Repair or replace? Which upgrade pays off? Is the slowdown fixable or is it time? Plain-spoken maths and honest guides for everyday PC problems — type your question and get a straight answer in seconds. The full detailed report costs less than a coffee: $2.95.
A clean install is the nuclear option for a slow PC: it genuinely works, and it genuinely erases everything. Deciding whether you need one should not be a guess, so this tool turns the decision into a transparent readiness score from four honest inputs — the PC's age, how slow it really feels, how many standard fixes you have already tried, and how well your files are backed up. The maths is deliberately conservative: a young PC that has had no real troubleshooting scores low, while an old machine that is still slow after startup cleanup, storage clearing, updates and malware scans scores high. The verdict always checks your backup rating first, because resetting an unbacked-up PC is the one mistake that cannot be undone.
Score whether your PC genuinely needs a clean install — age, how slow it feels, what you have already tried and whether your files are backed up — before you wipe the drive.
Reset this PC (Settings > System > Recovery) reinstalls Windows from built-in files, with an option to keep your files. A clean install from a USB stick wipes the drive completely and installs fresh. For a genuinely clogged PC, 'remove everything' reset or a USB clean install is the deep clean.
Yes, when the slowness is software — clutter, corruption, driver rot, malware residue. It will not fix failing hardware: a dying drive or an overheating laptop will be slow again within weeks, which is why this tool asks about age and prior fixes before it ever recommends the wipe.
Back up your files, browser passwords, bookmarks and product keys, and make sure you know how to reinstall your essential apps. The tool's backup question exists for exactly this reason — if your backup rating is below 5/10, the verdict stops you before you start.
Every tool answers instantly from our own knowledge and calculators — no AI wait, no account. Honest maths and plain guidance, always educational and never pushy about buying new gear: repair, upgrade, backup and security decisions explained in language a human actually uses. Results are estimates and guides, not guarantees, and nothing you type is stored. Want the deeper, personalised version? Each has a $2.95 full report.