Question:
Laptop is slow!?
1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Laptop is slow!?
Twelve answers:
2008-07-22 10:01:45 UTC
burn music,videos,movies to cd and free up some reserve space



SPEED UP PUTER



There are MANY reasons for computer slow downs:



a] not enough memory

b] too many programs starting up with windows at boot up time

c] spyware

d] too many junk files

e] too many restore points



here are some ways to get that bad puppy back up to speed.





VERY 1st thing will be to open System Restore [ see Vista System Restore footnotes ]:



System Restore takes up 13% of your hard drive!



open System Restore from the accessories,system tools,system restore link in All Programs



settings

drive (c)

check OFF



while there,click--hold--drag slider to 3% and recover 10% hard drive space !



close this window and repeat the process but this time UN CHECK the OFF box



what you've just done is wiped the old restore points from your hard drive AND recovered 10% memory space on your hard drive WITHOUT adding memory!



right click Recycle bin

select properties

all drives

click--hold--drag slider to 3% and recover ANOTHER 10% of your hard drive space!



these 2 operations allow you to INCREASE YOUR MEMORY ALLOCATION BY 20% !

without paying a DIME !!



the following is for DIAL UP ONLY !



start,control panel,phone & modem options

modems,properties,advanced

intialization box



enter



at&fx



google for initialization strings to get more such initialization codes and try those



once a month do a disk defrag



weekly do a disk clean



install Ccleaner and run daily



every 6 months or so [ XP ]:



sfc/scannow:



start,my computer,drive (c),properties

tools,check both boxes

click start



repair bios:



press F1 at start up

wait 5 sec.'s

press f5 to restore default

wait 5 sec.'s to save & exit



Internet Options:



next,off to Internet Options:

start,control panel,general

history:

click clear history & set days to keep to 0

Temp files:

click clear temp files

cookies:

click clear cookies

close window



Vista Footnotes:



System Restore:

start--All Programs,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore:



How do I turn System Restore on or off?

System Protection, the feature that creates restore points, is on by default. We recommend that you keep System Protection turned on for all hard disks that contain important files so that you can use System Restore if you need to.

To turn System Restore on or off

Click to open System.

In the left pane, click System Protection. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To turn on System Protection for a hard disk, select the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.

– or –

To turn off System Protection for a hard disk, clear the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.

Create Restore Point:

start,Accessories,System Tools,System Restore:

click open system protection

check (c) drive

click create





here are several programs I use for clean up and virus/trojan/worm removal

Avast anti virus

Spybot anti spyware

Spyware Blaster anti spyware

Registry Seeker registry cleaner

Ccleaner crap cleaner



the last 2 have an application [ program/software ] removal section to help with future problems



if you install Ccleaner,uncheck both Recycle bin & Cookies text boxes or you'll clean out both when you don't want to

open options,settings,cookies:

move cookies you want to keep from left box to [ keep ] right box

click brush,click run

the update button is right bottom



manage start up programs:



click tools,start up and there will be the programs that are starting up with windows at boot up time.

remove as many as you don't need to start up.

this DOES NOT remove a program from your computer,only stops it from starting up with windows making the boot time quicker



FASTER VISTA



FASTER MENU



1. These tweaks require that you venture into your registry, please backup your registry.



2. Go to Start > Run when the Run box opens type in regedit



3. Your registry should have opened [Just checking...have you backed up your registry?]



Navigate to the following keys; HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel >Desktop



4. On the pane to the right double-click on



MenuShowDelay



it should open up a dialog box with a set value (it should be 400), change that value to 50.



5. Click OK, you're done



Ditching Aero



Vista's Aero interface gives Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Free Trial.



Security Software As A Service From Webroot.



Latest News about Microsoft latest consumer operating system the glitz that makes it visually appealing.



Semi-transparent title bars and a more three-dimensional appearance overall are trademarks of Aero.



However, Aero eats up a lot of system resources -- and takes a toll on performance as a result.



Microsoft makes turning off Aero pretty easy.



First, right-click on any blank area of your Vista desktop



select Personalize from the resulting pop-up menu.



The Windows Control Panel opens. From there



click the Window Color and Appearance link.



Then click the Enable Transparency check box to remove the check mark.



Before leaving the Window Color and Appearance dialog box,



click the link labeled "Open classic appearance properties for more color options."



That link takes you to the Appearance Settings dialog box.



In Appearance Settings, you'll find a list of color schemes from which you can choose.



