Any advice is welcome
If it's just a trojan or virus, a fresh re-install of any OS would work to be rid of it.
I saw a comment here recommending ZorinOS a few days ago, and I'm checking it out. It's basically re-skinned Ubuntu (Linux)--which is what I came from--but I do like Zorin and would recommend it. It's free and everything, and they have some nice interfaces that make it easy for newcomers.
What leads you to believe the laptop is compromised ... what tools have you used to check for problems?