Techie advice needed

[Jonathan Jarvis]

I use a HP netbook with windows 7 starter for most of my IT work. I chose it for portability. For most of the time it suits my needs.(I have other PC's and laptops) Now and again I need a bigger screen and connect a separate monitor to the netbook.

Unfortunately connecting the monitor causes the whole machine slows down.

Has any one any idea other than switch to using a laptop to increase the speed. I have done all the usual things swapping monitors, CCleaner defrag etc.

 

[SilentMatthew]

You try reducing the resolution that is used when the netbook is plugged in. If the netbook is outputting 1920 x 1080 resolution on a screen it might not have enough graphics power, try lowering the resolution to 1280 x 720 or 800 x 600. This will make it look slightly pixelated but should increase working speed of the netbook, another solution might be to plug it into the power (i presume that it isn't due to use for portability).

Good luck

 

[Jonathan Jarvis]

You try reducing the resolution that is used when the netbook is plugged in. If the netbook is outputting 1920 x 1080 resolution on a screen it might not have enough graphics power, try lowering the resolution to 1280 x 720 or 800 x 600. This will make it look slightly pixelated but should increase working speed of the netbook, another solution might be to plug it into the power (i presume that it isn't due to use for portability).

Good luck

Many Thanks I'll let you know - JJ

 

[Jonathan Jarvis]

Many Thanks Matthew. It did the trick. - JJ

 

[SilentMatthew]

No worries glad it helped

 

[paul1149]

A few more thoughts:

You can reduce the color density, and probably not see a difference. (The graphics firmware might support saving profiles for quick switching.)

Maxing out the RAM should help, as the video memory is shared.

And to speed up other parts of the system, you should avail yourself of the Tools/Startup tab of CCleaner, in conjunction with Task Manager, to get rid of bloat. And you can switch to a SSD.

On my HDDs I use Auslogic's disk defrag, which allows you to move system files to the faster front of the drive.