If your laptop is running slow and applications are taking a long time to load here are some tips that may help you solve your problem. Laptop computers are not much different than desktop PCs. They both require maintenance to keep them preforming the way they should. First of all of if this is a recent problem that started after you?ve installed or uninstalled a program. Use your restore feature and go back to a previous state when you know your computer ran good. You will also want to update your antivirus software and run a full scan, the same with your spyware software. Be sure to update the definitions on each program before you run your scans. You want to make sure your computer is free from any viruses or spyware as these will really slow your laptop down. Unless you have a hardware problem like not enough memory or your hard drive is going bad.The biggest reason for laptops running slow is because of a corrupt registry. Especially if you are running Windows Vista. You may have found a lot of incompatible programs or software, and had to uninstall them. They leave behind invalid registry keys and orphaned entries. You need to clean these out. Your Windows registry is like a large database, all your software has to reference it when it loads to check for the correct settings. The same as when your computer starts up or shuts down. Your registry is a heart of your system. Any corrupt or damaged, registry entries will really slow down your operations. Cleaning and maintaining your Windows registry is very important. It?s sort of like giving your computer a tuneup. Windows does not have a tool built in for you to do this with. So you?ll need to download a third-party software program for registry repair and cleaning. You can edit and repair your registry manually, but it?s not recommended. Even experienced computer technicians have a hard time doing this. They all use software. Besides a few delete or alter the wrong file your computer may become unusable. Software that is made for registry repair is much safer and efficient. With a click of your mouse you can scan your entire computer in a couple of minutes. You can also make a backup and restore point before you make any changes just to be safe. Depending on how much you use your laptop. You should preform weekly registry maintenance, of course, this applies to any other computer you own to. If you follow the tips above your laptop should not be running slow anymore. The only other thing I can think of is if you upgraded your operating system to a newer version of Windows like Vista you may not have enough memory now. Memory upgrades have really come down in price lately, and are fairly easy to replace in a laptop.