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There are plenty of reasons to buy a refurbished laptop, mainly that you can get a great laptop at a fraction of the price — but also because refurbished laptops are better for the environment. Or are they? And if they are, how much impact do they actually have? This is a question worth answering before you decide on your next laptop upgrade, especially if you want to be green. Let’s take a look at how eco-friendly refurbished laptops really are. Refurbished vs. eco-friendly laptops Some laptops are more eco-friendly than others, and the eco-friendliness of a laptop comes down to a few factors. The most eco-friendly laptops tend to be: made from recycled or low-carbon materials; built using reduced carbon manufacturing techniques; and shipped in recyclable or bio-degradable packaging. Eco-friendly laptops also tend to be more repairable, allowing you to postpone the eventual replacement by several years and making it easier to extend their lifespans as long as possible. And that’s where refurbishing comes into play. A refurbished laptop is one that has been repaired and restored to good-as-new condition — good enough to meet or exceed the same quality standards put upon brand-new laptops. It’s not exactly new, but better than used. There’s something noble about keeping an old laptop going and making sure it isn’t prematurely turned into e-waste. There’s something noble about keeping an old laptop going and making sure it isn’t prematurely turned into e-waste.Hugo Clément / Unsplash There’s something noble about keeping an old laptop going and making sure it isn’t prematurely turned into e-waste.Hugo Clément / Unsplash Hugo Clément / Unsplash When you buy a refurbished laptop, you circumvent a lot of the carbon costs that go into a brand-new laptop: there are no new materials involved, there are no recycling costs involved, and there are no manufacturing costs involved. There’s still a bit of a carbon footprint in the shipping, but it’s comparable or less than the carbon cost of having it shipped from a factory to the retailer, then the retailer to you. In that sense, a refurbished laptop is more eco-friendly than a laptop made from 90% recycled materials — even if that laptop wasn’t an “eco-friendly laptop” to begin with. All of the costs that went into the manufacturing and distribution of that laptop are sunk costs that can’t be undone. By keeping the existing laptop going, you’re actualizing its green potential and reducing global demand for brand-new laptops. This whole concept of refurbishing, reusing, and recycling devices is increasingly known as the “circular economy,” and more and more electronics brands are investing in it. For example, Apple refurbished over 12 million devices and accessories in 2021 while Dell recently announced major efforts of its own to improve sustainability in its manufacturing pipeline. Refurbished laptops aren’t always greener As good as refurbished laptops may sound in theory, it’s not all sunshine and unicorns. While refurbished laptops are generally more eco-friendly than brand-new laptops, some newer laptop designs may actually be more eco-friendly than refurbished stinkers. The thing is, the refurbishing process has its own material costs and energy input. Some laptops may only need a factory reset and an external wipedown, but older laptops might require new components (e.g., displays, batteries, circuitry). There’s also the energy that goes into testing, plus the fuel costs of shipping the laptop around — to the refurbishing center, then to warehouses, then to retailers, then to you. The laptop needs to be packaged each time, so there’s additional costs in packing materials, too. Framework laptops are some of the most repairable, modern laptop designs. Framework laptops are some of the most repairable, modern laptop designs.Framework Framework laptops are some of the most repairable, modern laptop designs.Framework Framework And what about the laptop itself? A refurbished gaming laptop is going to put more strain on its hardware and burn through more energy than a brand-new ultrabook that’s designed for longevity. And even if you get a refurbished laptop that was considered energy-efficient in its day, it may not have the same tech and power-saving features of modern laptops, making it less efficient in the long run. And there’s also the question of how much more life that laptop actually has remaining. Theoretically, a refurbished laptop should be in like-new condition with necessary parts replaced — but if it’s an older laptop, it may not have like-new durability or longevity, and you may find that it needs to be replaced sooner than expected. So, yes, there are factors that might mean getting a brand-new eco-friendly laptop is actually the more environmentally friendly move than snagging a refurbished laptop. What to keep in mind when buying a refurbished