What else shall I check?

[Lethal`]

Got a slow XP laptop here that a friend has asked me to fix.

I've defragged it, checked for malware (none) and I can't think what to try next bar reinstalling it. My mind's blank for some reason.

It's a Celeron with 256mb RAM, so I'm not expecting lightning speeds but it does seem too sluggish.

Thanks for any suggestions...

 

[thepeganator]

Reinstall, or at least do a repair install

Failing that, CCleaner?

 

[Pygmyshrew]

Uninstall anything it doesn't' need?

It's a Celeron with 256mb RAM

That's a pretty poor spec, barely enough for XP and it's obviously pretty damn old. I know this isn't overly helpful but perhaps its time to consider this laptop might be at the end of its life cycle? It's never going to run great in the modern sense of the word tbh.

 

[FluffySheep]

what is running on startup?

 

[theheyes]

Is it running anti virus?

tbh though, I bet if you put another 256mb stick in it'd run like a greased weasel compared to what it's doing now.

 

[Lethal`]

Reinstall, or at least do a repair install

Failing that, CCleaner?

Might have to, but thanks for the CCleaner suggestion.

Uninstall anything it doesn't' need?

That's a pretty poor spec, barely enough for XP and it's obviously pretty damn old. I know this isn't overly helpful but perhaps its time to consider this laptop might be at the end of its life cycle? It's never going to run great in the modern sense of the word tbh.

It's pretty clean to be honest. It's not used for much, just net browsing and a few basic Works documents.

what is running on startup?

Not much really.

Is it running anti virus?

tbh though, I bet if you put another 256mb stick in it'd run like a greased weasel compared to what it's doing now.

Antivirus is running yes, AVG. True, doubt they'd bother with the expense though.

 

[Dano]

Check the hard disk is in good working order using the manufacturers utility and then do a full scan disk.