My laptop has 4GB also and it runs NV just fine. Try disabling any services or process you don't need (check http://www.blackviper.com/ site if you need help on that). There are also some mods you can use to improve your performance. I'll link some in a sec.
1. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35262/? - Lets you use 4GB RAM but if you only have 4 it can't use all of it... Try setting your game to high priority as well.
2. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/51670/? - Lowers the memory usage of the game.
3. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45116/? or http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45475/? - Both of these disable random clutter in the world that is hardly noticeable but can impact performance. Use only one.
4. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/46302/? - INI files with optimized settings for specific VRAM sizes.
5. http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40442/? - This program shows different settings you can edit in your INI with a GUI. Try the above first and then edit settings with this if you can.
In all the above, read the full description and read mes before you try them out.