computer going REAAALY slow - what to do?

CarreraS2 · 01:59 PM

It's grinding to a halt - takes an hour to boot up.

RoninLB · 10-16-2005, 02:55 PM

First thing is I'm a jerk when it comes to this.

Second is that I read that if a file is operating that it can't usually be removed. So a good routine is to go into "Safe Mode" to get the buggers out.

87coupe · 87coupe's Garage

Need more info:

System specs: Pentium? Memory? etc
What operating system?
How much free disk space?
How many apps being loaded on boot? (If windows, do you have a lot of icons in the systray on the bottom right of the start bar?)

Give us something to work with

Aurel · Aurel's Garage

1- Use disk cleanup to remove temporary files
2- Defragment your hard drive
3- Make sure you now have enough space on the hard drive. Otherwise, free enough space to increase the virtual memory.
4- Do you have enough ram? add if necessary.
5- If none of this works, do a crtl-alt-del and look at the processes running. There may be some virus or spyware using most of the processor power.
6- If you indentify such a power consumming process, try to stop it. If you cannot stop it, or if it restarts right away, it could be a virus. Do a search on google to find a program to clean it.

Aurel

StevoRocket · StevoRocket's Garage

A word of advice - save your temper and stress - find a small friendly computer shop nearby - show them these replies -ask them to do it - will cost next to nothing compared to what it will cost in your time and stress!
I have been working on computers since 1967 and from your replies you need a computer shop - or a very knowledgable neighbour - is there anyone at work who is known as a geek?.
If you have the time it would be worth a night school course too.

Aurel · Aurel's Garage

It looks like you have 256 mb of ram. That is not much. You could add a 512 Mb stick. But for now, you should right click on C, go to properties, and click disk cleanup. After the cleanup, do the same thing, but click tools and defragment. That should help....

Aurel

johnco · 10-16-2005, 04:41 PM

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
removes spyware, viruses, trojans, etc.

slodave · slodave's Garage

Hi,

I'm in partly cloudy So.Cal... I happen to small friendly "computer shop", would be glas to help. You can also try this link. You must use Internet Explorer.

http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ActiveScan.htm

I use it alot when I am in the field and can't hook the trouble machine up to another to scan. Pasnda Soft is pretty good at catching virii and spyware the rest miss... Post any questions...

Dave

masraum · 05:36 PM

TMproxy and TMOagent means that you are running Trend Micro which is a good thing. That's currently the best of the virus progs out. PCCguide and PCCclient is PC-cillin antivirus software. You only need 1, I'd probably ditch that one and keep the Trend Micro. 256 isn't much, but should be enough. Pentium 4 should be darn speedy. You have a few things running that you don't need, but that shouldn't be causing a problem like qttask (memory resident Quicktime), realsched, WZQKPICK (winzip in the taskbar). I'd kill those, but they shouldn't be causing a problem. Most of the rest is either part of windows, a device driver/app, or virus stuff.

To see how much free space you have, go to "My Computer" and click "view" --> "detailed". You should then see a list of your drives (among other things) listing how much used and free space they have. You probably want a minimum of 1Gig of free space with only 256Mb RAM.

When did your computer start running slow? Did it change suddenly after you installed something, suddenly for no apparent reason, or did it gradually get slower and slower.

When you look at the list of processes running do you see any that are using a lot of processor usage (next to how much memory they are using)?

Good luck.

Mulhollanddose · 10-16-2005, 05:31 PM

did you try defrag'ing?

masraum · 10-16-2005, 05:35 PM

You may want to give Dave (above) a shot. I'd tend to trust most people that are on this board. But I'd be warry of small or large computer places. I'm sure there are plenty that are more than competent and honest, but there are probably just as many crooked or incompetent computer repair places out there as there are crooked car repair places. places like Compusa are paying kids $7. I've known a few people that had work done by small independents that I've later had to clean up. I'm no expert, but I have built a couple of computers from scratch that ran very well and I'm competent with software.

MBAtarga · 10-16-2005, 05:42 PM

Gone into the BIOS setup menus lately? Accidently changing settings there can definitely cause the exact type problem you're having.

slodave · slodave's Garage

Hi,

I do this type of work everyday in my day job, just also, happen to moon-light in the hopes of leaving my day job and doing this sort of stuff full time on my own. Almost there...... Been in the industry for a long time.

I can pass on some refs. if you'd like...

Dave

Joeaksa · 10-16-2005, 07:44 PM

Hey... if this computer is 3.5 years old you need to do one thing to help it out.

Format the hard drive and start over. What is the OS on it now? W98SE I bet? Pls do not say Windows Millinum (or however they spell it) ...

I format my drive ever year to clean out all the crap that is loaded and then not deleted. Try W2000 or XP as an OS. If you are not that comfortable doing it take it to a computer shop and have them do it. Will make a world of difference.

Until you do something like format the HD, defrag at least every couple of weeks. As well do a complete virus check (with updated info) every week at the minimum. I do it every night while asleep.

JoeA

slodave · slodave's Garage

Hi SoCal911SC,

Good to hear Pandasoft could help you out. Make sure to run Windows update as well.

Dave

masraum · 10-16-2005, 11:06 PM

Dave, I definitely wasn't trying to cast doubt on you. Like I said, I'd tend to trust people on the board. It's the other random people that you run into everyday. I was directing my post to StevoRocket's post earier, not yours.

RickM · RickM's Garage

I agree with updating the OS. Back-up the stuff you want to save up and install XP. Also, with the prices of memory I'd abolutely get a Gig of memory in there. You either have one 256MB or two 128MB Sticks in there. For less than $100 (Non-ECC) you can get Gig and enjoy the performance jump.

If you have the Dell Model number we can help you out with selecting the proper memory.

Joeaksa · 10-17-2005, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by RickM
Also, with the prices of memory I'd abolutely get a Gig of memory in there. You either have one 256MB or two 128MB Sticks in there. For less than $100 (Non-ECC) you can get Gig and enjoy the performance jump.

If you have the Dell Model number we can help you out with selecting the proper memory.

Agree about memory but lots of the older laptops do not take a lot of memory. One of my older units will accept only 256.

If you want it to go faster, update the OS, max out the memory and get a 5400 min hard drive. A 7200 rpm drive will help more but they still cost a bit...

JoeA

slodave · slodave's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by masraum
Dave, I definitely wasn't trying to cast doubt on you. Like I said, I'd tend to trust people on the board. It's the other random people that you run into everyday. I was directing my post to StevoRocket's post earier, not yours.

Hi masraum,

I'm not offended or hurt. Was a quick attempt to try and self promote

and that this is what I do this on a professional level, not like the rest of the "computer guys".

Take care!

Dave

dad911 · 10-18-2005, 05:16 PM

Is there any chance the harddrive is full? That will cause it to run slow and crash. For a 3.5 year old laptop, I wouldn't spend money upgrading, you can probably buy new for less. If you have no files to lose, and the original system disks, format the hard drve and re-install system from scratch.

Or you could use it to 'play' with linux.