Better Performance

Hello all, (i hope this threat is in the right section),
But my little sister has been experiencing some problems with her laptop... every now and again it freezes! Cant even do 'Ctrl + Alt + Delete' to stop programs running...
so at the moment im uninstalling programs she doesnt use and generally tiding things up, but i was wondering if there was anything else i can do, shes running vista home premium, but her laptops pretty low spec (mum went out and got it for her! So its rubbish!) She only uses it to go online and chat on MSN, she does have the Sims 2 installed, but doesnt go on it all too often.
I must tell you something tho, im a complete beginner, so I wont be able to change things in the bios (is that what its called?) lol! Anyway, are there any tip or tricks?
Thanks!!!!

 

The lock-ups may be caused because of cooling problems. It could be the processor is reaching a high temperature, and simply causing the notebook to stop responding. It may be a good idea to download a temperature monitoring software, and just see what temperature the processor hovers around.

Does the problem happen randomly, or can you repeatably induce the lock-up?

 

What are the specs on this machine?

 

You may also want ot look in and make sure that there is no spyware on that computer. That can really drag down a computer. Kids tend get a bunch of crap on the computers when going on the internet.

 

Following up on Zee' suggestion, I suggest you take a look at the best free software ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=206289 ) thread out here and get some of those programs, particularly for the spyware / virus / adware and have a complete scan done. You could also get the temperature monitoring software like coretemp or realtemp or HWmonitor and check the temperatures. Further, if you may please, you could probably have a quick run through of the the vista tips n tweaks thread here ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532 ) and see if you could possibly do something, and that thread has step by step instructions on how to get things done . You could leave out the risky or advanced parts there, though Les has managed to put everything in such nice words, you wouldn't have to worry about being a beginner we all begin some where at some point, don't we? Good luck.

 

If I may add, you could possibly have a disk check [right click on C: > tools > error-checking] and defragmentation done Again follow up on some experts advice to use stuff like JkDefrag (very easy, just have to download it and run the JkDefrag.exe file, it defragments and optimizes) or as some one posted in my thread, you could do this also > http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=268699 > See post 49 by rive0108

 

What are the specs exactly?

Do a clean install if you have the Vista disc.
Upgrade to SP1 (if it's not already at SP1) either way.

Also, use Windows Defender's Software Explorer to clean out extraneous startup programs.

Get at least 1.5 gb of RAM installed, if possible. If you need to live with 1 gb, you may want to turn off Aero to save a little memory.

Also, go into Task Manager, processes tab, all users, click the CPU column to sort by CPU... and see what processes are eating up the CPU.

 

Thanks for your responses, I cant believe how helpful you people are, its much appreciated... The specs of her machine (i got these specks from the 'system properties' in my computer):
Processor: Intel(R) Celeron(R) M CPU 440 @ 1.86 GHz 1.87Ghz
RAM: 894MB
System Type: 32 Bit Operating System
and the windows experience index is a low 2.9!
At the moment im just defragmenting (which is mostlikely going to take a day and an age!
She has a gadget on her sidebar that monitors cpu & ram and at the moment 64% RAM is being used, so I'll do all the updates and have a good clear up on there and get it as low as possible.

As for overheating... last night she went on it, and had only been on for about 10 minutes and it locked up, before it had been on for a couple of hours. Shes always playing stupid online games, so perhaps thats what it is!
Shes got Norton 360 and religously scans and click the 'fix' button to do any necessary clearups. I'll turn areo off as she doesn't really benefit from it anyway!
Im sure this alone will help... is the windows defender any good at getting rid of spyware etc? If not i do know of this Lavasoft AdAware which is free and im sure thats quite good according to a mate of my dads! So i'll give that a wirl!

 

Also one last thing... to turn Aero off, is it just the 'enable transparancy' tick box? Or what do I have to do to turn this areo thing off?

 

Change the theme from Windows Aero to something else.
Control panel -> Display
or
Right click on desktop -> properties

Another Gig of ram wouldn't hurt either, but I dunno where to buy it in England. Shouldn't br more than £10-15

 

System specifications for the notebook are quite low end. With a heavy user with many windows and applications open, and not much RAM in the notebook, Vista could be locking up because of that.

As has been said already, it will be a good idea to get rid of any unnecessary software, scan for any spyware/adware and remove if need be, and perhaps consider a RAM upgrade. RAM is a very low cost upgrade, and it will do wonders for system speed.

 

Yeah I was just debating whether to upgrade her RAM, but i really have no idea, is it just as simple and taking the Old RAM out and replacing it with the new, and it just automatically knows I've done this, or do do i have to go and change settings, because I really do have no idea!

As a quick update... She had a windows update (SP1) so lets see if that helps improve matters!

 

^ You mightn't even need to do that if there's a free slot!
Just pop it in, it's one of the few things you can do w/out voiding your warranty - it's that easy!
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
That'll tell you what type you need. 2gig or more is recommended for smooth vista

 

Upgrading RAM is easy. Most notebooks will have a panel on the underside which will grant access to the RAM modules. There are normally two slots. In your notebook, its likely both slots have a RAM module in them. If this is the case, you will need to remove at least one module to upgrade. Ebuyer.com have a good selection of RAM, at good prices. Use the Crucial link posted by purplegreendave, to find out which RAM your notebook uses.

 

Upgrading the RAM on that machine will probably be your biggest investment. Uninstalling programs and tweaking settings is really only a stop gap measure. The times the machine locks up is probably when the machine runs low on free memory and is doing some intense page file swapping.

+1 for adding another Gig of Memory. That will solve a boatload of performance issues.