Running Slow

[Guest]

My computer is about 5 months old so its still new but its running so slow. I
have Bellsouth DSL but its still running slow. It almost seems like a have a
virus or something because I cant click on sites located in my emails. It was
running fast just last week.

What can I do to make the computer faster?

 

[R. McCarty]

What Security software is installed ? Most times the software shipped
is a trial version that may have expired on you.

Also, New OEM PCs come loaded up with all kinds of "Extras" or
Value Added = Junk. I recommend that users go through Add/Remove
programs in Control Panel and see exactly what came pre-installed. If
present and not used, first program to remove is anything "AOL".

 

[Malke]

My computer is about 5 months old so its still new but its running so
slow. I have Bellsouth DSL but its still running slow. It almost seems
like a have a virus or something because I cant click on sites located
in my emails. It was running fast just last week.

What can I do to make the computer faster?

Make sure the computer is clean:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

If the machine is completely clean and is still slow, see:

Slow or Sluggish Computer:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Take Out the Trash

If the procedures look too complex - and there is no shame in admitting
this isn't your cup of tea - take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local version of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Larry Gardner]

I'm surprised nobody addressed your e-mail problem.

When clicking on a link in e-mail, hold the Ctrl key down while clicking on
it.

I have just spent a month cleaning a Dell PC that was loaded with crap.

The first thing I did was archived the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

key, deleted everything in the key and rebooted. I then checked to see how
fast the system was running.

If it was faster, and it was in my case, I then put entries back
one-at-a-time until I found the culprit.

In my case it was McAfee Security Suite ... specifically
VirusScan/ActiveShield.

 

[JS]

Wouldn't hurt to check that your DSL connection is up to par, if this is the
only thing that's running slow.
See: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

JS

 

[S.Sengupta]

Do some reading here:-
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

 

[Mike G]

If it was ok 1 week ago....try a restore to when it was ok.

Do some reading here:-
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

My computer is about 5 months old so its still new but its running so
slow. I have Bellsouth DSL but its still running slow. It almost seems
like a have a virus or something because I cant click on sites located in
my emails. It was running fast just last week.

What can I do to make the computer faster?

 

[Guest]

I forgot the most important part!! I have Windows Xp: Media Center Edition.
We are planning to upgrade to Windows XP: Pro. i have three security things
on here: Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro, and Mcfree thing. It's s a
sony so we thought it would last quite a while, but I guess not. Thanks for
the tips!

 

[Malke]

I forgot the most important part!! I have Windows Xp: Media Center
Edition. We are planning to upgrade to Windows XP: Pro. i have three
security things
on here: Norton Internet Security, Trend Micro, and Mcfree thing.
It's s a
sony so we thought it would last quite a while, but I guess not.
Thanks for the tips!

Geez Louise, no wonder your computer is running slowly. You have three
huge programs that are known resource hogs. If you want to keep one of
those programs, get rid of the other two. Personally, I don't recommend
any of them; I use F-Prot AV on my Windows machines. Kaspersky and
NOD32 are recommended by people whom I respect.

BTW, Media Center is a *super*set of XP Pro so you will need to do a
clean install since technically this will be a downgrade. If you don't
need to join a domain (which MCE cannot do), then there is no need to
install Pro. Here is a link comparing the different flavors of XP:

Five Editions of Windows XP Compared -
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/compare.mspx

Malke

 

[Guest]

--
Barb

 

[jmatt]

barb wrote:
What can I do to make the computer faster?
One of the basic's is to make sure it is really really free of virii /
trojans / spyfiles.

Here are a range of free online sites to cleanup your comp. Use at
least 2 from each group.
http://kaspersky.com/kos/english/kavwebscan.html
http://www3.ca.com/virusinfo/virusscan.aspx
http://housecall.antivirus.com/
http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php
http://www.pandasoftware.com/produc...E0-4160-81ED-7F8C6F9C77ED}&NRCACHEHINT=Guest/
http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/activescan-com.asp
http://www.bitdefender.com/
http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp
http://virusscan.jotti.dhs.org/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virustotal.com/flash/index_en.html
DrWeb CureIT
http://www.klitetools.com/comments.php?id=2088&catid=46&highlight=Dr.Web+CureIT!
http://www.klitetools.com/comments.php?catid=46&shownews=2088

Free online trojan scan
http://www.trojanscan.com/
http://www.pcflank.com/
http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

Free online Spyware detector
http://www.pestscan.com/
http://home.ca.com/dr/v2/ec_main.en...lient=ComputerAssociates&sid=35715&CID=188513
http://www.spywareguide.com/txt_onlinescan.html
http://www.webroot.com/services/spyaudit_03.htm
http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/promotions/spywaredetector/index_za.html
Or,
http://www.spywareinfo.com/xscan.php
Screen for Adware, Spyware, Scumware, Diallers, 'Jackers and other
unsolicited commercial software.
This scanner is an ActiveX applet. After a short delay in which your
browser downloads the control file, you will receive a "Warning
Dialogue" requesting permission for the scanner to run. Click "Yes" and
the applet will pop up and scan. You will be alerted if any spyware is
found. When a spyware or malware is found, you will be alerted and
asked if you want to remove it. If no spyware is found, the scanner
will disappear on its own.
If nothing happens, or if you are using a browser other than Internet
Explorer, click here and choose either "Open" or "Run this program from
its current location". Do not choose "Download".
http://www.xblock.com/download/xclean_micro.exe