Is it an old laptop?
Have you considered getting one of the techie types on here to have a look at it?
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:15, 2 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

Indeed. I, for example, have a variety of appropriate tools including screwdrivers, pliers and a soldering iron
all of which could be used to smash the fucking thing to pieces in frustration.
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:16, Reply)

it's only 15 months old.
it was an emergency replacement laptop because my first laptop decided to implode and lose my entire history essay halfway through last year, and I needed a new one.
(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:17, Reply)

Little things can speed it up
Get anyone with the knowhow to have a look at the startup, and if you've got loads of icons on the desktop, remove them, it's surprising how much that can help.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:18, Reply)

That's a good point actually...
If it runs Windows then this little freebie is pretty good at cleaning your system up.
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:21, Reply)

Not seen that one before
I use CCleaner for a lot of the removal of old files, can be extremely helpful.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:23, Reply)

Don't have any icons but computer, documents, recycle bin and firefox.

(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:23, Reply)

Good way to be
Check your taskbar to make sure you've not got loads of background programs running. If you're confident enough to know what should and shouldn't be running at startup, go to 'run', then type 'msconfig', and go to the startup tab.

If you don't know what should and shouldn't be left running, don't do anything with it, get someone to have a look.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:25, Reply)

I'll have a look when she stays over here.

(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:23, Reply)

Ah, if she's seeing you then spot on
If you're just making a joke, then fair play sir.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:27, Reply)

She is, and I'll quarantine and scrub her laptop before it goes anywhere near my network.

(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:29, Reply)

My laptop isn't riddled with viruses though
the virus checker runs every three days.
(Poppet some assembly required., Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:29, Reply)

WE'LL SEE

(PsychoChomp, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:32, Reply)

In my (limited) experience, viruses are rarely the issue
It's mostly malware.
( Agnostic Antichrist Baltimora, Tue 30 Nov 2010, 10:35, Reply)