Laptop runs really slow, what possible to spped up PLEASE HELP

That's an old laptop, looks to be from 2003, will seem slow even with upgrades. First, max the ram on it can check www.crucial.com, buy a new hard-drive, then re-install Windows. Those 3 are the only things you can do with it, but should make a pretty good improvement and would cost under $100. Or you can put that money towards a new or a used modern laptop. you can find a good used one for $200 or a new one for $400 that is much faster than yours in all ways.

Does the laptop seem to work faster when you're not connected to the internet?
How long does it now take to load up the application that used to take 10 min?
What AV program did you load? If two computer virus infections were found you could still have more that weren't found, possibly even a rootkit.

The laptop itself loads the same as if it is connected to the internet or not. Also, the application that would take 10 mins counts toward any application when oppening. O, and the AV proram is M.S.E

How long does any application take to load up?

Well basicly, when i say any i mean any and all aplications that i am trying to open. Thanks for your repley by the way

How long does any application take to load up?

You can download and run CPU-z
Look to see what CPU core speed you have while trying to open your programs.

That laptop has a Celeron 2 gig CPU, and came with 256MB or RAM, any decent application will take a long time to open especially if Windows was not reloaded since 2003.

hey there,
Some more ram would probably speed things up. You also may want to try a defrag from a very powerful third party defragger. Download a free trial of diskeeper home edition from their website to see how fragmented you are, then defrag! I would also recommend getting a can of compressed air and cleaning the whole thing out.

Here is a routine that has proven very successful at speeding up PCs (particularly old machines). It's long but effective and thorough (it covers a lot of possible reasons for slowness).

0. Ensure the Hard Disc Drive is not damaged or faulty.
Solution - Run CheckDisk:
a. Start> Computer >select C Drive>Right Click C Drive>select "Properties">"Tools" > click "Check Now"> Select both boxes and click "Start".
b. This can take a long time, so let it complete (may take all night or longer. Be patient.)

1. Ensure your PC has as much memory (RAM) as possible.
Solution -- Find out how much RAM your PC has:
a. Go to Start > Right Click "Computer" > Properties
b. This will list the processor type and speed as well as how much RAM is installed.
c. Search your PC's name and model # followed by "memory" to see what what kind of memory you need and how much your PC supports.
d. Get the maximum amount of memory your computer can hold and install it (you can search "How to install memory on a (your model name and #)" to find some videos on how to do this.

2. Ensure the PC is protected.
Solution - Update existing Anti-Malware software or install if there are none.
a. Open the Anti-Virus program and ensure it is up to date.
b. Open the Anti-Spyware program and ensure it is up to date
c. If no Anti-Virus or Anti-Spyware, get good programs (MalWare Bytes is a good, free anti malware program and AVG is good, free Anti Virus-- see links below).
d. If getting another AV program, remove the old one before installing the replacement one.

3. Remove Malware from your PC
Solution - Run the Antivrus and then the Antispyware scans (can take a while if never done. Be patient):
a. Scan the whole system with the Anti-Virus & handle whatever found;
b. Scan the whole system with the Anti-Spyware & handle whatever found;

4. Next, ensure the Registry is clean and the disk's clutter is also cleaned out.
Solution: Get and run a good registry cleaner.
a. Check to see if there is a registry cleaner already on the system;
b. if none, get CCleaner at the site below
c. Run the Registry cleaner till it finds and corrects all errors
d. Run the "File Cleaner" to analyze the disk and see what it finds to delete and then delete the files that are not needed (most of the files it finds are unneeded, but look through the categories to be safe).

Note: Be careful with Registry Cleaners as there are many around and new ones come up all the time and some reportedly cause more damage than they help. Use a time-tested reliable one. CCleaner is one of the originals and is proven.

5. Now defragment the drive.
Solution - Get a good third party program that will defrag your drive and keep it defragmented.

Fragmentation is basically broken-up pieces of files and free space randomly scattered all over your disk. The disk has to work a lot harder to save files in pieces and then to find them again and this really slows your computer down. It also wears out your disk, as the more the disk is used, the faster it wears out.

Basic defragmenting finds all the pieces of a file and puts them together, saving time.

Windows has a built-in defrag tool but it is very slow and you cannot use the PC while it is running (some users complain that it did not completely defrag their disks despite running all night). If you are more than a casual PC user, you should use a good third party program.

a. Below is a Top 10 Reviews side-by-side comparison of the best defrag programs around. Check it out, select a program and install a free trial.

b. The better defrag programs are automatic. The gold medal winner in the above will defrag while you use the PC with no resource drain and it also prevents fragmentation.

You can get a free trial for the gold medal winner via the review or at the site listed below.

c. Defragment your disk drives (the first time may take a while so be patient. If using an automatic defragmenter, just install it, configure it and let it do its thing.


Once this all is done, your PC should perform much better and be as fast as it can be.

Good luck.

Bill R TechSpec


MalWare Bytes: http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000...
AVG AntiVirus: http://download.cnet.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition-20...
CCleaner: http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/
Defrag Reviews: http://disk-defragmenter-software-review.toptenreviews....
Gold medal defrag winner: http://www.diskeeper.com/defrag

Download a free copy of malewarebytes and run a full scan. You may have malware/spyware also. Upgrade ram to the max, get a 7200 rpm hdd, and run a registry cleaner. Download disk cleaner..it is free..do a google search(purple funnel icon) and run that alsoDo a defrag last, and also a disc check. to get there, click start...right click My Computer...select tools tab...select disc check...check both boxes...restart computer and disc check should run, will probably take about 1-2 hours, unless you upgrade the ram first, then it may run a little quicker, depending on the hdd size. If you have the knowledge, run msconfig, go to startup tab, and deselect anything that doesn't need to load when booting windows. This will help speed up boot time. Good luck. Let us know how it works out.


http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000...

http://www.diskcleaner.nl/download

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/defa...