laptop If you’re going to buy a refurbished laptop and your primary motive is to lessen your carbon footprint, here are some key considerations. For starters, only buy refurbished laptops from official manufacturers or reputable retailers who have established refurbishment procedures and high quality standards. Ideally, the refurbishing process should be one that replaces damaged components with official parts. There’s no point in buying a refurbed laptop if it’s poorly renewed. You’ll just end up swapping it for a replacement before long because it won’t last. Make sure you get a proper warranty with your purchase, too. Don’t expect anything close to the warranty lengths on brand-new laptops, of course. But any length between 90 days to 1 year is adequate. The longer, the better. (Warranties are essential for refurbed laptops because they protect you in case something goes wrong soon after purchase, and that’s more likely with renewed devices.) Related: Common mistakes that kill your laptop’s lifespan Lastly, before you pull the trigger on any refurbished laptop, be sure to compare it to the best laptops available at the time, too. As much as a refurbished laptop can be a great way to be green and save money, there may be better overall options in the new market. Laptops that are lighter, more efficient, durable, made from recycled materials, and designed for repairability are best for the environment long-term. Final thoughts on refurbished laptops A refurbished laptop isn’t always the greenest option. That two-year-old, 18-inch gaming laptop might be a less-efficient power hog compared to laptops from many years ago. But if you’re looking to save some money and reduce your e-waste and carbon footprint at the same time, then there are some serious environmental benefits to buying refurbished. Just be sure to buy through a reputable source and make sure the laptop itself is on the eco-friendly side. There are some truly efficient modern laptops with excellent repairability and impressive environmental records for manufactured materials. Further reading: Is it safe to buy a used laptop? Read...

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Once upon a time, “reinstalling Windows” was an often recommended remedy for all sorts of computer problems. Windows 95 and XP were notorious for becoming less stable over time, with “crap in the machine” in the form of settings left in the Registry, traces of uninstalled programs that had not been properly removed, and other things that lurked. Indeed, many people chose to reinstall from time to time even if the computer showed no symptoms, as part of regular maintenance. get windows 11 pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Windows 10 and 11 are much better at keeping order and cleaning up automatically. Today, frequent reinstallations are not something we at PCWorld or any other experts recommend. But sometimes it can still be appropriate. Maybe you want to make the move from Windows 10 to 11 and prefer to start over with a fresh system instead of upgrading. Maybe you have so much junk in your system that it will simply be easier to reinstall the OS and only install the programs you really need than to sit and remove everything you don’t need by hand. Whatever the reason, this is your guide to a safe and secure computer reset. Before you start Don’t start a reset without first making sure you know you can recover your computer, and more importantly your files, if something goes wrong. Samsung Samsung Samsung 1. Back up No matter how you go about reinstalling Windows, it’s a good idea to review your backups and make sure you don’t have any files on your computer that you don’t have at least one copy of elsewhere. See our roundups of the best backup software and best cloud backup services for recommendations. If you have an external hard drive you can spare that is at least as big as your computer’s internal disc (C:), you can create a clone of it in addition to your regular backups. A clone backup means that you mirror all the contents of the internal disc to the external one, and if something goes wrong, you can restore the same way in the other direction to get your computer back to the way it was before, including all installed programs. Choose a backup program, such as our favorite one, R-Drive Image that will do this. Foundry Foundry Foundry 2. Remember what you have installed today It’s also a good idea to create an inventory of what programs you have installed on your computer, and any extensions and plugins to these. The most common example of the latter is browser plugins, and it is sufficient to take a picture or write down the list of installed extensions in the browser(s) you use. For installed applications, you can use Settings or Control Panel to get a list of all installed applications. You can then use the same list after reinstalling to see which are included in Windows and which are missing. You can then find and install the missing programs you actually want to keep and ignore the rest. 3. Check your software licences If you own any expensive software whose license only allows installation on a certain number of computers, it might be a good idea to deactivate the licence on your computer before you reset it. Otherwise, the old installation will continue to count as one of your authorized installations. This was a bigger problem in the past. Today Adobe and others have features that can automatically move licenses to a new computer or system after reinstallation. But if you have a feeling that a program you’ve bought might get lost, it’s worth checking before you go any further. 