memory error, slow pc

[JN]

Hello.
I have a 1 month old PC, that seemed to work ok to start with.
Pk Bell Celeron . 2.60GHz
2.59GHz
192 MB ram (256 physical)
35 GB Hard drive
20 used.
XP SP 1
McAfee 8 and McF Firewall
Now it's slow and sluggish at times and sometimes I get a notification on my
task bar that memory is too low etc.
I added another 256 memory which has made very little difference.
While using Word 2003, very strange things happen. I have to close and then
restart. Once even the machine just shut down but itself.

The same thing has happened to my laptop round about the same time.
I don't know if this is coincidence. The Laptop is a lot worse. It takes 3
times longer to boot up than other laptops/pcs.
P3 - 10 GB drive only half used.- 192 mb Ram
XP added SP1 McAfee 8

I've heard that there's a virus that can cause slow performance. I know I
received a virus a couple of weeks back while checking emails which McAfee
detected instantly and cleaned.
I've done several thorough scan checks since and there are no viruses found.

Any help on this and tips on slow performance would be so appreciated.
Thanks
J

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have a 1 month old PC, that seemed to work ok to start with.
Pk Bell Celeron . 2.60GHz
2.59GHz
192 MB ram (256 physical)
35 GB Hard drive
20 used.
XP SP 1
McAfee 8 and McF Firewall
Now it's slow and sluggish at times and sometimes I get a
notification on my task bar that memory is too low etc.
I added another 256 memory which has made very little difference.
While using Word 2003, very strange things happen. I have to close
and then restart. Once even the machine just shut down but itself.

The same thing has happened to my laptop round about the same time.
I don't know if this is coincidence. The Laptop is a lot worse. It
takes 3 times longer to boot up than other laptops/pcs.
P3 - 10 GB drive only half used.- 192 mb Ram
XP added SP1 McAfee 8

I've heard that there's a virus that can cause slow performance. I
know I received a virus a couple of weeks back while checking emails
which McAfee detected instantly and cleaned.
I've done several thorough scan checks since and there are no viruses
found.

Any help on this and tips on slow performance would be so appreciated.
Thanks

Go through this list.. Clean up and secure that machine now, before things
get worse.

Please Notice that if you use AOL, you should at least upgrade to 9.0 or
greater before doing any of the fixes. I know you can get AOL 9.0 at almost
any convenience store, gas station, super market or other retail outlet in
the world, so this should not be a problem.


Turn on that firewall...
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/home/using/howto/homenet/icf.asp
(It has been reported that it now works with AOL 9.0+)


Make sure you have all the updates (critical) installed from:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
(Scan for updates, Review and Install)


Get rid of the spy/ad/mal-ware..
(Yes - using MORE than one of these..
I recommend at least the first three. Also..
UPDATE the definitions for them before using.)

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.net/

Lavasoft AdAware
http://www.lavasoft.de

CWSShredder
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

Hijack This!
http://mjc1.com/mirror/hjt/

I also like "The Cleaner" and "SpywareBlaster" and "SpywareGuard".
- http://www.moosoft.com/
- http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/

The first is a PAY product, but useable for 30 days - it has found and
eliminated problems in the past the others did not. The latter two are
prevention mechanisms. I like SpywareGuard for those with enough processor
to have something running like antivirus software - and it prevents browser
hijacking quite well. SpywareBlaster is a FANTASTIC free product, I suggest
getting this after you cleanup and keeping it updated as well....

And Assortment of Others:
http://spywareinfo.com/


After you cleanup your PC somewhat of spy/ad/mal-ware, verify your antivirus
software is updated and run a full scan of your computer. If you have no
antivirus software - get one NOW! Grisoft AntiVirus:
http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php


Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to about
80 to 120MB (seems to be an optimal size for the normal user)

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section,
do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the
"Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 80MB
and 120MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to
"Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click
OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or
more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer
- Re-open Internet Explorer.


Uninstall any software you do not use often/ever. (If you have something
installed but never use it, uninstall it.) If you go through Control
Panel -> Add/Remove Programs and see things you seldom if ever use, it is to
your advantage to remove it.


