Laptop running slower than usual (May be Memory related)

Since Tuesday, I've been having a problem with my Samsung NP-R540-JA05 laptop (UK version) in that it's running a lot slower than usual and I keep having to reboot it all the time.

My laptop's memory is 4GB and I've never had any problems for the most part when multi-tasking.

Symptoms include multi-tasking being slower than usual, not being to able to click on links when using Chrome or close software using the X button amongst other things.

I confess I usually leave my laptop on for weeks on end to download files via uTorrent overnight.

I'm not too sure if it's anything to do with the swap memory (is that what it's called) or the cache memory or whatever it is that's responsible for multitasking in Windows 7.

Any answers would be gratefully appreciated.

How do I run a chkdisk?

The only options I can see are "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". under Check Disc Local Disc (C:)

I've done the second option and it says there are no problems, but I'll need to reboot to use the first option because I can't do it while the hard drive is in use.

EDIT: Is there another way to fix file system errors as I keep getting the same message that I can't fix any file system errors while the hard drive is in use and I've tried to shut down as many programs as I could...
Edited by RuneJayce - 9/9/11 at 12:18am

I don't know if this is related but when I try to close the various processes so that I can fix any file system errors, most of the times I can't close any programs or processes in Task Manager at all (That is, when I can get Task Manger running through CTRL-ALT-DELETE as it won't start up most of the time).

TBH, I still don't know what caused this problem and why it happened and why sometimes things run normally and why other times it has problem with multitasking as well as clicking on links amongst other things.

(In case you're wondering, I'm sending this through my Samsung Netbook instead of through the laptop which has the problem for obvious reasons)

On another note, if I manage to fix this problem, would it be advisable to make a recovery disc for the laptop just in case I need to repair Windows 7 (I take it I can repair it without needing to do a complete reinstall).

I've done the chkdsk (I had to close down a lot of processes so that I could reboot the computer and I also thought I needed to schedule the chkdsk for a particular time!)

I'm doing the defrag right now using Defraggler although it'll probably take a couple more hours to do so.

Do I need to reboot after doing the defrag?

As for backing up, fortunately I can make a backup to one of the two external hard drives that I have and because I didn't get a recovery disk itself with the laptop, I think there's a file on the hard drive that lets me make a backup disk.
.

I just checked my laptop and it seems there's no option to create a recovery disc or a recovery partition at all!

I got the laptop free from the student finance people last year because of my disability (I'm epileptic, so I get assistance with equiplment at university) and I'll have to get in touch with the people that provided me with it in the first place to find out why I didn't get a recovery disc or a recovery partition....

Looks like your advice definitely worked as it's running without any problems! Thanks very much for the assistance as it's truly appreciated!

Since I made my last post, things have been going crazy in that I kept getting disconnected every few minutes (and it's just happened again although it's just come back!) and the programs kept freezing again, scroll bar not working properly, etc. Then I remembered that things went downhill with the laptop when I started playing "The Sims Social" on Facebook for quite a while and I think I remembered somewhere that supposedly there were problems with Windows 7 and the game so I've since stopped playing the game and am going to check the official forum to see if anybody has had any similar problems. In the meantime, I hope my stupid WiFi stops disconnecting itself long enough so I can download the last episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day today as it won't be shown in the UK until Thursday!

EDIT: The WiFi problem has been fixed although I had to use my netbook to fix it.

As for the freezing issues, I just found something that I'm going to try when I get home.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/windows-7-cannot-close-some-programs-and-freezes/25c2f45c-c068-419f-ac09-af7e19acfb87?tab=AllReplies#tabs

Hopefully this may fix things sort of backing up and sending the laptop for repair.
Edited by RuneJayce - 9/10/11 at 2:15am

I can give that a go or send it back after doing a full back up and see if they can replace the hard drive. I don't even know why this started to happen in the first place seeing as I've only had the laptop since December last year...

EDIT: When I start up the computer, a piece of software called Soluto (www.soluto.com) starts up which is supposed to improve the boot-up time. For the most part, I've never had any problems but in the past few days, it's loaded up and I'm definitely not too sure if it's causing the problem.

With the backup situation, I'm going to put the hard drive from the laptop in an external drive case then copy the data from the laptop hard drive to my 2TB hard drive which already has a backup of the hard drive from a few months back via my netbook.

I take it that obviously I'll need to reinstall all the software and get the license key for MS Office from the company that I got the software from. (I got MS Office for free when I got the laptop)

In the meantime, I just want to say "Thank You" for being patient with me over the years with my questions and even though a lot of people probably don't give you thanks for helping you, I just wanted to say that I at least appreciate your assistance as well as all the good work that you do for the site.
Edited by RuneJayce - 9/10/11 at 8:03am