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.

Refurbished Laptops and Windows Vista

Laptop sales have increased the last year. Some say it is because of Microsoft’s new platform the Windows Vista. When it came out, people welcomed it with mixed feelings. Some fell in love with the new, easy-to-use, user friendly platform right away, but some people criticized it for its high system requirements, high price, lack of drivers and for the bugs and flaws found within the new design. There is some truth in both opinions. The user friendly Vista is easy to navigate and manage. It offers an aesthetic design, somewhat similar to the Mac OS. But as it was with the XP, that took Microsoft over three years to get mostly bug free, this new platform has its bugs and flaws as well. Since it requires powerful system performance, you start to wonder: Is Windows Vista really a good choice of operating system for a laptop?


The new laptops are already designed for Windows Vista. They come with features and functions that were engineered for the new platform. They possess powerful computing resources which allow the Vista to run smoothly, even with high performance settings.
The only setback is the battery life. The Vista’s high demand of processing power and memory usage brings with it elevated battery use as well. It will not be a problem, if you are near a power source, but when you are on the road, you might want to set your performance settings and display brightness lower to enjoy a longer battery life.


But what about the older models? Is it convenient to install Vista on older, refurbished and used laptops? Check the system requirements on Microsoft’s website. If your laptop’s performance is capable of handling the Vista, you can give it a shot. However the system settings that Microsoft recommends for running the OS do not provide enough performance to run it completely smoothly. It might not be worth it. If your computer is having trouble performing under the Vista, or it’s not even capable of running it, I recommend you to stick with the XP. It is still trusted and useful, and with extended Microsoft support until 2014, it is a reliable operating system platform that won’t eat up all your resources.


Even those refurbished laptop owners, whose machines are not capable of running the new OS, do not have to worry. Although the power-demanding Vista offers some extra features and pretty design, they will always have reliable, fast running Operating System alternatives that match their laptops’ performance.

Software alternatives and Refurbished Laptops

Refurbished Laptops and Software

If you have purchased a refurbished laptop, and you are tight on the budget, you probably do not want to spend hundreds of dollars more on software, like Microsoft Office, Norton Antivirus or other applications. Do not worry, most of these programs have cheap or even free alternate options. Whether you are looking for word processing or virus killer software, you will be able to find inexpensive and free alternatives. These may not be as sophisticated as their pricey rivals, but they are a useful solution for your basic computing tasks. All of these programs have different system requirements, so check the manufacturer’s FAQ before you start downloading them.

Word processing software:

Open Office from Sun Microsystems is a great office productivity suite. It offers word processing (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), presentation designing (Impress), illustration (Draw), database (Base) and mathematical equation (Math) applications for completely free. It is also compatible with the major office suites. You can download it, distribute it or use it for free, anytime at: www.openoffice.org .

AbiWord is a convenient , easy-to-use software, similar to Microsoft Word. It is suitable for a wide variety of word processing tasks It is completely free and it can be downloaded at: www.abisource.com anytime.

Jarte is a useful software based on the same word processing engine used by Windows’ WordPad, but it offers far more capabilities than that. It is completely free. You can upgrade it to Jarta plus, for the extra bells and whistles that the upgrade version provides for a small fee. It can be downloaded anytime at : www.jarte.com .

Google Docs is a friendly, free web-based word processor and spreadsheet application, which allows you to share and collaborate online. You have to have a Google Account to use it. You can find it at: http://docs.google.com/ .

Lotus Symphony is an easy-to-use office suite from IBM. It is ideal for working with documents, presentations and spreadsheets. It is completely free and it can be downloaded from : http://symphony.lotus.com/ .

Anti-virus and Anti-spyware software:

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is one of the best free anti-virus software available. It provides high level detection capability for free of charge. It can be upgraded to the Pro version, which will provide technical support, firewall and anti-spam applications.
AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition is a great choice against malicious spyware. It can also be upgraded to the Pro version, which will give you technical support and other options. You can download both of these products for free at:http://free.grisoft.com/ .

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic is another good anti-virus solution. It provides complete protection against viruses, worms and Trojans, but it does not defend your computer from spyware or adware. It can be downloaded for free at: www.free-av.com .

Norton AntiVirus 2005 Special Edition is well know anti-virus software, that can be downloaded now as part of the Google Pack Software, which contains a collection of useful Pc applications completely free. It contains anti-virus, anti-spyware and word processing software, as well as many other useful programs. It can be downloaded at : http://pack.google.com/
So if you found a cheap refurbished laptop, and you do not want to spend more money on expensive software, check out these free alternatives.