Three of those color schemes -- Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, and Windows Classic



-- will remove the Aero interface. Specifically, Windows Vista Basic gives you the Vista look without the transparency effects of Aero. Windows Standard revives the Windows 2000 look, and Windows Classic is a throwback to the Windows 95/98 appearance. Switch to any one of these themes, and you should notice that Vista becomes a bit snappier overall.

Revamp Explorer



You can tweak more productivity Save up to $500 off top-selling HP printers.



and performance by changing some behaviors of the Vista version of Windows Explorer,



which is heavy on the glitz but has arguably taken a step backwards in usability.



The first sin of Vista's Windows Explorer is that the menus are no longer visible.



Get them back by opening Windows Explorer, pressing Alt-T to pull open the hidden Tools menu,



and then selecting Folder Options.



From the resulting Folder Options dialog box, click the View tab,



where you'll see a long list of check boxes.



Place a check mark in the second one, labeled "Always show menus,"



and you'll get your Explorer menus back in a flash.



While you're there, check the first option as well --



labeled "Always show icons, never thumbnails."



That option tells Vista not to bother with showing thumbnails of images in a directory listing.



If you can do without thumbnails,



you'll find that Explorer works faster and crashes much less often.



Back to Start



Vista's revamped Start menu has some nifty tricks up its sleeve.



The integrated Search field, for instance,



makes it easy to find programs that are nested deep within the Start menu,



and the integrated scroll bar offers a solution to the monitor-hogging fly out menus



that plagued the earlier Start menu.



However, if you find Vista's Start menu to be overkill --



or long for the simplicity of the earlier version -- you're in luck.



Right-click the Vista Start menu, and select Properties.



The Taskbar and Start Menu dialog box opens.



From there, select the Start Menu tab, and then click the Classic Start menu option button.



Click OK, and Vista will revamp your Start menu, giving you back the old-style XP Start menu.



These tricks won't make Vista work exactly like XP does, but they go some way toward giving you back that familiar look and feel -- as well as improving the performance of Vista.





Stabilize Vista



So, you've reluctantly decided to hang in there with Vista but still prefer the XP experience?



The good news is that there are things you can do to make Vista look



and work a little more like XP.



Faking It



First, right-click on an empty area of the desktop and select Personalize.



Click the Window Color and Appearance link,



and then click Open classic appearance properties for more color options.



From the list, choose Windows Vista Basic to get a quasi-XP look and feel,



or Windows Classic if you prefer the utilitarian interface from Windows 2000 and 98.



Either choice should also improve system performance,



since the flashy (and essentially useless) transparency effects are system resource hogs.



While you're at it, you can also revert Vista's Start menu to the simpler form



it took in earlier versions of Windows.



Right-click the Start button, select Properties, and then choose the Classic Start menu option.



Next, if you're frustrated by the absence of drop-down menus in Windows Explorer



and Internet Explorer, you can bring them back any time by pressing the Alt key.



To make this change permanent in Windows Explorer,



open the Organize drop-down, select Folder and Search Options,



choose the View tab, and then turn on the Always show menus check box.



One of Vista's biggest problems is the Green Ribbon of Death,



the harbinger of a crashed Explorer window.



XP certainly has Vista beat in this area,



but only because XP's Windows Explorer doesn't take on as much.



To make Explorer more stable in Vista, open Folder Options in Control Panel,



and choose the View tab.



Select the first option here, Always show icons, never thumbnails, and click OK.



Now, if you'd rather not do away with Vista's thumbnail previews of videos and pictures,



you're probably going to need to deal with the occasional crash.



I
2014-09-13 20:41:20 UTC
Hey there,

I found a free download of Emule here http://bitly.com/1qdbLjf



It is a open source P2P client that allows you to search and share files with other eMule users and to download movies, music and many other media file types.



Hope it helps.
Jenny
2008-07-23 19:19:44 UTC
Using a registry cleaner can clean up your computer and then make your computer faster,Why?the reason is that there may be some regsitry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer slow".

Everytime you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the computer registry.over time, the registry can grow to enormous proportions, especially if the various programs you've installed do not do a good job of deleting and/or updating it's Registry entries.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make it fast.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically!

