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View Full Version : PC is super slow- any advise, or failing that good laptop deals.



wensleydale
03-02-2012, 08:19 PM
My laptop is getting to the point of slowness which makes me think a new one may be in order.

I've defragged the drive and tried to take of programs I dont use, but it still appears to be on it's last legs- any advise for final things to try before I give into the "simple" option of buying a new one.

If the above fails to work, anyone got any good laptop deals available at the moment?

mattydinx
03-02-2012, 08:29 PM
How old is your computer and what Spec is it? - It could just be, as you say, on it's last legs.

• Try running "Disk Cleanup" from Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools
• Run "CCleaner" (available at FileHippo.com) to clean out any old unused temporary files that "Disk Cleanup" misses
• Check your computer for Spyware/Adware/Malware using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware which could be sitting dormant in the background using up resources.

Bring up the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc. Under "performance" look under "physical memory" See what your Total memory is compared to the graph above it.

You could be running things in the background (Phone software, gaming applications, Anti-Virus, etc) which you no longer use which could be removed.

wensleydale
03-02-2012, 08:40 PM
It's one of these-

Acer Aspire 5920 / Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66GHz / 2GB / 160GB / DVD-SM / 15.4 inch / Vista Home Premium / Laptop / Notebook (LX.AKV0X.146)

Pretty old now- 3/4 years??

Might just be best to bite the bullet and buy a new one.

mattydinx
03-02-2012, 08:51 PM
There might be some life in the old girl yet, processor isn't the fastest but it's still got two physical cores so that's something.

You could try completely backing up your data and doing a factory restore, taking it back to when you first got it.

Obviously there's the pain of getting everything re-installed that you need but so long as you only re-install precisely that...it should be a little quicker.

Another (cheaper) option, rather than replacing the whole laptop is to upgrade the RAM. Its not hard to do and would set you back around £45 to upgrade to 4GB.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=Aspire%205920&Cat=RAM

You could also consider upgrading your hard drive, again, not hard to do!
Solid State Hard Drives are lightning quick and have plummeted in price lately (less than £1/gigabyte) you could get a 120GB SSD which would majorly speed up your system (boot times of less than 20 seconds!)

Sapphire Disco
03-02-2012, 10:18 PM
You could also consider upgrading your hard drive, again, not hard to do!
Solid State Hard Drives are lightning quick and have plummeted in price lately (less than £1/gigabyte) you could get a 120GB SSD which would majorly speed up your system (boot times of less than 20 seconds!)

Any idea how I can find out what solid state my laptop will take ?

Ecstatic Events
04-02-2012, 08:46 AM
Advanced System Care 5 is available as a free download.

http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

I have it on all my machines. Works a treat!

wensleydale
04-02-2012, 08:55 AM
Thanks guys.
Have tried the suggestions and things are still not much better.

Have been looking at these-
http://www.ebuyer.com/288813-lenovo-ideapad-b570-laptop-m58fxuk
Any thoughts?

mattydinx
04-02-2012, 10:16 AM
Thanks guys.
Have tried the suggestions and things are still not much better.

Have been looking at these-
http://www.ebuyer.com/288813-lenovo-ideapad-b570-laptop-m58fxuk
Any thoughts?

It'll certainly be a hell of a lot quicker than your C2D!

The 2nd Gen 'Core' processors from Intel are fantastic chips, I'm running an i5 2500k in my desktop PC and it ploughs through anything I throw at it.

We really rate the Lenovo stuff at work although we normally spec the ThinkPad range rather than the IdeaPad (but chances are you don't need the additional features the ThinkPad range offer)

Looks like a good deal to me!

wensleydale
04-02-2012, 10:25 AM
It'll certainly be a hell of a lot quicker than your C2D!

The 2nd Gen 'Core' processors from Intel are fantastic chips, I'm running an i5 2500k in my desktop PC and it ploughs through anything I throw at it.

We really rate the Lenovo stuff at work although we normally spec the ThinkPad range rather than the IdeaPad (but chances are you don't need the additional features the ThinkPad range offer)

Looks like a good deal to me!

Thanks Matty.

DazzyD
04-02-2012, 11:06 AM
I've sort of become the PC guru at work after I'd removed a virus from a colleagues laptop - now everyone comes up to me with their problems!

I'd suggest following Matty's tips about looking for unwanted resource-hogging software running in the background be it valid programs or malware. However, a girl at work came to me with the same problem. Her laptop had become very slow and was taking literally hours to perform simple tasks. Turned out it was some sort of pre-warning that the HDD was about to give up the ghost (an option which I hadn't considered at first). Her HDD drive died completely about a week later. A new HDD and everything is running fine and dandy now!

mattydinx
04-02-2012, 11:50 AM
However, a girl at work came to me with the same problem. Her laptop had become very slow and was taking literally hours to perform simple tasks. Turned out it was some sort of pre-warning that the HDD was about to give up the ghost (an option which I hadn't considered at first). Her HDD drive died completely about a week later. A new HDD and everything is running fine and dandy now!

Easy way to check this is open the Windows Event Viewer
• If you're using Win vista or 7, simply click on the start button and type "Event Viewer"
• For windows XP click on Start, Select "Run" and in the dialogue box type "eventvwr"
• You need to navigate to the 'System' event log, this is under 'Windows Logs' in vista and 7.

