Slow Computer

[Guest]

It takes forever for my computer to do anything. Opening and closing
programs takes way longer than it should. Loading Windows takes about 20
min. I reformatted and its still acting slow. I reformatted using the
(quick) option because the regular way way would take days. What could be
the reasons why its so slow, is it a software or hardware problem and what is
the diffrence between the (quick) and regular way of reformatting?

 

[DL]

The 'regular' format should not take more than 1hr, assuming you dont have a
huge! hd.
Sounds like a hw problem
Test your memory, memtest86+
Test your hd, using the hd manu utility available on their site
And I'm assuming you have current AV and malaware apps.

 

[DatabaseBen]

what is your pagefile settings and size?

 

[glee]

I suggest the first thing you do is make sure the hard drive is OK, by running the
diagnostics from the hard drive manufacturer's web site.

If you don't know what brand the drive is, you can download the limited-use free
edition of OnTrack Data Advisor from this location:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor

When you click the download link on that page for Data Advisor 5.0 Free edition, you
will be taken to a page to register with the OnTrack site, then you will be able to
download the diskette creator file.

The downloads are diskette creators. They are to be run once from a working Windows
system and will guide you through the process of extracting the Data Advisor onto a
3.5" floppy disk.

Download and Use Instructions:
http://www.ontrack.com/dataadvisor/downloadinfo.asp

As far as I know, Maxtor's diagnostics will also work with any brand of drive, and
the older versions of Seagate Seatools also, but I am not sure about the new
version.

Hard Drive Diagnostic Programs by Vendor:

OnTrack Data Advisor:
http://www.ontrack.com/freesoftware/#dataadvisor
IBM/Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools:
http://support.wdc.com/download/
Quantum/Maxtor PowerMax:
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/powermax.htm
Seagate SeaTools:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Download:
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/B7a.html
http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/seatoold_reg.html