Very slow netbook

Irish Stones

Hi, I have an Acer netbook A0531. This PC have become suddenly slow and almost useless.
It takes up to 3 minutes to boot and once it is working it takes 3 to 5 minutes to open the Google home page or to open Thunderbird. This slowness makes the PC unusable.
I've been using it for the past 3 or 4 years. The only problem it had was a hard disk failure about two years ago. A friend of mine repaired it and replaced the HDD with a new and larger one (it was 160 GB, now it's 500 GB, all data was recovered) and switched from Win XP HE SP3 to Win 7 Starter Edition.
I ran CCleaner a couple of times but no success.
Is there anything else that I could check or do to solve the problem?
Thanks!

FSL

Run msconfig and check what you have in startup. Apart from anti virus you don't need anything.
Make sure you don't have more than one AV programme, More than one will only slow the computer down as they will conflict and won't give you any more protection. NO AV programme paid for or otherwise will give you 100% protection if you turn off common sense when you turn on the computer.

Check what programmes are installed. Uninstall all toolbars and other junk relating to phones, cameras, music players you no longer have/use.

Clear all internet history cookies and set your browser to delete them on exit.

Irish Stones

Done as adviced
Apparently it was Adobe Shockwave Player that was slowing the system down. I set it as "ask before running".
While I was at it I also disabled Dropbox and Sony Companion (the application for managing my smartphone) which were using a good amount of RAM.
I ran CCleaner again, restarted the PC and now it's all OK.
Thank you so much!

unkel

Your netbook probably only has 1GB of RAM. Upgrading that to 2GB will make a huge difference with windows 7 starter!

Irish Stones

Yes Unkel, the RAM is 1 GB.
Do you think that it's possible to upgrade to 2 GB on such a machine?
The netbook has two covers on the bottom of the case. Under one of those I found the RAM. The photo of the RAM is attached.
What should I look for to upgrade it? Is 2 GB the largest upgrade that I can do?
Thanks for you help!

EDIT: I wonder if this is the right module for my netbook. I shouldn't have any doubt, but I'm not an expert in this matter
2 GB RAM Module

unkel

You've done your research and you've done it well

Yes that's all you need to do, take the 1GB one out and stick the 2GB one (from your link) in. Many early gen netbooks can only take a maximum of 2GB (or 2GB per slot if you even have 2 slots) and there's very little point anyway in upgrading W7 starter (32 bit) beyond 2GB

It will give you a huge boost in performance for very little money. Good luck with the upgrade and keep us updated here!

Irish Stones

You have been very helpful and kind, like many others here in Boards.ie!
I'd wish I was there to thank you all personally for your huge kindness
Thanks for your advice, I'm off to buy that module right away and as soon as I have it installed I'll let you know.

EDIT: OT - I notice now that you live in Lucan, I love that village, I have been there so many times and hopefully I'll be there soon. Bye! /OT

Irish Stones

I ordered the RAM module yesterday in the afternoon from the link I had found. I had it here at home 23 hours later, from Birminghan, GB, to my home here in Italy, that's incredibly fast!
I've already taken the 1 GB module out and put the new one in, everything is fine and I find the PC faster than before, it seems the its performance has improved a lot.
Thanks a million for your helpful advice!

unkel

You're welcome. Glad you got sorted