4. Windows license key Speaking of licenses, it’s also a good idea to check that you have the Windows license key to activate your computer after reinstallation. Depending on how you acquired the system and have activated it, this may work slightly differently. Foundry Foundry Foundry Open Settings > System > Activation and click on Activation Status. If it says that Windows has been activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account, you don’t need to do anything special. As long as you don’t make any hardware changes, the system should activate automatically when you log in to the same Microsoft account after the reinstallation. It may also say that the system is activated with a digital license, but without mentioning anything about your Microsoft account. In this case, you should choose to add an account, otherwise Microsoft may not be able to find the digital license after reinstallation or if you make changes to the hardware. By linking the license to your account, you can activate the system using the activation troubleshooter. However, if it says that the system has been activated with a license key, open Powershell/Terminal and type the following command: wmic path softwareLicensingService get OA3xOriginalProductKey If a key is displayed, you can write it down. If no key is displayed, it is probably because Windows was included when you bought the computer and the key is embedded in the hardware. This means that the same version of Windows should be activated automatically after reinstallation. 5. Synchronize settings Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft If you use a Microsoft account, you can now synchronize many system settings, both between multiple computers and as a kind of settings backup when you reinstall your system. Go to Settings > Accounts > Windows Backup. Here you can activate two features: Remember my apps: The system will offer to automatically install the so-called modern Windows apps you had installed via the Microsoft store. Does not apply to regular programs that are installed with a custom installer. Remember my settings: This saves settings such as Wi-Fi, assistive technology, personalization, and language. In short, most things. When you log in to your account after the reinstallation, the system will read the synced settings and set everything up again. Zapping everything or just the system? How total do you want your reboot to be? That question determines which type of reinstallation you should choose. There are two basic methods of reinstalling, and for each method there are a few different options that affect the outcome. From Settings or through your computer’s recovery environment, you can reinstall Windows over the current installation, and either keep or delete files in the user folder. This will remove installed programs, except those that came with the computer. Creating installation media on a USB stick gives you a few more options, including the ability to reinstall the system and keep both your files and any installed programs. The table below shows the different options. Type of reinstallationOptions for reinstallationWhat happens to programmesFiles in your home folderFiles in other folders and on other discsIn settingsFixing problems with Windows UpdateAll programs and settings are preservedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentKeep my filesProgrammes that did not come with the computer are deletedPreservedPreservedIn Settings or via the recovery environmentDelete everythingDeletes programs that did not come with the computerDeletedDeletedWith installation mediaKeep everything (default)All programs and settings are preservedRetainPreservedWith installation mediaKeep personal dataAll programmes are deletedRetainedRetainedWith installation mediaDo not retain anythingAll programmes are deletedDeletedDeletedClean install with installation mediaReformats C: or all disks and partitions. All files and programs are deleted. Caution: Warning! Keep in mind that if you choose to reformat the entire computer with installation media, disks other than C: will also be deleted. Method 1: Via settings The easiest way if the computer still boots is to restore