Why is my new Netbook running so slowly?

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SailorSam

New member
This is puzzling and I'm getting nowhere through Windows online support unfortunately.

I have Netbook with an Intel Atom CPU N455 with 1.67GHz clock and 2GB RAM.

I first spotted the slow performance by trying to use Skype (v5). Call quality test suggested that my PC was 'too slow to make calls'.

I reloaded my Netbook with an earlier version of Skype (v4.2) but to no avail (some online help threads suggested that Skype v5 at fault).

By checking the Windows Control Panel > System & Security > System > 'Windows Experience Index' gives a very low score of 2.4 for computer speed.

I have also used Task Manager to check that I am not running process hungry background applications.

Hoping that someone can offer new ideas please.
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
well that isnt all that high for a start, im guessing its a dual core CPU right?

how do other programs run, ie browser office etc, and what anti virus are you using? because i know some hog a lot of resources
 
tom_gr7

tom_gr7

Life Serving
Wozza365 said:
well that isnt all that high for a start, im guessing its a dual core CPU right?

how do other programs run, ie browser office etc, and what anti virus are you using? because i know some hog a lot of resources
Click to expand...

Nah its a single core, the missus has a netbook, all the specs are pretty much the same. thats the problem with netbook's pc world/currys/comet etc, make out that they are awesome, but infact they are slow, often with the cheapest components installed./comet

the best thing to do, is remove programs you dont need, disable start up programs, use CCleaner once or twice a month, and dont forget to do virus scans/nasty scans
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
wow man that is bad, maybe dual core at that speed but single? i wouldnt even consider a single core anymore whatever the speed
 
Pete

Pete

Bright Spark
a friend in work brought me her netbook as it was running slow and the internet wasn't working... answer : it had a 20gb hard drive and after windows update had done it's thing it had no free space. had to uninstall as many of the updates as i could and stop it from getting new updates.

try going into Task Manager and see what application and process are running. If there are any that shouldn't be running you can stop them running next time by doing : START > Run > msconfig (type this in.) then go to the Statup tab and stop anything like Adobe startup or any applications quickstart or updaters etc... all these little apps add up especially with 2gb RAM, you'll find you're quickly going to be he using the hard disk as a memory cache.
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
if you have a memory stick you arent using at all, you can turn it into readyboost, which speeds up the system and then the files are put onto there rather than your HDD
 
Milkybarkid

Milkybarkid

Bronze Level Poster
If you turn the camera off you should be able to use Skype with no problems. Also of course make sure other stuff is not loading automatically in msconfig. Funnily enough I had to use ours when my laptop died and over the course of time through using it, it actually got quicker although we do have Diskeeper on. This one still has only 1 gig of ram on as it's still under guarantee.
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
if it was running XP it would run a lot better

you could try linux if you are that worried about performance, that runs on anything and you can just run it from a stick from time to time as well

have you tried any speed up programs, such as CCleaner, a defrager etc, all will probably give a bit of performance
 
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cindyavan

New member
Generally a slow netbook can be caused by two reasons: outdated hardware & poor system maintenance.

A few more things you can check:
- Remove programs you never use.
- Retrict unwanted startup programs.
- Check if your antivirus or anti-spyware is taking too much resouces.
- Clean overloaded junk files, temparary files etc.
- Check if your computer is suffering registry errors.

Also let ccleaner (a freeware system cleaning tool) to fix relevant issues.

Meanwhile - netbook is netbook, not a laptop. If you really want it have great perforamnce, go get a real computer...
 
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El Wayneo

Silver Level Poster
Have a HP Mini here, single atom but the big difference is sticking 2gb of ram in it, makes loads of difference, 1gb of ram is nothing for XP or Win7 starter that most come with.

Operating system needs a minimum of 512mb, graphics 256mb, that leaves very very little for todays modern applications.

But to answer the OP, the onboard graphics are awful, about 6 - 7 years in most cases, so it will struggle with skype, they are over marketed but my missus does everything she needs to on hers, browse the internet, use word/office whatever.
 
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