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I got Dell Inspiron 14 laptop with 4 gigs and supposedly doesn't need more memory. Thing is as slow as can be. My 2gig Compaq/HP that's 2 years old is better than this.
Was trying to keep the cost down, buy a little better and don't need a memory upgrade. Apparently that's not the case. Do I have to add memory anyway?
Naturally there is a 15% restocking fee if returned. Please give me some useful advice before I throw this piece of crap out the window and throw 100% of the cost away.
MCSA/MCTS here. I call this my "Stages Of Success". Do these steps, in this order.
Look for an antivirus program. On a Dell it's probably McAfee which is garbage. Uninstall it. Whatever the antivirus, uninstall it (trust me, you'll put one back on later).
Download a program called CCleaner. Accept the default options, let it run. Trash whatever it finds. Make sure to do the registry scan as well.
Right click on C:, Properties, I believe it's Tools tab, then to the defrag options. If the schedule is not set, set it, then do an Analyze. If it says its needs to be done (it shouldn't), let it do it.
Right click on My Computer, Manage, Advanced settings on the left, Advanced tab, settings button at the top under Performance (the one that talks about visual settings etc). More than likely set to let Windows decide, change that to custom, deselect everything except: Desktop Composition, Transparent Glass, Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons, Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts.
IF it's not joined to a domain you should not have very many entries in msconfig --> Startup. If you do, start disabling them. I guarantee you 90% of them aren't needed.
Disable Windows Sidebar. Right click on icon in running programs area of taskbar (bottom right) exit, it will prompt you not to launch on startup again.
Once all that's done, reboot. You should see a slight improvement. More improvement will happen after more reboots as the SuperFetch collects data.
Next, download and install Microsoft Security Essentials. This will replace your old antivirus. It has a smaller footprint and won't hog the computer down like commercial antivirus scanners.
I want to state for the record: Windows 7, if that's what you're using, is not going to perform faster than Vista or XP on a newer box. It's not going to happen. If speed and performance are what you're after, understand that because of 7's use of GPU to render what you see on screen, it's always going to be a bit slower than older OS's that offloaded rendering to the CPU. You might consider downgrading if the performance difference is still a problem after the steps I put above.
I'll take that on, but this is just out of the box. The older laptop has malware bytes already. What sped it up was adding memory from 1 gig to 2 gig. This one comes with 4 gig and online it its slow. No excuse.
When you say online it is slow, is the only speed problem with the internet? Does it perform quickly otherwise?
As others have said RAM is only one thing that will impact performance. If your internet is slower on this laptop than the previous one perhaps you have a slower network card in the new laptop.
Go to Start/Control Panel/Network and Sharing Center. On the right side look for Connections: and click on what is shown.
If it is wireless it should be, at a minimum, 54mbps. Mine is running at 130mbps. It depends on your wireless modem, etc. My wired connection normally runs at 100mbps.
Since it's just the internet your old laptop may have a better network adapter, or the new one may be having problems with your routers config. As Tek said check your speed and post the speed you are getting, whether it's wired or wireless, what type of router (make/model) and whether you have security/encryption setup on the router.
While on wireless, go to speedtest.net and test your speeds. Then disable your wireless adapter and plug your computer into the router. Re-test your speed. Post the results. If your wireless speed is less than your wired speed while you're sitting next to the router, you know you have a wireless issue such as a bad driver or you could be on the same channel as nearby wireless networks.
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