Netbook driving me mad

stevenrw · Nov 06, 2013, 15:22:24

'er indoors has an HP Mini 110 Netbook, with the usual Intel Atom processor running Windows 7 Starter.
Its running like a dog and is driving her (and that means me also) bonkers.
I've put in an extra gb of RAM (all it can handle apparently is 2gb).
Its not so much booting up that is a problem as I've reduced the amount of stuff that loads on startup.
Its everyday stuff that is just so tedious.
I've removed as much bloatware as I can recognise but it is soooooo slow to respond to any command.
Are all netbooks like this or is there something I can do to speed things up.
Its becoming almost unuseable.

Steve · Nov 06, 2013, 15:26:30

It shouldn't be that bad, I agree they're not quick but have you checked what else is running in background?

Glenn · Nov 06, 2013, 15:43:17

Is it slow on your profile as well as her's?

stevenrw · Nov 06, 2013, 15:56:23

Hello Glen - yes, painfully slow on both accounts.
Hello Steve - checking in task manager for all users, nothing unusual seems to be running. System idle process seems to go up to 72 under the cpu column, others are obviously the antivirus (ESET - which I have tried uninstalling to no effect), so I can't see anything hugely significant there.
I'll try running Malwarebytes (again) to make sure nothing nasty has slipped in, but I doubt it as we've not been using it much because its so tedious.

Glenn · Nov 06, 2013, 16:03:29

Drivers and BIOS up to date?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=4062&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=4041526

zappaDPJ · Nov 06, 2013, 16:13:39

I looked at one of those with the same problem a little while ago. I also tried upgrading the RAM and removing all the bloat, neither of which made any discernible difference. My conclusion at the time was that the single core processor was not up to the job. The drive was also tortuously slow. When I Googled I found loads of complaints about that particular model but no suggestion of a fix. Later models were built with a faster, dual core CPU.

I don't really know what to suggest, it was a problem that defeated me, sorry

[EDIT] Something I've just remembered... the netbook I looked at had some Roxio software installed that was running background tasks. I've no idea if that comes bundled with that device as standard but it's quite a resource hog so I would try removing it. I'd also try and defrag the drive.

Baz · Nov 06, 2013, 17:42:21

try a de-frag and may be CCleaner if you have it.

How full is the hard drive

Clive · Nov 06, 2013, 20:04:14

My emachine is starting to go the same way. It's three years old and recommended to me by Rik who advised me to install a second gig of RAM. It was fine up until a few months ago but now it's quite slow. I don't have Roxio installed and there is 75GB free out of 135GB. I'll try a defrag but task manager shows Chrome is a big resource hogger.

Simon · Nov 06, 2013, 20:07:06

You know what you need to do.

Glenn · Nov 06, 2013, 20:21:54

Buy one of these

Clive · Nov 06, 2013, 21:28:10

Quote from: Simon on Nov 06, 2013, 20:07:06
You know what you need to do.

Dust off my beloved Avant?

Quote from: Glenn on Nov 06, 2013, 20:21:54
Buy one of these

Noooooooo! It wouldn't work on 2 Gb of RAM.

stevenrw · Nov 06, 2013, 21:35:25

Thanks for all the advice guys, always appreciated. The disc has only 40 out of 120gb used, and is 0% fragmented. I have neither Chrome nor Roxio installed and Malwarebytes shows no dodgy items. I will update the storage drivers, but in view Zappas comment, I'm disinclined to throw either any more time, effort or money at it.
As the (somewhat crude)saying goes - you cant polish a t**d.
I've bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet which runs like a dream and does pretty much everything the netbook was supposed to do, much faster, so the HP pile of poo will likely be consigned to landfill sometime soon. I just wanted to give it one more chance to save itself, before it took the long walk to the recycling centre!

Steve · Nov 06, 2013, 21:36:36

I agree netbooks compared to tablets, no competition.

FritzBox · Nov 09, 2013, 11:24:09

Install Linux on it

Technical Ben · Nov 09, 2013, 12:29:36

It has a limited version of Windows, which adds to the problem along with a single core CPU.
Things that may help, but cost money, a small SSD replacement drive (lots of hassle to swap out if you don't know how to do it). A small but fast 4GB memory card to run as ReadyBoost (don't know if Starter supports this, but Premium and Pro does).

But at the price of the device, it's probably cheaper and more continent to replace. What browser do you use? Some may run faster on a single core.

cavillas · Nov 10, 2013, 12:02:37

Try MS essentials instead of eset.

stevenrw · Nov 28, 2013, 17:08:46

I had thought of trying an SSD initially but the BIOS does not support AHCI so I really don't think I'd be getting full benefit that an SSD. I don't even know if W7 Starter supports TRIM, so that really puts an end to that option I think..

Technical Ben · Nov 29, 2013, 18:18:36

Yeah. Got a similar problem with friends asking "my computer is slow". I have 2 options, uninstall the 20 virus scanners they insist are working, or ditch the machine. As the machines are usually out of date or maxed outon possible upgrades already, and changing use (or ideas) is hard. :/

Simon · Nov 29, 2013, 18:42:19

It's quite possible that multiple virus scanners will cancel each other out, so the machine could be virus ridden because of that!

Gary · Nov 30, 2013, 07:39:13

Quote from: Simon on Nov 29, 2013, 18:42:19
It's quite possible that multiple virus scanners will cancel each other out, so the machine could be virus ridden because of that!

yep its always been one active and however many on demand, the only exception was Prevx.

Technical Ben · Nov 30, 2013, 11:57:56

Even with the single scanner, on older XP and sometimes Vista machines, they just cannot cope with the bells and whistles, and a simple scanner is all they can run. I just have to wait 3 mins each time to do something.