Super Slow Laptop - Help!?

Question

Hey!

I have a Compaq Presario V2000 wide screen laptop.I've had it for a few years but recently it started playing up. It had a few viruses but its had a complete fresh install and it has hardly any files or programs on it so I dont think thats the problem. It is being so slow its ridiculous. it starts up fine but takes forever to open programs, download music, open files etc and can't handle 2 tasks at once.

Any suggestions on what might be the cause and what I can do apprieciated, its now virus free so thats not the problem. Thanks all!!

Answer 1

Being that you did a fresh install, another factor could be an aging hard drive.  One symptom of a failing hard drive is the slow boot time and data retrieve.  The hard drive may make some weird sounds too as the hard drive tries to read over bad sectors.  If it is, start saving your data asap before the drive do crash.  You can then buy a new hard drive.

If it isn't the hard drive, you may want to install more RAM.

Answer 2

My friend has the same laptop and had problems like that. I ran virus scans and spybot search and destroy and deleted all the spyware and viruses then i ran 'CCleaner' and deleted all the junk. then ran a registry scan with 'CCleaner' and fixed all the errors. then ran 'dial-a-fix' and went to the tools and ran 'process idle tasks'. i can guarantee that if you never ran 'process idle tasks' before.. you will notice a big difference in program start up time and boot up time. it may take a while for 'dial a fix' to run 'process idle task' because it defrags your hard drive. all these programs can be found using google.

Answer 3

if you have vista, download the google free gadgets and get the small  multimeter just for this purpose. it attaches to the vistas sidebar.if your computer is running programs and grabbing RAM it will show it . at least you will be able to eliminate some things easly.

Answer 4

if a laptop suddenly slows down something must have changed, check the memory to make sure it's all being recognised, might just need reseating, also check the windows power saving settings and the bios to make sure the procesor is running at its fastest, other than this download a cpu temperature monitor to make sure the processor is not getting too warm, this can happen if the thermal paste between the processor and hearsink loses it's efficiency.

Answer 5

These are the tips I usually give to folks who have a slow running PC that used to run just fine.

Pay special attention to the section that mentions the program AUTORUNS.

A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.  You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.



One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP.  It is slow but does the job rather well.  Go to:

Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools   and then click on System Defrag to run the tool.  It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.

A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper Home. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.

Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background.  Software manufacturers write ".exe" files that help launch a program faster when you click on the icon.  These .exe files are running all the time unless you shut them down, and they eat up your RAM and can leave you with precious little RAM to run your PC.  The best thing to do is to shut down all the unnecessary programs that are running unless you specifically NEED them to be running "in the background".  If you can wait another 2 or 3 seconds for a program like Word, or Adobe, or whatever to open then don't allow some of these ".exe" files to run.  Each one you shut down, saves you RAM to help run your PC more efficiently.  The following program, Autoruns, will allow you to control what runs when you boot up your PC.



Here's a really good Microsoft tool.  It’s called Autoruns and it was written by SysInternals who were bought up by Microsoft.  Before you download the program create a folder under program files called Autoruns.  Leave Windows Explore open.  Launch Internet Explorer and go to the following Microsoft web page. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinte...

Go to the bottom of the page and download the Autoruns program.  After it downloads unzip the file (You'll need WinZip or WinRAR to do so).  You will see 4 files.  Drag and drop those 4 files to the Autoruns folder you created under Program Files.

Once you have the 4 files in the C:\Program Files\Autoruns folder you can double click on the file titled “autoruns.exe”  (not the autorunsc.exe) to launch the program.

This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top.  Click on the “Logon” tab.  It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources.  Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running.  Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name.  Clicking on it will remove the check mark.  Look for any program that your are not using at this moment  that has a check mark in the box.  Look for programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, etc.  Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.  

NOTE:  Look in the publisher column and leave items that show Windows; System 32; Program Files; etc. alone.  Also leave things that mention Audio, video, etc. alone.  Shutting them off may cause some things not to work.  Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.

WARNING:  Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting/unchecking things.  You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that.  Stay focused on the “Logon”  List only.  If you happen to shut off something that you didn't intend to, you can relaunch the Autoruns program and simply put the check mark back in the appropriate box, and then reboot the PC.  The "program" will be reinstated to run at boot up.

Regularly clean up your browsing history, files, cookies, temp files, etc.  A good program to use is CCleaner and it is FREE.  Get it here:  http://www.download.com



Also, you need a “registry cleaner”.  The registry can get “defragmented and clogged” with various data that you simply don’t need.  The only effective way to clean this massive list is to use an automated cleaner.  Go to http://www.download.com and you can search for Registry Cleaners.  There should be several FREE ones there for you to use.  One I've found to do a good job is named Wise Registry Cleaner.

Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM XP Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com  This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time.  I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also.  Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return it to the Task Bar.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

i am having same like u, but  just change u r RAM to 1 gb. and reduce all software from c drive. dont install more softwares.