Help! My computer is SLLLLLOOOOOWWW....

Casey

Casey

~*MrS. LuRz*~
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I have a new Dell Insiron 600 bought back in July
Intel Pentium M processor 1.60GHz, 504 MB of RAM
The only really large programs I installed were Jasc Paint shop (185MB) and Microsoft Office XP (145MB) and Java 2 Runtime Environment (136MB) (<----don't even know what that is)
Of the 51.9 GB on my C drive, 41.8 GB are still free.
I have ran defrag, disk clean up and gotten rid of all the "free trial junk" that came with the computer....what else can I do? when I click the IE icon it takes a while to load, what can I do to make my lappy run like it is only 6 months old??? Thanks!
 
right click on task bar, select task manager and in the Windows task manager window you can check:

Processes tab : all the processes you are running. check mem usage for each process and see if it can be ended. If you are unsure what that process does, google it first before ending it.

Performance tab: you can check the memory details [total, available etc]

Applications: programs u r running..

Most likely the problem is with your RAM..not with your hard drive...

click start -> Run... and type msconfig. In the System Configuration Utility window, click Startup tab and uncheck all the unwanted programs that you dont want to run at windows startup

Hope that helps.....
 
And sign up for daily and weekly tips on www.komando.com. They are free, she is a computer genius, and you will be surprised at how quickly you learn things like this. Good luck!
 
you might just have some program that got accidentaly installed and is making all your other programs slow.

these are the free programs i use that i recommend:
Spybot: Search & Destroy
Ad-Aware SE Personal
and if thats not enough try having some tests on your computer done. kind of like a dr checkup... go to www.pcpitstop.com click on the key (located on the top left) and register. then its going to run a test that lasts 5 min's max and it checks everything on your comp. Once its finished, its going to have flags for each category (ie Green = Good... Red = bad... yellow = suggestion, etc)

in one of those pages it also tells you what the heck those abbreviations mean on windows task manager (the thing that pops up when you press CTRL+ALT+DEL) and it says if it should be there or not... example- explorer.exe is what runs windows basically, so dont press end process on that one hehe.

or, i shouldve asked... does it only run slow on internet explorer? if so , try downloading www.firefox.com and using that, maybe IE is being slow for some reason.

Hope that helps, if you need more help feel free to pm me =]
 
you dont have enough ram, i would go either 768 mb or 1 gig. that is all you need, then you dont have to worry about all the crap thats running in the background.

and if you are running norton deathware, get rid of it (although after removing it, it will still have stuff in the background that will make some programs still not work), then install AVG virus antivirus free edition and get free daily virus updates, much more efficient than norton, scans your email, can schedule scans, etc. and doesnt slow your computer down 30% like norton.
 
I have done msconfig before I forgot to mention that though, btw what are the relevent programs that I HAVE to have at startup?? some things I had no clue what they are and was afraid to disable them.

eabu said:
you dont have enough ram, i would go either 768 mb or 1 gig. that is all you need, then you dont have to worry about all the crap thats running in the background.
Click to expand...

How do I go about doing that? buying it and installing it?

Thanks
 
Casey said:
I have done msconfig before I forgot to mention that though, btw what are the relevent programs that I HAVE to have at startup?? some things I had no clue what they are and was afraid to disable them.
Click to expand...
Casey, download HijackThis and run it. You will want to save a log file. Copy and paste the log file into a PM or post here. I can help you through this part.

Someone else might want to discuss installing RAM right now since I am going home! If I don't see any response to the RAM issue, I'll try to remember to write something up tomorrow.
 
Casey said:
How do I go about doing that? buying it and installing it?

Thanks
Click to expand...

There is a panel on the bottem of your computer for easy access to your ram.

If your computer is a Dell Inspiron 600m, you will need PC2100 (266MHz) DDR SODIMM notebook memory. I would buy one 512 MB chip, but look inside your notebook and see what chips you have. Hopefully, you have one 512 chip and not two 256 chips. There are only 2 slots for memory, BTW. Shop around for a chip, or wait for any specials, up to you if it is urgent.

The programs you listed and the memory they hold on your computer does not translate to what they actually use in terms of ram. A photoshop/paint program, even though it occupies disk space of 150 mb, will actually require 1 to 2 gigs of ram memory. If ram memory is used up and no longer available, it switches to virtual memory (hard disk memory) which is why your hard drive spins like crazy when you run out of ram memory and things slow down. Maximizing ram memory minimizes this scenerio. All computers use virtual memory all the time, its normal, but increasing the ram as much as possible minimizes virtual memory hard disk usage. OK, I think I beat that to death.

Going through the normal protocol of getting rid of viruses, adware, spyware (run BOTH spybot and adaware), and minimizing useless apps that install at startup is a good habit too. You can always Google the .exe apps that are running processes in Windows Task Manager. There are many sites that explain what each of these .exe apps are doing and the danger level for each.