There are some comparison and review of TOP 5 registry cleaners.

http://www.fix-system.com/

You can download and scan your computer for free.
2008-07-22 15:39:14 UTC
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.
2008-07-22 10:05:39 UTC
maybe you need to defragment the files..hit start, click on all programs, go to accessories, scroll down to system tools, click on disk defragmentor..its moves the files, put them in order..It will analyze it to see if needed, this will speed up the computer onece its done.
2008-07-22 10:04:47 UTC
Clean up you'r computer at as much as you can. Like programs and files that you don't use or add ons that were installed when you installed another program. And also i would HIGHLY recommend you get a Anti-virus software. Expecially since you have limewire. I have limewire also. And i use Norton anti-virus. If you get that it will check you computer for virus's, bad programs, and anything that would screw your computer up. After the scan it will fix the problems for you. After that your computer will most likely be loads faster. It's just add on's and cookies and virus that really mess up your computer.
2008-07-22 10:04:11 UTC
It might be a virus although limewire wouldnt ussually download viruses unles you are downloading porn. If you have a lot of songs on your computer they are taking a lot of space and you might not even have enough memory. There is this software that i have been using for the past 4 years my laptop runs like a ferrari. Is called System mechanic profesional you can get a 30 day free trial and clean up your computer go to www.download.com and get it from there. I know a lot about computers and dont really need this software but is so easy to use and it takes me less time to clean the whole computer instead of doing it manual. GL.
It's Kyle!
2008-07-22 10:01:08 UTC
For songs, I use this:

http://www.jimmyr.com/mp3_search.php



But you have to be careful either way. Get a nice anti-virus program, and always check the file size. Songs are traditionally 3 to 7 megabytes. Anything lower could be a virus, but anything higher is okay.
kevin
2008-07-22 10:01:04 UTC
well, you could get norton 360, that helps with spam, viruses, etc...
2008-07-22 09:57:47 UTC
There is a website that could help with almost any computer problems. You should check it out btexpress computer repair They are great people. Email for the link (great service) more info. about them you can also email me about that too.



btexpress.page.tl
2008-07-24 00:55:37 UTC
For running slow there are many causes:

Microsoft Registry Problems = Slow Computer!

Spyware/Adware

RAM

De-Fragmenting

Etc.



Below can help you speed up your pc:



For IE, click Tools, Internet Options delete files (offline files) clear history (set days to save to 0 if you want) click o.k., and Restart



For Firfox, press ctrl+shift+del, and click clean private data.



Manage your startup:

Open your Start menu -> Click Run -> In the command screen type "msconfig.exe" -> In the "system configuration utility", click either "service" or "startup" tab -> Uncheck all programs that your are no longer using.



De-Fragmenting

1. Right click of C Disk.

2. Click properties.

3. Click tools tab.

4. Click "Defragment now".

5. Click Defragment.



You can search which process full use you cpu, and end the process.



Under steps:

1. right click on the TaskBar.

2. click the Task Manager.

3. click the processes tab.

4. double click the CPU.

5. find if the "System Idle Process" is max.

6. if not right click and click end process.



Learn "Why Is My Computer Running so Slow?" and "How to Speed it UP":

http://downloadlk.net/WhyIsMyComputerSlow.htm

Use the tool: http://downloadlk.net/themosteffectiveregistrycleaner.htm
D2ARK
2008-07-22 10:38:52 UTC
First off, get Limewire OFF your computer POST-HASTE! It is notorious for loading your computer with all sorts of nasty little programs (including visruses), and even possibly making your computer part of a botnet, which basically turns your computer into a hacker's free processing unit.



Second, I would suggest getting the Avira Antivirus Free program from Download.com - it is a top-rated free malware scanning tool. I also use Spybot Search & Destroy (also availabel on Download.com) as it has an "immunize" feature that helps prevent Internet Explorer from loading viruses disguised as ActiveX controls. I do not use Norton, McAfee, or AVG 8.0 because they slow down your computer so badly, they are as bad as viruses themselves, and I've seen them let stuff through!



Third, I must warn you now - any types of programs for "loading up your iPod" to which you are referring are straight-up illegal. The RIAA, if you are discovered sharing music, will sue you into eternal debt (sometimes on the order of many thousands of dollars PER SONG, and if you have 100 to 1000 songs...) if you download even ONE song they are monitoring, and they do monitor file sharing networks, especially shady / dirty ones like LimeWire, BearShare, Kazaa, eDonkey / eMule, and any number of others... I know of others, but those are the most hyped and prolific.



If you want to obtain music for your mobile music device, the best way short of buying it yourself either through a music service or paying for an overpriced CD, is to borrow a CD from someone you know or your local library and convert the songs individually, although it is doubtful they'll have Britney or Hannah there - more like Beethoven...


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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