I have a Sony Vaio laptop, that I got from my dad when he upgraded.

Basically it had a hard life with my dad, and got bashed to bits.

The problems I am having with it is omg it is so slow!! The only things I require of it is MSN, skype, internet and the game Civ 3 (can't handle much else)

The hinge that supports the screen is a bit flacid, so it falls over a lot, lol

Also the keys are very lazy and the popular ones have to be hit really hard to work.

The insides are held together with masking tape as the screws have fallen out. I took it to an independant computer guy and he said he could not do anything to help. Took it to PC world and they said that there was nothing they could do.

Any suggestions?

Run windows defrag overnight - should help.

Go in "control panel" then "add/remove programs" and find anything you don't recognise (be careful!) and remove the obviously unwanted programs.

Just clear up C: space.

Put some more memory in it.

What's the model number , and how much memory does it have now?

How do I find that out?

model no. will be on the bottom. For memory, right click 'My Computer" and choose properties.

Okay, total space on the C-drive 15GB, 8.3 in use

The D-drive 12.9GB and 12.3GB in use.

Nah. Right-click the My Computer Icon on the desktop. Mind, at least the c drive isn't full.

You're looking for a pic like this:

Formating and a fresh install also usually speeds things up, bit of a pain to do but if there's nothing you really need on it and you have the install discs it isn't too bad. Would probably be quicker and easier than trying to clean up the current install.

256MB of Ram??

You could try the Crucial memory checker to see what your system can handle: Memory upgrades, graphics cards, flash media, and usb storage at Crucial.com and just let the site scan your system. I used it on my laptop a couple of years ago, ordered what the recommended and have had no problems. I also used it on a student system some months ago to work out why their memory upgrade hadn't worked (too much in a single slot!).

A few tips to check out for virus's, bad registry entries, etc.

Download and run the below from here: File Hippo - Download Free Software

CCleaner

Adaware SE

Spybot

Also as above posts run:

Disk Defragmenter (windows program)

Disk Clean up (windows program)

If you want to free up other stuff:

Go to start, run and type MSCONFIG then run.

This will launch a programe that lets you disable startup programs. Ive disabled 60% of the original Programs that were running on mine and has speeded up my computer aloooooooooooot.

Only make changes to the startup tab and disable things like Nero, realplayer, apple updater, etc. Windows requires a few of these to run properly, but if you google the filename in question it will tell you if windows needs it to run.

Also deleting files in the below folders helps thinghs run a bit better:

C:\WINDOWS\Cache

C:\Documents and Settings\*insert window log on name here*\Cookies

C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations

C:\Documents and Settings\*insert window log on name here*\Local Settings\Temp

C:\Temp

C:\WINDOWS\Temp

C:\Documents and Settings\*insert window log on name here*\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

:D

Pressing ctrl + shift + Esc will bring up the task manager and tell you what RAM is installed.

The absolute best way to improve performance is kill any unnecessary services and startup apps. MSconfig is good as above, though for an amateur it is simpler to go to start-->Programs-->Startup and remove anything there - that way you won't stop any drivers loading etc.

Next use:

Start-->Run-->Services.msc

Disable unnecessary services - check first that they are unnecessary first though!

After that, do a defrag as suggested, get something like regvac and run that too to tidy the system registry after uninstalling any unnecessary apps.

After all that Civ will be flying

vacuum the air vents and remove dust

it might be overheating and choking back the CPU freqency

256MB isn't a lot if you're running XP and a couple of applications. It'll go, but you could do with more. How old is the machine?

Most laptops have two memory slots. One "inside", under the keyboard, which will be populated from the factory, and one outisde, accessible from the bottom - it's usually a little door with a single screw securing it. Have a look in there. With luck you'll have 256MB in the inside slot, and nothing in the outside one and you can easily add some more. Another 256MB will make a big difference, but I'd go for a 512MB module - should be about £30 or so.

Edit. Meant to add, if you've actually got 2 x 128MB modules in there now then you can still upgrade but you'll need to chuck one or both of the 128s away.

What's the exact model - might have a spare sodimm here?

Sad to say Computers and software develop so fast that they're soon out of date ! In the long run it's hardly worth poncing about trying to get an improved performance out of an out of date machine.

Easiest thing to do is tell your daddy machine is buggered - perhaps he can upgrade again ? or even help you with buying a new one?. I'm a dad and I find it very hard to refuse my children even though they are grown up!.