a max of 31 MB ? Or is it KB or GB ? I can never gets that stuff straight in my head. As to RAM, I never heard of that.

Originally Posted by Dextrous63 ->
Apart from moving some files elsewhere - USB flashdrive, SD card, cloud etc, and deleting those programs which you rarely use and which can probably be reinstalled at a later date easily enough if they are actually needed, the simplest thing is just to ignore the Microsoft Update requests. They're rarely of any real importance if the machine has been working just fine.
Once again, all those words like USB flash drive, SD card etc is all Greek to me.

95% of the Windows apps, that came with the laptop, I never use.

If I could get rid of Microsoft I'd do it in a heartbeat, except for Hotmail. Microsoft sends me at least 15-18 times/day requests for MORE SPACE. Grr !
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Lindyloo
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isle of wight
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09-07-2020, 07:47 AM
5

Re: Laptop help needed

Bakerman - I think you and I are on the same level with all things computer. I asked a question some while ago and one of the lovely people here said to run "Belarc Advisor" - it's a thing you download from cyberspace. Then you run it and it prints out all the details of your software and hardware and everything anyone ever wanted to know about what your computer has and does...........magic!!
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caricature
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09-07-2020, 08:35 AM
6

Re: Laptop help needed

I suspect Bakerman has a notepad rather than a laptop,these damn things are limited in space as I found out,once windows starts its updates, best thing is to turn them off.Too late in my case and I suspect Bakermans.
I'm now using a old laptop with linux installed works a treet.
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09-07-2020, 09:31 AM
7

Re: Laptop help needed

I think you might need to at least have some understanding of what's inside your computer and the terminology used. Without that, it will probably be difficult to take advantage of any help suggested.

It's a bit like me and cars. I get in and drive it without knowing too much about it. Because of that, I take it to a garage for advice/repair if it doesn't do what I want it to.

Similar with computers when you know absolutely nothing about them.

It is popular to blame problems on Microsoft and you'll get plenty of support with that. It might not be anything to do with the Microsoft OS though. It often isn't but to find out, take the computer to a local reputable shop and let them take a look at it.
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Tedc
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09-07-2020, 09:55 AM
8

Re: Laptop help needed

I would suggest that you start by downloading, and installing, the free version of "Belarc Advisor".

Easy to find.

Once installed it tells you, in about 3 or 4 pages, which you can print off for reference, what your machine is, what packages are on it, what size drive you have and what percentage is in use, what updates are on it.

Everything.

Easy to understand.

Very useful to have 4 printed pages available to use in discussions like this one.

https://www.belarc.com/AdvisorDownload
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caricature
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09-07-2020, 11:48 AM
9

Re: Laptop help needed

Originally Posted by mart ->
I think you might need to at least have some understanding of what's inside your computer and the terminology used. Without that, it will probably be difficult to take advantage of any help suggested.

It's a bit like me and cars. I get in and drive it without knowing too much about it. Because of that, I take it to a garage for advice/repair if it doesn't do what I want it to.

Similar with computers when you know absolutely nothing about them.

It is popular to blame problems on Microsoft and you'll get plenty of support with that. It might not be anything to do with the Microsoft OS though. It often isn't but to find out, take the computer to a local reputable shop and let them take a look at it.
I've taken mine to a local shop,reckons he'll fix it for £50.
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bakerman
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Mexico
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bakerman is male  bakerman has posted at least 25 times and has been a member for 3 months or more 
 
09-07-2020, 12:30 PM
10

Re: Laptop help needed

I finally got to chat online with a Microsoft advisor. One of the things she told me is that Microsoft/windows comes with the computer, by default, when you buy it. Wow! Talk about a monopoly. No wonder Bill Gates is worth 10's of billions of dollars.
 
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