[Ashley Williams]

My sisters laptop is very slow and i mean slow it taeks over 30 minutes for windows to load. I originally though it was because she had lots of stuff on it but we took everything off it and it was still very slow. Now im wondering is it best to upgrade the ram as it only currently has 128mb of ram. So she wants to upgrade to about a 1gb. I was speaking to a reasonably knowledgable friend who said that i need to check what is compatable with the proccesor. So im bassically wondering ifyou can recomend me some sticks of ram the preoccsor is an intel pentium 4 processor. Ive got the same processor in my desktop PC so it should be able to take 1gb as ive got 1gb in mine. So im just wondering what makes are compatible and which are the best can i have a few options sorta thign a low priced a medium priced and a more exspensive one.

IM good on Pc's but im not good with most of the technical side.

A

[cyberspacegenie]

Hi Ashley and welcome!

30 mins is a very long time for windows to load. I have had slow laptops in the past with low amounts of RAM but it never took this long. Have you checked the the machine for viruses and spyware? Its possible that there could be a problem in this respect thats why the start-up time is so long. Also if you havent already its a good idea to defragment the hard drive and also to download and run CCleaner - run both 'cleaner' and 'issues' options. I think you can download it from the download section here.

More RAM is definitely a good idea, but note that laptops take different memory to desktops - the physical size is different. First you will need to know the type of RAM that it takes - you should be able to find this out from the manual that came with the computer. The manual should be able to tell you how many RAM slots there are and what the maximum amount of RAM is. For example if you have two RAM slots then it is likley that the existing 128MB is sitting on one of the slots so if you would have to either buy a single stick of 1GB to go in the other slot, which would give you 1128MB or take out the existing 128MB and add two sticks of 512MB memory. Another option is to keep the existing 128mb and add another 512MB.

If you go to http://www.crucial.com/uk/ then also they have a tool for finding out what memory you have. I found it really useful when I was in the UK. You can then find out prices and compare once you know what you are looking for. But definitely (if you havent already) run a virus and spyware/malware check.

There is a very useful program called 'Hijackthis' (again I think it is in the download section here). You could also run that and then paste the log that it creates into a post on the 'Anti-virus and Spyware' section of the forums here. You'll then be able to get some advice about whether there is any stuff there that shouldnt be and how to get rid of it.

Its possible that you've already done a lot of this stuff but I figured its worth mentioning just in case you haven't.

Hope it helps.

[evilfantasy]

Run spyware/virus scans also.

[Ashley Williams]

I found it actually has desktop ram in it it has one slot left and it is DIMM. IM doing a spyware search and destroy search on it now. So i will see what it turns up.

Thanks for all your help.

Also im know im a bit off topic in this thread but save me starting a new one. Is there any reason why it would be getting very warm and switiching off its on a desk with a book under the back to allow for more air in and when it gets very hot it just turns off her laptop has some serious problems normally she wont let me near it but she is going to uni in a few weeks so my parents want me to sort it out for her

A

[mrdaveyk]

try regcure maybe, reg keys slowing it up perhaps, worked well for me!

[alex]

Originally Posted by Ashley Williams I found it actually has desktop ram in it it has one slot left and it is DIMM. IM doing a spyware search and destroy search on it now. So i will see what it turns up. Thanks for all your help. Also im know im a bit off topic in this thread but save me starting a new one. Is there any reason why it would be getting very warm and switiching off its on a desk with a book under the back to allow for more air in and when it gets very hot it just turns off her laptop has some serious problems normally she wont let me near it but she is going to uni in a few weeks so my parents want me to sort it out for her A

I'd suggest it's DDR400 (pc3200) ram required considering it's a P4.

It's going to be very slow (spyware etc aside) because you're trying to run windows with only 128mb ram.

XP requires a minimum of 256mb to run, then you need more for any applications you run.

P4 chips run very toasty in desktop pc's let alone in a laptop. My old HP had a P4 3ghz and the cpu constantly ran over 60c, sometimes hitting 70c.

I'd suggest that 1) Getting more ram will alleviate the problem because the cpu is having to work extra hard considering the lack of bandwidth (ram) in the system. 2) If you've got Norton on there delete it and download Avast. Do both by going here . As Norton constantly runs in the background, eating cpu runtime.

3) If you feel comfortable enough doing it remove the rear of the chassis and check for gunk/dust. Laptops are more susceptable to dust build up than desktops due to the small chassis area, basically a laptop's chassis is filled to the brim with components in very close proximity meaning any gunk is that much more of a problem. If you do thia and there is gunk then purchase some compressed air (about £5) and give it a squirt.

4) you could also try getting a laptop cooler, of the active variety (meaning it has fans built in.

These active coolers usually blow air onto the base of the laptop so before purchase (and if your laptop has an exhaust fan) ensure that the cooler fan isn't going to be in the same position as the exhaust fan because it would interfere with the laptop getting rid of waste heat

I'd suggest it's shutting down due to heat, try the info given above and see if it aleviates the problem.

Good choice on going for 1gb of ram, thats the sweet spot for XP.

[naresh9876]

can u give me the laptop brand and the type?