Hi,
i've been running my computer pretty much without problems. Recently I have
noticed a real slow down in performance. I currently have Spybot S&D, and
the purchased version of AVG installed. Thinking that perhaps one of these
programs may be causing some kind of problem, I disabled both of them, but
to no avail.
I run spyware searches and virus searches daily, which never really show up
any thing of concern. I delete cookies etc on a daily basis too. My
computer doesnt need defragged.
Could anyone give me any ideas as to what could be slowing it down so much.
I tried to access my company site to process some work stuff and it took
forever and a day to load what would normally be a couple of seconds.
My computer is only about 8 months old, Intel Core Duo CPU, Memory 2047MB,
32 Bit O.S, with a Windows experience Index rating of 5.5.
Any help or advice greatly appreciated, P.S, running Vista Professional.

Denise

"Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
> i've been running my computer pretty much without problems. Recently I
> have noticed a real slow down in performance. I currently have Spybot
> S&D, and the purchased version of AVG installed.

They can and do miss zero day exploits, meaning that they can't detect
anything 100% of the time, because it's new.

> Thinking that perhaps one of these programs may be causing some kind of
> problem, I disabled both of them, but to no avail.

They are not the problem.

> I run spyware searches and virus searches daily, which never really show
> up any thing of concern. I delete cookies etc on a daily basis too. My
> computer doesnt need defragged.

See above

> Could anyone give me any ideas as to what could be slowing it down so
> much.
> I tried to access my company site to process some work stuff and it took
> forever and a day to load what would normally be a couple of seconds.
> My computer is only about 8 months old, Intel Core Duo CPU, Memory 2047MB,
> 32 Bit O.S, with a Windows experience Index rating of 5.5.
> Any help or advice greatly appreciated, P.S, running Vista Professional.

Now, it may not be malware, but your symptoms seem that you have something
running on the computer that you don't know about that could be just that.
That's why you must use the proper tools to help you look, Process Explorer
is one of them.

PE will let you look at running processes. PE will also let you look inside
a running process to see what it is hosting, other processes including
malware.

PE menu Tools/View/Show Lower Pane/Show all DLL(s), which will allow you to
look at what processes running in the upper pane that are hosting processes
in the lower pane.

You can right-click a line in the upper pane and go to Properties to see
more information like what process that a given process in the upper pane is
using the most processing with in the given process.

You can also use CurrPorts to see if there is something connecting to the
Internet that you don't know about, which can be used instead of Active
Ports that doesn't run on Vista.

<http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Hidden_Backdoors_Trojan_Horses_and_Rootkit_Tools_in_a_Windows_Environment.html>
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...s/default.aspx
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/cports.html

Sometimes, you have to go look for yourself and see what is running on the
computer.

"Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi,
>> i've been running my computer pretty much without problems. Recently I
>> have noticed a real slow down in performance. I currently have Spybot
>> S&D, and the purchased version of AVG installed. Thinking that perhaps
>> one of these programs may be causing some kind of problem, I disabled
>> both of them, but to no avail.
>> I run spyware searches and virus searches daily, which never really show
>> up any thing of concern. I delete cookies etc on a daily basis too. My
>> computer doesnt need defragged.
>> Could anyone give me any ideas as to what could be slowing it down so
>> much.
>> I tried to access my company site to process some work stuff and it took
>> forever and a day to load what would normally be a couple of seconds.
>> My computer is only about 8 months old, Intel Core Duo CPU, Memory
>> 2047MB, 32 Bit O.S, with a Windows experience Index rating of 5.5.
>> Any help or advice greatly appreciated, P.S, running Vista Professional.
>>
>> Denise
>
> Just some thoughts:
>
> 1. Start "task manager", on the "Performance tab" how much memory is it
> currently using? This may give you an indication whether its time to
> upgrade your RAM.
>
> 2. Download ccleaner. Its free, and let it clean out your registry. Its
> amazing what junk can accumulte - especially if you've uninstalled any
> applications.
>
> 3. Uninstall any toolbars you may have, such as the google or yahoo
> toolbars.
>
> 4. Again using task manager, look at what applications are currently
> running on your pc. Consider whether you can uninstall any of these.
> Things that you have installed but aren't actually running aren't an issue
> here, its what applications are always taking up RAM.
>
> 5. Have you installed the vista service pack? I didn't notice any
> difference, but there are supposed to be performance enhancements there.
>
> 6. Look in the windows event log - the system log in particular. There
> will be lots of messages there, most of which you can safely ignore. What
> is of interest is whether there are any disk errors being recorded - slow
> performance can be caused by disk problems. Its unlikely given the
> reliability of disks but if there are any errors then that is where they
> will be recorded.
>
> 7. Run "Command Prompt" as administrator and type "chkdsk c: /f" and when
> its convenient reboot. This will do a disk check the next time you reboot,
> the check is checking the logical file consistency. It may turn up a few
> bits, that's not uncommon, but unless there are serious problems (again
> unlikely) its probably not the cause of your performance woes, but good to
> eliminate.
>
> 8. Again using "Task manager", look on the "Processes" tab, click "Show
> processes from all users" and then click the heading "CPU" to order on CPU
> usage. Are there any processes (other than "System Idle Process") which
> are taking up a lot of CPU time? If there are then that may be why your pc
> feels slow.
>
> 9. Does your PC still feel slow if you are not running any mail tool?
>
> Thats all I can think of for now. Hope something makes a difference.
> --
> Brian Cryer
> www.cryer.co.uk/brian
>

Thanks for taking the time to go through so many options.
I have downloaded ccleaner and it cleaned up nearly 3mb or keek!!

With regards to the CPU, I have the gadget showing on my sidebar, the CPU
usage when idle is approx15 - 20%, but when i go onto any web pages etc it
goes all the way up to 100%, which kind of freaked me!!. The RAM indicator
is sitting at 50% when online and roughtly 40% when idle.
I'm really not too sure what i'm looking for but obviously something is way
wrong!

Any further help with issue would be greatly appreciated, the computer
really seems to be struggling to do much at the moment.

Kind regards

Denise

On Mon, 12 May 2008 15:45:46 +0100, "Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk>
wrote:

>"Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:6B5C6BC6-2465-4CF8-9CC8-(E-Mail Removed)...

>>
>> Thanks for taking the time to go through so many options.
>> I have downloaded ccleaner and it cleaned up nearly 3mb or keek!!
>
>Which shows how much cludge gets left behind ...

3mb is insignificant.

"Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Hi,
>>> i've been running my computer pretty much without problems. Recently I
>>> have noticed a real slow down in performance. I currently have Spybot
>>> S&D, and the purchased version of AVG installed. Thinking that perhaps
>>> one of these programs may be causing some kind of problem, I disabled
>>> both of them, but to no avail.
>>> I run spyware searches and virus searches daily, which never really show
>>> up any thing of concern. I delete cookies etc on a daily basis too. My
>>> computer doesnt need defragged.
>>> Could anyone give me any ideas as to what could be slowing it down so
>>> much.
>>> I tried to access my company site to process some work stuff and it took
>>> forever and a day to load what would normally be a couple of seconds.
>>> My computer is only about 8 months old, Intel Core Duo CPU, Memory
>>> 2047MB, 32 Bit O.S, with a Windows experience Index rating of 5.5.
>>> Any help or advice greatly appreciated, P.S, running Vista Professional.
>>>
>>> Denise
>>
>> Just some thoughts:
>>
>> 1. Start "task manager", on the "Performance tab" how much memory is it
>> currently using? This may give you an indication whether its time to
>> upgrade your RAM.
>>
>> 2. Download ccleaner. Its free, and let it clean out your registry. Its
>> amazing what junk can accumulte - especially if you've uninstalled any
>> applications.
>>
>> 3. Uninstall any toolbars you may have, such as the google or yahoo
>> toolbars.
>>
>> 4. Again using task manager, look at what applications are currently
>> running on your pc. Consider whether you can uninstall any of these.
>> Things that you have installed but aren't actually running aren't an
>> issue here, its what applications are always taking up RAM.
>>
>> 5. Have you installed the vista service pack? I didn't notice any
>> difference, but there are supposed to be performance enhancements there.
>>
>> 6. Look in the windows event log - the system log in particular. There
>> will be lots of messages there, most of which you can safely ignore. What
>> is of interest is whether there are any disk errors being recorded - slow
>> performance can be caused by disk problems. Its unlikely given the
>> reliability of disks but if there are any errors then that is where they
>> will be recorded.
>>
>> 7. Run "Command Prompt" as administrator and type "chkdsk c: /f" and when
>> its convenient reboot. This will do a disk check the next time you
>> reboot, the check is checking the logical file consistency. It may turn
>> up a few bits, that's not uncommon, but unless there are serious problems
>> (again unlikely) its probably not the cause of your performance woes, but
>> good to eliminate.
>>
>> 8. Again using "Task manager", look on the "Processes" tab, click "Show
>> processes from all users" and then click the heading "CPU" to order on
>> CPU usage. Are there any processes (other than "System Idle Process")
>> which are taking up a lot of CPU time? If there are then that may be why
>> your pc feels slow.
>>
>> 9. Does your PC still feel slow if you are not running any mail tool?
>>
>> Thats all I can think of for now. Hope something makes a difference.
>
> Another thought, with "Task manager, on the "Performance" tab click on
> [Resource Monitor...]. When the PC feels slow look at the "Resource
> monitor" display and if you click on CPU, Disk, Network or Memory it will
> show you what the peak tasks are. If there is a particular task which is
> causing a problem then hopefully you should be able to spot it.
> --
> Brian Cryer
> www.cryer.co.uk/brian
>

Hi there again,

thanks again, all your advice which has been greatly appreciated.

I thought I'd do a restart after using the ccleaner. The CPU indicator was
idling at about 15 to 20%, now its seems to be between 0 & 5%, which seems
much more reasonable. When I mentioned about it hitting 100% when visiting
web pages, it was actually staying in the 100% until I shut the web page.
Now it seems again to be more as it should be because it comes right back
down after a few seconds.

It does seem to be running a bit faster, but logging into MSN etc takes a
while for email to load etc, and pages that I try to load on the web still
take longer than usual, but there is a definate improvement.

The computer, as I mentioned is only 8 months old, and used primarily by
myself (my daughters use wireless laptops). I know computers slow down
after a while which is normal, but the performance of my computer is far
inferior to the performance of my daughters laptops, which are used to
download and visit sites such as bebo etc and are always downloading
applications to add to it, they seem to zip through pages with ease.

One thing I noticed is that I have the Microsoft Toolbar, the Google Toolbar
and now the Yahoo Toolbar (which came with CCleaner), is it an easy process
to cancel these additional toolbars, and would it have an affect on the
CCleaner. Would this also perhaps have any effect with the performance??

