Molgrips – Yes, the big problem with Windows is what people do to it without realising. They click ‘yes’ to install everything and everything they buy comes with crappy software that they install because they bought the thing, so it gets bogged down. It’s not necessarily the users’ fault, but a bit of awareness helps massively.
Jambalaya – I do agree that it’s the downloading of too many programmes that causes Windows machines to hang but Microsoft were always happy with that as it encouraged people to buy another machine which meant they got another fee.
Is there a general rule of thumb to avoiding this (other than never downloading anything obviously)? I’ve an old Acer and whilst mechanically its okay, operationally its creaky as you like and takes about 45 mins to start up and struggles to open Word, Excel etc or browse the net.
We’ve got a nice HP atm so I want to try and avoid a similar fate befalling it!