not trying to "plug" this tool here, but i found this free, trial version of something called revo uninstaller... i was able to get rid of all the crap programs and downloads on the computer, turn off things that ran automatically during startup and operation, removed junk files, unused files, and deleted items (most of which was leftover from the previous owner), and organize how the laptop runs... got back over 8gb of memory / space (which is a lot, considering there's only 65gb), things are running super fast and smooth without changing my browser... i can log onto this forum on the first try now, page loads are effortless and quick, things seem great! i think i can almost keep up with the new server now...