Once again Many Thanks

Denise

"Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:CFD3FEBE-33EB-4D95-9586-(E-Mail Removed)...
> "Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Brian Cryer" <www.cryer.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>> Hi,
>>>> i've been running my computer pretty much without problems. Recently I
>>>> have noticed a real slow down in performance. I currently have Spybot
>>>> S&D, and the purchased version of AVG installed. Thinking that perhaps
>>>> one of these programs may be causing some kind of problem, I disabled
>>>> both of them, but to no avail.
>>>> I run spyware searches and virus searches daily, which never really
>>>> show up any thing of concern. I delete cookies etc on a daily basis
>>>> too. My computer doesnt need defragged.
>>>> Could anyone give me any ideas as to what could be slowing it down so
>>>> much.
>>>> I tried to access my company site to process some work stuff and it
>>>> took forever and a day to load what would normally be a couple of
>>>> seconds.
>>>> My computer is only about 8 months old, Intel Core Duo CPU, Memory
>>>> 2047MB, 32 Bit O.S, with a Windows experience Index rating of 5.5.
>>>> Any help or advice greatly appreciated, P.S, running Vista
>>>> Professional.
>>>>
>>>> Denise
>>>
>>> Just some thoughts:
>>>
>>> 1. Start "task manager", on the "Performance tab" how much memory is it
>>> currently using? This may give you an indication whether its time to
>>> upgrade your RAM.
>>>
>>> 2. Download ccleaner. Its free, and let it clean out your registry. Its
>>> amazing what junk can accumulte - especially if you've uninstalled any
>>> applications.
>>>
>>> 3. Uninstall any toolbars you may have, such as the google or yahoo
>>> toolbars.
>>>
>>> 4. Again using task manager, look at what applications are currently
>>> running on your pc. Consider whether you can uninstall any of these.
>>> Things that you have installed but aren't actually running aren't an
>>> issue here, its what applications are always taking up RAM.
>>>
>>> 5. Have you installed the vista service pack? I didn't notice any
>>> difference, but there are supposed to be performance enhancements there.
>>>
>>> 6. Look in the windows event log - the system log in particular. There
>>> will be lots of messages there, most of which you can safely ignore.
>>> What is of interest is whether there are any disk errors being
>>> recorded - slow performance can be caused by disk problems. Its unlikely
>>> given the reliability of disks but if there are any errors then that is
>>> where they will be recorded.
>>>
>>> 7. Run "Command Prompt" as administrator and type "chkdsk c: /f" and
>>> when its convenient reboot. This will do a disk check the next time you
>>> reboot, the check is checking the logical file consistency. It may turn
>>> up a few bits, that's not uncommon, but unless there are serious
>>> problems (again unlikely) its probably not the cause of your performance
>>> woes, but good to eliminate.
>>>
>>> 8. Again using "Task manager", look on the "Processes" tab, click "Show
>>> processes from all users" and then click the heading "CPU" to order on
>>> CPU usage. Are there any processes (other than "System Idle Process")
>>> which are taking up a lot of CPU time? If there are then that may be why
>>> your pc feels slow.
>>>
>>> 9. Does your PC still feel slow if you are not running any mail tool?
>>>
>>> Thats all I can think of for now. Hope something makes a difference.
>>
>> Another thought, with "Task manager, on the "Performance" tab click on
>> [Resource Monitor...]. When the PC feels slow look at the "Resource
>> monitor" display and if you click on CPU, Disk, Network or Memory it will
>> show you what the peak tasks are. If there is a particular task which is
>> causing a problem then hopefully you should be able to spot it.
>> --
>> Brian Cryer
>> www.cryer.co.uk/brian
>>
>
> Hi there again,
>
> thanks again, all your advice which has been greatly appreciated.
>
> I thought I'd do a restart after using the ccleaner. The CPU indicator
> was idling at about 15 to 20%, now its seems to be between 0 & 5%, which
> seems much more reasonable. When I mentioned about it hitting 100% when
> visiting web pages, it was actually staying in the 100% until I shut the
> web page. Now it seems again to be more as it should be because it comes
> right back down after a few seconds.
>
> It does seem to be running a bit faster, but logging into MSN etc takes a
> while for email to load etc, and pages that I try to load on the web still
> take longer than usual, but there is a definate improvement.
>
> The computer, as I mentioned is only 8 months old, and used primarily by
> myself (my daughters use wireless laptops). I know computers slow down
> after a while which is normal, but the performance of my computer is far
> inferior to the performance of my daughters laptops, which are used to
> download and visit sites such as bebo etc and are always downloading
> applications to add to it, they seem to zip through pages with ease.
>
> One thing I noticed is that I have the Microsoft Toolbar, the Google
> Toolbar and now the Yahoo Toolbar (which came with CCleaner), is it an
> easy process to cancel these additional toolbars, and would it have an
> affect on the CCleaner. Would this also perhaps have any effect with the
> performance??
>
> Once again Many Thanks
>
> Denise

On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:25:16 +0100, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>The computer, as I mentioned is only 8 months old, and used primarily by
>myself (my daughters use wireless laptops). I know computers slow down
>after a while which is normal,

No it's not. Only if something is wrong with it, is it "normal".

