Operating System Performance

[Guest]

Sometimes my computer's performance is super fast and sometimes it is super
slow. My hard drive has almost nothing on it, as it is a brand new machine.
Other times it wont shut down without pushing the button on the tower. I
have noticed that some of the programs in my C-Drive are listed twice or even
three times by identifying them with a (2), (3), etc. HELP!

 

[Guest]

Sometimes my computer's performance is super fast and sometimes it is super
slow. My hard drive has almost nothing on it, as it is a brand new machine.
Other times it wont shut down without pushing the button on the tower. I
have noticed that some of the programs in my C-Drive are listed twice or even
three times by identifying them with a (2), (3), etc. HELP!

It could be lots of things. What version of XP are you running (e.g. SP1,
SP2, or something else), and is it up to date? Have you done a sweep for
viruses, worms, trojans, adware, or spyware? When your machine starts up at
bootup, does it load lots of additional oftware? Have you used Event Viewer
to check your error logs and correct whatever errors it finds? Etc. In
short, other than the fact THAT you have a problem, you haven't given enough
information for anyone to identify what the problem is and therefore give you
more specific solutions.

Ken

 

[Guest]

Sorry, I am new to this. I am running XP(SP2), I ran windows update about 4
days ago, I have Norton, Spybot & AdAware which I run regularly. Norton
found & blocked a trojan that was trying to access my compuer about 3 days
ago, but I was having these problems prior to that. I don't hink that my
computer loads a bunch of additinal software at bootup. At least, there is
none listed under "start Up". And no, I have never run event viewer, as I
had no idea wht it was or what it was for. I guess I will try it now.
Please keep in mind that I am not the most computer savvy fellow, but I am
learning. Thank you for your post, Ken.

 

[Guest]

Okay, I ran event viewer and, yes, there are some errors and warnings listed.
However htis is just information. Now that I've got it how do I correct it?
Windows98 had a great tool clled ScanDisk that prompted the user to
automatically fix such problems. Why did they take that away? It was so easy.

 

[Guest]

Okay, I ran event viewer and, yes, there are some errors and warnings listed.
However htis is just information. Now that I've got it how do I correct it?
Windows98 had a great tool clled ScanDisk that prompted the user to
automatically fix such problems. Why did they take that away? It was so easy.

Scandisk fixed only problems with your disk, not Windows generally, but come
to think of it maybe that's one of your problems. In XP, it is a program
called chkdsk. You can access it from the start menu: click on My Computer,
then right click on your hard drive, select "properties," select the "Tools"
tab, click on the "error-checking" button, and run the program. If you want
to be sure that your disk is error-free, check both boxes and run the
program. You will get a message saying that the system isn't locked and you
need to reboot your computer before the program can run. Click "OK" or
"Yes," then reboot your computer. Depending on the size of your hard drive,
it could take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours, but don't interrupt
it.

If this isn't the problem, then we need to know what the specific error
messages are. I'll resopnd to this point separately.

Ken

 

[Guest]

Sorry, I am new to this. I am running XP(SP2), I ran windows update about 4
days ago, I have Norton, Spybot & AdAware which I run regularly. Norton
found & blocked a trojan that was trying to access my compuer about 3 days
ago, but I was having these problems prior to that. I don't hink that my
computer loads a bunch of additinal software at bootup. At least, there is
none listed under "start Up". And no, I have never run event viewer, as I
had no idea wht it was or what it was for. I guess I will try it now.
Please keep in mind that I am not the most computer savvy fellow, but I am
learning. Thank you for your post, Ken.

I just responded to the scandisk portion of this comment in a separate
reply. You also mentioned that you have now run event viewer and found
errors. Now we need to know what those error messages were, although there
is also a self-help feature which you can access by clicking on the log entry
and then clicking the link to the online Help and Support Center. If they
know what the problem is, they will send you some information on how to fix
it.

Nevertheless, if the problem is drastically slower performance, it is about
99 percent certain that it is related either to errors and junk on your hard
drive, crudware that somehow got on your machine despite your (good)
defenses, or a software conflict of some kind. Have you downloaded SP2 and
all available updates and security patches? And what version of Norton are
you running, 2003, 2004, or 2005? I have read about conflicts between 2003
and some 2004 versions of Norton and Windows XP SP2.

Two additional things you can try. First, clean up and optimize your hard
drive. After running chkdsk (see my previous response), type in %temp% at
your Run box in the Start Up menu and manually delete everything you can.
Run Disk Cleanup and clean up as much junk as you can. And when you run Disk
Cleanup, also right-click on "More Options" and select the cleanup for the
System Restore option (you need to do this first when you run Disk Cleanup).
Then defrag your hard drive.

Second, the Start Up folder isn't going to contain all of the programs that
load at startup! You also need to type in "msconfig" (without the quotes) in
the Run box on the Start menu, go to the far right tab called "Startup," and
there see what other programs are loading up at startup. If you see
something there that you know or are reasonably sure doesn't belong there,
uncheck the box next to it, reboot your machine, and see if the problem goes
away.

Ken

 

[Guest]

I did all the things you suggested. Everything ran fine for a couple of
hours. I shut down my system for abou 3 hours and when I came
back...problems galore once again. It seems that when I get one problem
fixed it just paves the way for another one. I can't make heads or tails of
any of them and my head is about to explode. Can someone please tell me how
to get someone on this Remote assistance thing, so I can have a person who
knows everything about these things take a look at it. I'm just not getting
it done. Frustrated!!!

 

[Guest]

I did all the things you suggested. Everything ran fine for a couple of
hours. I shut down my system for abou 3 hours and when I came
back...problems galore once again. It seems that when I get one problem
fixed it just paves the way for another one. I can't make heads or tails of
any of them and my head is about to explode. Can someone please tell me how
to get someone on this Remote assistance thing, so I can have a person who
knows everything about these things take a look at it. I'm just not getting
it done. Frustrated!!!

I just hate it when stuff like this happens on my machine, too. If you did
everything I suggested and you still haven't solved the problems, the next
most likely suspect is rogue software -- not crudware per se, but just plain
bad software running in the background and giving XP constipation.

So, the next thing I would suggest is to go to your "Add or Remove Programs"
and remove (uninstall) every application that you don't normally use, except
don't uninstall any previous Windows updates!

Once you do that, then update Windows XP itself by going to Windows Update.
Make sure you select the custom option and get any downloads that you think
you may need, but skip anything that you don't know that you need or want
based on the descriptions. In particular, if you get the option to
download new drivers for your hardware, get them -- bad or outdated drivers
could be your problem, or at least one of your problems..

If you have Microsoft Office, go to the Office website and update that
software, too. And ditto for any remaining software. Usually there will be
a feature (normally under the help menu) that enables you to check for
updates.

If all this doesn't work, I have one or two remaining ideas before resorting
to going medieval on your system, i.e. recommending the nuclear option
(clean reinstall). And don't do that if someone more knowledgeable than I am
steps in and gives you some additional advice.

Ken