I have Morrowind installed on my laptop:

Processor: AMD Turion 64 X2 T-L 60 (2.00ghz)
Graphics: GeForce 7150m (yeah I know, integrated chipset = svck)
4gb RAM
Running Vista 64

With very few mods installed (and none of them graphics or script-heavy), the .ini file tweaked with an eye for performance on low-end machines, compatibility tweaks, running at 800x600 resolution, pixel shading off, shadows turned completely off, NPC AI at minimum, and using FPS Optimizer, the game is still incredibly slow. Standing in the Telvanni council hall, FPS opt fogs the entire room to keep me at 15 fps. I even sometimes get fog in tiny rooms.

It's incredibly frustrating. I just want to play the game and see more than 10 feet in front of me. Is there anything else I can do to improve performance?

My laptop has worse specs than yours, and I run with all standard graphics settings maxed (1024x768, Shadows on, pixel shader on., view dist to max) And I consistently get 20-30 fps, no matter how crazy it gets. The problem, mos def, is not your rig.

You might have hosed something in the .ini file (and you never had to tweak it for performance in the first place).
OR it might be Vista 64. Older games frequently are uber-inefficient on new 64 bit OS's

But honestly? my 1st guess is that you hosed the .ini, try restoring your backup .ini (you did back it up first, right?)

So it turns out I'm a moron. Apparently I haven't cleaned my laptop in a while; 5 minutes with can of compressed air and all is well with the world. Thanks for the help though!