Windows refresh query

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woodson

232 posts

Master Geek

#217906 18-Jul-2017 09:34

I have an Acer E1 that came with Window 8, and I upgraded to W10. It's running like a sloth on downers for no obvious reason that I can see (it's sporting a 4th gen i5 and 8Gbs RAM, so specs are decent enough), but it just seems that everything is a slog - opening Firefox for example, took about 3-5 mins yesterday. I noticed that the HDD is now always almost at 100%, which led me to think of a malware issue, but I ran scans to no avail. If I do a fresh Windows install am I right in thinking I can download W10 from Microsoft and install, and it'll pick up my baked in Windows key that came with the machine? Or, as it came with W8, do I need to download W8 and then upgrade to W10? Actually, is that even possible any more - the upgrade to W10 isn't free anymore, is it?

Any advice would be gratefully received. :)

lxsw20

3508 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1824198 18-Jul-2017 09:37

Has it got an SSD? If you're doing a fresh install anyway, put in an SSD. It will make a world of difference.

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woodson

232 posts

Master Geek

#1824200 18-Jul-2017 09:38

Yes that was top of my list, but I thought I'd try a fresh install first as it's a few hundred $ cheaper! ;)

MikeAqua

7769 posts

Uber Geek

#1824201 18-Jul-2017 09:40

Also have a look at what is running in the background. For example P2P updates.

https://windows.gadgethacks.com/how-to/everything-you-need-disable-windows-10-0163552/

Mike

woodson

232 posts

Master Geek

#1824216 18-Jul-2017 09:43

Nice. I've not checked some of these, so def will. Thanks!

woodson

232 posts

Master Geek

#1824219 18-Jul-2017 09:51

If all else fails though, will I be able to download and refresh with W10 using the laptop's baked in licence key (even though the key was originally linked to W8)?

gzt

16896 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1824562 18-Jul-2017 16:39

You will. Once 10 is activated on a machine, the machine identity is stored in the cloud. Activation is automatic forever.

woodson

232 posts

Master Geek

#1824590 18-Jul-2017 16:51

Many thanks.

gzt

16896 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1824652 18-Jul-2017 17:54

One simple thing to check in control panel > system > advanced > [something] > page file. Make sure that is set to windows managed. Sometimes it is set to a custom value and does not work well in some scenarios, leading to horrific performance problems.

If you are looking at a nuclear option, there is in control panel a recovery option that will wipe the machine and give you a clean 10 installation. Does anyone know if that retains existing machine specific drivers? It could be a pain to download and install all the drivers again. You definitely want a second machine handy in case you need to download a network driver ; ).

gzt

16896 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1824653 18-Jul-2017 17:57

By the way consider just leaving the thing plugged in to the network all night with sleep turned off if possible. Could be it's trying to process some awful windows update and will eventually finish that job if left on long enough.