Bad Laptop Performance?

Are you experiencing problems with your laptop's performance? The signs of performance loss can be applications freezing, loading up, closing or running slowly. This can deteriorate to a point when it becomes so disturbing that you have to take action. There can be various reasons behind this and there are many solutions for these problems. Here are a few things you can do to improve your laptop’s performance.


Download the latest Windows Updates: All the operating systems require upgrades, patches and updates to run smoothly, be up-to-date and fix errors and bugs that have been discovered since the OS was published. Whether you have Vista, XP or 2000 you can download updates from Microsoft’s website. If you have Windows XP you should definitely download and run Service Pack 2.


Check for Viruses and Spyware: Viruses and other malicious software like spyware and worms can heavily affect your computers performance. They can cause it to slow down, crash or even erase your hard drive. You must have up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed on your machine and you have to perform virus scans regularly. There are several good software available for this task. If you don’t mind paying a few dollars for one, than Norton Antivirus from Symantec is an excellent choice. But if you are trying to save some money or simply don’t want to spend extra on your laptop, there are good free anti-virus software available for you. The most mentionable is AVG Anti-virus and Anti-Spyware from Grisoft. It can be downloaded for free from www.grisoft.com. If you already have one installed, than simply scan your computer and follow the instructions to remove these malicious intruders, should you encounter one.


Perform Disk Cleanup on your Hard Drive: Your machine probably has a number of unneeded and unused files that occupy valuable space on your hard drive and can slow down your computer’s performance. Running your Disk Cleanup application can automatically remove these unwanted files. You can access it by clicking on Start --> All programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> Disk Cleanup and follow the instructions.


Defragment your Hard Drive: With time your machine will store your files in an inefficient way on your hard drive, increasing retrieval time and affecting your computer’s performance. To fix this problem, you have to defragment your hard drive. This can take hours, so do it at a time when you don’t necessarily have to use your laptop. You can access this application by clicking on Start --> All programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> Disk Defragmenter. First analyze your hard drive and if it requires defragmentation, than follow the instructions to start the process.

Clean your registry: The registry stores all settings and options for your operating system. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, operating system software, most software, users, preferences of the PC, etc. Since the registry is so important in your machine’s performance it is often target of virus attacks and infections. To clean your registry you have to run a scan using a Registry Cleaning Tool. You can find numerous great applications by simply doing a search with your favorite search engine. You can find out how many problems your system registry has for free at http://www.protected-now.com/


You can upgrade your Memory: If you have an older laptop, you might want to upgrade your memory, since today’s software applications require more computing resources. It can be done easily, since the memory modules are usually located behind a door locked by a screw or two, on the bottom of the laptop. Upgrading your memory is an can improve your machine’s performance if you don’t mind spending some money on it.