I've used linux since 2003, and windows before that, on PC hardware. In 2012, I was looking for a good laptop, and could not freaking find one that wasn't an Ap

I've used linux since 2003, and windows before that, on PC hardware. In 2012, I was looking for a good laptop, and could not freaking find one that wasn't an Apple Macbook something. So I got a Macbook Air and installed linux on it. Your case is extreme. But on every windows install I've seen at least one of these kind of inexplicable un-fixable problems you just have to re-install to fix or live with. I like linux because every file is owned by a package, or it's a plain text config file in /etc, or it's in my home folder and has absolutely no effect on another user. It's just generally more under control. Files are not just modified by patch installers etc. So I love OS X app-folders, but many things for OS X use pkg installers, including stuff from Apple, so it's kinda the windows situation again, just a bit more transparent because it's mostly unix. My tips for Windows: don't do what your mother would do. First things first, go into Programs and Software in the control panel, and uninstall stuff, even stuff you don't recognize. Check the Device Manager to see if you've accidentally uninstalled a driver, and if so re-install it (get it from the laptop manufacturer's support website). Don't install or run Microsoft or Adobe (or Apple) software, stick to the open-source windows software where possible, like 7-zip, sumatra-pdf, Libreoffice, Firefox or Chrome, etc. Also go ahead and disable System Recovery on all drives, to save disk space and performance, since if something goes wrong you'll have to re-install anyway.