peter2407
Well-Known Member
My laptop is running like a dog, and has been for some time. I know that I should rebuild it, but an avoiding that if I can. Are there any tools out there to improve performance that you could recommend?
Laptop runs like a dog - any advice?
- Thread starter peter2407
- Start date
Talbot
Well-Known Member
armchairsailor
Well-Known Member
My brother in law (IT techie) has just prescribed that I completely wipe our hard disc & start from scratch for the same problem. He suggested backing up onto an external hard drive, making an image map of the hard disc to aid setting up/ reloading and then reformatting the internal hard drive & reloading all software. He recommends that every 6 months. Ours is about 7 years old! Oops...
oceanfroggie
Well-Known Member
A common reason for an XP PC to become significantly slower is anti-virus software especially Norton. One day all is well, then after an automatic update runs like a dog. Incorrect DNS/DHCP settings can also cause extreme delays.
elton
Well-Known Member
Which OS?
There's rarely any need to 'rebuild' a machine. I've never had to do it to any machine I've owned. And you don't need any third party software to optimise your system. It's mainly a matter of ensuring you have enough memory installed, sufficient free disk space, and no background processes running that you don't need, and no viruses. If you have Vista, the best way to get better performance is to revert to XP (or Linux if you're feeling adventurous).
ps: and defragment the disks and unblock the cooling fan ducts.
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john_morris_uk
Well-Known Member
Or do what we did and buy a Mac? I got fed up with having to run the various anti-virus, registry editing, anti-malware, defragmentation and spyware utilities on our PC. One year on with no added security, the mac is running as well as ever. It helped that SWMBO'd school is completely Mac and Mac-book driven. She was given a Mac-book to bring home to work on as well!
savageseadog
Well-Known Member
Enter it in one of these:
rhumlady
Well-Known Member
As said above, memory is a major issue. If you have less than a Gig then that could be your problem. XP sith the latest service packs and IE8 eat memory and slow things down badly.
Delivery Skipper
Active Member
Nortons
Had very same problem, contacted nortons for £60 they enter your computer via your connection and go through everything ( they open a box on screen & you can watch what is being done) takes about an hour but results are great.
Hope this is of use
Delivery Skipper
www.keenmarine.co.uk
Had very same problem, contacted nortons for £60 they enter your computer via your connection and go through everything ( they open a box on screen & you can watch what is being done) takes about an hour but results are great.
Hope this is of use
Delivery Skipper
www.keenmarine.co.uk
NickRobinson
Well-Known Member
Hi
go start/run type msconfig (enter)
go to the startup tab and uncheck everything!
go to services tab and select hide microsoft services
uncheck everything left!
close (you'll be asked if you want to restart, yes)
when you restart you'll get a box (in startup mode, do you want to see this mesage again, click no)
Do this whenever the pc gets sluggish.
Let me know if it helps?
Nick
oldsaltoz
Well-Known Member
Just make sure you don't run the registry cleaner or you may be worse off, apart from that it's a good program; also some useful tools.
Avagoodweekend......
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arfa
Well-Known Member
NickRobinson - cheers for the tip, it has sorted my netbook out.
The only thing I would add is that as a first step it is probably simplest to cut out all the start up programs or else it could get tricky using your regular internet connection....
I know I had problems !
The only thing I would add is that as a first step it is probably simplest to cut out all the start up programs or else it could get tricky using your regular internet connection....
I know I had problems !
Seagreen
Well-Known Member
What's the catch with this "free download"? I've tried ther stuff that was scareware, and what makes this different?
webcraft
Well-Known Member
Vista and memory
.
A lot of early Vista laptops were sold with 1GB of memory, which was criminal. It will only run at any speed if you turn off the Aero desktop and search indexing. Even with 2GB it's not that great if you have a lot of progs running at once.
Memory is cheap, so fit as much as you can - or at least up to 4GB for 32-bit Vista. It will only see about 3.5GB but so what, it doesn't cost much to go from 3GB to 4GB and anyway not all MBs will address 3GB.
Just go onto crucial.com and use the built in diagnostic tool - it will recommend the best upgrade for your machine. Best not to mix and match old and new RAM sticks though.
- W
.
A lot of early Vista laptops were sold with 1GB of memory, which was criminal. It will only run at any speed if you turn off the Aero desktop and search indexing. Even with 2GB it's not that great if you have a lot of progs running at once.
Memory is cheap, so fit as much as you can - or at least up to 4GB for 32-bit Vista. It will only see about 3.5GB but so what, it doesn't cost much to go from 3GB to 4GB and anyway not all MBs will address 3GB.
Just go onto crucial.com and use the built in diagnostic tool - it will recommend the best upgrade for your machine. Best not to mix and match old and new RAM sticks though.
- W
elton
Well-Known Member
Which reminds me of the time my Vista machine with 2GB of memory began running like a dog. After much head scratching and poking about, I discovered that a memory module had become unrecognisable on boot-up, and Vista was running with 'only' 1 GB. I simply removed the module, cleaned the contacts with an eraser and a tissue, and re-inserted it. Normal service was thus restored.
V1701
Well-Known Member
Thanks Nick, that's quickened things up significantly...
I have Vista (basic) and 1GB, could you advise how I turn off the aero desktop and search indexing. I had a quick look but have Spanish OS on it so struggle a bit to find things myself...
webcraft
Well-Known Member
.
Vista Home Basic doesn't have the Aero desktop, so no worries there.
To disable search indexing:
~ Open Start menu
~ Type 'Services' into the Search bar at the bottom
~ Scroll down to Windows Search serviec
~ Right-click on it and select Properties
~ From the drop-down list for 'Start Type' select 'Disabled'
~ Now stop the service by right-clicking on it and selecting 'Stop'
But why not just get some more memory?
One more thing - if it has Norton or Macafee on it uninstall them and install AVG Free or Avast.
- W
Vista Home Basic doesn't have the Aero desktop, so no worries there.
To disable search indexing:
~ Open Start menu
~ Type 'Services' into the Search bar at the bottom
~ Scroll down to Windows Search serviec
~ Right-click on it and select Properties
~ From the drop-down list for 'Start Type' select 'Disabled'
~ Now stop the service by right-clicking on it and selecting 'Stop'
But why not just get some more memory?
One more thing - if it has Norton or Macafee on it uninstall them and install AVG Free or Avast.
- W
Talbot
Well-Known Member
This particular software was originally recommended by Times.online. They also do a professional version, so the freebie is really to get you to nuy the full version. However, even the freebie works well - try it!
V1701
Well-Known Member
Thanks very much
longjohnsilver
Well-Known Member
Thanks Nick, just used this on our PC which has been very slow. Now seems much improved.