laptop being slow

[nobblebonce]

as title

if i take it to be looked at, will i lose all my pictures/music/settings etc if they have to re boot it etc

 

[ViolentJ]

Do not waste your money having it looked at. They won't do anything you couldn't do yourself.

Scan for viruses with a decent checker.
Scan for spyware and malware.
Uninstall stuff you don't use.
Check your startup items and remove stuff you don't use or need.
Check your registry structure.
Defrag.
Remove excess icons from the desktop and bar.

CCleaner is a good place to start http://www.ccleaner.com/

What Antivirus and spyware software are you using? If you use any resource heavy security centres like Norton or McAfee then look at lightweight alternatives.

If you have the relevant CD's then a fresh install is a guaranteed way to speed things up as all the crap that got installed over the months/years won't be there anymore.

 

[ViolentJ]

As well as CCleaner you could try Tuneup Utilites 2007. They have a free trial on their site. It makes sorting your startup easy as it explains what most entries are for.

http://www.tune-up.com/

 

[nobblebonce]

im just running mcafee at the mo - ill check those links you gave me

thanks

will those site clear any virus etc

 

[ViolentJ]

Neither of those are virus checkers, however AVG is:

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download-free-anti-virus/us/frt/0

Download the free version.

 

[nobblebonce]

will that then clear my laptop

 

[ViolentJ]

Not sure what you're asking.

CCleaner and Tune-up utilities will remove a lot of crap and fix broken stuff.
AVG is a free antivirus program that's lighter weight than McAfee and arguably better at detecting viruses.

 

[nobblebonce]

downloaded that avg it detected 1 virus which is cleared, but its still being slow.

think i need to remive some icons etc

 

[ViolentJ]

It's more than likely the amount of background crap you have running. Going through what is loading on startup and then rebooting should help that. Like I say, tune-up utilities is good for that.

 

[nobblebonce]

im downloading the free version ill give it a go

cheers mate

as you can tell im not tec minded lol

 

[JoelDee]

As VJ has said dont take it anywhere ou'll get ripped off it will just need all the shite taking off it etc

 

[Final Maxim]

uninstall all the crap you dont use
run crapcleaner
run adaware
avg scan
stop everything you dont need booting at startup
run a defrag

 

[AKFM]

if all that dont work, move everything that u want to keep on hard drive and re-format the laptop. always works for me

 

[Ryan]

sorry to hi-jack the thread, but felt it was better than starting a new one. what cds do you need to do a fresh xp install.

Just got a new laptop and giving the old dear my old pc