WikiWirral Online with you since 2003, fantastic.
Forum Statistics
Forums65
Topics76,352
Posts1,033,280
Members14,560
Most Online16,551
Feb 2nd, 2024
Who's Online Now
12 members (ArranGirl13, 3 invisible), 7,862 guests, and 573 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters
sunnyside 45,164
MattLFC 22,315
Mark 21,269
granny 17,788
_Ste_ 16,345
Newest Members
Kalena1962, rattus, Lisrush, Emotecreative, ArranGirl13
14,560 Registered Users
New General Forums
New Wirral History
Tall Brick Chimneys
by diggingdeeper - 16th Mar 2024 11:56am
D.I.Y. / Building Shop
by mharford91 - 3rd Mar 2024 8:53pm
1970's Murder in Central Park, Wallasey
by cutespam - 4th Aug 2018 10:28am
Old Hall in Higher Bebington
by Rhoobarb - 25th May 2010 5:55pm
Oleo Works
by Ducko - 14th May 2008 3:09pm
Top Posters(30 Days)
granny 14
casper 13
bri445 4
Topic Replies
Facial recognition coming in supermarkets?
by diggingdeeper - 27th Mar 2024 3:50pm
Bolts at Bebington Road
by diggingdeeper - 27th Mar 2024 2:33am
Hot Spot Chippie Broadway
by Excoriator - 26th Mar 2024 7:57pm
Tall Brick Chimneys
by diggingdeeper - 26th Mar 2024 5:43pm
Lost river (Well, brook really)
by diggingdeeper - 26th Mar 2024 3:09am
Old Hall in Higher Bebington
by diggingdeeper - 24th Mar 2024 5:58pm
Netflix 3 Body Problem.
by BultacoAstro - 22nd Mar 2024 8:04am
Wisper electric bike. 36v .
by Dilly - 21st Mar 2024 7:36pm
This is Elvis
by GingerTom - 21st Mar 2024 9:27am
March
M T W T F S S
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Top Likes Received (30 Days)
cools 1
Kylix 1
Top Likes Received
bert1 14
Mark 4
Gibbo 3
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#342570 14th Aug 2009 10:42pm
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
Hi,
i have an Acer Travelmate 260 laptop which i bought off ebay, it's a good laptop and works ok, but over the last week or so when i switch it on the screen flickers on and off, when it's been on for a while it's ok, i am using it now and it's fine!
i downloaded a programme from the net to check the drivers and found about 8 are out of date and need updating, does anyone know were i can get the updates from? or if i can get a disc with them on?
also it runs slow at times,could this be the out of date drivers?

thanks for any help.

Google Ads
chris7777 #342574 14th Aug 2009 10:52pm
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 218
Addict
Offline
Addict
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 218
Just a quick note - you could try these websites:

Acer Europe

Acer UK

But be sure they are the drvers you need before installing.

topofthepops #342580 15th Aug 2009 12:02am
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
I can not find the 260 model so assuming it is the Acer Travelmate 2600 (?) this is a direct link to the driver downloads available for that machine:

http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/downloads_gd.html

I would recommend that anyone backs up their drivers with Driver Genius Pro. The program and the driver backup should then be stored on a disc, or a seperate drive if you run multiple slaves, for those lovely little hard drive wipeouts that occasionally must be performed or on the occasion your drive just decided to die. You can get a free trial or if you are familiar with using torrents (or have a pirate firend) it is listed on isohunt.com as well seeded.

As for running slow, does it have a lot of programs installed in addition to the usual windows default stuff ? Since you got it off ebay and I dont know if you bought it new or second hand then I am guessing it may have.

Open up your task manager and click on the processes tab to see what is taking the most cpu. Sometimes its no more than a simple case of your browser being left open too long and hogging memory. Firefox is a bitch for that, for instance. If it is the browser simply close it and reopen it. If it is another process running away with the cpu - and you are familair with what it is and know it can be shut down without affecting the running of the machine - then do so. You can google any process name you aren't familair with to find out what it is and does before shutting it down.

Its also possible that there isnt enough installed memory to run windows. It is generally accepted that xp needs at least 512mb to run windows alone and that it easily overtaxed by running too many applications at once. Hence newer machines now come with up to 3 gig of memory and people with older machines would be advised to have a memory upgrade done as new machines were only sold with half a gig (512mb).

Finally, its possible the machine is virused or has a trojan if it is second hand. Check your antivirus is up to date and make sure regular scans are done.