Windows via Settings > System > Recovery. Here you have three options. If you think something is wrong with Windows itself but are not looking to clean up in other ways, you can start by trying Fixing problems with Windows Update. It will download and reinstall all system files without affecting installed programs, settings or your files. If you want to start from scratch instead, select Reset this PC. You will then be given another choice, to keep or delete your own files. Whichever you choose, installed programs will disappear and all settings will be reset. This is a good choice if you want to remove all the old junk that has accumulated over the years, but still want to keep the files in your home folder. You can also access this feature from the Windows recovery environment. Foundry Foundry Foundry With all three options, the system takes care of the rest. The computer will reboot a few times during the process, just like with some system updates. Once that’s done, you’ll have to go through the Windows Welcome Wizard, sign in to your Microsoft account again, and so on. Then you can just start installing programs you really need. You’ll also have to redo some system settings, but if you made sure to synchronize settings (see above), most of them will be restored. Method 2: With installation media These are actually two different methods, but they both start the same way: with a USB stick that turns into installation media. You can create the installation media on any Windows computer, not necessarily the computer you are reinstalling the system on. You need a USB stick of at least 8GB, which will be reformatted (i.e. all files will be deleted), and the Media Creation Tool which you can download here. When you run the program, you will have to choose the edition and language of Windows. After that, select the correct USB drive and click on it. The program will first download Windows and then create the installation media. If the computer boots properly, you can start the reinstallation by running setup.exe on the USB stick via Explorer. The program will chew for a while. Then click past user agreements and other things until you get to a dialog where you can choose what you want to keep. Select the Keep personal files and apps to upgrade in place. The options Keep only personal files and Nothing work as via Reset this computer in Settings (see above). Boot your computer from the USB stick If you have a major problem and Windows doesn’t start up as usual, you can boot your computer from the installation media and reinstall the system from there. Unfortunately, the Windows installer is not very good at handling more than one hard drive or SSD in the computer, so if you have discs other than C: it is a good idea to physically disconnect them. This avoids potential errors and means you don’t risk deleting something you don’t want to delete. You can reconnect the discs once Windows is installed and the computer boots properly. Boot your computer from the USB stick by plugging it in, starting your computer and pressing the button that opens the boot menu. Foundry Foundry Foundry Once it has booted, select the language and keyboard, click next, and then Install now and the installer will start. Fill in the product key or proceed without, and select the correct edition of Windows in the next step. Accept the user agreement and you will be presented with two options: Upgrade or Custom. Upgrade works just like Keep personal files and apps and Fix problems with Windows Update above, and only works if Windows Update can install the system on top of the existing one. All files and installed applications will remain, but the reinstallation may not do any good. Custom can either reinstall Windows and move all your old files to a new folder on C: called Windows.old, or reformat (delete) C: and install a completely new system without any other files on the disc. To keep the old files, select the Windows partition from the list of available partitions and move on without doing anything more. To start from scratch, delete all partitions from your computer’s boot disc, where the current Windows resides. If you have more than one hard drive or SSD in your computer and haven’t unplugged them as I recommend above, you need to be careful here, as you can easily accidentally delete the other disks. Look for a partition that is named something with Windows and is of type Primary. Note the drive number. My Windows partition is on Drive 1. Select each partition on that drive in turn and click Delete. When the whole drive is just Unallocated space you can select it and click Next. The installer will then format the drive appropriately and begin the installation of Windows. Once everything is ready, just sign in to your Microsoft account and let the settings sync if you chose to. Then you can move your files back from the backup and install the programs you need. Read...

