netbook with 7 bogging down

[chas]

Hi- I've had my Toshiba nb 305 netbook with win 7 starter os now for 1 1/2 yrs. I'm getting real tired of it slowing down! I want to upgrade the mem to 2 gb and install a new ssd drive as an upgrade. Before i do that i want to clean out all the crap first! Is there really a program that is user friendly and efficient, dependable that will do the job? many thanks in advance- Chas

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by chas Hi- I've had my Toshiba nb 305 netbook with win 7 starter os now for 1 1/2 yrs. I'm getting real tired of it slowing down! I want to upgrade the mem to 2 gb and install a new ssd drive as an upgrade. Before i do that i want to clean out all the crap first! Is there really a program that is user friendly and efficient, dependable that will do the job? many thanks in advance- Chas

Clean out what crap?

What anti virus are you running?

If you want a good all around cleaner use CCleaner. You want to run the Cleaner, and Registry (no need to back up files, run many times until no errors are found).
Download CCleaner 3.15.1643 - FileHippo.com

[chas]

running norton

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by chas running norton

That is perhaps one of the largest footprints for an anti-virus. I would recommend that you uninstall it (using the uninstall feature) and install Microsoft Security Essentials (free) as it is much less resource hungry and is more effective. That alone will benefit you.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows

Select Vista/Windows 7 32 bit version.

Run CCleaner as posted before.

[chas]

ok thanks i will try that! Other than running ccleaner many times is there anything else i should be doing to make it run better?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by chas ok thanks i will try that! Other than running ccleaner many times is there anything else i should be doing to make it run better?

Well that's what I meant when I asked you what crap? Are you talking pre-loaded applications that you do not use, pop-ups, etc. Netbooks are not that fast to begin with and are not going to run as fast as a laptop properly configured. Adding the correct SSD can help a great deal. The 2GB of memory will max the boards capacity and help with responsiveness to degree if you are using it more like a laptop (office apps).

Using CCleaner, adding the max ram, and updating to a SSD drive is going to give you the best scenario overall. I would suggest the smaller footprint anti-virus, SSD, and go from there. You can always add memory later if you are not happy with the performance.

[birddog_61]

Would you be interested in linux? It takes a little getting used to, but it is usually much faster and doesn't have most of the annoying windows problems. If you are interested I would suggest looking into linux mint, it is supposed to work very well with your netbook.

If not then do exactly what jdeb recommended, get rid of the resource hog norton and go with MSE, run ccleaner regularly, and upgrade to a ssd if you would like to. You can check your ram usage by holding ctrl and shift then hitting escape, switch to the performance tab and watch your memory usage while you use the computer normally. If your maxing out your memory or getting close then a memory upgrade would be useful.

[David M]

In Search enter MSCONFIG and see what processes are booting under the Startup tab. You may have processes running in the background that you really do not need running all the time.

Also go to Task Manager and under the Processes tab see what is running that you may not need running.

While in Task Manager under the Performance tab check to see if you are close to or using all of your memory. Windows 7 Basic can only utilize up to 2 gigs of RAM. If you are using all of your RAM then your applications may be accessing you hard drive directly, which will slow down your computer noticeably.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by David M In Search enter MSCONFIG and see what processes are booting under the Startup tab. You may have processes running in the background that you really do not need running all the time. Also go to Task Manager and under the Processes tab see what is running that you may not need running. While in Task Manager under the Performance tab check to see if you are close to or using all of your memory. Windows 7 Basic can only utilize up to 2 gigs of RAM. If you are using all of your RAM then your applications may be accessing you hard drive directly, which will slow down your computer noticeably.

It is better to do that (MSCONFIG) through CCleaner, no re-boots required. That you will find under tools / startup in CCleaner.