t40 is sluggish

[jctl27]

I just received my new IBM T40 this week, and while I'm generally happy with it, it's been a lot more sluggish than I'd hoped. It's much better than my previous 5-year-old laptop, obviously, but it's often rather slow in executing commands, and it runs a little hot. Also, the pointer sometimes freezes for up to 15 seconds. None of this is bad enough to call for repair, and I have been putting the computer through a lot installing various programs and the like, but I'm a little concerned, especially after reading the thread today from a new owner who doesn't seem to be having these problems. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've been trying various XP tips to speed things up, but I was hoping for some T40 specific advice.

 

[kayatai]

Have you tried turning off the windows indexing service?

 

[mocca]

What model (or spec) of you T40? If you have 5400rpm HDD, the right palmrest do get a little bit warm (but not hot at all). You will probably get the best performance/battery from the standard "laptop/Portable" power management profile. If you feel your T40 run a little bit sluggish, I suggest you reinstall the OS (since you just got it, reinstalling OS will take not long time and will remove any doubt or suspicious caused by Windows itself). Then, proceed to update all the drivers and Windows update.

Mocca

 

[jctl27]

I've got at 237372U, and I have disabled the indexing service.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[babisjhu]

Are you running it at maximum speed?

Right-Click on my computer -> Properties -> check @ what speed the processor is running
I have the exact same model like you.

1. If it's not running @1.5ghz, then just left-click the battery icon on the toolbar and select the high system performance setting.
2. Right Click on "My computer" ->Properties ->Advanced Tab ->Performance Settings -> Adjust for best performance.
3. Defrag
4. etc.

 

[Tikerz]

Set the power setting to "Always On"

 

[OldSpooky]

My T40 was sluggish as well, but I traced the problem to a Windows XP Patch. I forget the exact patch #, but uninstalling the patch fixed all my speed problems.

 

[mocca]

Yes, I remember that patch as well. It is Q811493. Open the Control panel and check the list of the patch under the "Add and Remove Programs". If you see Q811493, you can either uninstall it or download a new hotfix (I forgot the number of this new one). The new hotfix was release about 1-2 months ago and should solve the slow down problem.

Mocca

 

[jctl27]

thanks for all of your help, everyone. I downloaded updates from Microsoft and BIOS and drivers from IBM, then defragged. Now, my computer is very zippy -- as good as I could hope.

Thanks again.