computer slowed down

[Guest]

over the last few days my computer has been performing painfully slow, with a
few tics that are not usual:
A. ....Slow to open applications and documents word and excel, slow to
close, slow to allow cursor to move, email selection slow, etc (earthlink
total access mailbox)
B......Screensaver (slideshow which has been in a year just fine) appears
under other application windows while iI am working. very slow to remove or
hide, or reenter after pause in activity
C.... When opening applications like Nortons, etc, the frame of the visual
application box appears first and then slowly fills in the graphic/text
content as if it is filling a glass with water.
D.... I have done a disk clean up and dumped temp files, history,cookies, etc
I have checked, I do not need to defrag after analysis, I have
reinitialized. I have looked through my Add/Remove Programs to see if there
is anything foreign, newest program is a windows 2007 compatability pak for
the new windows system that I had to install in order to open a new doc from
a client (2 weeks ago)
do not know what to do now?
Am pretty much a techno laggard, and not advanced in computer maintainence
skills.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?
thank you

 

[db]

there are many possible causes
and solutions for slowness.

one quick check is to compare
the speed between normal mode
with safemode.

while in safemode, tell us
the size of your pagefile/virtual
memory...

let us know the results...


- db
over the last few days my computer has been performing painfully slow, with a
few tics that are not usual:
A. ....Slow to open applications and documents word and excel, slow to
close, slow to allow cursor to move, email selection slow, etc (earthlink
total access mailbox)
B......Screensaver (slideshow which has been in a year just fine) appears
under other application windows while iI am working. very slow to remove or
hide, or reenter after pause in activity
C.... When opening applications like Nortons, etc, the frame of the visual
application box appears first and then slowly fills in the graphic/text
content as if it is filling a glass with water.
D.... I have done a disk clean up and dumped temp files, history,cookies, etc
I have checked, I do not need to defrag after analysis, I have
reinitialized. I have looked through my Add/Remove Programs to see if there
is anything foreign, newest program is a windows 2007 compatability pak for
the new windows system that I had to install in order to open a new doc from
a client (2 weeks ago)
do not know what to do now?
Am pretty much a techno laggard, and not advanced in computer maintainence
skills.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?
thank you

 

[Guest]

over the last few days my computer has been performing painfully slow, with a
few tics that are not usual:
A. ....Slow to open applications and documents word and excel, slow to
close, slow to allow cursor to move, email selection slow, etc (earthlink
total access mailbox)
B......Screensaver (slideshow which has been in a year just fine) appears
under other application windows while iI am working. very slow to remove or
hide, or reenter after pause in activity
C.... When opening applications like Nortons, etc, the frame of the visual
application box appears first and then slowly fills in the graphic/text
content as if it is filling a glass with water.
D.... I have done a disk clean up and dumped temp files, history,cookies, etc
I have checked, I do not need to defrag after analysis, I have
reinitialized. I have looked through my Add/Remove Programs to see if there
is anything foreign, newest program is a windows 2007 compatability pak for
the new windows system that I had to install in order to open a new doc from
a client (2 weeks ago)
do not know what to do now?
Am pretty much a techno laggard, and not advanced in computer maintainence
skills.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?
thank you

First try to scan for Malwares as Norton is just an Anti-Virus Program:
And also for malwares from here:
http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php
http://www.safer-networking.org ; for Spybot S&D
Then try to Disable the Add-Ons on your Browser somehow your browser been
hooked by Add-ons or Plug-ins which act as an ear/spy for that site to direct
you to where they want you to go.
On how to disable the Add-ons follow this:
Click start >> Control Panel >> Double Click Networking and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options, on the IE Properties window
click on Programs Tab and then click the Manage Add-Ons Button there Disable
the None/Not Verified Plug-ins/Add-ons (You can Renable them one-by -one
later and see which one will be the culprit and uninstall it or Update the
Add-Ons if it is Legitimate Add-Ons not a spyware plug-ins) and click [OK] to
confirm your Changes.
Reboot your machine.

Try to scan from another Vendor ( an online scanner) to make sure Norton
doing the Job and not compromised by an outer Hack or intrusion.
Then Unistall Norton, sometimes this protection program get bloated and can
Hog the system.
Reinstall Norton and Run Dskchk and Defrag in Safe Mode.
You can download the FileMon or Processor explorer to see what
application/program is/are running in the Background and hogging your system:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/filemon.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx
HTH.
Let us know.
nass
====
www.nasstec.co.uk

 

[Guest]

db
thank you for replying. I do not even know what safemode is?
however, i did get 2 alertsin the last few days from microsoft saying that i
was "virtual memory minimum too low, we are increasing virtual memory"
didn't know what that meant either? what do i do

 

[FreeComputerConsultant.com]

Slow PC:

http://www.freecomputerconsultant.com/pc-speed-up.html

Safe mode:

http://www.freecomputerconsultant.com/windows-safe-mode.html

 

[Frank K.]

