Then something isn’t right, probably unnecessary or bloated extra programs like Norton are bogging it down. In a heads up Vista when compared to the exact same configuration on my old PC, boots about 20 seconds faster, opens programs much much faster, almost instantly other things are great like the HD Movie Maker, built in partitioning, superfetch, readyboost, I can go on and on. Interface is inherantly easier to use once you figure out the old clumpy start menu is gone and all you need to do is type the program in the instant search.
Does your daughter have aero glass turned on? Because of the power profile of an laptop aeroglass should be disabled when not plugged into a wall as it draws more power from your video card. Disabling is real easy, just right click choose personalize>windows color and appearance>open classic properties>>choose anything other than aero.
The first thing I did was strip out Norton. That thing is a HUGE resource hog (I had to strip it off my home system and laptop, too). I installed Avast instead — much nicer program.
Aero Glass is turned off, too.
The thing still runs slow. I guess I need to snurch it from her and see what other nonsense needs to be removed.