I've recently started using my Toshiba L500 laptop again and installed free Avast and Malwarebytes as previously suggested and hope it's sufficient.Would these be lost if I reboot?.
Also, when the battery is fully charged (by taking it out and running it down too) it quickly dwindles down to nearly nothing, so I'm using the PC plugged in all the time. Is it possible to check beforehand to find out if I need to buy a new battery?.
no they won't be lost if you have installed them. i never use my laptop on battery plugged in all the time but then i never move mine from the desk top. don't discharge battery to nothing it does not do it any good. how long does it last when fully charged? most get about 3 hrs out of them on constant use
You ask about rebooting. Do you mean reboot (which is just restarting your machine) or resetting the hard drive to factory default, where you put the machine back to the way it was when you bought it?
im suprised the battery has not failed already, its quite an old laptop
i run mine mostly on the mains, you can run it without the battery but obviously you cannot move it about without first shutting it down.