I have a couple of computers that need a tune-up..and was wonder...besides disk defrag...what are the most effecient ways of tuning up a laptop with Windows XP??? It has TuneUp utilities on it and the memory optimizer was already installed and about a week ago the program to delete unecessary files was ran...but still runs slowly. It runs quicker when F8 is pressed and Enable VGA Mode is selected. It doesn't have viruses on it because Avast Antivirus full version (non trial) was installed on it and ran. Again what steps in chronological order are the most effecient ways of tuning it up? smc

What exactly is slow about the system ? Internet based speed is usually controlled by your modem router or lan settings. That being said some browsers are more resource hungry than others try Mozilla's firefox or google chrome or other browsers. if it is application based speed that is an issue first find out what the application's minimum requirement's are if they exceed 75% of your system's abilities then don't expect too much without upgrading your system (laptop's upgrades usually are limited to ram only and at 512 for XP sp3 that's probably part of the problem) I assume you have allready shut down all the task's that auto run when you boot the system with msconfig so I will ignore that discussion Run task manager in the background minimise it allways leave it available ,view processes see what is sucking up the processor power and the ram resourses remember when programs are working they are using these resources if an "image name" seems to be allways hogging the resources google it if it seems to be annoying try right clicking on the name copying the name then click on it and shut it down, wait a few min after it shuts down the offending exe then tab to applications click new task paste the offending exe in and restart that exe tab back and watch to see how much of the resources it uses this time (explorer.exe used to act up on me)some can't be shut down without "hanging" your system just reboot if you have a prblem all will come back to normal .

If your virus/spyware free, there are a couple things you can do get your computer working faster. If you using your computer for normal stuff and not gaming. You don't always need more RAM you just need to perform a few maintenance task. First, if you haven't cleaned your registry in a while. This is necessary. Your registry holds all the information regarding updates, installs, un-installs etc. Each one of those events produces a key. That key needs your PC's resources and free space. So, if you clean your registry, you make more resources available for speed. Do a registry scan if you got more than 20 errors you should clean it. http://www.delete-computer-history.... 2. Clear your Windows cache files, this is your temporary file. It can grow up to a large volume and stop your computer from using RAM properly. In a sense slow it down by preventing it from using free space.Here is how: 1. Quit Internet Explorer, Firefox, or any other web browser 2. Click Start, click "Control Panel", and then double-click "Internet Options". 3. On the General tab, click "Delete Files" under Temporary Internet Files. 4. In the Delete Files dialog box, click to select the "Delete all offline content" check box , and then click OK. 5. Click OK. 3. Manage your startups. Your excess CPU usage is due to too many programs running in the background. You can cut these to barebones by alter your msconfig. Here is how: 1. Open your Start menu. 2. Click Run 3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe" 4. In the "system configuration utility",click either "service" or "startup" tab 5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer using. none

Your CPU and RAM say 633 MHz and 512 MB. Although that is sufficient to run Windows XP, you won't get much speed out of it. That setup is more suitable for Windows 2000. -Trent "If at first you don't succeed, skydiving may not be for you." -Our tour guide at Fenway Park in Boston, MA.

A list of programs I give customers is CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com) and Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.org)