PC getting really slow

[Lessen]

OK computer junkies. My PC is nowhere near as fast as it used to be and it's getting to the point where it's really annoying to wait for it to catch up. What are some things I can do to help get it going again?

 

[jon2]

Have you installed programs lately? When I install any program, I don't let it start up on auto when I turn the PC on. I also back up and swipe my pc every so often depending on how often I go on foreign sites.

 

[Webbage]

Windows PCs need a flatten and reinstall every couple of years. If it's relatively new and slowing down you need to check for Malware on your system and see what programs are running when it slows down.

You can do the latter by right clicking on the Task Bar and selecting 'Task Mananger'. In there go to the Processes tab. That'll break down all the stuff that's running and sort the task display by CPU and see if anything is binding up your CPU time. Don't worry too much if there is something in there that you don't recognise. If you are in Vista click 'Show Processes for all users (required admin rights) to show you everything.

Also if you are in Vista you can use the 'Resource Monitor', by clicking the button at the bottom of the Task Manager, this is a useful tool that will let you monitor if something is thrashing your CPU, or hard drive.

Is your hard drive running a lot? If so it is something you want to try and eliminate as constant disk access slows the computer down hugely.

Also what are your computer specs?

 

[jsears]

Lessen..Download and run CCLEANER. It's free and works very well to clean out the junk files, registry errors, etc. It takes a while to run through all your files (depending on how many files you have of course), but it's great. I run it on my PC about once a month. Here's the link. http://www.pctuneuptips.com/tv/clean/?aid=pctun_s_002&gclid=CJLV7vu0pJcCFQJNagodVBtK_Q

 

[Lessen]

Jon- no new stuff lately. What is swipe and how do you backup a pc?

You can do the latter by right clicking on the Task Bar and selecting 'Task Mananger'. In there go to the Processes tab. That'll break down all the stuff that's running and sort the task display by CPU and see if anything is binding up your CPU time. Don't worry too much if there is something in there that you don't recognise. Is your hard drive running a lot? If so it is something you want to try and eliminate as constant disk access slows the computer down hugely.

Also what are your computer specs?

My goodness that's a lot of stuff. I don't barely recognize any of it. Right now there are 55 processes. As far as the hard drive running alot. How ofton is alot? It certainly is slow when I do hear it though.

I'm PC technically uninformed so I'll just give you all the numbers I see on the front of the tower...

Window XP
3.2 GHz Pentium 4
512 MB DDr SDRAM
200 GB DMA hard drive
... anything else?

 

[sweetdiesel]

Lessen..Download and run CCLEANER. It's free and works very well to clean out the junk files, registry errors, etc. It takes a while to run through all your files (depending on how many files you have of course), but it's great. I run it on my PC about once a month. Here's the link. http://www.pctuneuptips.com/tv/clean/?aid=pctun_s_002&gclid=CJLV7vu0pJcCFQJNagodVBtK_Q

I used to run this same program and it definitely helped on our older computers.

 

[MrClean]

Jon- no new stuff lately. What is swipe and how do you backup a pc?



My goodness that's a lot of stuff. I don't barely recognize any of it. Right now there are 55 processes. As far as the hard drive running alot. How ofton is alot? It certainly is slow when I do hear it though.

I'm PC technically uninformed so I'll just give you all the numbers I see on the front of the tower...

Window XP
3.2 GHz Pentium 4
512 MB DDr SDRAM
200 GB DMA hard drive
... anything else?

I'm not a super computer nerd, but you should probably have more RAM than the 512 MB. Certainly a computer can run on 512, but that's not much memory for most systems. I believe I'm running 2GB of RAM and even that seems slow sometimes.

 

[Webbage]

My goodness that's a lot of stuff. I don't barely recognize any of it. Right now there are 55 processes.

Sort them by the 'CPU' column and see if anything is eating CPU time. There should be one called 'System Idle Processes' that sits at 99, and the rest should flit between 00 and 01 when the system is standing idle (i.e. no programs open).

As far as the hard drive running alot. How ofton is alot? It certainly is slow when I do hear it though.

Constantly, or in long bursts of continuous activity. Also, does it continue to hammer the hard drive once an application is fully open?

I'm PC technically uninformed so I'll just give you all the numbers I see on the front of the tower...

Window XP
3.2 GHz Pentium 4
512 MB DDr SDRAM
200 GB DMA hard drive
... anything else?

I think your major issues may be lack of RAM (easy upgrade) and your hard drive is probably fragmented to hell. The Windows 'registry' (where it stores information and configurations for the programs you install and Windows itself) is probably full of useless crap too.