Also, if you are tired of Web Page Pop-Ups/Unders.. You could try the
Google Toolbar.
http://toolbar.google.com/


Stop loading applications at logon.. run MSCONFIG and look under the startup
tab for things you DON'T want to startup! Search the Internet with Google
to discover what things are safe to remove and what things may even be
malware infecting your computer.


Better control your email and lessen the amount of time you spend dealing
with SPAM:
SpamBayes
http://sourceforge.net/projects/spambayes/
or
Spamihilator.
http://www.spamihilator.com

 

[RonK]

How much freespace do you have left on your hard drive ?

 

[Nak]

Hi,

I have found your problem,

"Pk Bell Celeron . 2.60GHz"

Believe it or not, the name Packard Bell is *not* a sign of quality.
Almost every pre installed system you will purchase from them, HP, Tiny,
Time and most others, excluding Dell seem to be setup by monkeys. Your best
bet would be to completely re-install the system. This might sound quite
dramatic but believe me, Packard Bell makes my skin crawl as the majority of
first time users computer problems is down to the system being installed
badly upon receipt, I have fixed *many* simply by setting them all up again
manually!

No manor of virus checking, adware removal and service pack installation
will speed your PC up, it might prevent certain crashes but not all of them.

Nick.

 

[JN]

Thanks for your reply.
I have 13.7 Gb of free space on my hard drive.
J

 

[Supertech]

Hello JN,

Following Shenan's directions they are well thought out. Also I am not
sure how you filled up 20gb of disk but you may also make sure that you do a
disk defrag. This will make your free space back into one large area again.
If you have video or MP3 , that you copy onto your disk then burn to cd and
delete, this leaves free disk space all over the place and nothing large
enough to hold large files in one place so your disk drive has to work very
hard to store files.

Sometime the "not enough memory" refers to your "virtual memory" which is on
the disk.
Other questions that need to be asked are have you "installed anything "
hardware , software , network , etc. It is possible that something here, if
done recently is the problem.
So under the MY Computer (right click) , is an XP feature that allows you to
go back to a previous configuration date. This is the famous "SYSTEM
RESTORE" tab under the properties of My Computer. It has bailed out lots of
folks with issues. It works just great just follow the directions.

Please keep posting to this Thread (your original question) so everyone can
be help by the resolution.

There was one response from "NAK" that appear to be a DELL bigot as I have
gone through Compaq , HP , and Dell systems and unless they are custom
builds they all are software built the same way, mass produced burns from a
master disk image. I would us the "reinstall as a last resort. As most
retail systems do not come with the full XP distribution but just the CD to
re-image your system back to how it was when you first received it new. they
also rely on a section of the hard drive usually a separate partition that
has some of the necessary files on it. Do not delete these nor format the
disk or you will need a full XP rebuilt.

If all else fails call the manufacture for warranty service or the dealer
you purchased it from.

Regards,

Supertech

 

[JN]

Thanks so much for your time.
I think I'll do a defrag. I didn't think I needed to seeing as it's so new.
How often should one defrag?
Also about system restore. I never set a restore point so would it go back
to when I first bought it? Does that mean I have to remove all the Packard
Bell garbage again, Icon's, debranding IE, etc?
And does that mean I have to reinstall all the stuff like Office 03, MSN
etc?
J

 

[Nak]

Hello,

There was one response from "NAK" that appear to be a DELL bigot as I have
gone through Compaq , HP , and Dell systems and unless they are custom
builds they all are software built the same way, mass produced burns from a
master disk image. I would us the "reinstall as a last resort. As most
retail systems do not come with the full XP distribution but just the CD to
re-image your system back to how it was when you first received it new. they
also rely on a section of the hard drive usually a separate partition that
has some of the necessary files on it. Do not delete these nor format the
disk or you will need a full XP rebuilt.

A DELL "bigot" huh? This might have something to do with every
experience I have had with DELL systems being good. Every shop bought
PC should come with the correct software to return it to new, if not
then you need to get in contact with the manufacturer. I have fixed
peoples brand new PC's from the likes of HP and PB as they came with
errors, not all PC's come as they should believe it or not!

Nick.