Why is my laptop running so slow?

[MummyDoIt]

Having real trouble with it. It takes forever to load Windows. Even when it gets going, it keeps hanging and I keep having to reboot. The only thing I've changed recently is to add the Windows Live Family Security control (for internet parental controls). I'd remove that but I can't figure out how! Any suggestions anyone?

Have you done a refrag? That could help to speed it up.

Also, do you have proper virus protection? Is there any chance you could have got infected?

Bring up Task Manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL) and select Task Manager (instructions here technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc958260.aspx).

Move to the Performance Tab and watch the CPU usage figure for a few moments, what is it ticking along at?

What is the "Mem Usage" figure at the bottom (it'll be something like X / Y, please give both numbers)?

Move to the Processes Tab. Click the CPU column so that it sorts the results with the highest CPU value at the top (I think it'll take two clicks). What are the top few image names and the sort of CPU figure that you see for them.

I'll second the virus question.

I'll also recommend that you download and install something like the free version of MalwareBytes from here: www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

On a Windows Machine you need to make sure that both your anti-virus and anti-malware are always kept up to date.

When it "hangs" does the mouse still move? Does the laptop make more sound than usual, eg. like fans spinning like mad?

Have done all the usual maintenance tasks like refrag. Have run a full virus scan and my McAfee is up-to-date - it's saying no viruses.

If it hangs while loading, the screen is black but I can see the cursor/arrow and it will still move. There is no noise, ie can't hear the fan or anything else. If it hangs after loading, I just get the little round circle thingy that replaces the cursor to indicate it's thinking but it will stay like that for ages and I often have to reboot.

Bringing up Task Manager doesn't really help as the mem usage figures are low (less than 10%).

I tried disabling pretty much everything that loaded on startup and that didn't make any discernible difference. I then discovered a new program called Microsoft Silverlight which must have been installed as part of the last batch of Windows Updates (it tallies with the date of the last update). I removed that and it certainly seems to have made a difference to the performance once everything is up and running, though it's still slower than usual to start up. At least it's usable now, I just have to start it ten minutes before I need to use it. I think it probably needs to go to the laptop hospital, though.

Have you run a malware scan with MalwareBytes? There's a lot more to Windows Security than just viruses...

The mem usage figure might be OK but that doesn't mean that your compuer isn't busy ticking away doing something... What is the CPU usage running at when you don't do anything? When you watch the Processes tab with the list sorted with the highest CPU at the top what Image names do you see in the top 5 and what is their CPU usage?