New Acer Intel 5 laptop operating REALLY slowly; no warranty!?

Hi,

I just got a new intel Ultrabook off a tiny foreign co on Amazon; and I'm just using it for browsing the internet mostly, but the browsers keep crashing particularly when downloading (small) files like pictures.

I'm worried that the processor may have been tampered with or it's been infected/in a botnet. Can I do anything to check these things?

Also- if not any recommendations on cheap repair shops in London etc?

Thanks,

Lucinda

First, see if the slowness and crashing applications are due to a startup or service conflict: Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

Keep only your antivirus software set to run on startup. Make sure the antivirus services and the startup software itself are selected to start on boot.

i say to hell with all that troubleshooting non-sense and just clean re-install windows. When you format your hard drive to clean re-install you will know for sure that whatever was there will be gone. my .02

Murd3rd said:

i say to hell with all that troubleshooting non-sense and just clean re-install windows. When you format your hard drive to clean re-install you will know for sure that whatever was there will be gone. my .02

In line with this:

Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for How to use Acer eRecovery

or

Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Thanks I didn't check again til now - been struggling between this and my old computer. Going to try some of your recommendations now! Thanks for the advice