What would make this laptop work better?

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mechanicx

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One of the laptops I use is a VAIO I bought new about '04. It's never really gave me any trouble (I think they were made better back then), but the past year or two it has been running slow.

I've tried in the past to clear temporary internet files and cookies and defrag but that didn't seem to help. A little while back I did a complete Windows reload. The computer seemed to run fast right after the reload with the original software. Then with the PC being so old Windows update did about 130 software updates and it ran slow. I dont know if it is the updated software or IE browers etc doesn't work good with this older platform, or is too resource hungry and the PC needs more memory or what would fix it.

Restaring Internet Explorer or/and restarting the PC seems to help at east temporarily but I shouldn't have to do that.

When it's running slow, typically IE just sits and hangs up for extended time and the hard drive seems to continuously run. Like I said, restarting IE or the PC will seem to fix it at least temporarily.

It's running XP on 1.73Ghz 504 MM RAM. I know that's puny by today's standards, but it ran plenty fast at least without all the latest MS updates and what would explain it speeding up after restarting IE and the PC?
 
If you're set on keeping that computer, you should really have more than 512(?) MB of RAM.

I'm on my Dell from 2004 now, with a 2.66 Ghz P4 and 1.5GB RAM and it's just fine.
 
Do you mean 512mb ram? If so start there. Programs today, browsers, the web, etc. you need 1.5-2gb ram. That should make a HUGE difference. eBay has tons of cheap used ram.
 
My vintage 2006 Dell desktop with a P4 and 1 gig of RAM is starting to show the same symptoms. On the Internet every page has ads, and they are memory eaters. After a reboot and loading IE8 I am usually under 500mb free, according to Norton System Doctor. I like my desktop but my new modern laptop with 4 gb and Windows 8 is so much faster, and it has a cheap AMD processor.
 
It has an Intel Pentium M centrino processor. I agree the 504MG of RAM (I say 504 instead of 512 because that's what system information says) is the most likely place to start with upgrading. But what I don't get is it runs acceptably fast for awhile after a restart but eventually internet explorer starts running slow, usually when the PC is awaken from overnight for example. Seems like if it was really the RAM it would run slow anytime I'm using it.

It's running IE8 as well, btw.
 
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It could be but I never hear a fan runing or notice heat. What it does is IE8 just hangs there sometimes (not responding) when trying to navigate and the hard drive keeps running. It acts just like maybe not enough memory but it doesn't do it after a recent restart.
 
I have a friend who swears that computers have a secret built-in clock that begins to make them slow to the point of not working after a bunch of years so you're forced to buy a new one.

Don't know about that, but using IE is a huge drag on any PC. Use Chrome and see if it helps. And less than 1 Gig of memory is basically obsolete at this point.
 
I do think there is an element to MS obsoleting older platforms with their newer software updates. Eventually they will stop supporting XP all together.

I think I definitely need more RAM but IE8 might be part of the problem too. I did have Firefox browser but didn't use it much. Maybe should look into trying Chrome.
 
I grabbed my Father-In-Law's Dell Laptop that I'm running right now about a year ago.
He was going to trash it.

It had 512 of ram, I went ahead an plugged 2 - 1 gig sticks in it. It went from crazy slow to tolerable.
I also installed CCleaner, and File Hippo.
Another thing is to go out to the Manufacturers website and check to see if you have the latest Drivers for your hardware. My laptop had a newer version for my Motherboard, it really sped things up also.

About 6 months ago I got Bored of it and decided to reload the factory image.
After spending a full day downloading SP1, SP2, SP3 and the hundreds of updates, and also deleting all the garbage that Dell put in the Factory image that will never be used.

Finally, my laptop was doing what I wanted to do and it is still doing it pretty fast.

The first and easiest thing to do is to go out and get MORE RAM! Then go out to File Hippo and install CCleaner. I also recommend installing File Hippo's automatic updates it will tell you what programs you need to update.

CCleaner will help you delete any junk software that you never use.

Last, Learn to use FireFox or Google Chrome as your browser.
Internet Exploder is always a system hog and kind of a disappointment on older slower machines.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I do think there is an element to MS obsoleting older platforms with their newer software updates. Eventually they will stop supporting XP all together.

I think I definitely need more RAM but IE8 might be part of the problem too. I did have Firefox browser but didn't use it much. Maybe should look into trying Chrome.


IE8 is pretty troublesome and many websites are not highly compatible with it. It really has a poor and difficult to use development tools vs Chrome and Firefox.
 
The reason it slows down progressively after a reboot is that the computer compensates for lack of ram by using the hard drive. Reading and writing to the the hard drive is slow and the more it does it, the worse it gets. Look up your computer and spend a few bucks to max out the ram.

Using chrome as your browser also helps. Unfortunately, a 9 year old hardware set up won't be able to run today's software well. Yesteryear's software will work, but won't protect you while you browse. In short, sooner or later you'll have to buy a computer that has more power than modern phones.
 
Go to the Crucial website and download and run their memory scan. It will tell you how your memory is configured and how much it can hold. PM me and maybe I can throw some memory at you very cheap.

Windows XP can use up to about 3.3 Gbytes.
 
mechanic,

Just passing through ......Since your laptop is a little dated try Google Chrome and see what happens. Allot of times the internet is so busy that slows down computers too as far as down loading info over the net.

Durango
 
I have been through this with clients over the last couple years. Lots of happy lappys have started to show their age. Single core CPUs, tabbed browsers, and increased graphics usage on sites just hammer older vintage (pre 2006) systems. Core2 CPUs can hold on, but the older single core Celerons and P4s are slugs at this point.

Just fired up my old HP Turion lappy. MSN, and two more tabs open, 225mb mem usage(just for IE), 80-90% CPU usage. Conversely my 3770K, with the same pages/tabs.....1-2% CPU usage.

If you can find memory cheap, and you have the slots, grab some memory to give yourself ~ a gig. A machine with ~500 meg of memory will hit the pagefile sometime, maybe fairly often.

Go into Task Manager and see what is happening. You will quickly see what is slowing you down.

Ubuntu/Linux works great on older systems.
 
I have a newer HP (it's been troublesome compared to the old VAIO)that's dual core runs Vista and is a little faster. I restarted the VAIO before I posted this thread and it's so far has been running as fast as the newer HP does.

The VAIO should have a memory upgrade I agree. The old VAIO just seems built better than the newer ones is why I keep using it.
 
use Kingston or Crucial's site to find the max memory for it and then max it out. It will make a HUGE difference.
 
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