My computer runs like molasses dripping on a cold day! (UGH) what do I do?

[Tom McBride]

Hi, I read about this site in the LA Times....gave a great review.....
My computer runs SOOOO slow, I have tried defrag, scan disc, adaware, I run
Norton Internet securities and frequent Microsoft Updates for Win XP, I
don't know what else to do.

Any suggestions?.. Thanks in advance for any and all constructive input.


Kind regards,

Tom McBride
Long Beach, Ca.

 

[Tom R]

Tom,
You didn't say if you are running an antivirus program, but
even if you are, run at least one of these free online programs.


1. http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/ ( I use this one)

2. http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm

3. http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

4. http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

In addition to AdAware you should use SpyBot Search and Destroy.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Good Luck,
Another Tom

 

[Mark Delaney]

Hi, I read about this site in the LA Times....gave a great review.....
My computer runs SOOOO slow...

<snip>

Hi Tom,

First, you may want to downlaoad Stinger from McAfee and run the program in
safe mode. Get stinger from here:
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
then click "Download Stinger.exe" in the page, save it on your C:
drive, then restart your computer in Safe mode. You get into safe mode
after a restart by pressing F8 immediately after the initial BIOS
configuration screens. Once in Safe mode, logon as Administrator and run
Stinger. This will eliminate virues in the eventuality that your antivirus
program has been disabled by some unfriendly event or program. When done,
restart in normal mode.

Check for worms:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/mydoom.mspx
and click "Check my PC for infections"

then read up the page from the following link and try to implement all the
good advice you find there to get rid of spyware.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx

You then regain the intial speed you were used to in better days.

PS: If all this fails, please post detailed symptoms in this thread and we
will try to get it right in round 2.


Mark Delaney, MCT

 

[Malke]

Hi, I read about this site in the LA Times....gave a great review.....
My computer runs SOOOO slow, I have tried defrag, scan disc, adaware,
I run Norton Internet securities and frequent Microsoft Updates for
Win XP, I don't know what else to do.

Any suggestions?.. Thanks in advance for any and all constructive
input.


Kind regards,

Tom McBride
Long Beach, Ca.

You've gotten good answers regarding searching for malware, but also
look at whether your hard drive is using DMA or PIO. This is explained
very well by MVP Hans-Georg Michna here:

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm

Malke

 

[Papa]

A few other things you can do are:

(1) go into your Windows folder and delete the contents of the Temp folder.
(2) go into your Documents and settings folder / User subfolder (usually
your name) / Local Settings folder and delete the contents of the Temporary
Internet Files folder and the contents of the Temp folder.
(3) if you use IE as your browser, open IE, click on Tools / Internet
Options and then Delete Files, Delete Cookies, and Clear History.

Hope this helps.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hi, I read about this site in the LA Times....gave a great review.....
My computer runs SOOOO slow, I have tried defrag, scan disc, adaware, I run
Norton Internet securities and frequent Microsoft Updates for Win XP, I
don't know what else to do.

Any suggestions?.. Thanks in advance for any and all constructive input.

One I think worth checking in cases of extreme slowness is to go to BIOS
setup and make sure that processor Level 2 (or even level one) cache has
not been turned off: that is capable of making a Pentium act like an
abacus

 

[R. McCarty]

1st - Check System/Application Event logs (Red Icons, denote
error(s). Fix/'Resolve all.
2nd - TaskMgr - check processes Tab - Use MSConfig to trim
back Startups/Watchdogs that may be "Hogging" resources
3rd - Do a Chkdsk /F or /R to resolve any Dirty Flags or possible
data inconsistencies.
4th - Update primary drivers (Chipset/Video and or DirectX).