Windows vista freezes after startup

[Theloniousmonk]

Hi i own a very old compaq laptop, it has windows vista. Recently it has been freezing up after startup. I would like to reformat it but i dont have the cd..can u plz help me out..also other suggestions to fix the issue are welcome
Waiting eagerly for a reply
Peace.

 

[Saga Lout]

The system might have become cluttered with all the temporary and other unnecessary files and it might also benefit from a RAM upgrade. You can download a couple of free utilities to clear out different kinds of clutter - one is CCleaner from http://www.piriform.com and the other is ATF Cleaner from http://www.atribune.org. When you run ATF Cleaner, riht click it and select RunAs Administrator or it will overlook some files. Look at your hard disk free space before and after those operations to see how much you gained.

You'll also find a load of files you no longer need in the c:\windows\software distribution\download folder - empty that and you might gain a couple of GBs. The biggest area of junk in a Vista system is the c:\windows\sxs folder. I usually select the oldest folders and bin them but set a System restore point first just in case.

You can run an safe online scan to tell you what RAM you have, what it can be upgraded to and how much they'd charge to sell you the new memory at http://www.crucial.com.

If all else fails, the machine would be considerably leaner and faster running a Linux system if you aren't too dependent on other Windows based software.