computer is slow, why??

[Guest]

my aunts computer is slow. i it is a trend micro. i put a cooling fan in
because their was none. it had only a 256(pc2100) and i put in a 256(3200). i
clean out the computer (deleted internet files, cookies, etc...) defrag.,disk
clean up. all that stuff.
added spybot,adware,spyware blaster.
but verizon dsl works great. just the system is slow.
start up,shut down takes along time,and just going from file to file takes
about 7 to 10 seconds.
she does not play any games.
in task manager- processes 46, cpu usage high%, system idle process low
(my computer -processes 57, cpu usage low% , system idle process high)
computer info=
msi mb (good one)
2 256 memory
40 gb hard drive split into 15/24
amd athlon k7 900 mhz
xp sp 2
300 watt power supply

any info will help, thanks.

 

[mikeyhsd]

you do not mention what processor is in it. but with only 256 memory its probably fairly old.
the memory is slow for one thing. and adding the faster memory it will still run at the slower speed.
did not mention which OS wither.



(e-mail address removed)



my aunts computer is slow. i it is a trend micro. i put a cooling fan in
because their was none. it had only a 256(pc2100) and i put in a 256(3200). i
clean out the computer (deleted internet files, cookies, etc...) defrag.,disk
clean up. all that stuff.
added spybot,adware,spyware blaster.
but verizon dsl works great. just the system is slow.
start up,shut down takes along time,and just going from file to file takes
about 7 to 10 seconds.
she does not play any games.
in task manager- processes 46, cpu usage high%, system idle process low
(my computer -processes 57, cpu usage low% , system idle process high)
computer info=
msi mb (good one)
2 256 memory
40 gb hard drive split into 15/24
amd athlon k7 900 mhz
xp sp 2
300 watt power supply

any info will help, thanks.

 

[Guest]

computer info=

msi mb (good one)
2 256 memory
40 gb hard drive split into 15/24
amd athlon k7 900 mhz
xp sp 2
300 watt power supply

 

[Shenan Stanley]

my aunts computer is slow. i it is a trend micro. i put a cooling
fan in because their was none. it had only a 256(pc2100) and i put
in a 256(3200). i clean out the computer (deleted internet files,
cookies, etc...) defrag.,disk clean up. all that stuff.
added spybot,adware,spyware blaster.
but verizon dsl works great. just the system is slow.
start up,shut down takes along time,and just going from file to
file takes about 7 to 10 seconds.
she does not play any games.
in task manager- processes 46, cpu usage high%, system idle process
low (my computer -processes 57, cpu usage low% , system idle
process high) computer info=
msi mb (good one)
2 256 memory
40 gb hard drive split into 15/24
amd athlon k7 900 mhz
xp sp 2
300 watt power supply

any info will help, thanks.

You do not mention what processor is in it, but with only 256MB
memory its probably fairly old.
The memory is slow for one thing, and adding the faster memory it
will still run at the slower speed.

You did not mention which OS either.

computer info=
msi mb (good one)
2 256 memory
40 gb hard drive split into 15/24
amd athlon k7 900 mhz
xp sp 2
300 watt power supply

The motherboard (although I personally do not equate "msi" and "good"
usually) has little to do with this as probably the mixed speed RAM has
little to do with it as well. 512MB memory should be sufficient for the
usage you quote as being done. The 900MHz processor (AMD) may be sufficient
but may contribute to the issue. The 300 watt power supply is unlikely to
be causing the problem if all you notice is slowness. the 40GB hard disk
drive with the strange split *might be* causing some issues if the system
drive/virtual memory is not setup well and/or the system drive is low on
space.

So - what you probably should start by doing is cleaning up unnecessary
applications - especially those that startup at system startup/logon. You
don't really (in this case) need to worry that Quicktime checks for the
latest updates or any of that. You started with disk cleanup - and that's
good to free up some space - but if you still have less than 2.5GB free on
that C drive partition - you might consider clearing up more space... Check
that the temporary internet files are set to a smaller *(256-512MB) number.

You mentioned spybot, ad-aware, spywareblaster - you might try
superantispyware as well - just to make sure everything is cleared. You
also might want to consider a full scan with an online antivirus and follow
that all up with a CHKDSK and DEFRAG (2 or 3 defrags in a row..)

