Slow computer

[Deauville]

I thought this forum section originally included 'computer' in its title so I hope there is a technical wizard out there who can advise me

I don't think that I have an inordinate number of programmes running but my machine is slow (ur so it seems to me) I have at least 60% of my 80g hard drive free and most of the time my Memory Optimzer tells me that at least 60% of my 1.5g of ram is also doing nothing so why does Firefox take so long to fire up and why does my webcam freeze up (we can see and hear our callers but they get a frozen picture of us with sound)? I currently run a 1300  processor but my MB manufacturer's site shows that it will take up to a 3200 - if I upgrade will this speed the thing up?

[suein56]

[quote user="Deauville"]I currently run a 1300  processor but my MB manufacturer's site shows that it will take up to a 3200 - if I upgrade will this speed the thing up? [/quote]

How much RAM memory you have is important; my OH's XP laptop went from sluggish to zippy with the addition of 512 of extra ram with no other changes.

Sue

[Deauville]

I've just installed a 1g card that takes it up to 1.5g and I thought that would fix things but there doesn't seem to be any difference

[Tim]

Memory can make a big difference - but can I ask - have you noticed the machine to be slower over a period of time, or is it something that has suddenly happened? 

Your answer may help in determining whether it has developed as fault, or just needs a clean up.

Regards - Tim

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

If you have a lot of plugins (extras) on Firefox then it will slow your computer down. It's one reason I gave up on Firefox as it is very resource hungry, Try a browser like Opera, it's quicker imo.

Also do the usual spyware/virus checking as you might have a nasty on there stuffing things up.

Download crapcleaner www.ccleaner.com to get rid of all the crap on your computer too.

R.

[Deauville]

A couple of good points there, thanks

Tim, the machine was in serious decline a couple of weeks ago and was making some awful noises so I bit the bullet and installed a new hard drive after ghosting the old one via Norton. As soon as I did that everything worked far more efficiently - no hanging/crashing/ startup problems but still not much faster so that's why I upped the RAM from 768 to 1500. That seemed to sort out the speed a little and made a marked difference to the webcam performance but I've just transferred some photos back onto the C drive and things seem to have slowed again, particularly the webcam which doesn't seem to want to transmi video (I can't believe it's because of the extra space being used by the storage though)

Richard - I'm not really sure I like Firefox! I think I'll try your suggestion about Opera, or maybe even go back to good old clunky I.E. When I installed the software for the webcam and Messenger Live I found I couldn't get the BBC website via Firefox but I could get it through I.E.!

I've also got Vuze and Peer Guardian but they're not running in the background (suggested by someone else)

Thanks both, Richard

[tel]

Hi Deauville,

I see your are computer savvy, however have you done the most basic check for a slowing down PC - Defragging?

Apart from the defrag shipped with the operating system there are many and varied programmes that will do a quicker and better defrag including the free one on the link below:

http://www.download.com/UltimateDefrag-Freeware-Edition/3000-2094_4-10582157.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10840833

Or try this freeware:

http://www.download.com/Advanced-WindowsCare-Personal/3000-2086_4-10407614.html?tag=mncol;pop&cdlPid=10890240

Best of Luck

[Deauville]

Thanks Tel

Yes, I've de-fragged (or at least run the diagnostic which tells me that it doesn't need de-fragging at this time - maybe I'll try another tool like you suggest) I've also run Spybot and I've got Spyware Doctor running in the background, along with Fsecure anti virus and Firewall. Tune-up Utilities suggests I upgrade my processor but that could just be a sales pitch

[Tim]

It's not a 'cure all' but I would give Advanced Windows Care - free edition - a go. It's dead simple to use once downloaded, although I would uncheck the 'Privacy Sweep' box as it removes all your logins which can be a bit of a nuisance. It gives the machine a quick 'once over' including the registry and clears a load of rubbish and junk from the machine, although I would hope you haven't got too much of that with a new hard drive. It's a little more gentle than CC Cleaner.

It also gives you a list of all the programmes that kick in on start up and lets you decide which ones you want and the ones you're not bothered about.

As with all these things, it's important to update it before you use it, but I've installed it on many machines and it's made improvements on all of them mainly with XP, although I do have it installed on this Vista laptop.

I have no connection with this programme other than use it every week.

 

Regards - Tim

[Deauville]

On Tel's recommendation I ran CC Cleaner and it didn't seem to make any difference - which brings me back to my original thought 'will a faster processor speed up my machine?'

Any thoughts anyone?

[AnOther]

All other things being equal then yes, a faster CPU will undoubtedly make a positive difference however 1300 to 3200 seems quite a leap to me. Which MOBO is it and what CPU do you currently have.

I presume you're running XP ?

