slowed to a crawl

[gaeber]

My HP laptop, 2G ram, with Vista has slowed to a crawl. The task manager
shows that almost 1400 MB is cached, with 56 processes going on. I have
firefox and outlook open and that is it. What are these 56 things????!

I have opened the system config utility, but don't know which items in the
services tab or in the start up tab I can disable. Is there something else i
can do to speed things up?

Thank you

 

[Mick Murphy]

Have you checked for spyware?

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Download Spybot Search & Destroy, install it, do the updates for it,
immunize your system, then scan your computer with it.

Also, do you run an Anti-virus?

 

[Hank]

I also have an HP laptop with vista and 2 gigs of ram that slowed to a
crawl...... do yourself a BIG favor if you havnt done it allready, go into
the contol panel click on " Programs and Features " and delete everything
that has to do with HP !!!! They load thier Laptops with so much bloatware
and unessesary garbage its unbelievable. Then go to this site
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81176-speed-up-performance-vista.html ( I
know it says vista64 but the stuff still works ) and if your computer
inclined try some of the suggestions THEY REALLY WORK.... Another thing I
also did ( which I shouldnt talk about ) was I found a copy of windows Vista
Premium with SERVICE PACK 1 already installed and I did an upgrade with it
over the top of the Vista Premium that came on my HP Laptop and you guyz
will be AMAZED that it makes Vista just as FAST and as smooth as XP PRO. I
was blown away with it, my laptop used to take 2 minutes to boot up now it
takes less than 30 seconds my wireless internet connection is now as fast as
a wired connection and is ready as soon as it boots.

Hank

pppsssssttttttttt ( for those of you interested and use bittorrent go to
http://thepiratebay.org/ and search for " Vista with SP1 " )
sssshhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[gaeber]

I use Norton has been pretty good. I will try your idea. Thank you.

 

[gaeber]

Good ideas, Hank. Thank you. I will try them out.

 

[gaeber]

Thank you for your comments about proper ways to post questions. Your
comments will help me be more specific . I have received several good
responses despite my ways. I am a newbie to this forum and appreciate any
help kind people can give me.
gaeber

 

[Mick Murphy]

Norton is a very resource hungry anti-virus. It will slow a computer down.
In XP, it used a 1/3 of the computer's resources. I don't have the figures
for norton in Vista.

Also, it is really only an Anti-virus.
They claim to remove malware and spyware, but their definitions database is
very, very limited.
In other words, it is a waste of time!

For futue reference keep this link for an Anti-virus.:

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Avast is a great anti-virus, vista 32bit and 64bit compatible east to use,
and low on resource use; and it's free.

If you run vista firewall, avast, and spybot Search & Destroy, you will be
pretty safe

 

[gaeber]

Thanks for the info about Norton, Mick. I will look up avast to see if it
fits.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My HP laptop, 2G ram, with Vista has slowed to a crawl. The task manager
shows that almost 1400 MB is cached, with 56 processes going on. I have
firefox and outlook open and that is it. What are these 56 things????!

I have opened the system config utility, but don't know which items in the
services tab or in the start up tab I can disable. Is there something else i
can do to speed things up?

56 processes are neither unusual, nor necessarily a problem. Many
people have that many or even more without experiencing poor
performance.

I can't tell what your problem is with so little information, but
whenever someone reports that the speed used to be satisfactory, but
has slowed, there is always a strong possibility of malware
infestation. I recommend that you begin troubleshooting by going to
Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and
following the instructions there.

 

[That Guy]

There is a simpler way of getting a faster speed of start up that doesn't
include sp1. Simply go into system properties and add
;%systemroot%\system\drivers to the end of the environment, path statement.
This will speed up the boot.