[OneStopView]

Dear Sirs,
I have a fairly new laptop (Fujitsu Siemens) running on windows XP. Since having the computer I am noticing more and more that it's slow down in speed. Everything now tends to show 'Not Responding' even if I am only running one programme. I do run AOL, which I know can take alot of ram?
The other problem has been the processor becoming very hot, under neath of laptop sometimes feels like you could fry an egg on it. I did sent the laptop back to shop to update fan on processor, but problem now really still exists. Somtimes a software will take 5-10 mins to load, ie Nero Smart or similar.
Other computer shop says buy more ram, at present I have 256, others say buy new computer.
What I want to know is, will buying extra RAM cure the 'not responding' issues aswell as speed up the pc and will extra RAM maybe cool down the processor as it seems to be over working? What RAM is best to have in my laptop?
:?:
Advice appreciated,
Chris.
Suffolk.

[Dave Hybrid]

RAM will make the laptop faster, minimum these days is 1GB.

RAM will not cool the processor, you say its hot but unless the PC is freezing its not a problem, laptops do get hot its normal.

RAM will not solve the not responding issues, that is down to windows being corrupt, personally I'd re-install it.

Also if you are running any Norton software that will dramatically slow down your PC.

Dave.

[alex]

i'd agree with the other respondent, about the reinstall of windows.

Norton runs in the background pretty much all the time so it'll also be taking resources.

The fact you've 'only' 256mb ram is where your speed problems lie. XP really requires a min of 256mb by itself, so when you open any other application i would hazard your system is stealing resource from your pagefile (this is a space on your harddisk that windows allocates as ram). This might be why some things are taking a few minutes to load.

Seriously, do a roll-back or clean install of windows first. And at the very least buy another 256mb sodimm of ram.

[Dave Hybrid]

Agree with Alex, 256mb is the recommended amount to run xp alone.

ebuyer do 1gb of laptop ram for like £50.

There's no reason not to go 1gb really.

[crimsonc]

Remember though if you have 1GB installed, windows will use 1Gb. Get the upgrade but clear out all software you don't need or use, and check for spyware & adware, this can cause your computer to slow down too.

[webcrawler]

There are some doable things which you can undertake to speed up your PC. One is to get rid of unnecessary applications installed on your PC. Update also your anti virus software and run it to check and remove possible presence of virus.

[twopointoh]

I have found Norton Anti-Virus to cause problems before when a user has multiple anti-virus software on their computer. I can't explain why this is but once deleted the performance improved.

I believe Norton has been known to cause similar problems, it's especially processor intensive during a scan so if you're running it in the background you may not be aware it's causing your system to slow down.

In addition, try running Adaware, if you don't run adware scanners you might find yourself with hundreds.