My wife's Acer netbook is really slow... any suggestions?

1. 79

   petenaliposted 10 years ago

   My wife's Acer netbook is really slow... any suggestions?
   
   Sometimes, it takes literally ages for an IE window to open or to switch between windows.  It's running Windows 7 Starter and I've checked it for viruses....

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2. 0

   MYWIKISTEPposted 10 years ago

   1. Delete all temporary files  from IE
   2. Delete all windows temp files
   3. press Ctrl-Alt-Del select Task Manager and end all applications that may not look "normal"
   4. Install programs for ads blocking in IE.
   5. Disable all IE addons and then enable one by one
   
   Comment if you still have the problem. Bye ;-)

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Appreciate that - I'll check these things out.

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3. 88

   wshillingtonposted 10 years ago

   Windows 7 doesn't work well unless it has at least two gigs of RAM.  If you have less than that your should consider adding RAM. 
   
   If you have less than two gigs and do not want the expense of adding additional memory, you could change operating systems.  I put UBUNTU on a netbook and, since this Linux OS requires less memory, the computer worked much better.  Be warned, however, that your Windows programs will not work with Linux and you will have to use alternatives.  Your wife might not appreciate the learning curve.
   
   Hope this has been of use.

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'll check how much RAM I have when I get home.  I may not upgrade though - I'd probably pick her up an iPad for what she uses it for instead.

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4. 63

   rutleyposted 10 years ago

   Had one, lasted 2 years.  Finally gave up and got a new one.  I think every brand is made to only last a little over 2 years!  Don't ya just love technology?
   Hope you're doing well petenali.............regards, rutley

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not willing to give up on it yet - it's well under 2 years old!  I will persevere...  Doing great thanks - just been really busy so Hubpages has taken a back seat...  trust you are well.

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5. 0

   jlcustompcposted 10 years ago

   Sorry to hear you are having troubles.
   
   Can we get the exact model of the laptop?
   
   That would really help!
   
   Windows 7 Starter Minimum Requirements
   
   If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:
   
   1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
   
   1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
   
   16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
   
   DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
   
   Additional requirements to use certain features:
   
   Internet access (fees may apply)
   
   Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware
   
   Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
   
   For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
   
   Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
   
   HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7
   
   DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive
   
   BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
   
   BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
   
   Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space.
   
   Music and sound require audio output
   
   Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.
   
   Credit - windows . com
   
   Windows 7 should run just fine on your system!
   
   First lets move to a better browser IE is notoriously superslow!
   
   Go to Firefox of Google Chrome -
   
   Firefox - mozilla .com
   
   Chrome - chrome . google . com
   
   I highly recommend the free apps from IOBIT
   
   iobit .com
   
   Their free tool Advanced System Care
   
   
   Hope this all helps!

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have used Chrome myself for years and have found it good. (prior to getting a Mac) but I am expecting a learning curve with any changes for my wife, so I'll see what she wants to do. Thanks.

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   2. 84

      CreeVikingposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Firefox is really easy to use and straight forward to install. Just expressing my personal preferences here.

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6. 84

   CreeVikingposted 10 years ago

   One option is to switch to Firefox or Chrome.
   
   As well as doing the things suggested by MYWIKISTEP I would also open up Control Panel, navigate to 'Programs and Features (or 'Add/Remove Programs - depending on what OS your running) and search through the programs looking for programs you did not install. Browsers (regardless of which ones) will sometimes install software you did not ask for. Usually this can happen when you are either:
                          a) installing some other piece of software and this unknown software was bundled
                               up with it
                           b) installed automatically when you access certain websites.
   
   For example, when you install Adobe reader if you are not observing the screens involved in this install you could wind up installing an anti-virus program demo product as well.
   
   Look through your program list and remove anything you did not install. If you are having problems identifying these then remember than anything installed by ACER is probably required on your machine so do not uninstall that. Anything installed by Microsoft is usually OK as long as you are running a Microsoft machine.
   
   Apple products on MS machines are specifically chatty so remove these whenever you can. Specifically, remove the Apple Software Update tool. This tool constantly goes out to the internet looking for program updates. You can safely remove it and any apple products that require updates will normally tell you so when you start up the product. An example of an apple product on a MS machine is iTunes.
   
   Get rid of anything with the word 'shopper' in it as this is malware. The 'shopper' programs are gathering your info and transmitting it back to the producers of the software. This is a chatty process that can seriously slow down your machine if they are on there.
   
   Also, ensure automatic updates are turned on and that all relevant updates have been applied to your machine. An out of date machine can sometimes run slowly.
   
   Lastly, run 'defrag' - you can find this in your start menu under 'accessories'- > 'System Tools' and scan your hard disk to ensure proper operations. You may have a heavily fragmented hard drive, this will also slow down a machine considerably.
   Hope I have helped you out some.

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for that excellent answer - I shall walk through these steps and see how much it helps.  Muchly appreciated.

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   2. 84

      CreeVikingposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      your welcome hope it all worked out

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7. 75

   CraftytotheCoreposted 10 years ago

   We had an acer notebook and it did the same thing.  We brought it for repairs and it turned out to be something that couldn't be fixed.  Now the screen just goes blue and it doesn't work at all.  We were really disappointed in the experience with it.

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   1. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Eeek! Hope that is not the case.  This weekend I will try all the suggestions and we shall see.  Thanks for the answer though.

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   2. 0

      jlcustompcposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It can always be fixed I don't care what is wrong with a computer, it can always be fixed! If someone tells you it can't be fixed what they really mean is......It's not worth it to fix it!

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   3. 79

      petenaliposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That is the real question - is it worth it to fix it?

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   4. 0

      jlcustompcposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Software related problems are always worth it to fix and easy to do with the correct tools and know how! Hardware failures can be very very expensive, motherboards for laptops can be 100's of dollars and the repair cost can be $200 or more.

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   5. 84

      CreeVikingposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      they only thing I would ever consider replacing in a laptop is the hard drive or the physical memory, provided it's not permanently attached to the motherboard.
      It would be cheaper to replace the entire computer rather than replace the motherboard

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8. 60

   citywolfposted 10 years ago

   Sorry to hear that. Acers are terrible. I am biased because I'm a Mac person, but I think if I were to buy a PC, I would go with a Dell or HP. Amazon's best seller is a Samsung. I don't really have any experience with these. Even if your wife's computer is totally inoperable, you can take it in and usually a tech can wipe and transfer, so that she doesn't loose all of her files.

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   1. 84

      CreeVikingposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Doubt it is a hard ware issue. I wrote a hub on the difference between mac and pc. Most mac users don't like it though. How's that for a hub plug! Have a good day

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9. 53

   jeugenejohnposted 10 years ago

   You can do the following steps to rectify the issue. First click on " Pearl Button " on your desktop and click on " Run " option.
   
   1. Enter " %temp% " and press " OK ". Delete all the files in the Pop Up Window that appears.
   
   2. Click again on " Run " option and type " temp ". Press " OK ". Do the same procedure.
   
   3.  Now type " Prefetch " and click " OK"  and then " Continue " . Delete all the files.
   
   4.  You can reset the IE by clicking on the Pearl Button and then choosing " Control Panel". After that click on " Internet Options " and choose " Advanced " tab  in the top right corner. You will find the " Reset " button on the bottom right. Click on it and reset process will initiate. Remember this will delete all your current " bookmarks ", " History " and " Saved Passwords ".

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10. 53

    soultouchposted 10 years ago

    I am using Acer Aspire for last 4 years  and works great for me. You need 2 GB RAM. It is best to use IE10, delete temp files and clean the unnecessary event logs.

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