College can be extremely expensive — not just with tuition and dorm costs, but with materials, books, software, and more. You might think you have to spend lots of cash on apps to get you through your degree. But, really, you don’t have to spend any money at all! (Except in rare situations where you need a very specific software for class, in which case your college should ideally provide you with a license for it.) Here’s a truly useful collection of free apps that are must-haves for students like you, allowing you to outfit your college laptop with the essential tools to get your work done and do more. Related: Choosing the right laptop for your college major Bitwarden for safer passwords Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG A password manager is one of several essential cybersecurity tools for college students. You’ll probably accumulate lots of different logins for various school accounts and resources, right? Well, a password manager not only keeps all of those logins in one place, but also conveniently fills out login forms on your behalf. You’ll never have to remember your passwords again, which means you can freely use long, strong passwords that are unique to each account for maximum online security with close to zero effort. Bitwarden is our favorite free password manager. It’s open-source and can sync between your devices, so you can access all your passwords with convenient auto-fill whether you’re on your laptop, your phone, or any other device. All of its important features are truly free. Further reading: The best free password managers ProtonVPN for network privacy Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG A VPN can be really useful when you’re on a college network. Whether your access to a certain site is blocked or your internet speeds are throttled for certain activities, a VPN can help you get around many restrictions and limitations imposed upon you. Furthermore, VPNs are important for data privacy and security, especially if you’re frequently on the go and constantly using public Wi-Fi networks with your laptop or phone (e.g., at coffee shops). While most trustworthy VPNs cost money, there are some excellent free options if you don’t need all the bells and whistles. ProtonVPN is our favorite free VPN because it’s from the same privacy-focused company that created the famous ProtonMail email service. Further reading: The best free VPNs that don’t suck Microsoft OneNote for taking notes Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Did you know one of the best note-taking apps is already installed on your PC? It’s called Microsoft OneNote and it’s excellent for students. Whether you want to type notes, insert images, write with a stylus, or even record audio during a lecture, OneNote can do it all. OneNote is extremely flexible, so it’s as powerful as you want it to be. It’s also cross-platform, so you’re leaving yourself open to options by choosing it. If you later switch to a MacBook or Chromebook, you’ll still have full access and functionality. It also works well on iPads and other tablets, in case you like to review notes on such devices. Further reading: The best note-taking apps for college students Microsoft Office for assignments Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Microsoft’s full-blown Microsoft Office suite with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint normally costs money, but many colleges provide it to students free or charge as part of an agreement with Microsoft. Check with your college acquiring a free educational license for Office. You can also head to Microsoft’s Office 365 Education website and plug in your school email address to see if you get it for free that way. Even if you can’t get Office for free, you can still use Word and other Office apps for free in a web browser or subscribe for $3 per month with a student discount. Microsoft To Do for task management Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft A task management app is essential for keeping track of due dates and staying on top of deadlines. If you’re deep into Google apps, you may want to use Google Tasks which is built into Gmail and Google Calendar. Otherwise, I recommend Microsoft To Do. This 100% free to-do app comes included with Windows, and it’s also available on Android and iPhone devices. It’s a powerful, easy-to-use tool that’s packed with features, including collaboration. (You can create a shared task list with a roommate or project partner!) Grammarly or Microsoft Editor for writing assistance and suggestions Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Many students use writing assistants to polish up their essays, and Grammarly is the premier writing assistant. It’s available both as a browser extension and a Windows app, with the Windows app conveniently integrating with other apps like Microsoft Word. Anyone can use Grammarly Free to get instant access to basic grammar checking and suggestions, but Grammarly Premium with AI writing suggestions costs extra. Some schools offer Grammarly Premium for free to students, but not all of them do. You can also use the Microsoft Editor browser extension, which is completely free and provides similar writing suggestions in your browser. iCloud for Windows to sync your iPhone and Apple services to PC Apple Apple Apple If you’re an iPhone user, I highly recommend installing Apple’s iCloud for Windows app. It provides several integrations with the Apple services you’re probably using on your phone. With it, you can see your iCloud Photos in the Windows Photos app, browse your iCloud Drive files in File Explorer, access your bookmarks in your web browser, and get access to your iCloud Keychain passwords. Quick Share and Phone Link to sync your Android phone to