computer running slow

[katarina]

what can I do to speed up my laptop? I have defragmented it, deleted all unused files, done a disc check. It has only used quarter of its memory facility - so why is it so slow? And I mean REALLY slow.

[Bobinovich]

Firstly download & run Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org) to check if some malware has installed itself.

Also how much memory (not hard drive, which I'm guessing is what you were referring to as 'only used quarter') is installed? In Windows XP the easiest way to find out is to click Start > Control Panel > System and above the Support Information button let us know what the X Mb or Gb of RAM value is. For an XP system I recommend no less than 512Mb, and for Vista its around 2Gb.

Another check I do is to do CTRL + ALT + DEL on the keyboard. If you're using Vista one of the options available at the bottom of the screen will be Task Manager so select it - XP automatically shows it. Now click the Processes tab and then click the CPU heading twice to put everything in order of how much CPU power it's using. Ignoring System Idle Process what are the next few on the list, and what kind of CPU % are shown next to them? Once we know this it may narrow down whats causing the slow speed.

[dx100uk]

i'd also be incline to consider running something like Ccleaner or glary Utils

if they dont help. i'd also concur that p'haps it might be unknown nasties.

type in housecall on a search engine
and run the online scanner


dx

[RecQuery]

After the other suggestions if theres still no progress. how long does it take to boot into safe mode (http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm).

[poppett]

I followed Bob`s link and one hour and thirty-seven minutes later the full scan reported no problems. Things are running a bitty faster now, so thank you for that information.

[Bobinovich]

Would love to claim credit Poppett but if nothing was found then there's no logical reason why the system would be running any faster. It's possible your system was running slow due to maybe a background scan, automatic windows/program update, or something similar which has since completed and stopped, but Malwarebytes, I sould suggest, has not done anything.

[katarina]

Firstly download & run Malwarebytes (http://www.malwarebytes.org) to check if some malware has installed itself.

Also how much memory (not hard drive, which I'm guessing is what you were referring to as 'only used quarter') is installed? In Windows XP the easiest way to find out is to click Start > Control Panel > System and above the Support Information button let us know what the X Mb or Gb of RAM value is. For an XP system I recommend no less than 512Mb, and for Vista its around 2Gb.

Another check I do is to do CTRL + ALT + DEL on the keyboard. If you're using Vista one of the options available at the bottom of the screen will be Task Manager so select it - XP automatically shows it. Now click the Processes tab and then click the CPU heading twice to put everything in order of how much CPU power it's using. Ignoring System Idle Process what are the next few on the list, and what kind of CPU % are shown next to them? Once we know this it may narrow down whats causing the slow speed.

its XP and 248 of ram
dont understand CPU. the system idle is at the very bottom. there doesn't seem to be any percentages shown only mem usage in K.
At the very top appart from system, I have AOLlacsd.exe at 1,572K then explorer.exe at 12,192K Does this help?

[dx100uk]

download and run Ccleaner
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

dx

[Bobinovich]

its XP and 248 of ram

OK, if you've run Malwarebytes and it's not found & removed anything nasty, and your system is still slow, then, seeing you're only running 256Mb (of which only 248Mb is useable), the easiest and cheapest way to increase performance (other than maybe weeding out unnecessary programs running in the background) would be to add another 256Mb (min) of RAM - it's only likely to cost £10 - £15 (or even cheaper on Ebay) and you *WILL* notice a big difference.

If you want to find out the type of memory on your laptop (or desktop foranyone else reading) then you can use the Crucial scanner tool - just visit http://www.crucial.com/uk/ and click the Scan My System button and Download The Scanner - once run it will tell you the type of memory in your laptop and will offer you upgrade options. Although you can use these, someone here will almost certainly find you a cheaper deal if you post the memory type it recommends. Alternatively call one of your local IT companies, any of which should give you a fair deal and install it for you too!