What is Windows Task Manager telling you (Ctrl+Alt+Del - Processes) in terms of number of processes running and relative CPU resources ?

Tip: click twice on the CPU or Memory headings to place the processes in decending order of resource usage.

[Deauville]

Hi ErnieY

MOBO is an Asrock K7S41 with a 1300 AMD processor - their website states that it will take a model 3200+ processor which is actually 2400 MHz not 3200) I'm running XP pro (genuine!) with SP3 update all sitting on a brand new hard drive that's still 60% free.There's a second hard drive installed (the old one) which has all the original system programmes and settings still installed but it's there as a storage disk and isn't running anything itself.

Task manager shows the computer to be ticking along at between 2 and 40 percent most of the time, depending on what is going on, but when I fire up or shut down a programme it often ramps up to 100% (particularly when launching/closing internet access or switching tabs/websites) That's the slowness that I'm trying to address - any thoughts?

[Gemini_man]

I have very recently had more or less the same symptoms you describe on one of our pc's  also using Firefox as browser. It wasn't just an internet thing, the comp itself often took a long time to do simple jobs. Eventually I changed the internet connection from ethernet to usb, simple change over of cables, and a new installation of our Freebox software. Since then both the pc and the net connection have returned to normal. Having said that, the latest version of Firefox seems a lot more demanding than previous versions (IE the same) and certain pages that have video running on their home page, The Telegraph for example, can bring other pages virtually to a halt with a 2 mega connection.

Good luck with solving your problem.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Perhaps it just needs a clean format.

I know people who format regularly, every few months.

Considering doing it myself on my laptop as it has slowed a fair bit.

It's a good way of getting rid of all the rubbish it's collected over time.

R.

[AnOther]

Understood on the MOBO, good old AMD !

I wouldn't necessarily take the CPU ramping up to 100% as indicative of a problem, why wouldn't it give you full benefit when you ask it to do something ?

Richard's suggestion is a good one but if you do go down that route then use Norton to make initial and then regular images so you can always go back to happier times.

I take it you've tried using System Restore to go back to before the slowness really took hold ?

One thing you might like to try is Autoruns looking particularly at the Logon and Services tabs and unchecking anything you don't want or recognise.

[Ron Avery]

There is another thread about slow computers and the internet and others have also posted about E mails not coming through and connectioms dropping etc, so I am going to be bold and say I don't believe its got anything to do with people's PCs in many cases, or their set ups, my PCs have been playing up for a couple of weeks, since the world banking crisis started in fact, either running extremely well in the off peaks or downright slow, both of them.

Both have virus checkers, have been defragged and scanned.  We had a planned power outage on Friday and after rebooting both PCs ran well on Friday evening and over the weekend with really good download speeds, now this morning when everyone is back to work they are both slow and either not connecting with orange at all or failing to open sites.  Surely this must be a system or capacity or telephone usage issue with Orange or is the WWW running out of space? It cannot be everybody who has a duff PC can it?

[Théière]

You just can't beat saving all your work, email addys etc and stripping the whole lot out and doing a re install of the operating system and software. Nice new registry without all rubbish built up will run like a TGV.

 

[AnOther]

No argument in principal but it can be a total PATA getting all those handy apps and little tweaks, many of which you've long forgotten the origin of or how you implemented them, back onboard [blink]

Belarc Advisor is a handy app for listing everything you have installed - and I mean EVERYTHING - it also does a very comprehensive security audit and advises of issues.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

I've never used backup software, where it backs up your entire HD before. As I say I'm considering formatting my HD, but if I backed up my entire HD, and then reloaded it all, would the same problems exist, ie cluttered registry etc?

[AnOther]

Yes it would. A drive image, which is what we are talking about, is a byte for byte copy of the drive and thus will be replicated faithfully onto a new one. Only the potential extra speed of a newer drive might show a small improvement in performance.

The ideal strategy is to start with a clean install with all your essential applications then immediately image it. You then make further images either at regular intervals or just before you install significant new software or make changes.

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Ah, that makes sense. Obviously too late at the mo, but as soon as the format is done and my essential software is on, do the backup then. That would save a lot of time for future formats too as it normally takes me at least a day to do the lot.

[Jotty]

I use Acronis true image and keep one copy on the D drive and one on an external hard drive.

This has been very valuable on at least 3 occasions, but as you have said it's worth doing it at a moment when you are sure is nice and clean and working well.

There is an incremental option so you can save your basic set up, and then every month or so save the additions you have made, but always keeping the option of going back to an earlier stage.

[giantpanda]

Hi!

If not already mentioned:

Download :Tuneup Utilities on basis of a 30 day trial.

http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/

And see if this helps.

Yours,

giantpanda