Tools to find bottlenecks in hardware configuration

Solution 1:

If you're running Vista the built in Reliability and Performance Monitoring Tool would give you good feedback on bottlenecks. See Jeffs post on this tool.

Solution 2:

You'd be better off getting a new notebook in some cases .. Memory and Hard Drive are usually the 2 easily replaceable components in a notebook. If you're thinking of replacing the processor or the mainboard, it'd be better to ebay your notebook and pour that cash towards a new notebook. Newer notebooks with good configs are available in the region of 500-600$ nowadays ...

As far as the software goes, you can run a diagnostics check up using the bios or use something like SiSoft Sandra ..