Vista Laptop vs XP Desktop

Hi everyone.
I have a general question here....
My HP desktop has XP.
I bought a new Dell XPS M1330 with vista one year ago.
I don't use the laptop much, but when I do and I try to open MS Word, Paint Shop, or even a web browser, it takes so much longer than my desktop.
Is this the norm, or do I need to spend some time trying to "tweak" it?

 

Vista + tweaking = generally useless (except for example disabling unused startup programmes like google updater, adobe quickstart, this stuff)

Your Vista laptop will optimize over time - it may also have a fragmented HDD (in terms of files)

Then - generally desktops will beat laptops...
(i.e. need specs)

 

Thank you for the quick reply.
Before I got the Dell Laptop, I was using an HP DV4030 with XP and it worked almost the same as the desktop.
I've read things here and there about Vista being slower, but I'm not a big computer guru.

 

How long does it take? I'm using Vista on a Thinkpad and all of those programs open in under 1-2 seconds. What is the power scheme on the laptop? Try setting it to maximum performance and see if it helps.

 

Vista will be slower at the beginning - but Vista learns, and then prefetches your most used applications at startup so they load wuicker than on XP.

Leaving your laptop on overnight may also be benefitial if you have used it about a month.

 

What kind of processor, and how much RAM, does the laptop have?

Vista generally works better in 2+GB RAM with a decent processor. It's not designed for econolaptops.

 

I just tried opening Word and it took about 10 seconds to open.
The processor is Intel Core duo T5450 @ 1.67 GHz
It has 1 gig of ram.
Windows experience index rates it at 3.4.
Also, it's like everytime I turn around, the little blue disc is spinning and it's doing something.

 

let the laptop do what it wants - it needs to learn and will optimize itself.

Also, do you open word immediately after startup or after a few seconds?

 

I've tried it immediately, a minute, ten minutes.....All the same.
Also, after I open it and then close it, if I want to reopen it, it still takes the same amount of time.
I don't want to even get started on running paintshop pro with the Dell. It's PAINFUL!

 

defragment your HDD - then use it - Vista has to be used.

 

Desktop hard drives are much faster than laptop ones.

Also, sounds like fragmentation.

 

You cannot expect a Volkswagen Beetle to run like a Ferrari - system speed is based on available resources as much as the OS involved. There's only so much you're going to get out of a 32 bit system anyway, and less with only 1gb of RAM. Yet everyone wants to blame Vista rather than resources.

System manufacturers sell systems at stores with base configurations for the lowest price - that means what you get will work, but don't expect it to be a Thoroughbred. Most store-bought systems (especially with crap like Norton) have so much running in the background that it's hard to run anything and expect any real speed.

However, you CAN get more speed out of your system if it has less RAM than needed by using a RAM Reclamation utility, using a good defrag program, and getting rid of unnecessary programs.

I used a RAM utility for years on my old desktop before I maxed out the RAM on it. When you start a program/process, a certain amount of RAM is allocated for it. When it stops , the system doesn't return the same amount of RAM back to it for reuse - it always gives back less. Over time if you don't restart, available RAM levels get to critical, and your system begins to use your HD as a virtual RAM device. If it's fragmented to begin with, it'll really slow things down or even freeze.

2 key programs to help speed up your system if you've got less RAM than you need - Memory Boost and Diskeeper. Diskeeper is a defrag program that most of us in the IT industry use. It's not cheap, but it works, and performs defrag ops that most utilities can't do, like defragging your paging/index file.

Memory Boost lets you monitor your available RAM in real-time, and when it gets low it will allow you to reclaim part or all of the RAM that was used by the system previously but not returned. I run most of Adobe's major programs, and for years had to deal with only 1/2gb of RAM since it was so expensive (I have RDRAM in my old desktop). To run concurrent programs, I had to have as much RAM available as possible - Memory Boost allowed me to do that.

Both programs have full trial versions, so you can give them a shot to see if it helps or not. The current version of Diskeeper runs in the background as a process - it uses so little resources you don't even know it's running.

For useless programs, go to PCDecrapifier.com - it'll get rid of any useless junk on your system. It will let you select what to get rid of so be careful in choosing.

 

What are the specs on the desktop?

 

The processor is an ultra economy processor. 1GB of RAM is not optimal for Vista. You likely have a slow hard drive also.