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.

The History of the Computer Virus

The first virus was one called the Creeper. It was detected on ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet back in the early 70’s. It spread via the TENEX operating system, using the modem connection to call out to other computers and infect them. Then it would display a message: "I'M THE CREEPER: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" A program was created to fight the Creeper. It was called the Reaper. It is rumored it was developed by the same person who created the virus itself.

The first virus to infect a computer outside a network, or the place it was created, was the Elk Cloner. It was developed in 1982 by Rich Skrenta, a 15-year old high school student.
During a winter break from Mt Lebanon High School in Pennsylvania,US, he figured out how to send messages automatically on his Apple II machine. The first boot sector virus was created by him, infecting high school friends’ and local computer clubs’ machines. The infected machines would display a little poem on every 50th boot, but otherwise were caused no harm. The poem goes like:

Elk Cloner: The program with a personality
It will get on all your disks
It will infiltrate your chips
Yes it's Cloner!
It will stick to you like glue
It will modify RAM too
Send in the Cloner!

The first virus for PC was one called “Brain”. It was developed by two brothers Amjad Farooq and Basit Alvi in Lahore, Pakistan, back in 1986. It was a boot sector virus and they used it to deter pirated software that they created. Later analysts claimed that the Ashar virus preceded the Brain, but it was based on a code within it.

Before the computer networks were popular, viruses spread through removable storage devices, most commonly floppies. The traditional computer viruses appeared in the 80’s. With the increasingly popular use of the modem and the BBS, they were infecting commonly traded programs, shareware, even illicitly traded retail software. In the mid 90’s macro viruses became more common. They spread through Microsoft Office by infecting spreadsheets and documents. They also infected Macintosh computers, since Excel and Word were available for Mac OS as well.

The newest generation of viruses are called cross-site scripting viruses. They were academically demonstrated in 2005. They use cross-site scripting vulnerability (usually web applications, that allow code injection into the webpages) to spread. Even large sites were affected, like MySpace and Yahoo.

Protecting your computer against Malware

Refurbished Laptops and malicious software

There are many programs that pose a threat for your computer. Some of them just cause it to slow down, while others can even wipe out your hard drive. They are called Malware and they are designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. They can serve different purposes. Some of them are just written as an experiment or prank, while others are designed to vandalize, cause data loss, or engineered for a profit motive.

Adware: Also called advertising-supported software. It is a software which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertising material to your machine after the program is installed on it or while the application is being used. It usually comes in a bundle with free software. Adware is usually created for covering the engineering cost of the software so the developer will be able to offer it for free. If your desired program has adware attached to it, don’t download it. You will able to find clean software alternatives that will do their job just as good. If you already have unwanted adware on your computer, there are programs that have been developed in order to detect, quarantine, and remove them. The most popular ones are: Ad-Adware and Spybot Search & Destroy.

Spyware: It is a computer software that is installed stealthily on your machine to intercept or take partial control over your interaction with the computer, whether you like it or not. They can collect personal information, interfere with your control of the computer, install software, redirect your web browsers, access unwanted websites, or change the computer settings. They are usually installed without you being aware. They do this by coming bundled with other software or by tricking you into installing them some other way. There are many programs that have been developed to remove or to block spyware, as well as various practices which reduce the chance of getting them on your computer. The popular ones are: AVG Anti-Spyware, Ad-Adware SE, PC Tools's Spyware Doctor, but there are several other ones that provide protection against these unwanted programs.

Viruses and Worms: Computer viruses are programs that can infect your computer and copy and modify themselves without you knowing it. They can spread from one machine to another when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance by a user sending it over a network or the Internet, or by carrying it on a floppy, CD, USB drive, or on other removable storage devices. Worms can even spread themselves to other computers without needing to be transferred as a part of a host. All these programs can seriously damage your machine by changing important programs or setting, deleting files, formatting your hard drive, or even causing your computer to crash. Some of them seem harmless only displaying a message, but even these can give you a headache, since they might slow your system down, using important computing resources. There are several anti-virus software available for fighting against these malicious programs. The most popular ones are: Norton Anti-Virus, McAfee ViruScan, Avg Anti-Virus.

These malicious software are to be taken seriously. They can cause severe damage to your refurbished laptop. Make sure you use the best available programs to protect your machine against these unwanted intruders.