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Author Speeding up a laptop?
nathy_87
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Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 18:46   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Guys i need your help.

My gf has got a Fujitsu Siemens laptop (Amilo Li L2727) with Vista Basic on the current spec is:

1.00gb Ram
1.73 Ghz
32-bit Operating System.

I've went into Programms & Features and deleted what i thought she didnt need. Now only a few programs remain which are:

. Adobe Flash Player 9 Active X
. Adobe Reader 8.1.2
. AVG 8.5
. Intel (R) Graphocs Media Accelrator Driver
. Launch Manager V1.4.9
. Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistribrutable
. MSXL 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
. Orange Mobile Partner
. Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
. Synaptics Pointing Device Driver
. System Diagnostics
. The Sims Deluxe Edition
. Windows Live Essentials
. Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner
. Windows Live Sign In Assistant
. Windows Live Upload Tool.


Not sure if i need to get rid any of that? Any help much appreciated.

Thank you.
Simon
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Registered: 24th Apr 03
Location: Oxfordshire
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 18:48   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

The sims
Sam
Moderator
Premium Member


Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 19:04   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

If she doesn't use MSN Messenger remove all the Windows Live stuff. If she doesn't use Orange broadband/mobile broadband remove the Orange Mobile Partner thing.
deano87
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Registered: 21st Oct 06
Location: Bedfordshire Drives: Ford Fiesta
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 19:12   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Check what is running in the background too.

Some more ram wouldn't go a miss which is quite cheap now.

http://www.offtek.co.uk I think is the URL - they have a nice ram finder thing I think.

It may be that the HDD is getting old and starting to fail though - so listen out for any horrid noises. Also, try a Disk Defrag and Cleanup
Kurt
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Registered: 23rd Oct 05
Location: Hi
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 19:39   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

i added more ram to my laptop.. i added too much though and xp can only see 3gb of the 4

i used this though:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx
Sam
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Registered: 24th Dec 99
Location: West Midlands
User status: Offline
15th Jun 09 at 20:29   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Offtek is a great company for RAM, I've used them a few times recently and they sell low density memory (see http://reviews.ebay.com/Myth-Low-Density-vs-High-Density-memory-modules_W0QQugidZ10000000001236178 for more info).
nathy_87
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Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 08:33   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Thanks lads, will have a look into them as soon as i get a little time.

Sam- The orange broadband is her mobile internet so we cant get rid of that, but she occasionally plays the sims so we cant get rid of that but it's not using much space up tbf.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 12:13   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

install XP

nah i recommend diskeeper - as its a top quality product. Its not free... but its worth every penny...

I suppose if ur desperate you could get it for free
ENB
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Registered: 24th Apr 06
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 12:16   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

quote:
Originally posted by Kurt
i added more ram to my laptop.. i added too much though and xp can only see 3gb of the 4

i used this though:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx


No, that's because it's 32bit.
John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 12:16   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

None of the above things would speed anything up that much unless they have loads of stuff starting at windows boot.

Start, run, msconfig, startup tab, tell us whats ticked in there.
Kurt
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Registered: 23rd Oct 05
Location: Hi
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 12:25   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

quote:
Originally posted by ENB
quote:
Originally posted by Kurt
i added more ram to my laptop.. i added too much though and xp can only see 3gb of the 4

i used this though:

http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx


No, that's because it's 32bit.


[andy] yeah i know [/andy]
nathy_87
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Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 16:15   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

John - Everything:

Windows Defender
Intel (R) Common User Interface (x3)
HD Audio Control Panel
Wistron Hotkey App
Synaptics Point Device Driver
Adobe Acrobat
Ctrl Vol
Launch App
W Button
NPC Tray
Google EULA Launcher
AVG Internet Secruity
Windows
NB Key Scan
Microsoft Windows Operating System
recinfo.exe
Windows Live Messenger.

Thanks John


John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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16th Jun 09 at 16:24   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Windows Defender - Windows built in ant malware, will slow things down but probably best to leave on.
Intel (R) Common User Interface (x3) - To do with chipset drivers, probably best to leave on.
HD Audio Control Panel - This can be turned off unless you use it for anything.
Wistron Hotkey App - Something to do with acer hot keys, if you don't use any of them turn it off.
Synaptics Point Device Driver - Touchpad driver, leave on.
Adobe Acrobat - Turn this off, acrobat will still work fine.
Ctrl Vol - I'm not sure what this is, turn it off and see if you miss it.
Launch App - As above
W Button - An acer program again, turn it off and see if you miss it.
NPC Tray - Something do to with a firewall/norton internet security, i'd turn it off and see if it breaks anything.
Google EULA Launcher - turn it off
AVG Internet Secruity - this will be slowing things down a lot but if you want the security of having it on there's not much you can do.
Windows
NB Key Scan - This is some sort of one touch backup, if you never use that turn it off.
Microsoft Windows Operating System
recinfo.exe - this looks like it may be malware, turn it off
Windows Live Messenger.
nathy_87
Member

Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
16th Jun 09 at 16:50   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Ok John ive done what you've said i'll see if makes any difference.

thank you.
James_DT
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Registered: 9th Apr 04
Location: Cambridgeshire
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16th Jun 09 at 17:32   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Watch out for disabling LaunchApp and WButton.
One of them applies to the wireless, and the wireless won't turn on if the software isn't running (yes, it really is that retarded).
nathy_87
Member

Registered: 14th Aug 08
Location: West Mids. Drives: Škoda Fabia VRS 5J
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:03   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Ok thanks James, ive done the above and it all seems ok (so far). Just running the defrag now and set it on a schedule so finbgers crossed seems a bit quicker now.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:06   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

diskeeper, download the trial at least. Our company uses it on our servers to keep them in tip top condition... its superb software and will defrag in the background when the computer is idle.

Turning off certain programs on bootup will help your bootup time but will do little to actually speed up your laptop while your using it.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:06   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

also get yourself ccleaner and run that... will clean up all the crap on your laptop.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:07   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

quote:
Originally posted by 5dr corsa-3dr_polo
Ok thanks James, ive done the above and it all seems ok (so far). Just running the defrag now and set it on a schedule so finbgers crossed seems a bit quicker now.


windows defrag is wank, diskeeper
John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:11   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

quote:
Originally posted by moka
diskeeper, download the trial at least. Our company uses it on our servers to keep them in tip top condition... its superb software and will defrag in the background when the computer is idle.

Turning off certain programs on bootup will help your bootup time but will do little to actually speed up your laptop while your using it.


This is mostly incorrect.

I'm doubtful of the benefit of running that all the time instead of just defragging every once in a while, it's something else running in the background with not much more ram to start with.

Who told you that turning stuff off doesn't speed the computer up

It stops unneeded stuff running and using RAM, speeding up the computer.

It may also boot faster but this is a bonus.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:33   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

You probably just saved him 10 seconds off his boot time and freed up 5-10% resources so in that respect it will speed up his pc. But id be suprised if he notices how fast his pc is again. He will probably notice its faster to boot up.

He wasnt booting up with too much anyway.. true its more than needed but he has probably only added 3-4 to that list since buying the laptop from the shop.

Also simply unticking the spyware does not always get rid of it - i would advise downloading yourself some freeware spyware application.

Running diskeeper in the background will take little resources and again only when the pc is 'idle'.

Give diskeeper a try.

My guess is that the reason his laptop is so slow is because overtime his files and applications have become fragmented. Windows defrag will help with this but the quality of the defrag is genrally poor. Diskeeper will and will defrag in realtime never letting your laptop get to that state again.

[Edited on 17-06-2009 by moka]
John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
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17th Jun 09 at 11:37   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

He's already said it seems a bit quicker, which was the goal.

He's running vista with 1gb of ram which is the main problem, a defrag might make some difference but having diskeeper running all the time will have no benefit over an occasional windows defrag because it's not a fragmented hard drive thats causing the problem.
moka
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Registered: 11th Mar 06
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 11:45   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

upgrading from 1gb to 2gb is a simple job matey, if you want to go down this route and are not sure let us know and ill find out what your laptop needs and give you a breif rundown on what you need to do.

quote:
Originally posted by John
He's already said it seems a bit quicker, which was the goal.

He's running vista with 1gb of ram which is the main problem, a defrag might make some difference but having diskeeper running all the time will have no benefit over an occasional windows defrag because it's not a fragmented hard drive thats causing the problem.


yes i agree with 1gb not being enough and what you advised with the resources. But i do not agree with the hard drive not being fragmented - tbh without being there and seeing it or getting more info how can i argue this. All im saying is give diskeeper a try is much more than just a 'defragger'.
pow
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Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 12:33   View Garage View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

Get Vista Basic off there and put XP on it,.
ssj_kakarot
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Registered: 29th Apr 03
Location: hartlepool
User status: Offline
17th Jun 09 at 13:11   View User's Profile U2U Member Reply With Quote

wow lots of advice but only a few people have said the easiest best soloution

format -> install xp

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