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digitalfringe

Good Morning and Happy bank holiday all

I was hoping to pick a few brains out there.... I have a Sony Vaio (purchased about 2 years ago). I have attached the specs at the bottom of this thread.

A couple of months ago the machine started to go slow and at times unresponsive. As days went on it got worse. I scanned for virus infections with avast and avg with no results, the same for spyware. I did a factory reset and all seemed fine. I continued my normal activities on it (djing, downloading/watching movies and internet browsing). After a couple of weeks it seemed to slow down again. I ran diagnostic tools- the one that sounded alarm bells was the window disk check tool. The laptop would quit windows as expected and run the tool on start up, though it would never get past a certain sector and would freeze. Once again I reset the laptop and all seemed fine- I ran the disk check with no problems. A few days passed and the same happened again which is where Im at now. Safe mode seems to be better but still not fully operational. Programs such as word wont open and I feel that the more I use safe mode, the slower it is getting.

I'm not an expert with computers so am not sure where to go other than get it to a repair shop though I hear mixed reports about the standard of work carried out at some of them. Does anyone on here have any advice?

Many thanks,

Rob

Product ID : VPCEB2X5E

Description : Laptop VPC-EB2X - Configurable

Optical Drive : DVD disc drive

Hard drive : 320 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm)

Documentation. : English documentation

Wireless LAN : Wireless LAN + Bluetooth®

Documentation : English documentation

Processor : Intel®CoreTM i5-520M, 2.40GHz

Display : 39.4 cm LCD, 1920x1080, webcam

Graphics : ATI MobilityRadeonHD5470 512MB

Finishes : White

Bluetooth : Bluetooth x1

Memory : 6 GB 1066MHz DDR3-SDRAM

Blencogo

Hi digitalfringe and welcome.

These things are difficult to diagnose but as it seems to work OK after a factory reset, it sounds like a software issue. Have a check of the following possibilities: -

1. All systems become cluttered after a lot of use. Registry links often remain after software has been uninstalled and your Vaio will take time looking for these links. Try a Registry Cleaner to remove broken links, delete the internet cache and remove unwanted cookies. You can use a free trial of something like System Mechanic or use a freeware program like Ccleaner. This may speed up your Vaio and can be used frequently to prevent a build up..

http://www.iolo.com/default.aspx

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

2. What internet security/firewall are you using? Sony preinstall McAfee and if you are using somthing else, there can be a firewall conflict which blocks downloads. Check you have completely removed McAfee using the removal tool - MCPR.exe.

3. Your Vaio may be overheating causing the processor to throttle or shut down to prevent damage. Check your CPU and GPU temperatures using free software like PC Wizard. You can try to remove dust and fluff using a can of compressed air but if it is bad, the Vaio may need taking apart and cleaning internally. Using the Vaio on a soft surface like a bed or carpet or in a dusty environment make this worse.

http://download.cnet.com/PC-Wizard-2012/3000-2094_4-10793737.html

If these don't help, come back and we can try a few more things.