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#1 (permalink) |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 4
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Hi,
I was wondering if anyone could provide any suggestions as to do to speed up my laptop. I know XP is supposed to degrade after a while but this is just ridiculous. I use Windows XP SP3. My Sony laptop is VGN series 1.73GHZ, 795 MHZ, 2GB RAM (an upgrade) and Intel Pentium M. (OK so i know compared to the latest on the market my laptop is pretty crap) Also, I defrag my laptop every week using Diskeeper so that's not an issue but can anyone suggest anything else i can do to speed it up? It was never this slow before. Thanks in advance. |
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#2 (permalink) |
Been Here Since the Begin
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 2,345
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1. How old is this machine and how long has it been since it was reformatted and windows re-installed? Eventually, no matter how meticulous you are or how much you defragment, you need to do a reformat and re-installation of windows. Most people recommend it yearly or at least every 2 years. (Some people here probably do it more often than that.)
2. Are you sure that you don't have some type of virus or malware on your system? Have you tried HitmanPro or HouseCall to make sure? 3. Are you cleaning out your temporary files/folders and using something like CCleaner? 4. One little known secret for emptying temporary files is as follows: Click on Start, and then Run. Type %temp% (exactly as written. percent sign, temp, percent sign) Click ok or run What should show up is a list of all your current temporary files/folders. I do this weekly. I then delete everything that is usually over 3 days old. Another area for finding normally a lot of temporary files is C:\windows\temp. I usually try to clean out this folder weekly as well.
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#3 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Jan 2010
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1. the machine is very old, i'd say about 6yrs+ and windows was lastly installed about 2 months ago and it has never been reformated as i just bought a new harddrive.
i was actually considering reformatting today, but i have to transfer all my old files to my external HDD. 2. Never heard of those two programs, but i have a-squared pro, avira free and malwarebytes which all do weekly virus checks....is that sufficient? 3. yes, i also have emprun as a backup which does those two folders mentioned in 4. every 10 mins. i think reformatting is my only way really, i was trying to avoid it because im being lazy about copying my files and making backups but it looks like i have no choice haha. thanks very much, quick question, i'm a bit of a security freak, reformatting the drive with the intention of using it should be safe in terms of someone being able to recover my files? or do i not need to worry about this? thanks again! |
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#4 (permalink) | |||
Been Here Since the Begin
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 2,345
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#5 (permalink) |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Wales, UK
Posts: 1,174
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Personally I would :-
Clean junk files (CCleaner) Scan for malware (using more than one security app) Uninstall any unnecessary software Disable any unnecessary start ups (Codestuff Starter) Defragment Optimize registry (NTREGOPT) Defrag pagefile (Pagedefrag) If no improvement, format and reinstall. |
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#6 (permalink) | |
Full Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 65
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#7 (permalink) | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northeast US
Posts: 476
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#8 (permalink) |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northeast US
Posts: 476
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Oh boy. I would like to kill that myth right here and now. If updates and patches are performed as needed, the System is kept free of malware and properly maintained, you should experience no slow down. I'm using XP SP3 on an 8 year old machine and the OS performs better, faster today than it did when I first bought it.
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#9 (permalink) | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Wales, UK
Posts: 1,174
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Thanks,
I've found this approach works well for me on my own 6 year old XP install and similarly on other peoples machines I've been asked to help out with. Quote:
Of course it also depends on the amount of "customization", registry tweaking and trialling of software the system gets subjected to along the way ![]() From my own point of view, It would really hurt to have to re-install my XP system from scratch as it's evolved over the years with innumerable tweaks and customizations. I tend to rely on disk images now as insurance against the need to start over. Having said that, I've got a new Windows 7 system now so at some stage I may do a reinstall of the XP machine to test the theory. That is, once I'm sure that the migration is complete and I don't feel I might have a need to go back! |
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#10 (permalink) | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Northeast US
Posts: 476
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There are still a lot or people out there with XP and when one ends up on my door step with a "help me" sign attached to it, I make use of each one of the tools you mentioned in your previous post. I also use them on my own machine. I know Win 7 is just an eventuality for me personally. But this older machine has got quit a few more miles in it and does everything I need it to. Again, a well maintained, malware free XP machine should not slow down over time. If it does, then something is wrong. |
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