Should I upgrade to Windows 8 or get a new PC?

[Elias Chako Mangoro]

Hello, I currently have an ASUS X53S, running Windows 7 Home Premium. The speed and stability of the OS has slowly decreased over time and I know have a computer that crashes at random times when doing simple things like using Chrome and there are a few problems like links in the Control Centre dont work so I dont have full control over settings, among other things. I have decided to move on to Windows 8 as I hear its more stable and faster. I would like to know however, if doing an upgrade would fix my current problems so Windows 8 would work without changing much or do I need to do a clean install, and if so would a clean install work on my machine. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that some PC manufacturers like ASUS have pre installed drivers or something that would be removed on a clean install, but im not sure.

Another alternative I would consider is getting a new machine entirely but im not sure if its worth it, or even necessary. So could I get advice on whether the current machine is alright for the next few years or would I need to upgrade to keep up.

Thank you in advance to anyone who replies to this.

 

[toddybody]

Hard to recommend something without knowing your expectations on improvement. Will a new machine work better? With any decent budget, absolutely.
I would advocate a clean install with W7...making sure to weed out the included ASUS bloatware under advanced install. Try it out and see if it acts the way you want.

I LOVE new hardware; w8? Not so much

 

[clarkjd]

Have you tried running a disk cleanup and defrag? That will sometimes cure the performance issues..

 

[Barhumbug]

Why not try re-installing Windows 7 first if you just want to speed up your laptop? If there are issues with drivers, bugs, malware or just too much software junk on the PC, a lot of this will remain after an upgrade to Windows 8. But yes, a full, fresh Windows 8 installation would speed up your laptop, but I recommend you just try a Win 7 re-install before splashing out on the upgrade.

 

[Elias Chako Mangoro]

Ive used all the fixing tools available in windows (i think) and nothing has changed. The speed is not so much an issue but its just that slowly things are not working anymore. I ran full scans using Malwarebytes and only 2 suspicious items were found and were deleted. Ive run sfc /scannow a few times and everytime it says there are some corrupt files or something and it cant fix them so im just wondering whether to just accept defeat and start again

 

[Elias Chako Mangoro]

Oh and I dont have a Windows 7 installation disk. I forgot to save a system image on a disk when i got the computer. One of the reasons im thinking of upgrading. I know people have problems with the usability of the Windows 8 start screen, but i dont mind. So taking that into consideration should i stick with Windows 7 or upgrade...or get a new computer entirely. Will the computer I have right now be able to function properly in the ever evolving PC world for a few years?

 

[Barhumbug]

Have you deleted the recovery partition on the hard drive?
If not, you should be able to restore the pc by pressing F9 at boot.

 

[Elias Chako Mangoro]

Barhumbug. You have saved me and im eternally grateful. My system is clean and new feeling now and I shall try my best to maintain it ie not change a thing. Thank you

 

[Barhumbug]

Glad to have helped.