Remedies for Windows slowing down or suggestions for laptop

[Falcon_of_the_Sun]

Buy a mac.

Posted with OS X.

Never, ever, whatsoever.

I know the default answer to slow computers is backing up and then wiping the internal HDD, reinstalling the OS, and starting fresh. Is that something you wanna consider?

That's what I used to do on my built-from-scratch desktop computer and with my OEM copy of good ole Windows XP.
But as I started to work as a freelancer, I needed my own laptop, which I bought in 2013. It came with Windows 7 Professional and possibly a disc to upgrade to Windows 8, but not a full Windows 7 I could reinstall at will. But yes, I'd always go for fresh re-start and that's why I always had desktops with an "independent" OS disc and I tended to hate laptops because I didn't know how to mod them or substitute faulty parts. Plus they seem to come with hardware blocks and whatnot from the manufacturers.
I guess that now that I have bought myself some time on the current laptop, I might look into going agnostic from the viewpoint of the hardware manufacturer.

So the new question is...

1 - Is it possible to have a shop to put together a clean, virgin laptop on which install an OS of choice?

2 - (How easily) Could I achieve that same clean slate on my current machine, whiping off all the HP crap to then install a copy of Windows 7 which hopefully will not cost too much now that 10 is coming out?

[Shamsiel-kun]

Never, ever, whatsoever.

They now use Intel processors so you can install Windows on it and have a dual boot machine.

That said, my last experience with Apple support to get them to fix a botched factory install of Mac OS X was completely abyssimal (the techy insisted an OS was not software and I ended up having to pay 300 bucks to get my data off the drive - Thanks Apple) compared to my previous experience with Apple support (getting a PowerBook that was dead-on-arrival fixed) and most other support experiences I've had - so if you buy one, buy it from a physical shop, not online.

That's what I used to do on my built-from-scratch desktop computer and with my OEM copy of good ole Windows XP.
But as I started to work as a freelancer, I needed my own laptop, which I bought in 2013. It came with Windows 7 Professional and possibly a disc to upgrade to Windows 8, but not a full Windows 7 I could reinstall at will. But yes, I'd always go for fresh re-start and that's why I always had desktops with an "independent" OS disc and I tended to hate laptops because I didn't know how to mod them or substitute faulty parts. Plus they seem to come with hardware blocks and whatnot from the manufacturers.
I guess that now that I have bought myself some time on the current laptop, I might look into going agnostic from the viewpoint of the hardware manufacturer.

So the new question is...

1 - Is it possible to have a shop to put together a clean, virgin laptop on which install an OS of choice?

2 - (How easily) Could I achieve that same clean slate on my current machine, whiping off all the HP crap to then install a copy of Windows 7 which hopefully will not cost too much now that 10 is coming out?

Have you checked whether you can download Windows 7 at your laptop manufacturer's website? You'll probably need the product key...

[pwhodges]

2 - (How easily) Could I achieve that same clean slate on my current machine, whiping off all the HP crap to then install a copy of Windows 7 which hopefully will not cost too much now that 10 is coming out?

I've no experience with HP; but on Dell machines you can simply go through and uninstall all the crap.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

That said, my last experience with Apple support to get them to fix a botched factory install of Mac OS X was completely abyssimal (the techy insisted an OS was not software and I ended up having to pay 300 bucks to get my data off the drive - Thanks Apple) compared to my previous experience with Apple support (getting a PowerBook that was dead-on-arrival fixed) and most other support experiences I've had - so if you buy one, buy it from a physical shop, not online.

That sucks. I bought mine from a physical store, so I didn’t have these issues, and what little hiccups the computer did have while running it for the first time tech support was actually really helpful in fixing for me.

[Catamari]

I've no experience with HP; but on Dell machines you can simply go through and uninstall all the crap.

HP is terrible with bloatware. There's like two or three dozen pieces of shitware that is difficult to uninstall.

[Mr. Tines]

I've not found Toshiba too bad by way of shovelware; I've also observed that ponying up for the Pro edition of Windows cuts down the amount of it you get, regardless of supplier (HP, Dell or Toshiba) -- essentially you can pay for it to go away.

[Ornette]

A lot of those manufacturers give you an option without an OS, and thus you don't need to pay for the OS tax. Then just buy whatever version of windows you want and install that, it's pretty much a burn to DVD(s) or a BD and insert and press a few "OK"s, if you want a default install. In HP's case, they allow you to choose "SuSE" as an OS, which is free so you can just overwrite it.

[Falcon_of_the_Sun]

They now use Intel processors so you can install Windows on it and have a dual boot machine.

That said, my last experience with Apple support to get them to fix a botched factory install of Mac OS X was completely abyssimal (the techy insisted an OS was not software and I ended up having to pay 300 bucks to get my data off the drive - Thanks Apple) compared to my previous experience with Apple support (getting a PowerBook that was dead-on-arrival fixed) and most other support experiences I've had - so if you buy one, buy it from a physical shop, not online.

Have you checked whether you can download Windows 7 at your laptop manufacturer's website? You'll probably need the product key...

Although I'm far from being a competent "mechanic" of the "car" we call personal computer, I know I'm an excellent "driver" of the Windows one. There's no way in hell I'd want to ever spend time figuring out a new user interface or OS. I'm sure that if you start from zero, Apple computers are more intuitive than most others. But I've invested far too much time into Windows (which I need to use for work anyway) to want to re-learn anything.
Plus I've never believed in the glamourisation of PCs Apple brought about. My PC is merely a means to an end, it's not a "lifestyle" thing. A sexy looking computer/OS is some kind of sweet poison anyway, there are better things to do in life than being in front of screen, although I'm obviously as guilty as anyone in the time I spent fuffing about on the net/PC.

The re-download of Windows 7 seems like an interesting possibility, just like those other suggestions.

Again, thanks to all.

UPDATE

OK, the rejuvinated laptop seemed to have died for good, probably courtesy of me hard-resetting it too much whenever if slowed down beyond salvation.

I have a back up machine that can serve me for a bit and I am seriously thinking of getting a laptop without OS and I bumped into these Novatech guys

http://www.novatech.co.uk/laptop/range/novatechnpron1612.html

419 GBP inc VAT with no OS
539 GBP inc VAT with Windows 7 Pro

I like their "no bloatware promise"

Thoughts of the EvaGeeks? Also, what type of licence their W7 will likely come with (I'd ask them directly but they are closed for the day)?