Very Slow Computer

Hello there. Recently I have had a lot of problems with my Laptop. I have a Dell XPS M1330 Laptop with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition. I had to reinstall Vista on my Laptop about three weeks ago, and ever since I have reinstalled Vista it has been going real slow. The main thing which is slow is my Start-Up. It can take up to a few minutes to load everything on my computer after turning it on. It is very annoying. Before my laptop had to be reinstalled it was going great, the start-up was real fast and it ran very smoothly. Can anyone help me with my Laptop and get it back to the way it once was? It would be very much appreciated! Thanks!

It is too bad you reinstalled as that is always a last resort option as too many things (especially hardware/driver related) can go wrong, and security is usually set back months, or even years.

Understand, it does take a long time for a system to boot, setup the firewall and all the security tools, and all the programs the user has set to load at start - my XPP computer takes about 4 1/2 minutes to boot up completely. I keep my systems running 24/7 so I don't worry much about boot times.

Also note that cleaning programs are frequently unable to delete some files and folders while Windows and other applications are running so they are marked for deletion during the next boot. This can easily add to boot times.

That said, "excessive" boot times are usually caused by bad drivers, or lots of extra stuff (often malware) loading at boot.

Since you reinstalled, did you download and install all the current drivers from Dell's website?

Have you scanned for malware?

The below are all enhanced Task Manager type programs that will show you what is running on your computer. Each is nice in its own way. What's Running is probably the easiest, with AutoRuns for the more experienced, and Process Explorer the most popular. With these, for example, you can see what processes are using each of those various svchost.exe images.

AutoRuns for Windows
Process Explorer
What's Running

Thanks for the quick reply. You see, I rang up Dell themselves and they said that I had to reinstall my Laptop, which is weird in a way because I thought that they might try to help fix the problem first. I don't exactly know what you mean by bad drivers, I didn't go onto the Dell website, I simply reinstalled my driver by using the Dell Resource CD. I have scanned for Malware but nothing showed up on it. I will download one of the Task Manager programs and see what is running on my computer, thanks.

You see, I rang up Dell themselves and they said that I had to reinstall my Laptop, which is weird in a way because I thought that they might try to help fix the problem first.

Suggesting a format/reinstall at the beginning of the troubleshooting process is the classic indicator of a "wannabe" expert, or a lazy bum not willing to help you work through resolving the problem. You never learn anything from formatting, even if it ultimately fixes the problem. So if nothing is learned, how can you prevent the problem from recurring? You can't.

I don't exactly know what you mean by bad drivers, I didn't go onto the Dell website, I simply reinstalled my driver by using the Dell Resource CD.

Okay, that's is good. Often, folks just use the default generic drivers included in Windows. Still, there are usually newer drivers on the maker's website than those found on the CD that came with the PC.

You see, I rang up Dell themselves and they said that I had to reinstall my Laptop, which is weird in a way because I thought that they might try to help fix the problem first.

Suggesting a format/reinstall at the beginning of the troubleshooting process is the classic indicator of a "wannabe" expert, or a lazy bum not willing to help you work through resolving the problem.

I don't exactly know what you mean by bad drivers, I didn't go onto the Dell website, I simply reinstalled my driver by using the Dell Resource CD.

Okay, that's is good. Often, folks just use the default generic drivers included in Windows. Still, there are usually newer drivers on the maker's website than those found on the CD that came with the PC.

Haha! That's true.

So, do I have to go to the Dell website and download updates to the drivers? Or is there an easier way to do that?

Right now on my laptop I am doing a Disk Check, and in the disk check there is problems going on and it says "Windows replaced bad clusters in file" and then a number.
What exactly does this mean? Could this be the reason why the start-up is so slow?