> but the performance of my computer is far
>inferior to the performance of my daughters laptops, which are used to
>download and visit sites such as bebo etc and are always downloading
>applications to add to it, they seem to zip through pages with ease.

You need to take it into a shop, or you need to restore it to it's
original factory condition and begin all over again.

On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:25:16 +0100, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> I know computers slow down
> after a while which is normal,


No, it's entirely *abnormal*. If that's what's happening to your
computer, it means that you are improperly maintaining it.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:19:43 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:25:16 +0100, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>> I know computers slow down
>> after a while which is normal,
>
>
>No, it's entirely *abnormal*. If that's what's happening to your
>computer, it means that you are improperly maintaining it.

Oh wow, another great MVP non answer. You suggesting she take her
computer into the shop for a oil change? Maybe the tires need to be
rotated?

Pray tell what "improper maintaining" did she do?

Personal Computers can slow down when you install Windows on them.
That's the kiss of death. So many things can cause a slow down it
would be impossible to list them all.

Something misconfigured, missing, altered or corrupt in the Registry.

Memory leak, driver not loading, Windows keeps trying to load it.

Depleted System Resources (common if computer left running for a long
time without rebooting)

System doing "housecleaning"

System indexing.

Some anti-virus running.

Defragemention in process.

Trojan has hijacked your computer and somebody else has taken control
of it by remote control to use in a networked denial of service
attack. More common than you think.

And about 200 other reasons.

The OP gets told to take it into a shop or she didn't do proper
maintaining.

This backward, often retarded newsgroup is priceless, but useful only
for it's entertainment value.

Adam Albright wrote:
> On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:19:43 -0700, "Ken Blake, MVP"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 12 May 2008 19:25:16 +0100, "Denise" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I know computers slow down
>>> after a while which is normal,
>>
>> No, it's entirely *abnormal*. If that's what's happening to your
>> computer, it means that you are improperly maintaining it.
>
> Oh wow, another great MVP non answer. You suggesting she take her
> computer into the shop for a oil change? Maybe the tires need to be
> rotated?
>
> Pray tell what "improper maintaining" did she do?

Here you embicle

http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
>
> Personal Computers can slow down when you install Windows on them.
> That's the kiss of death. So many things can cause a slow down it
> would be impossible to list them all.

So?

>
> Something misconfigured, missing, altered or corrupt in the Registry.

No
>
> Memory leak, driver not loading, Windows keeps trying to load it.

No
>
> Depleted System Resources (common if computer left running for a long
> time without rebooting)

No
>
> System doing "housecleaning"

No
>
> System indexing.
No
>
> Some anti-virus running.

No
>
> Defragemention in process.

No
>
> Trojan has hijacked your computer and somebody else has taken control
> of it by remote control to use in a networked denial of service
> attack. More common than you think.

You don't know what a DOs is about.
>
> And about 200 other reasons.
>
No
> The OP gets told to take it into a shop or she didn't do proper
> maintaining.
>

It's sound advice, and besides, you're just flapping you gums as usual.

> This backward, often retarded newsgroup is priceless, but useful only
> for it's entertainment value.
>

You're not useful and your lip drivel is entertainment. You're just a
moron plain and simple. No one should listen to you or take your advise.
It's not priceless and heavy on the worthlessness.

You should turn in your computer and just leave, because you are sick.