My laptop is a piece of ....

[Spikes]

I can't deal with this anymore...Firefox freezing every 5 minutes and staying froze for a good 2-3 minutes. Can't run any other program other than Firefox without it locking up and me having to cold boot it. I've got the settings on the lowest of lows. Even have the Windows 98 style on to reduce memory usage. I've defragged, ran virus scans, ran malware scans, ran adware scans, did a disk cleanup, everything you can imagine I've probably done. The only thing I haven't is a reinstall of windows, because I don't have the install CD. It would also be a pain to get all the programs I have  (and all the passwords to each, for example, my hosting account with filezilla, ventrilo passwords). What should I do? This laptop needs to last me a month or two at least, and at this point it'll be going out the window tomorrow.

[TilDeath]

I reinstall my OS at least every 6 months.  I install un-install so many programs, beta test of OC software etc.  You may want to start keeping a spreadsheet of your user names, passwords, and the sites they go with.  Keep your software you want long term on an external drive of burn DVD/CD's.  Keeps the headache to a minimum.

[Fulmar]

As TilDeath stated, a bi-annual/annual format is my cup of tea.  I run a fair amount of programs and I'm always trying out new stuff/games/software.  Helps me keep the clutter down.

[llama]

What's the CPU? How much RAM? How old is the computer? Original hard drive?

Download and burn a Ubuntu Linux bootable CD and then boot the notebook off of it. Does the machine act reasonably fast with Ubuntu, or is it still god-awful slow? (This will more or less rule out the hardware.)

-Llama

[BaldEagl]

It sounds to me like you've got an awful lot of background processes running.

I've got an old circa 2001 Sony Vaio (that I'm writing this on right now) with a 650 Mhz PIII, 256 Mb PC100 SDRAM and 6 or 8 Mb of onboard video RAM (I can't remeber which it is) running XP Home.  I don't game on it except for some pretty mild stuff but for that and everything else it works just fine.  I can even watch Netflix on demand movies on it even though I'm running exactly 1/2 of their minimum recommended system specs.

It really wasn't running that well until last month when I added 128 Mb of RAM, upgraded the Hard Drive and did a fresh install of XP Home (I had been running 98SE).  The difference was astounding.  The only thing that holds it back anymore is the signal strength of my wireless connection.

You really need to turn off the worthless stuff that's running in the background, run disc clean-up and defrag at a minimum.  Better yet would be a fresh Windows install, then turn off a bunch of background services and then make sure everything else you install is clean of background applications.

[Ghosth]

At the very least an annual repartition, reformat, and reinstall keeps your system healthy and happy.

Personally I wouldn't own a computer that I don't have every driver disk for, OS, etc.
Passwords should be backed up, open firefox, get into your passwords and print the page of passwords for the sites you visit. (Keep it secure of course)


Computers are kind of like pickup trucks. Lots of stuff gets loaded, unloaded, all of it leaves a certain amount of debris, dirt, and grunge in the corners. Every so often you just need to get out the power washer and clean it out down to the corners. If you don't it will rust out and fall apart on you.

If you can't handle a repartition, reformat, and reinstall of OS, pay someone to do it for you.

[Skuzzy]

Also note, when laptops get really dirty, the CPU's throttle back to reduce the heat.  Just a thought.

[Spikes]

Also note, when laptops get really dirty, the CPU's throttle back to reduce the heat.  Just a thought.

Dirty as in physically or...well...computerly?

A few people have told me they reformat even up to once a month. I can't reformat though unless I buy windows again...I'm not too fond of Ubuntu. I've got most of my documents, pics, etc on a 2GB and 1GB thumbdrive. Someone mentioned to me once that you coudl 'reformat' without erasing the Program files folder, but I assume that's not as effective. I guess my programs are not that important because I only think I paid for a couple.

My main problems now is getting a legit XP CD.

llama...It's a Dell Pentium M 512RAM (I know, I know, not a lot). got it in 2006, it's only got a 40GB hard drive.

[Skuzzy]

Physically.

[Spikes]

Physically.

I'll look into taking it apart a little and seeing how bad it is. I have problems with the lid shutting right so I'm kind of worried that anything that I do to it will make the whole screen just fall off..heheh.

[Ghosth]

Both, dirt and pet hair, and dust builds up in the fans, and hardware.
And stuff stacks up on storage also, more stuff starts with windows than it should.
Ties up more memory, etc. Longer boot times, more processes, etc.

Unless you got it second hand, you should have gotten an XP disk with it.
Although it may not be called that.
Along with it should be another disk for all the motherboard and hardware drivers.

[Spikes]

Both, dirt and pet hair, and dust builds up in the fans, and hardware.
And stuff stacks up on storage also, more stuff starts with windows than it should.
Ties up more memory, etc. Longer boot times, more processes, etc.

Unless you got it second hand, you should have gotten an XP disk with it.
Although it may not be called that.
Along with it should be another disk for all the motherboard and hardware drivers.

It was from ebay and to my knowledge there were no CD's at all...I need to go into my Msconfig and see what I can have not startup...anyone have a list of common processes that I don't need?

[batch]

its pretty hard to tell you exaclty what services you need without knowing every specific detail  i.e.  any addon hardware, software, or even right down to how  you connect to the internet.... I know my internet connection requires 3 different windows services to be running....... but on the whole I only run 12 processes..

you can easily find a list of what each service does by Googling "xp services" or whatever specific OS youre running...... there are tons of lists that will tell  you which are mandatory and what each service specifically does...... then you can make the determination as to whether or not you need them.

as for the reformatting every so often......... I personally use an image program, there are many of them out there... my favorite is Acronis True Image

I created an image of my initial windows install...... and another image after I installed all the other software I knew I would always want on this comp..... I keep a running list of anything new I install so I can reinstall it later if needed........ once a month I run the program and restore the software image and everything is back to like a fresh new computer...... takes about 10 minutes total to do it

[BaldEagl]

Check blackviper.com and select your operating system and service pack then decide how daring you want to be.  Any serices not listed on blackviper will be something you installed and are not Windows services.

[Ghosth]

Might try Glary Utilities if your looking to clean house.

They have an impossible to screw up 1 click scan, and fix.
And for advanced users go into modules, optimize, windows start menu.

The big advantage with glary is if you don't know what an entry is, there is an option to google it, built right in.
Then you can see what others think, ie necessary, don't touch, not necessary, dump it, to mixed. And make your own informed decision.

www.download.com search glary utilities, there is both free versions and trial versions.