Also - turn off some of the Windows XP 'prettifications'.

Control Panel --> System --> Advanced tab --> Performance section,
Settings button. Then choose "adjust for best performance" and you
now have a Windows 2000/98 look which turned off most of the annoying
"prettifications" in one swift action. You can play with the last
three checkboxes to get more of an XP look without many of the
other annoyances. You could also grab and install/use one
(or more) of the Microsoft Powertoys - TweakUI in particular:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

 

[Bob Harris]

If CPU usage is contantly high, use the XP task manager to find what process
or processes are causing it to be high.

Once you know that, do a Goggle search to find whether they are necessary
processes or not. Also think about whether they are useful (e.g.,
antivirus).

If not necessary/useful, then terminate them via the XP task manager. You
might also want to prevent them from starting. For that, use AUTORUNS, free
from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/autoruns.mspx

If necessary/useful, then try to find how to control the associated
settings. For example, some antivirus programs run 24/7 scanning every file
on the disk, over, and over. Others only scan when the file is accessed,
and maybe on some schedule like once per week. The user can often contol
this sort of behavior via the console that comes with most antivirus
software. (Usually in systray, right-click to open).

 

[Guest]

i ran pc pitstop virus scanner and mcafee free scan and no virus.

 

[Ron Martell]

in task manager- processes 46, cpu usage high%, system idle process low

Open Task Manager and go to the Processes tab. Click twice on the CPU
column header to sort the list based on CPU usage with the highest
usage items at the top.

Make note of the 5 or 6 top items on the list and their CPU usage
(ignore the System Idle process) and post that information back here.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[RalfG]

You say that her CPU usage is high. System Idle would typically be in the
high 90% range when the computer is idle. Identify which processes are the
ones hogging the CPU and consider those suspect for corrupt files, spyware,
memory leaks. Disable automatic startup for programs that don't need to be
running all the time. Uninstall any programs she isn't likely to use. Scan
the computer for spyware and other types of malware.

 

[Guest]

i emailed my aunt what to do and she gave me this:
Image Name User Name Mem Usage
System SYSTEM 240K
CCPROXY.EXE SYSTEM 5,172K
SNDSrvc.exe SYSTEM 3,396K
SPBBCSvc.exe SYSTEM 2,648K
smss.exe SYSTEM 384K
NOPDB.exe SYSTEM 3,056K
avgw
27,396k..............
she said its 00 under cpu
heading..............................................................
ill have to go there and look at it myself.

 

[Ron Martell]

i emailed my aunt what to do and she gave me this:
Image Name

System Should not have a high CPU usage.
CCPROXY.EXE Part of Symantec/Norton Internet Security
SNDSrvc.exe Part of Symantec/Norton Internet Security
SPBBCSvc.exe Part of Symantec/Norton Internet Security
smss.exe Windows component
NOPDB.exe Part of Norton Speeddisk
avgw AVG Antivirus component
It seems that the computer is infested with at least one and perhaps
two Norton/Symantec products, which is enough to kill performance on
all but the highest end machines.

And it also seems that AVG Antivirus is installed, so it is quite
likely that Norton and AVG are "fighting" each other, causing even
more slowdowns.

I suggest that you uninstall all Norton/Symantec software and retain
the AVG antivirus. Additionally install an antispyware product such
as Windows Defender or the free AVG Antispyware. For a firewall I
suggest that a cheap router be purchased as that includes NAT firewall
protection; unless of course the computer uses a dial-up Internet
connection in which case a router will not work.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Guest]

i ran spybot, etc... .
corrupt and memory i have no idea what they are.
these are the highest mem usage=
MsMpEng.exe - 15,796K
CCAPP.exe - 17,792K
explorer.exe - 22,320K
suchost.exe - 27,060K
msimn.exe - 27,140K
avgw.exe - 28,988K

 

[RalfG]

Your reporting the memory usage but Mem usage is not what we're looking for.
You need to look at the CPU usage. Most running processes in the task list
will read 00 most of the time under the CPU column. If you click on the CPU
column title it will arrange the processes in order from highest to lowest
CPU usage, or vice versa, which makes it easier to find the processes using
the most CPU cycles. Numbers like 1,2 up to around 10% in the CPU column can
be considered normal.