Sorry for long post but hope it helps. smile

Last edited by Jubbly; 15th Aug 2009 12:13am.
Jubbly #342585 15th Aug 2009 3:39am
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 14,343
Likes: 19
Wiki Master
Offline
Wiki Master
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 14,343
Likes: 19
Seen a few of these have problems on their original hard-drives causing go-slows.

If you replace the hard drive, then you lose the recovery partition, which isn't the end of the world, as long as you have an installation cd of some sorts.

Windows update does the biz for some of the drivers on these. Used to have to be careful with some updates for the scratchpad, but I think these have been sorted now.


We don't do charity in Germany, we pay taxes. Charity is a failure of governments' responsibilities - Henning Wehn

https://ddue.uk
diggingdeeper #342596 15th Aug 2009 9:36am
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,151
Forum Addict
Offline
Forum Addict
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1,151
Hi mate, i had same problem with my acer, it turned out to be a loose cable between on the screen and motherboard

DJ_Karl_David #342625 15th Aug 2009 5:02pm
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
thanks for your replys, laptop has windows pro and it was second hand, i will read through all replys properly later, i'm not techno minded tho'!!

chris7777 #342651 15th Aug 2009 8:22pm
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
Originally Posted by chris7777
i'm not techno minded tho'!!


Ok then perhaps I should tell you how to open up the task manager in the first place. Press the Ctrl Alt and Del key one after the other and hold them down together and a box will pop open showing you what is running on the laptop. If you already knew how then sorry - not talking down to you honest ! If you didnt then you learned something new smile

Last edited by Jubbly; 15th Aug 2009 8:22pm.
Jubbly #342744 16th Aug 2009 6:01pm
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
Smartchild
OP Offline
Smartchild
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 485
have done that,but what's there is all double dutch to me,have'nt a clue what i can shut down! so have left it alone incase i shut the whole laptop down!!!!

chris7777 #342865 17th Aug 2009 2:46pm
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
Member
Offline
Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 86
As I said earlier google the name of the processes running to find out what you can and can not shut down safely. As a rough guide look to the "user name" tab next to the "image name" tab under Processes. Anything named as LOCAL SERVICE, NETWORK SERVICE or SYSTEM will be a windows process that should be left alone.

Pretty much anything named as "owner" or "your user account name" - with the exception of explorer.exe - is usually fair game as it is user installed and can be investigated further.

This all assuming the processor and memory are actually being overtaxed and that is causing the laptop to run slow. Again as a rough guide look to the bottom of the task manager at "CPU Usage: " If it is running between 0% and 20% you dont really have anything to worry about.



Moderated by  Mark 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Random Wirral Images

Click to View Topic.
Newest Topics
Facial recognition coming in supermarkets?
by Excoriator - 27th Mar 2024 10:52am
Hot Spot Chippie Broadway
by Excoriator - 26th Mar 2024 7:57pm
Bolts at Bebington Road
by Excoriator - 23rd Mar 2024 9:48am
Netflix 3 Body Problem.
by BultacoAstro - 22nd Mar 2024 8:04am
Tall Brick Chimneys
by diggingdeeper - 16th Mar 2024 11:56am
For Sale & Free
Wisper electric bike. 36v .
by Dilly - 21st Mar 2024 7:36pm
This is Elvis
by GingerTom - 17th Mar 2024 2:37pm
Member Spotlight
diggingdeeper
diggingdeeper
Wirral
Posts: 14,343
Joined: July 2008
Today's Birthdays
There are no members with birthdays on this day.
New Wirral Info
Facial recognition coming in supermarkets?
by Excoriator - 27th Mar 2024 10:52am
Hot Spot Chippie Broadway
by Excoriator - 26th Mar 2024 7:57pm
Bolts at Bebington Road
by Excoriator - 23rd Mar 2024 9:48am
Get your Money Tree ready
by keef666 - 22nd Mar 2023 12:27pm
Restaurant/pub with outdoor seating - Bromborough
by CarterUSM - 7th Aug 2020 7:59pm
News : New Topics
Gaza
by diggingdeeper - 29th Oct 2023 9:28am
Lost river (Well, brook really)
by Excoriator - 10th Sep 2019 8:50am
New Enthusiast Forums
Netflix 3 Body Problem.
by BultacoAstro - 22nd Mar 2024 8:04am
Xbox
by TudorBlue - 3rd Mar 2024 8:48pm
Wiper mechanism needed
by Peter0787 - 20th Feb 2024 4:07pm
Popular Topics(Views)
5,067,823 WIKI WALK CHAT
4,013,759 Spotted!
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5