Why is my laptop so slow, and what can I do to fix it?

4 thoughts on “Why is my laptop so slow, and what can I do to fix it?”

1. Mickey L says:

   September 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

   If your virus/spyware free, there are a couple things you can do get your computer working faster. If you using your computer for normal stuff and not gaming. You don’t always need more RAM you just need to perform a few maintenance task.

   First, if you haven’t cleaned your registry in a while. This is necessary. Your registry holds all the information regarding updates, installs, un-installs etc. Each one of those events produces a key. That key needs your PC’s resources and free space. So, if you clean your registry, you make more resources available for speed. Do a registry scan if you got more than 20 errors you should clean it.
   http://www.delete-computer-history.com/what-is-the-best-registry-cleaner.html

   2. Clear your Windows cache files, this is your temporary file. It can grow up to a large volume and stop your computer from using RAM properly. In a sense slow it down by preventing it from using free space.Here is how:

   1. Quit Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other web browser
   2. Click Start, click "Control Panel", and then double-click "Internet Options".
   3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files" under Temporary Internet Files.
   4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the "Delete all offline content" check box , and then click OK.
   5. Click OK.

   3. Manage your startups. Your excess CPU usage is due to too many programs running in the background. You can cut these to barebones by alter your msconfig. Here is how:

   1. Open your Start menu.
   2. Click Run
   3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"
   4. In the "system configuration utility",click either "service" or "startup" tab
   5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer using.
   6. Click "OK"

   Other great tip is increasing your virtual memory to simulate more RAM. This will give you a bit more resources for multiple program use or CPU heavy programs.
   Hope this link helps. Shows you how to do everything step by step. You should get a least 60-120% more resources and speed
   if you follow the tips.

2. mark040689 says:

   September 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

   theres a couple things you can do…. first off start by updating any updates that may be available for your computer for drivers and whatnot such as bios updates, chipset drivers etc….

   then go into internet explorer or mozilla firefox or whatever web browser you use and clear the cookies, history, etc…. in IE just go to tools>delete browsing history… in MFF go to tools>clear private data.

   then you should clear the cache.. do this by going to start>programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup

   next id run a virus/adware/spyware scan just to make sure.. however norton isnt a good antivirus/firewall/spyware/adware program…. a friend of mine can tear it apart in like 10 min… i recommend using Kaspersky internet security…

   after that run a defrag… even though it says its scheduled to run a defrag every week it might not do so… so make sure that it does.

   then try runing "msconfig"…. if youre using vista just type that in the search box on the start menu…. msconfig allows you to choose which processes, programs, etc. start up when windows starts up.

   after that reboot and your pc should run faster…

   the amount of disk space that is used shouldn’t matter unless you have like less than 800 Mb left.

   ps- make sure youre using a legit registry cleaner.

3. kavitbica says:

   September 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

   need more technical information to try to solve your question

4. Darren, PC Friendly, Inc. says:

   September 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

   Norton is a starting point in my opinion. It is an absolute pig (No offense to Symantec). No, having that much music won’t slow down your computer. Removing excess bloatware, bells, whistles, autoupdate programs like Quicktime updater, real player, toolbars, etc. will bring back quite a bit of your performance. There’s lots that can slow down a person’s computer. If you are careful, you can go into msconfig and then the startup tab and start unchecking applications that run on startup. Most can be unchecked without harm. Do a google search on each one to be sure it’s safe to remove.

   Also, to add to your arsenal, you should probably add ccleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) to clean out temp files, etc. and if you do decide to remove Norton, replace it with either AVG free edition or Clamwin (Both found at http://www.download.com)

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