mysterious laptop problem

Reba

Reba

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Here's the challenge:

I have an older HP Pavilion laptop that I'm prepping to give to someone who has no computer. It runs Windows XP.

When I tested the computer at my house, it ran fine. No lag at all. Wireless internet, great. Its only problem is it needs a new battery. However, as long as it's plugged in, it works fine.

So, I took it to my friend's house. Plugged it in, turned it on. Booted up, no problem. Logged on, no problem. Tried to open a browser or Word program or Control Panel--s l o w. Super slow, lots of "not responding" messages--just a hot mess.

An "expert" told me that either the laptop was dropped (didn't happen) or the hard drive needed replacing.

I brought it back to my house and tested it. Everything works fine again! I'm using it right now to make this post.

I want to take this back to the friend's house but I want to be sure it won't poop out on me again first.

What would cause this? Why does the laptop work at my house but not at the friend's house?
 
Reba said:
Here's the challenge:

I have an older HP Pavilion laptop that I'm prepping to give to someone who has no computer. It runs Windows XP.

When I tested the computer at my house, it ran fine. No lag at all. Wireless internet, great. Its only problem is it needs a new battery. However, as long as it's plugged in, it works fine.

So, I took it to my friend's house. Plugged it in, turned it on. Booted up, no problem. Logged on, no problem. Tried to open a browser or Word program or Control Panel--s l o w. Super slow, lots of "not responding" messages--just a hot mess.

An "expert" told me that either the laptop was dropped (didn't happen) or the hard drive needed replacing.

I brought it back to my house and tested it. Everything works fine again! I'm using it right now to make this post.

I want to take this back to the friend's house but I want to be sure it won't poop out on me again first.

What would cause this? Why does the laptop work at my house but not at the friend's house?
Click to expand...

It's possessed! :evil:
 
Bottesini said:
Your friend has slow internet.
Click to expand...
It was slow opening desk top items, not just the internet. It was slow opening Office Word, Control Panel, Programs, etc. It was slow without the internet.

Also, her internet is fast enough for VP service.
 
Check the laptop's CPU processor and memory modules. Or bloatware and crapware (pre-installed software other than Microsoft's). They could be the source of slowness.
 
Reba said:
It was slow opening desk top items, not just the internet. It was slow opening Office Word, Control Panel, Programs, etc. It was slow without the internet.

Also, her internet is fast enough for VP service.
Click to expand...

:hmm: It doesn't make sense it would be perfect at your home and slow at hers without some variable in the environment.
 
Kind happen to me before. I had to reformat it. If not solve a problem then replace a new hard drive to solve a problem. Yes, it's acts SUPER slow in someday, Sometime it acts normal.
 
Four things come to mind.

Did you open multiple applications prior to opening the browser? This could overload its RAM limits.

Bad boot up. Did you restart it a second time? This could corrupt some settings or registry files rendering them stuck until restarted.

Hard drive is fragmented, files are disorganized and unevenly distributed together. Use a defragmenting app to correct this.

Since you haven't used the laptop in awhile, it may have been downloading and installing updates.

Otherwise, any environmental factors such as bad battery voltage, laptop set on an incline, malfunctioning internal parts, etc is a sign it can be rendered useless.
 
I was thinking its possible not enough power feeding the laptop. If you're going back to your friend's house again, try plug laptop at different slot. Plug it to the wall not use power surge.
 
If your own wireless works great and yet your friend's wireless is slow I suspect it has to do with the different types of wireless connections. At your friend's house try using a WIRED connection, e.g. plug it into the router directly and see how it works.

If it's fast in a wired connection then that tells me the wireless router is not quite right.
 
I hope you remove any personal info before giving the laptop to your friend.
Your lap top is homesick.
 
I wonder when it was last defragged... I have brought more than a few old Windows machines that were running slow by letting Disk Defragmenter run.
 
The Highlander said:
Kind happen to me before. I had to reformat it. If not solve a problem then replace a new hard drive to solve a problem. Yes, it's acts SUPER slow in someday, Sometime it acts normal.
Click to expand...

your little fly just got swiped again...
computers are mystery and i never met two tecki that say samething...the thing crashes give all signs symptons of death then next put it on and life returns...:roll:
 
metalangel said:
I wonder when it was last defragged... I have brought more than a few old Windows machines that were running slow by letting Disk Defragmenter run.
Click to expand...
Recent Defrag--fine. It runs slow only at friend's house, not at my house.
 
Reba said:
Recent Defrag--fine. It runs slow only at friend's house, not at my house.
Click to expand...

To this far from expert (since you said earlier in the thread that you are using AC rather than battery) it sounds to me like maybe you are not getting a good connection at the outlet being used. How about plugging it in to a different outlet in the home where it wants to run slow?
 
Question, did you logged in same account as in home and your friend's house?
 
Jane B. said:
To this far from expert (since you said earlier in the thread that you are using AC rather than battery) it sounds to me like maybe you are not getting a good connection at the outlet being used. How about plugging it in to a different outlet in the home where it wants to run slow?
Click to expand...
That's what I'll do.
 
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