why is my laptop running so slow?

To speed up your computer and free up space and memory for free:

Go to the Start Menu> Run

Type in "appwiz.cpl"

Uninstall whatever you don't need.

Next, go to Start> Run and type in "msconfig".

Go to the Startup Tab and uncheck everything you don't want to startup. If you want, you can uncheck everything, and your anti-virus will still restart itself when you log on.

Now go to My Computer> Hard Drive> Documents and Settings> [USER NAME]> Local Settings> and delete everything inside the Temp Folder. (This is a hidden folder so you will need to have "show hidden files and folders" checked in Folder Options) All the files in this folder are just temporary files that your Internet stored for certain websites.

Next, you should install CCleaner; it will get rid of alot of temporary files on your computer. It also has a registry repair system, which is easily the best free one available on the Internet:

http://www.ccleaner.com/download

Another option is to try defragmenting your computer.

Go to the Start Menu and go to All Programs

Go to Accessories and System Tools.

Choose Disk Defragmenter and when it loads click defragment.

Next, go to Device Manger (Start> RightClick My Computer> Properties> Hardware Tab> Device Manager) and expand all listings. Now rightclick and update all drivers.

Another thing I would say is to compress your files if you already haven't.

Open My Computer and right click on your hard drive

Check the Compress Drive button and let it do its thing.

Finally, make sure your Hard Drive doesn't have any bad sectors. Go to My Computer> Right Click Hard Drive> Properties> Tools Tab> Check Now> Check both boxes and Start. It will ask you to reboot, so reboot. This will clear out any bad sectors on your Hard Drive.

These are short-term solutions however. The easiest way is to just upgrade the RAM on your system, but at least the ways above are free. And honestly, as long as you have at least 15% free space on you hard drive, it won't slow your computer down, just the programs taking the space will. If you are interested in making your computer faster, I wouldn't recommend installing Windows security updates, as these will pill up on your computer. They make the computer safer and more stable, but not faster.

Good Luck =]

There are lots of problems which make your pc slow.

Microsoft Registry Problems = Slow Computer!

Spyware/Adware

RAM

De-Fragmenting

Etc.

Below can help you speed up your pc:

I. De-Fragmenting

1. Right click of C Disk.

2. Click properties.

3. Click tools tab.

4. Click "Defragment now".

5. Click Defragment.

II. You can search which process full use you cpu, and end the process.

Under steps:

1. Right click on the TaskBar.

2. Click the Task Manager.

3. Click the processes tab.

4. Double click the CPU.

5. Find if the "System Idle Process" is max.

6. If not right click and click end process.

III. Manage your startups. Your excess CPU usage is due to too many programs running in the background. You can cut these to barebones by alter your msconfig. Here is how:

1. Open your Start menu.

2. Click Run

3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"

4. In the "system configuration utility". Click either "service" or "startup" tab

5. Uncheck all programs that you are no longer using.

6. Click "OK"

Use the tool: http://tp5pro.com/themosteffectiveregistrycleaner....

Learn more information "why is my computer running so slow": http://tp5pro.com/WhyIsMyComputerSlow.htm

If your virus/spyware free, there are a couple things you can do get your computer working faster. If you using your computer for normal stuff and not gaming. You don't always need more RAM you just need to perform a few maintenance task.

First, if you haven't cleaned your registry in a while. This is necessary. Your registry holds all the information regarding updates, installs, un-installs etc. Each one of those events produces a key. That key needs your PC's resources and free space. So, if you clean your registry, you make more resources available for speed. Do a registry scan if you got more than 20 errors you should clean it.

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/what-is-the...

2. Clear your Windows cache files, this is your temporary file. It can grow up to a large volume and stop your computer from using RAM properly. In a sense slow it down by preventing it from using free space.Here is how:

1. Quit Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other web browser

2. Click Start, click "Control Panel", and then double-click "Internet Options".

3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files" under Temporary Internet Files.

4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the "Delete all offline content" check box , and then click OK.

5. Click OK.

3. Manage your startups. Your excess CPU usage is due to too many programs running in the background. You can cut these to barebones by alter your msconfig. Here is how:

1. Open your Start menu.

2. Click Run

3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"

4. In the "system configuration utility",click either "service" or "startup" tab

5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer using.

6. Click "OK"

You probably have too many background programs/processes open. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and click the Processes tab, look at the bottom left hand corner of the task manager to see how many processes you have running. If it's anywhere in the 50+ range you should consider removing unneeded programs. Check the source below for common memory-sucks on your computer that you don't really need to have running.

use ctrl alt delete to open your task manager and click the processes tab. Any process that looks suspect do a google on. If it turns out to be intrusive, unecessary click the "end process" button. Do this on a few and you'll find you should speed right back up

try these steps...

1) hit the start button type "temp" will open a folder named temp , delete everything inside that folder.

2) same step : hit the start button type "%temp%" will open different folder named Temp and you want to delete everything inside that folder.

3) download a software named "jkdefrag" and defrag your hard drive using that software instead of Windows defrag utility , which really sucks..

thats all free options..

hope this helps

Because you don't know how to maintain it.

Download and run Ccleaner from hippo.com

Then goto computer management and run defragmentation.

Here is a load of other free stuff that will help keep your system running smoothly.

Malware bytes Anti-malware http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Spybot Search & Destroy http://www/spybot.net

Adware 2008 http://www.lavasoft.com/

AVG Anti-virus Anti-spyware http://free.avg.com/ http://www.filehippo.com/

some kind of background software is taking up memory.

try quiting all un-important softwares using task manager.

if you are using vista, you need atleast 4gb ram

possibly spyware

also if you have 1 gb ram and windows vista, you might want to upgrade your ram

but first try running antispyware.

It's probably wearing high heels.