I use my HP G70 for a ton of multi tasking, sometimes the machine gets slow. It has a core 2 duo 2GHz with 3GB memory and Windows Vista. I can't add more memory(vista is 32 bits) and the processor can't be improved significantly(I believe the motherboard won't accept anything much better than what I have) so I'm looking to improve performance other ways

Things I already did
-Removed services from starting automatically on Vista and startup programs that I don't use
-Updated the video card driver(Helped a ton)
-Changed the video settings to 16 bits(Helped a ton)
-Changed windows settings to improve performance(Mainly removing Aero type features)

I would like to know what else can I do

Honestly I'd recommend changing the hardware (not trolling). Upgrade to Win7 64-bit, get a solid state drive and 8GB of memory

You can also
-Defragment & set a fixed size pagefile afterward
-Disable drive indexing (search feature)
-Turn off all visual features (not just aero)

You may also benefit from just wiping and reinstalling Windows. I try to do this at least once a year. I see less performance degredation with Win7 (compared to XP/ME(lol)/98) but it is still there.

I want to upgrade to W7 or reinstall Vista but I have so many programs installed it will be hell, I use my computer to work. I would need a few days to get everything running again. I'm trying to avoid that. I might get the SSD though

Look, doing a OS reinstall, along with the subsequent programs and data reinstall, is mostly a game of sit and wait. Back up the data you have and give yourself a weekend to get it moving and upgrade. It is absolutely the best route to take so that you can do some marginal hardware upgrades with greater success (such as upgrading the RAM) and so that you can take better advantage of Win7's better reliability, along with the SSD upgrade and all. It wouldn't take so much time as to NOT be worth the trouble, as your machine would essentially fly after that.

It's usually a pain but it is worth it. If you get an SSD you will need to reinstall windows

Can't you just do HD cloning?

I don't suggest it for a few different reasons, but it can be done that way.

The short answer to your question is that you just do everything you can do to clean up the junk on your machine and run it as lean & mean as your uses will allow like you're doing. Beyond that there's no magic solution. A Core2Duo mobile chip paired with 3GB of DDR2 RAM and a 5400rpm drive is going to be what it is.

From the sound of it you might just be better off making do with what you have for a while, and buying something else down the line. Especially if you need it for work doing something beyond MS Word.

Should I get a boost to performance by buying a new 7200 HD along with installing Windows 7?I understand SSDs are better but they are REALLY expensive here in brazil(150% of the US price or more)

You will get a boost but imo its not worth the trouble. The SSD will be night and day difference but the 7200 rpm will just be a small bump.

A SSD would help with some tasks and you'd see some improvement, but if you're CPU or RAM bound in what you're doing, then you're still going to have slowdowns and lags on that end of it.

I mean you could buy Win 7, an SSD, and then bump up the RAM. By the time you do all that you're talking $250 or so. Even then you'll still have the same motherboard/CPU/power supply/screen with their years' worth of wear & tear. No doubt you'll see some improvement but enough to make you happy and justify the cost? It's hard to answer that. There are some pretty nice notebooks out there under $500. Maybe you could hold out for a nice one this coming Black Friday and replace it?

Usually when we're talking about 5-year-old hardware (especially wrt laptops) it's hard to justify upgrades that aren't simple and cheap. You just don't know when they'll stop working. I don't know what kind of work you do but I think I'd rather start saving for your next machine rather than trying to put a major facelift on this one.

If you can't buy a new machine you should try and figure out what is slowing you down. Use the resource monitor to look at your CPU / memory / HD usage.

I read until here and I have the answer: uninstall Vista and install Windows XP. Xp can be tweaked pretty well and if you do not run security software and other resource intensive resident software, your computer should be able to perform very nicely.

Vista sucks

If you guys know a site that you can buy 2.5 SSDs on the cheap with international shipping then I could use that. Items less than $50 are tax free in the import customs

I tried ebay but there is not a lot of options with worldwide shipping. Newegg doesn't ship internationally

You can't get an SSD for under $50 that is a worthwhile size/brand.

Gonso has said a good rate to pay in a SSD is less than $1 per GB. 32GB would be enough for me to install the OS and a important program or 2