Internet very slow

  • Thread starter Thread starter Derek
  • Start date Start date
D

Derek

Hi, I just got a new PC and had XP installed on it. I use
a 56K modem but it is incredibly slow (on my old PC with
Windows 98 it wasn't too bad). Now, it takes ages to
download pages (especially pictures) and GIF images just
show up as a white box with a red cross in them. I checked
the speed in the modem settings and max speed is set to
57600. Any ideas on what I need to do? Thanks.
 
Presumably you get the little connection icon on the
start bar that tells you the connection speed? If not,
you can select your internet connection in Network
Connections from Control Panel to see what connection
speed you are actually getting.

If the connection speed looks o.k. but your connection is
slow, could be virus or spy ware(www.safer-
networking.org) making things slow. Is your XP firewall
enabled on the connection, if not enable it first? Have
you got up to date anti-virus software and is your
machine up to date with windows critical updates?
 
Hi. Thanks for the quick response. I do indeed get the
little icon. It says that I'm connected at 33.6 kbps. It
should be closer to 56 right? How do I change that? How do
I know if my XP firewall is enabled? To my knowledge, I
don't have any anti-virus products (how do I check that
also?). With regards to updates, I know that I need to
download SP1 (as I need to get the USD 2.0 drivers) but
apart from that, I'm clueless. Thanks for your help (and
patience)
 
Derek said:
Hi. Thanks for the quick response. I do indeed get the
little icon. It says that I'm connected at 33.6 kbps. It
should be closer to 56 right? How do I change that? How do
I know if my XP firewall is enabled? To my knowledge, I
don't have any anti-virus products (how do I check that
also?). With regards to updates, I know that I need to
download SP1 (as I need to get the USD 2.0 drivers) but
apart from that, I'm clueless. Thanks for your help (and
patience)
Click to expand...
=================================================================
Your Dial-Up connection speed to the Internet is most closely
dependent on the condition of your phone lines and maybe to
the quality of your modem. You may need an updated XP driver
for you modem (if available) or you may need a new modem
that is more XP ready. Or you may have a virus or spyware.

HOW TO: Enable or Disable Internet Connection Firewall in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;283673&Product=winxp

If you do not have an Anti Virus program installed, that is something you
need to do. Once installed it will need to be updated and then scan your system with it.

After you make sure that the XP ICF is enabled, you could scan for
viruses at: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

You could also download and install and update and scan for spywares with
Ad-Aware 6.0 Build 181:

Ad-aware 6.0 build 181
http://download.com.com/3000-2144-10214379.html?tag=list

Once you are certain there are no viruses or spywares, then you should install
all XP Critical Updates:

http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

(You can also check at the Protect Your PC link at that Windows Update site)
=================================================================
 
Back
Top