Laptop with Windows 7

[linnyc66]

I have a Toshiba Satellite L675 laptop running Windows 7. Sometimes it won't boot properly -tells me to run Windows Repair which I do and it doesn't repair. It runs slow most of the time taking forever to load anything. When I click on Start Icon at bottom left all I get is a blank box and "Programs" at bottom. I click on Programs and it lists everything. In my Control Panel I have Internet Options and then a second Internet Options that says (32 bit). According to my system my laptop is 64 bit. I back up my entire laptop to an external drive - yesterday when doing this, I received an error saying there was part of "windows OS" that was missing and then it continued on before I could write it all down. I have my Windows 7 Disks - should I re-install that and if I do does it keep both copies of Windows or will the new install overwrite the old one? It just seems like I am missing something in windows or it is corrupted. I have done virus scans, registry scans, tracking cookies, deleted history, ran Disk Cleanup and Degrag, deleted all temp. files - just very confused. Yes the laptop is older but it's all I have right now and I cannot really afford a new one. Just to have someone look at it is like $100 - I am a senior and live on Social Security Disability so funds are limited so any help or answers is sincerely appreciated. Thank you.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

It's most likely a hard drive failure in progress. You'll need to back up your data, replace the hard drive, reinstall Windows and your programs, then restore your data.

 

[linnyc66]

I found that 99% of the slowness was being caused by a program I installed - I uninstalled it and the computer is now faster. I am not having the Windows startup issue as much anymore - the last few days it started up fine. The only issue that remains is that the Control Panel shows Internet Options AND Internet Options (32 bit) and I don't know why as it didn't have it before. I have all of my info. backed up on an external hard drive if it should fail/crash. My question still remains - can I re-install my Windows 7 (I have discs) without having to do complete reset to factory settings - will it simply overwrite the Windows 7 on my computer now or will I end up with two installations.