[pheonix]

how do i fix a laptop that is running slow? its been getting worse over last few weeks - now its soooo slow.
i have done a system scan and clean which is on the computers control panel and iv also done system restore but not helping much -
any ideas? many thanks 

[HappyHippy]

Have you deleted the cookies ?
The other thing which helps is deleting programmes you don't use and running the disk defragmenter - but there are other way more experienced computer folks who'll be along soon 

[tizaala]

Click on the 'Tools' then delete browsing history , Get rid of all Facebook extras like games, for less than £50 you can get a 1 terrabyte external drive to dump all your photos on and back up all your important files, this will free up a lot of memory and speed up things.
Go through all your downloaded programs and see what you never use then get rid of it.
Empty the waste bin .
Photos take up a lot of memory, go through them and dump what is not really good , you have to be ruthless. make sure your windows security updates are up to date , very important to get them automaticaly daily.
 

[doganjo]

And if that doesn't work, fall asleep with it on your knee, then call the insurance man 

[Foobar]

Windows (I assume its Windows?) will get slower over time, that's just the way it is.  Doing all the things previously mentioned will help keep it at bay for a while though.  However, one other cause of extreme slowness (especially if it's constant, including booting up time) is a failing disk.  Other causes are more malicious like viruses, trojans etc.
Take it to someone who knows about such things would be my advice.

[the great composto]

How much disk space do you have left?

If you right click the windows logo on the bottom left of your screen and start windows explorer.

then right click on your C: drive and choose properties from the list.   ( you may also have a D: drive to look at too)

[pheonix]

thanks - i will work through them in order - its a hp windows 7.  2 yrs old. the trouble started when i accidentaly accepted cookies from somewhere, whether thats a coincidence or not i dont know.
thanks so much xx

[moony]

Try defragmenting your hard drive. If that doesnt work press ctrl alt and delete. It will bring up windows task manager. You can see what applications are running. Check there is nothing extra running. Click on processes and then on CPU to put them in order. Highest CPU usage should be system idle processes. If its something else thats your problem. Some anti virus things like Macafee can slow your computer right down.

[doganjo]

Try defragmenting your hard drive. If that doesnt work press ctrl alt and delete. It will bring up windows task manager. You can see what applications are running. Check there is nothing extra running. Click on processes and then on CPU to put them in order. Highest CPU usage should be system idle processes. If its something else thats your problem. Some anti virus things like Macafee can slow your computer right down.

How do lay people like us know what should be running and what shouldn't?

[the great composto]

If you run a product like 'hijackthis' which is a free download - it checks what is running on your computer and allows you to stop it if you want.

It also produces a log file that you can send to people who DO know what they are doing so they can diagnose and tell you what to remove.

[Lesley Silvester]

Can I hijack this thread as my query is about computers?

I did mention before that I keep getting pop ups in the bottom left of my screen - all adverts.  I have ensured that I have the block pop ups box checked.  My computer has also started, when I click on a link (for example reply on here) taking me to a site advertising something, quite often ebay.  I ran a full virus check and it's clean.  Any more ideas please?

[the great composto]

Tricky one to deal with if you have no knowledge but thats exactly what hijackthis (see above) was meant to sort out.

If you download it and run it it lists the things that automatically get started when switch on your computer.

If you create the log file and post it on here someone may be able to help ( even me but i am no expert either).

[pheonix]

THANKYOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
i did every thing listed above and its now working no problem at all. i can watch movies again too,
im none the wiser with computers so will have to refer to this thread and follow it word for word when it plays up again!
now...i just have to get the biscuits crumbs out from under the keyboard   
many geniune thanks xx