There is a section here for OS 9 -- look for a section for discussions of "Classic" software.
If you'd like us to help you, please help us -- be detailed about what kind of laptop it is, how it's configured (RAM, hard drive size, etc.), what specific versions of software you're using, and the troubleshooting steps you've already tried. The more detailed information you can give us, the better an assessment of the problem we can make.