PC Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG If you’re an Android phone user, check out the Google Quick Share app. It integrates your Windows PC with the Quick Share functionality on Android phones so you can wirelessly send files back and forth between PC and phone. It works with Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, and more. Microsoft’s Phone Link feature, which is included with Windows, is also very useful if you have an Android phone. You can send text messages, take calls, manage notifications, and view/download photos from your phone’s camera roll, all from your PC. (It kind of works with iPhones too, but it works best with Android phones.) DaVinci Resolve for video editing Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Design When it comes to video editing, your mind likely goes right to professional software like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro. Those may cost a pretty penny, but there’s an excellent alternative that’s just as good (mostly) and completely free: DaVinci Resolve. DaVinci Resolve is an extremely capable, industry-standard video editing and post-processing tool that’s actually used by professionals. It might actually be overboard if you’re just looking to edit a few clips, although I know some hobbyists who prefer it anyway. If you’re interested in video editing or post-production work and you’re on a tight budget, you owe it to yourself to try DaVinci Resolve. Adobe Photoshop Express for simple photo editing Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG The Photos app built into Windows is a surprisingly capable tool for performing basic photo edits. But Adobe’s free Photoshop Express app is another great tool for quick photo touchups. With Photoshop Express, you can crop images, apply effects and filters, fix red-eye issues, and touch-up blemishes. This free photo-editing tool is meant to be simple and quick, so keep your expectations in check. For more powerful photo editing, you’ll have to look elsewhere. Adobe Photoshop isn’t free for students, but Adobe does offer a student discount on its Creative Cloud plans. Spotify for music streaming Spotify Spotify Spotify While Spotify has competition, it’s still the music streaming service. It has a high-quality Windows app (not just a web player) that integrates nicely with your PC. Unlike some of its competitors, Spotify offers free music streaming to everyone — you just need to listen to some ads. If those ads are a problem, you can get a student discount with the Spotify Premium for Students plan, which is $5.99 per month and comes with Hulu. (The bundled Hulu account does have ads, but the Spotify Premium account you get doesn’t have ads.) VLC for all-in-one video playback VLC VLC VLC Windows has a capable built-in video player these days, and there’s a good chance you don’t even need it because you’re probably doing most of your watching on YouTube, Netflix, and the like. But if you do find yourself viewing a lot of video files — especially videos in many different formats — then I have to recommend VLC. It’s been the go-to video player for decades. It’s the Swiss Army knife of media players that can play anything you throw at it. WizTree for freeing up drive space WizTree WizTree WizTree While Windows provides some built-in tools for clearing up space on your computer’s storage, one of the best ways to find out what’s using up all your space is to use WizTree, a free disk space analyzing tool that shows you — visually — how your space is used up. WizTree is the fastest way to analyze your disk space usage on Windows. With a quick scan, you can see exactly which files and folders are clogging up your drives, so you know exactly what you need to free up for the most impact right away. Perhaps you need to uninstall a particularly massive video game? Or maybe you have big media files lying around from a project? WizTree makes it easy to spot it all at a glance. VMware Workstation for virtual machines Christoph Hoffmann Christoph Hoffmann Christoph Hoffmann You may or may not need virtual machine software depending on your college major, but if you’re studying Computer Science or another along those lines, you might benefit from using virtual machines. Virtual machine software lets you install an operating system within your current operating system, essentially running an isolated instance of that OS within its own sandbox environment. This is a great way to install a full Linux system without giving up Windows, for example. (Or use the Windows Subsystem for Linux feature to run Linux apps on Windows.) VMware Workstation was, until very recently, a paid app. Broadcom now offers it free for personal use. It will likely be your best bet if you’re looking for a virtual machine application. Further reading: How to set up virtual machines with VMware Microsoft PowerToys for various useful tools and features Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Chris Hoffman / IDG Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of useful power-user tools that you probably didn’t know you needed. It’s packed with nifty utilities that can make your life easier, and they all come bundled together in one convenient (and free) package that’s easy to install. With PowerToys, you can do things like remapping keys on your keyboard (so they function as other keys), bulk rename lots of files at once, get a color-picking tool that gives you the color code for anything on your screen, and so many other useful things. And there you have it! A full assortment of free apps that’ll make your life as a college student that much more productive and enjoyable. For more software recommendations, check out our roundup of useful free apps that are already installed on your Windows PC. Read...

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