Windows XP Laptop slow or freezing

[maggiepoole]

Hi - Sorry - new member with very little technical knowledge - please bear with me. I use an Acer Travelmate laptop model 2420, Windows XP system, and have Firefox and IE installed, I mainly use Firefox except when a site insists on IE. I have Norton Antivirus installed and use AOL for email.
I have a wireless modem, which often goes down to 2 lights - depending on time of day. I have been using OVguide to access various movie/tv streaming websites, not to permanently download.
Recently I am plagued by screen freezes and very slow page opening, drives me crazy! I have used CCleaner to get rid of rubbish, but still I get problems every evening. Better in the day.
Are PC accelerator products any good? Any free recommendations? Any help/advice greatly appreciated.
Maggie - (English but temporarily living in Spain so using Spanish internet provider ONO)

 

[TriplexDread]

Welcome to the forum

Do you use the laptop on a flat surface? Someone recently asked the same question in another thread. Slowing down can be caused by lots of problems, one of them being heat.

However memory and harddrive thrashing can also cause it.

Thrashing you ask? Well if the drive is trying to access lots of information that is not readily available due to lack or memory or other software taking priority it can cause the heads to seek at high speeds jumping from one place on the platter to the other. They do this already but if you have software running that needs information at the same time and accessing lots of stuff then Freezing, jumping and crashing can occur until it settles down.

How much memory do you have?

Norton can also cause many many problems as we explain very often in these circumstances. The program is very, very resource hungry and runs lots of applications at the same time. Make sure its virus scanner is turned off when you do not need it. Lots of people here do not like Norton and the above is just one good reason

Let us know how you get on

 

[Abarbarian]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1269

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search?q=adblock+plus&status=4

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722

You might find these add-on's to FireFox help speed up browsing . IE Tab saves you having to swap browsers . AdBlock Plus needs the G Filter set aswell .
Also if you want to do backups of your FF profile FEBE is an excellent add-on and once set up its a one click backup .

 

[maggiepoole]

Thanks for replying and sorry for being away so long!

OK, I use the laptop on a sofa and it does get hot - what should I put it on for best results?

When would it be safe to turn Norton Antivirus off? I'm always scared something will attack the system if it's not on when I'm online. I really only use ths laptop for the internet, very little else.

Re memory - My C drive says total 16.14GB with 4.18GB free. I have a D drive which I have no idea how or when to use, but that says it has 17.3GB free with 17.6GB total.

RAM, using the SIW tool recommended, it says 256RAM but gives details of Slot 1 and Slot 2 - not sure if this is relevant, but it says 256 in each.

I will also try the Mozilla add-ons recommended.

 

[michael555]

Best to put your laptop on a flat table and i would keep your virus checker on at all times.

I see your laptop is spilt into two drive c, d.

To used D drive just change the letter when installing software to d.


ESET is a good virus checker and does,nt take much ram.

30 day version here http://www.eset.com/download/registered_software.php