You're looking for items relating to 'disk' under the source column. If there's only one or two they can usually be fixed, if there's 100's then it's not good news i'm afraid.

To perform a Disk Check open a command prompt
• In XP click Start > Run > CMD and press enter
• In Vista & 7 click start > type CMD > Right click on the cmd icon and select 'Run as administrator'

• at the command prompt type 'chkdsk' and press enter
If it informs you that there are problems, backup your data and repeat the 'chkdsk' process but enter the command 'chkdsk /f /r' at the command prompt. This will attempt to fix and repair any bad sectors on your hard drive.

A computer restart may be needed to complete the check.

Megamix
05-02-2012, 12:57 AM
I would agree the best way to get the fastest PC is to rebuild - or buy a mac :blush:

Creature
05-02-2012, 01:53 AM
simple and exceedling cheep fix - install ubuntu 10.4 - you will be amazed at just how quick your pc actually is :)

the new version stay away from as big buggy at moment.

yourdj
05-02-2012, 02:23 AM
I would agree the best way to get the fastest PC is to rebuild - or buy a mac :blush:

i did not want to be a snob but I have had macs since the G4 and they are quite simply superb.
You can also use windows with mac using WMware fusion (as a program - which windows is).

i put my last one through loads of abuse (used it at least 9-10 hours a day) and although the
screen has broken following being hurled 2 meters it still works a treat.

People are scared of venturing to a different OS which is fine but its so much simpler trust me.
My girlfriend is a computer dummy and it took her a day to learn it, not even that. She loves her mac.

Get on Ebay and find a decent macbook. You will not look back.
The black 2.4 gig ones are the best priced and top spec for the cash IMO.

The pro's are the best and have the new processor in.

I now have 4 in the household :p

wensleydale
05-02-2012, 12:02 PM
Advanced System Care 5 is available as a free download.

http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.html

I have it on all my machines. Works a treat!

I tried this and whilst it found a fair few a few issues the PC now wont reboot.
It hangs and cycles on a dos screen saying "adding index file" and counting up.
Any ideas?

Totally Plucked
06-02-2012, 01:29 AM
simple and exceedling cheep fix - install ubuntu 10.4 - you will be amazed at just how quick your pc actually is :)

the new version stay away from as big buggy at moment.

I am correct in saying that Virtual DJ does not work on Ubuntu as it's a Linux OS ?

discomobiledj
06-02-2012, 05:47 AM
Vista is not helping. It's very resource hungry. An upgrade to Windows 7 would see a massive difference.

mattydinx
06-02-2012, 08:41 AM
You can also use windows with mac using WMware fusion (as a program - which windows is).

You don't even need VMware, Windows will install and run standalone on most macs with an Intel processor through Boot Camp.

DazzyD
06-02-2012, 09:12 AM
I am correct in saying that Virtual DJ does not work on Ubuntu as it's a Linux OS ?

That would be my thinking, also. I'm not great on Linux but software is OS-specific (although there may be different versions released for different OSs).

Totally Plucked
06-02-2012, 09:23 AM
That would be my thinking, also. I'm not great on Linux but software is OS-specific (although there may be different versions released for different OSs).

Have had a browse around the net and Virtual DJ is only compatible with Windows or Mac OS, however there are reports that it can be run on Ubuntu (Linux OS) under a programme called "Wine." Would like to know how stable it is on Wine though? :)

Daryll
06-02-2012, 12:40 PM
For info on WINE...
http://wiki.winehq.org/Debunking_Wine_Myths

For 99% of windose programs . there is a Linux alternative , usually free , however DJ software is very thin on the ground at the moment.
Free ware
http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/linux/DJ_MIXING/freeware/
and of course ultramixer.

http://www.ultramixer.com/

Daryll

wensleydale
06-02-2012, 08:59 PM
Any ideas on this folks.
Really struggling now.
There are dll files missing so i csnt get into windows apart from in safe mode, and then in safe mode I can't do anything when in.
Any ideas at all please?

Megamix
06-02-2012, 09:05 PM
My experience after buying several Acer netbooks would be to buy a new one - I've bought Samsung Netbooks (nice quality) and now 3 Laptops direct from Lenovo recently and am pleased with them too. I still have an Acer netbook to repair - I've had issues with most of them.

Totally Plucked
06-02-2012, 09:12 PM
Any ideas on this folks.
Really struggling now.
There are dll files missing so i csnt get into windows apart from in safe mode, and then in safe mode I can't do anything when in.
Any ideas at all please?

If you have dll files missing etc, it sounds like a corrupt registry, it's easier to reinstall windows to be honest :)

Ecstatic Events
08-02-2012, 11:18 AM
How bad do I feel recommending a program that has made the problem worse.

:(

digga
08-02-2012, 09:14 PM
My day job is a self employed PC tech, fixing this sort of thing all day long.
Mike, don't take this the wrong way, but Advanced System Care has got to be one of the worst programs going (2nd only to Norton of course).

May I suggest I do a remote session on the poorly laptop. I can then get rid of all the useless startup programs and services, and make it work faster.

This I can do via TeamViewer. PM your details and I can do it asap.

Pete