While registry cleaners like CCLEANER improve on the levels of crap in the Registry, and defragmenting can help the hard drive (and takes forever) it won't cure it all. Ultimately PCs just get crufted up, and like most R/Cs, need stripping an d cleaning from time to time. The best solution is to backup everything, typically by burning it to CD or DVD, and then reformat the hard drive and start again using the install media you (should have) got with your PC. Make sure you back everything up that you want to keep and make sure your backup was successful by testing in another PC.

If you didn't get any install media with the PC then either you need to get some from the vendor or buy a copy of Windows. I'd recommend sticking with XP, even with 2GB of SDRAM that machine will probably have a sicky trying to run Vista. My P4 2.8 didn't like it a lot.

I like to treat a re-install like a life laundry. It's no different from turning out all your old spares bixes and/or R/C junk and pitching out stuff you don't want.

 

[beason]

lessen, do you have antivirus software installed?

here are a few programs i know work very well for spyware/adware. you still need antivirus along with these.

ad-aware se
spybot search and destroy
avg antispyware

they are all free and readily available on the web. just download, update, scan, and remove everything they find

you can also use hijackthis and paist the scan output here in this thread then we (or i) can tell you what to delete.

go through and delete all your old cookies and temp files.

start in whatever browser you use (ie or firefox normally) and delete the cookies and temp stuff then go to c:/documents and settings/username/local settings/

where it says username, that should be a folder with your name, or whatever you made the account say. there should be two folders in there, one called temp and the other temporary internet files. delete everything in there

then to c:/windows/temp and delete all that

make sure the scans come back clean (as well as no viruses) then defrag

open "my computer" and right click on the c: drive. click properties and go to the tools tab. you should see defrag as an option. let that run without messing with the pc or having anything open.

these together should help, more ram would help alot to.

lmk if your still having issues.

 

[jsears]

I forgot to mention that I use "AVG free edition" too. I got rid of Norton's and McAfee's. Those high dollar programs don't do anything AVG won't do. I also have "Spybot S&D". There is one more that I have. It's called "SUPERAntispyware". It's not free, but I snagged it off of Limewire. Sometimes getting a program from Limewire is dangerous to say the least. But I got lucky with it and it's OK. This is a very good antispyware program as well. But like the others have said, the RAM that you have is probably not quite enough. RAM is fairly cheap now. You probably ought to upgrade that a little. Good luck.

 

[digger]

I'm not very computer savy. Just get by at times.

I have a program called "winpatrol," was a free download. Real easy to shut down programs that you aren't using. Some of them will load and ya may never use them. But they are still running.

It also will tell you if a program wants to change one of your settings.
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html

 

[ajames942]

I have dial-up lol, so i dont have to worry about viruses haha.

 

[jon2]

For free antivirus's I use Avast Home edition.

 

[HeartBreak]

Also, give the program "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" a shot (google "mbam"). It cleaned up some gunk that AVG, Spybot and Adaware missed (including some crud in the restore points).

If I ever have the chance to meet a person who created a trojan, I'd gladly (on behalf of computer users everywhere) input my fist into his nose.

 

[bubba 26]

I would go to system tools . Do a disk defragment and definitely delete all the cookies you pick up over last year. for starters.

 

[Grovir]

Windows PCs need a flatten and reinstall every couple of years.

Most indubitably.

If your PC is a few years old a reinstall will do wonders for it. Quicker boot/shut down times, programs load/run faster, more space on your hard drive...etc. I myself do it at least once every couple of years. It's not that difficult a task though it can be a time consuming one. You should know that your hard drive will be wiped clean so you will lose everything you have on your hard drive, such as pictures, music files, installed programs, etc. You'll have to find a way to move those things you want to save off of it.

 

[Lessen]

Wow. A lot of info here. I'll definatelylook into all of this. Thanks everybody!

 

[beason]

I have dial-up lol, so i dont have to worry about viruses haha.

your serious??

if you get online at all, chances are you have something. maybe not a virus, but something. malware, adware, spyware, something.

 

[psunitro]

I had plenty of crap when I had dial-up, so you need to be careful!

This has been VERY helpful to me as well, as I am COMPLETELY computer stupid.

 

[Amoeba]

I deal with malware, viruses, and botnets on a daily basis for work. I also employ exploit researchers whose job is to look for and write exploit payloads for holes in applications, protocols, etc. I collect "in the wild" viruses as a hobby to analyze the code.

If you have any questions about viruses or malware, please let me know. Earlier recommendations of AVG, Spybot S&D, and CCleaner were spot on. They are some of the best free utilities you can get at this time for home users... though I would suggest AVAST! rather than AVG currently. If you can, install them on a CD-R and run them from there in Safe Mode on Windows. Most malware & viruses are written to bypass anti-virus apps or are AV-aware. Running them from a non-writable source like a CD will prevent an infected machine from disabling or avoiding your detection & cleaning engines.