Very Slow Start Up

[wini]

Yesterday, the start up on my HP Notebook was excrutiatingly slow.
The same again today. The usual Welcome screen comes up and then it takes forever for the desk top items to appear. About half come up and then another long pause until the rest appear. Once started everything seems normal.
I have XP and Norton.
Any ideas?
I have another question, my Toshiba notebook and the screen doesn't work and isn't worth repairing,can I connect it to this one instead of to the spare monitor I have been using or to my hsubands computer?

Thanks for all your patience with me.

wini

[Alcluith]

Wini,

I have an HP with Vista and eventually dumped Norton and purchased AVG instead which cleared all the speed problems.
Incidentally there was no virus on the laptop just that the Norton was taking up so much time that it slowed the system nearly to a grinding halt.
As for HP well they are totally a waste of time as they did not reply to any questions submitted.

To anyone out there I would not recommend HP if your are wanting speed, good case??????

With the Toshiba I would use a monitor as even purchasing one of them would be cheaper that getting the laptop repaired.

[WilmaM]

If it's just a recent problem Wini, then I'd do a bit of 'housecleaning' on the computer.

Somewhere on your computer you'll find System Tools.
With our XP it's on the start-up menu, All Programs, Accessories then System tools.

2 Options to use from there: Disk Clean-up and Disk Defragmenter.

That helps tidy things up and clean off any duplicate bits and bobs that are [ I'm told] lurking around - not doing any damage, just making things messy.

I hope that helps speed you up a bit.

[Currie]

Hello Wini,

The Slow Down Laptop.

Slow downs on startup can be caused by a great range of things, either hardware or software related.

Do the disc cleanup and defrag as suggested but also do a scan of your computer for viruses or spyware in case there are some nasties causing the problem. Sometimes also there can be a whole lot of unnecessary programs starting up at the same time as your computer and it is possible to turn off some of these although the slowdown they cause is usually a more gradual thing.

Can you remember if there was anything in particular that you did not long before it happened, such as installing new software etc. If the slowdown was a very sudden thing and you can pinpoint fairly accurately when it first occurred you could try restoring the system to how it was by using System Restore. You should find that in about the same place as cleanup and defrag.

Restore it to a restore point a few days before the problem started. If you have installed any programs since then you may have to reinstall them. The restore may confuse your anti virus and you could check its help file to see if there’s anything there about it. It shouldn’t affect your data but it’s always a good idea to first backup up your important stuff especially when something unusual is happening to your machine.

Broken Screen Laptop.

I don’t know much about Laptop computers. The closest I’ve ever come to one is seeing them on display in the shop.

You have the broken laptop currently connected to an external monitor and you are thinking about instead connecting it to the slow computer or your husband’s computer so that you can do what? I’m not too sure whether I understand the question as it depends on what you’re trying to achieve.

You can network computers so that any of the computers on the network can access files on any of the others. Usually wireless networking is more appropriate for laptops but you have to make sure it is secured from access by the neighbours. You can also wire them together through a multi port broadband router if you have one but you need the appropriate cables.

Hope some of that is useful,
Alan

[wini]

Thanks will try the defrag bit.
I may have caused the problem. I was trying to close a programme and couldn't , SO, I switched the whole thing off. I haven't got a lot of patience.
Will also go back a couple of days.
Alan, I just want to use the stuff I have on this other computer. It is mostly photographs, all needing editing.
It is mainly for more room I want to get rid of this spare monitor.

wini

[Currie]

Wini,

You could network two computers using an Ethernet Crossover cable. It must be specifically marked as a Crossover Cable. Each computer must have a network card which means you can’t usually be connected to the internet while that is going on unless you have a machine with two cards. Both computers have to be turned on, be members of the same workgroup and you would need to enable file sharing of the folders you’re accessing. A search on ebay for USB Network Adapter also brings up a variety of possibly useful gadgets that I haven’t tried myself.

If you’re copying files to another computer copy them there rather than move them in case something goes wrong in between. You would have to get this set up and working before the external monitor is taken away so that you only need to turn the broken computer on and off. There could be complications in getting it all set up and transferring back to your usual internet arrangement. http://www.brighthub.com/computing/wind ... /4523.aspx

Alternative you could transfer all the files to another computer by using CDs or DVDs or by USB thumb drive before you remove the external monitor and put the broken Notebook away. Or you could remove the hard drive from the broken Notebook and get an external case for it and just plug it into your good Notebook as an external hard drive and access the files that way. The sort of thing a search for Case External Hard 2.5 would bring up on ebay but you would have to know if the drive is SATA or IDE and maybe if the case setup is Vista compatible.

Hope that’s useful,
All the best,
Alan

[wini]

Thanks for that Alan,I think I will just stick with what I have for present.
Next time I need a techie I will ask them to remove the hard drive and use it as an external HD. I don't think I am competent enough to try it myself.

wini

[emanday]

Hi Wini,

I'm experienced with the software side of computing, but had always been less than confident with the more technical side of fiddling about with the hardware.

However, I eventually bit the bullet and took the HD out of an old PC and converted it to an external HD. I got the case and stuff on an online auction and it came with instructions. It actually turned out to be very easy.

I later ordered the stuff I needed to turn a spare internal DVD writer into an external one. That was just as easy to do.

Both jobs were done with the total cost of the cases, etc... working out at less than half the cost of the cheapest quote I could get to have it done for me.

[wini]

Mary,
You are so brave.
The funny thing is I'm not really afraid to try things.
Maybe I'll start with removing the HD from the old computer.MAYBE.

wini

[Currie]

Wini,

Google is your friend when it comes to any thing like this. Just google remove hard drive Toshiba notebook and you’re sure to find something. This site has instructions for a variety of Toshibas, some look very easy, others a little bit more complex. http://www.bixnet.com/toshiba2.html

I’ve seen advice elsewhere to remove the battery first and that may be a good idea if practical, or otherwise disconnect it or at least make sure it is turned off and the notebook is disconnected from all external devices and chargers etc.

Avoid touching any exposed pins or circuits on the drive and store it in a safe place in a static proof plastic bag if possible until ready to take the next step.

Alan