Yesterday I ran Registry Mechanic (RM) to cleanup the registry. After that,
I shut the computer down. This morning it took a loooong time for the
computer to boot. I started MS Word to print an envelope. It took over 5
minutes just to load the envelope template and another two minutes for it to
be sent to the printer. After printing the envelope, I ran RM and restored
the registry backup it made. I rebooted and all is well. When I reviewed all
that RM found, I didn't think there was anything to be concerned about, in
fact it showed most of the findings to be "low risk", so I had RM repair all
it found. Evidently that was a bad choice.

The point is; think of everything you did just prior to the slowdown and see
if you can reverse any changes that were made. Sometimes a simple addition ,
deletion or change can make a big difference in performance.

Frank

 

[db]

the virtual memory/pagefile
is easy. i suggest to bypass
the automatic adjustment and
set it to a custom size.

go to control panel, system, advance,
performance, advanced, virtual memory - change.

there you will see 3 options.

select custom and set the size to a
min of 2 and
max of 1152, then reboot.
This is a median that typically works
for most systems. However,
the sizes can always be readjusted later.

in regards to safemode:
this is important to know especially
if your o.s. becomes unstable and
need a clean/virgin enviroment to
resolve problems. I think i saw
a link from another posting that
you can visit.

let me know how your resizing
of the virtual mem goes and
we can take a look at some other
helpful options....


- db
db
thank you for replying. I do not even know what safemode is?
however, i did get 2 alertsin the last few days from microsoft saying that i
was "virtual memory minimum too low, we are increasing virtual memory"
didn't know what that meant either? what do i do

 

[Guest]

how old is norton
its good for 1 year only now

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

How large is your hard disk and how much free space. Right click on
your C drive in Windows and select Properties to get this information.

What is your CPU processor speed? How much RAM memory? Right click on
your My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties to get
this information.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter. Follow this procedure for each
partition in turn.


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

over the last few days my computer has been performing painfully
slow, with a few tics that are not usual:
A. ....Slow to open applications and documents word and excel, slow to
close, slow to allow cursor to move, email selection slow, etc
(earthlink total access mailbox)
B......Screensaver (slideshow which has been in a year just fine)
appears under other application windows while iI am working. very
slow to remove or hide, or reenter after pause in activity
C.... When opening applications like Nortons, etc, the frame of the
visual application box appears first and then slowly fills in the
graphic/text content as if it is filling a glass with water.
D.... I have done a disk clean up and dumped temp files,
history,cookies, etc I have checked, I do not need to defrag after
analysis, I have
reinitialized. I have looked through my Add/Remove Programs to see if
there is anything foreign, newest program is a windows 2007
compatability pak for the new windows system that I had to install in
order to open a new doc from a client (2 weeks ago)
do not know what to do now?
Am pretty much a techno laggard, and not advanced in computer
maintainence skills.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?
thank you

If a few days ago, everything was well and you are suddenly experiencing a
sudden slowdown, ignore any suggestions that your hardware configuration,
page file settings, etc. are at fault.

It's not temp files, history, cookies, or fragmentation either. Something
has suddenly changed, and the most likely thing these days is an infestation
of malware.

I recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

 

[db]

you should use a more pleasant word
than "IGONORE" to express your unproven
contradiction(s).....

over the last few days my computer has been performing painfully
slow, with a few tics that are not usual:
A. ....Slow to open applications and documents word and excel, slow to
close, slow to allow cursor to move, email selection slow, etc
(earthlink total access mailbox)
B......Screensaver (slideshow which has been in a year just fine)
appears under other application windows while iI am working. very
slow to remove or hide, or reenter after pause in activity
C.... When opening applications like Nortons, etc, the frame of the
visual application box appears first and then slowly fills in the
graphic/text content as if it is filling a glass with water.
D.... I have done a disk clean up and dumped temp files,
history,cookies, etc I have checked, I do not need to defrag after
analysis, I have
reinitialized. I have looked through my Add/Remove Programs to see if
there is anything foreign, newest program is a windows 2007
compatability pak for the new windows system that I had to install in
order to open a new doc from a client (2 weeks ago)
do not know what to do now?
Am pretty much a techno laggard, and not advanced in computer
maintainence skills.
Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?
thank you

If a few days ago, everything was well and you are suddenly experiencing a
sudden slowdown, ignore any suggestions that your hardware configuration,
page file settings, etc. are at fault.

It's not temp files, history, cookies, or fragmentation either. Something
has suddenly changed, and the most likely thing these days is an infestation
of malware.

I recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.