Vista - Memory Optimizer?

Hi, do you think it is a good idea to install a good memory optimizer for my laptop?
I still have 50gb hard drive, 4GB Ram, but it all seems slow, especially opening apps?
Can anyone help me, or, guide me in the right direction?

Regards
Riptorn

Vista manages memory fine and you don't need a memory optimizer to sit in the background doing the same job. Try defragging your hard drive and making sure Vista does it automatically.

I've never seen any noticeable performance increases with so called memory optimizers. Two things are worth trying, open MSCONFIG (win r and type msconfig) and go to the startup tab. How many entries are there? Hit Ctrl Shift Tab to open Task Manager. Do you have any processes that are constantly using a high % of your CPU? Any that have a high memory usage? You may need to disable some startup programs in the MSCONFIG prompt you had open earlier, as a lot of programs like to think they are important enough to start with the computer whether you like it or not. You may also have a spyware/virus infection. What programs are you using for protection?

Hi riptorn,

A memory optimizer is a bad idea, due to the way Vista handles RAM. If you click the link in my signature there are tweaks there you can apply to speed up your laptop. You can also download these apps:

Tune Up Utilities
PerfectDisk

Tune Up Utilities will clear out trash files, apply tweaks, select startup apps etc while PerfectDisk will defrag the hard drive plus boot files, page file etc

+1 to PerfectDisk. Everyone is partial to their own programs. I also like to run CCleaner to clean up temp files and the registry.

Great!.. Thanks so much for that!

Hi Stew2
I deleted everything in the prefetch, but now everything is Sooooo slow?
Will it get back to normal??
Also I changed the folders to start in a new process?
I only have 1 processor on this laptop?
Can you please guide me?
Thanks
Phillip

Hi riptorn

Once you've deleted evrything in the prefetch Vista has to start rebuilding it. While its doing that it wil be a bit slower as there is nothing in the prefetch. Once you've used an application it will be added into the prefetch and its the same for your startup items. So use a few applications and reboot a few times and you should see it speed up.

For the folders to start in a seperate process increases the stability of Vista and is therefore a good thing However if you find that your laptop cant handle more processes being open then just undo it.

Great!, thanks so much for that.

hold down ctrl and alt then hit delete once

select task manger

open the processes tab

put a check in the "show processes from all users" box

look at the bottom and tell us how many running processes you have

we can take it from there