my computer is really slow

my computer is really really slow at start up and i just had it rebooted the guy said it practically brand new. can any body help me

 

What are the specs?

What CPU?
What HDD?
how much RAM?

What's the model of the notebook?

What OS do you have installed?

Please answer a few of those^.

 

specs of the system as well as a list of programs that start up with Windows (which have a tendency of slowing booting like mad) would be good.

 

where and how would i be able to find all that info

 

XP or sooner-
start -> run -> dxdiag

Vista or 7-

Ctrl+Alt+Delete -> task manager -> file -> run -> dxdiag



choose "Yes" from the box that pops up. will give you all hardware information.

 

model: pavilion dv4000
bios: ver1.00PARTTBLX
Processor: Intel (R) penteim (R) M processor 1.60GHZ
Memory: 502MB RAM

 

Who's "the guy" and how much did you pay for it?

Because he lied. This computer is at least 5 years old.

 

is there any thing i can do about making it start faster

 

get a SSD.

 

What is ssd in pretty new to this

 

You can put 1gb or 2gb ram in there and a faster HDD (7200rpm). It should be much faster.

But the cost of the upgrade would probably be more than the whole notebook is worth.

 

lol, a SSD costs way too much

It's a solid state drive. Forget about it, you're better off with a 7200rpm HDD.

 

With a computer that is 5 years old, you might have to watch out for Hard drive compatibility. Currently notebooks and desktops use SATAII drives, although yours probably uses SATA you might want to check on which type your computer uses.

 

wow.. really? Just push the "Windows key"+"r" to bring up a run box.

 

Sata 1 and 2 are interchangeable. You can put a sata 2 drive in a sata 1 system and a sta1 drive in a sata 2 system. I would be more concerned about it having IDE.




As for the laptop...
Find out how much memory it can handle, and put that in. Most any current or relatively new WD or Seagate drive that fits will also help.

If you want more, start saving for something newer, however just upping the ram significantly will do wonders.

 

I know even a better shortcut that you should use, XGX2007. Try Alt+F4.

 

I think it's more likely his laptop uses a standard PATA connection and not SATA.

The laptop is fairly old indeed, but I have a comparable laptop (3 and a half years old) with Celeron M 1.6 Ghz.
I overclocked the cpu to 2.1Ghz via Pin mod, upgraded RAM to 2 GB and replaced the hdd with a higher capacity one.

It's fairly decent hardware wise and I'm running XP SP3 on it superbly (although, I will probably put Win 7 at some point on it).

What I would recommend to you is to clean-install XP (that has slipstreamed SP2 and SP3), and use the OEM key on the back of the laptop (if it has one) to activate the edition of XP it was meant for.

Consider upgrading the RAM as well to it's maximum (I think going up to 1 or 2 GB is possible).
The HDD ... perhaps a high density platter 5400rpm one or a 7200rpm one ... although if you decide to buy the hdd, then clean install XP on that (well, you'll essentially HAVE to).

 

For the cost of a new HDD and RAM, couldn't he probably pick up something faster than a 1.6 Celery w/512 RAM anyway? Craigslist or Ebay...

 

I don't think he should bother upgrading that machine. How much did that guy sell you it for? You probably should sell it for $100-150. and just get a cheap $350 new laptop. I got a sweet deal on 2 Dell Inspiron 1545 with pentium dual core, 3gb ram, and 250gb HDD for only $350 with shipping and tax included. Runs a Windows Vista though but who cares lol.

 

Like everyone has said , this laptop is 5 years old and finding parts to upgrade it would cost as much as buying a new laptop.. even $400 new laptop would beat this.

 

I agree. One of the new Acer Timelines would be well suited.

 

or Hp G60 or G70 series but i would spend at least $1K to get a proper notebook.

 

Odds are if he could afford brand new he woudl have done so already instead of buying used.

A P4m with 1-4gigs of ram will still make for a decent laptop for doing most basic computing. People get by just fine on netbooks.

 

Yes. So why doesn't he just buy a netbook?

 

you dont seem too tech savy... if you can, do a clean install or pay a friend like $20 to do it for you. (assuming he doesnt mind ripping you off (or i would do it for like $5))

 

At this point, and if it's possible for you, yeah, getting a new laptop might be a better idea.
Older components are getting tough to come by and their prices have a tendency of being high as a result.

 

prices for old laptop parts are especially high... desktop not so...

 

upgrading the memory to 1gb would see a big performance difference and qwould make the computer good for pretty much any basic uses so if the OP can find used memory modules on ebay or something for cheap it could be a good upgrade but buying new DDR memory is expensive and not really worth it.

the desktop im using right now has a 3ghx pentium 4 and 1.5gb DDR memory and for basic uses such as going on the internet and doing school work, it seems just as fast as the notebook in my sig although it has had a clean install of windows.

 

Why the hell is everyone advising RAM upgrades and SSDs (in a 5+ yo computer??) when the user has clearly been conned?

Don't upgrade the computer. Get a hold of the guy who sold it to you and get your money back.

 

oh yeah i forgot the guy said he was told it was like new how much did you pay becasue unless you got it really cheap you were conned and should get your money back right away

 

I have a feeling the TC won't share. When I told him way back on the first page that he'd been lied to and asked how much he paid, he quoted the post and asked how to upgrade the computer

I suppose that either there's circumstances we don't know about, or Stockholm Syndrome is at work. At any rate, there's nothing that we can do to help him.