help with my notebook lagging

hah2110

New Member
OK, let me start off by saying that I am VERY computer literate. No need to talk in non sense lamens terms. Here is what I have:

Processor: 1.4 GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor
System Bus Speed: 400 MHz
Number of Processors: 1
RAM: 512 MB
RAM Type: DDR SDRAM
Max RAM: 1024 MB
L2 Cache: 1 MB
Memory Slots: 2
Hard Drive: 60 GB

Basically, I am going to college in the summer. I had the choice to get a bigger, more desktop oriented notebook... Or stick with the light and get the tad slower centrino. Figuring that I would be going class to class with it, I picked the lighter one. The thing really is a workhorse. I can break open photo editing, AIM, and IE and of course it lags... but all computers do. Point being is it really slows down with the simple stuff. Like sometimes clicking on the E takes maybe 5 seconds before it opens. I am really confused. Now, my computer is also a fortress. There is not one piece of spyware/malware/adware on this computer, or a virus for that matter. 3 programs run every night one after another plus I defrag and run a disk cleanup nearly every week.

So, does anyone have any advice. I was thinking about RAM but I shouldnt need it. Then I thought about a faster hard drive but that eats up more battery.

Speaking of battery, it is bad. It doesnt get nearly what it should. The meter displays like 2.8 hours and I maybe get 2. Any help with all these issues would be appreciated.
 
Next time it's lagging, do CRTL+ATL+DEL and check the the Processes, and see what's eatin up the MEM usage. Sometimes my smaller progs use it up, i end it, and the comp goes back to normal speed.
 
what RPM is your HDD? the main cause for lagging in a laptop is usually an ancient 4200RPM drive trying to keep up with the system.

EDIT: jsut noticed u already know that lol. sorry.

it does eat up more battery than a slower RPM drive. if you notice you're not getting enough battery life out of your battery, it might be time for a new one. it might be leaking or not fully charging like it says it is. had this problem with a Dell laptop, it wasn't charging 100% and only lasting about 1/3 the time it was supposed to.

Also maybe remove the battery and clean out the tray it sits in. clean off the contact points the battery uses and all that...could help with the power transfer.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone but as far as the battery issue I have already gotten a replacement. The notebook isnt even a year old and I made them give me a warranty replacement but its the same bull. And usually when it slows down I have tons of memory free. But are there any good optimizers?
 
Back
Top