[davyk31]

My father in law has a laptop, about 5 years old but unfortunately he thinks it should last for ever. Has got very slow especially on start up, seem a lot of programmes loading in the task bar. Mega slow to even go through menus and internet is quite painful.

He wants me to see what I can do. I am no IT expert but am able to follow instructions so what should I be doing or which programmes to run to help it improve. I cleared browsing history which I would reckon was never done, removed an old version of McAfee which seemed to be delaying the system start up a lot. also noticed he switches it off by just hitting the power button, can't imagine this has been particularly good for it.

[kaishang]

Is the hard drive full of porno movies? That can slow things down.

[rich1068]

After 5 years you might as well just back up the bits he wants to keep and nuke from orbit. Reinstall the OS, I'm guessing XP?

After that just set up a realistic schedule for Auslogic Disk Defrag, Windows updates and install Microsoft Security Essentials as the only AV software. Job done.

[davyk31]

What is the best way to identify what needs backed up, I could ask him but undoubtably he would forget about something.

[magic77]

if its xp I would avoid essentials from MS as it setups a pseudo proxy on your PC and has caused issues for my clients in past. I would go with free avast or avg

[creepy coupe]

I wouldn't mind betting the most likely reason for slow running is the software updates it's installed in itself over time. Modern browsers and alike are demanding on older PC's.

[Chris100]

If its 5 years old and by the sound of it is owned by someone who is clueless when it comes to IT, I would say backup the data you want to keep and then flatten it and rebuild the OS. You could spend days trying to find out what it slowing the system down and that's if you know what you are doing, re-installing the OS is pretty straight forward these days and it will be much more simple and quicker than going looking for what is slowing the system down.

[dxb335d]

Is there really any meaningful data on there?!
Buy him a new one!!

[davyk31]

He could buy himself a new one, has plenty of cash but would be impossible to persuade him that given its 5 years old it needs replaced, he sees it as a lifetime purchase I imagine.

[MEGA]

Format it and restore data.

Only way to get it anywhere near to factory.

But the HDD won't be what it was: So it still won't be quite as quick..

[jimmylimmy]

as already suggested, backup any data he wants to keep, emails, photos, documents etc.

Make a note of his outlook email settings (account name, server settings)

Reinstall a fresh copy of windows and install more RAM if possible

I'd guess he has 512mb - upgrading this will have a benefit.

I'd imagine he has the usual OAP tendency to install any old shit - google toolbar, yahoo toolbar, etc... my Mother has the same problem, i'm forever uninstalling crap that she doesnt need

[BanziBarn]

Another vote for a backup and total re-install from me!

A bit more RAM will help too, like has been said.

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by jimmylimmy

I'd imagine he has the usual OAP tendency to install any old shit - google toolbar, yahoo toolbar, etc... my Mother has the same problem, i'm forever uninstalling crap that she doesnt need

Christ, tell me about it. When I fire up IE on my mums PC it's like viewing the internet through someones letterbox.

[davyk31]

How easy is it to add ram to a Dell Laptop, and is there a limit on how much can be added.

[c-hri-s]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Christ, tell me about it. When I fire up IE on my mums PC it's like viewing the internet through someones letterbox.

I just set up a PC for my Grandmother, who suffered the same way. She was using XP and each time I saw her it was riddled with voucher printing applications, toolbars, email addins and all sorts of other crap (she's always one for something 'free').

I invested £200 in an eBuyer desktop, which with 4GB RAM is blazing fast compared to her old one. I installed Windows 7, upped the display size, installed parental controls (!) and locked her account down to a standard one. Swapped her email from Windows Live Mail to GMail and installed Microsoft Security Essentials, told the computer to update itself, installed Chrome with an adblocker, uninstalled Internet Explorer and then installed the free TeamViewer so I could solve anything she did manage to break remotely.

She can't install anything without knowing the Admin password which I didn't tell her. She can't keep screwing Windows Mail up by reordering the columns and filing her emails in any random folder she happened to drag them to (read or unread). And worse case I can access it remotely as well as block her accessing any 'voucher' sites I don't like the look of via the parental controls. Set Chrome up to point to a webpage on my site as her 'home page' and gave it some big buttons to sites she might want to use frequently ... that way I can update it remotely.

She only wants to email her mates and browse the web, so it should be perfect. Job done .. hopefully.

In short, to the original poster, things have come on a long way in five years. Convince your Dad that a new laptop is cheaper than ever before and can do more than it even has (in built webcams, skype, speed, Windows 7, etc.). Then do as much of the above to lock it down as he'll let you get away with ... then it shouldn't screw up, he can keep enjoying it, and you can support it remotely.

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by davyk31

How easy is it to add ram to a Dell Laptop, and is there a limit on how much can be added.

It shouldn't be any more difficult than any other laptop. Have a look on Crucial and use their configurator. Even if you don't buy from them it will tell you what you need.

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by dodgy

I invested £200 in an eBuyer desktop, which with 4GB RAM is blazing fast compared to her old one. I installed Windows 7, upped the display size, installed parental controls (!) and locked her account down to a standard one. Swapped her email from Windows Live Mail to GMail and installed Microsoft Security Essentials, told the computer to update itself, installed Chrome with an adblocker, uninstalled Internet Explorer and then installed the free TeamViewer so I could solve anything she did manage to break remotely.

She can't install anything without knowing the Admin password which I didn't tell her. She can't keep screwing Windows Mail up by reordering the columns and filing her emails in any random folder she happened to drag them to (read or unread). And worse case I can access it remotely as well as block her accessing any 'voucher' sites I don't like the look of via the parental controls. Set Chrome up to point to a webpage on my site as her 'home page' and gave it some big buttons to sites she might want to use frequently ... that way I can update it remotely.

Classic. I'm needing to do all this soon for my little lad. It hadn't occurred to me to do it for his grandparents too

[TMP]

Tune-up utilities does a great job of cleaning up and then keeping your PC optimised...free to use for 14 days:

http://www.tune-up.com/

[DivideBYZero]

If all he is using is the browser and mail then nuke it and install Ubuntu or Mint onto it.