But I really think its the ram. All laptops usually come with 512 MB of ram. Increasing ram to at least 768 mb or 1 gb, in my experiences, minimizes the hard drive crunching and waiting.
 
also try and have as few as possible icons open in the system tray at a time, this can also slow your computer down
 
Casey said:
Java 2 Runtime Environment (136MB) (<----don't even know what that is)
Click to expand...

Java is a universal programming language. Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, etc each have their own programming language so when you program an application in the particular language, they will only run on computers running the particular operating system. The Java environment, when loaded in any of these operating systems, acts like an operating system that will run anything programmed in Java. So when you create an application in Java, any computer running any operating system that has the "Java Environment" loaded in the background can run your Java application. This is where Microsoft is threatened, ie, when programmers switch to Java, and consumers are free to choose any operating system, because they can just run Java applications, rather than Microsoft applications. Yahoo Mail Beta is an example of a running Java application. Google has proposed going into the software market with Java applications. Microsoft has created a Java language that only works on Windows machines, but Sun Microsystem fought this, to keep Java universal. This, just one of the reasons Microsoft has been called evil.
 
Casey said:
btw what are the relevent programs that I HAVE to have at startup?? some things I had no clue what they are and was afraid to disable them.
Click to expand...

this site tells you what alot of the programs are for

linky
 
nigdonht said:
also try and have as few as possible icons open in the system tray at a time, this can also slow your computer down
Click to expand...

getting rid of the icons in the tray just removes the icons, the app usually is still running in the background, without the icon in the tray. Unless, you go into the preferences of that particular app and specify it to not load at startup.
 
ad aware is the key...i bet you have tons of spyware installed.
 
Casey, my boyfriend is a computer genius. He just upgrades a 7 year old computer, and made it like new for my father.. If you are still having problems, email me at [email protected] and tell me the problems you are still having and I am 99% he can tell you how to fix them, either by email or IM. Thanks
 
Thank you guys so much for your help, I dont have the time right now to do everything suggested but I will do it this weekend and get back to everyone!
 
Sometimes there are indexing programs running. Let your computer sit for a couple of hours so they can do their thing.

Also, once you load your computer you should check to see how much memory is free.
 
I am a Network Administrator for Omni Medical Systems and have seen this problem alot lately since everyone has broadband internet now. About 90% of the time Slowness out of the blue is caused by a Trojan sucking all your resources. I would recommed downloading "Moosofts The Cleaner" from http://www.moosoft.com/products/cleaner/download/

The program is free for 30 days and scans your hard drive and removes all known trojans. After downloading it, you should performs its live update function so it can detect more recent Trojans. If you have a Trojan, the Trojan Program may be allowing a Hacker to use your PC as a "Dummy PC". If this is the case your PC could be sending out Millions of SPAM Emails that appears to be comming from you to Millions of people. This will definitly use up your PC's resources and cause it to sloooow down, and could result in your ISP terminating your Internet Account.

After this you can run other programs like Adware and spybot and Regcleaner.
 
Casey said:
I have a new Dell Insiron 600 bought back in July
Intel Pentium M processor 1.60GHz, 504 MB of RAM
The only really large programs I installed were Jasc Paint shop (185MB) and Microsoft Office XP (145MB) and Java 2 Runtime Environment (136MB) (<----don't even know what that is)
Of the 51.9 GB on my C drive, 41.8 GB are still free.
I have ran defrag, disk clean up and gotten rid of all the "free trial junk" that came with the computer....what else can I do? when I click the IE icon it takes a while to load, what can I do to make my lappy run like it is only 6 months old??? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi Casey, I am the 'computer genius' :sus: that my g/f told you about (I'm logged in under her name). I just finished throwing together a step-by-step computer optimization tutorial that you may want to look at.

http://www.geocities.com/br_dalamar_br/PCHealth/index.html

It will free up a ton of RAM, your processor will not work as hard, boot times will be cut in half or more, and certain security risks will be taken care of...and it works for brand new machines as well (not just old ones). I also list a step-by-step guide of certain procedures that should be done periodically to keep you computer running like new (with links to free optimizing software). This means better overall system speed and stability.

There is a lot of reading if you actually wish to learn exactly what the changes are doing but you can always skip to the good parts if you already know or don't feel like reading. It is written to be easy enough for anyone to be able to use and only takes about 15-20 minutes to perform.

If there are specific problems that you are having, email me at [email protected] and describing the problems and I'll be happy to walk you thru the step-by-step fixes for them.

Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
morriefisher said:
Sometimes there are indexing programs running. Let your computer sit for a couple of hours so they can do their thing.

Also, once you load your computer you should check to see how much memory is free.
Click to expand...

Windows' Indexing Service, for one, is a resource hog and is only needed for web servers and database servers. It indexes every file on your computer and even indexes the contents within text files so that you can search for a particular file using specific phrases or words within that file...utterly useless for the common user and a waste of CPU and RAM.

It can be disabled by...

1:) Click START

2:) Click RUN

3:) Type SERVICES.MSC

4:) Scroll down to INDEXING SERVICES

5:) Right-click on it and select PROPERTIES

6:) In the pulldown menu that says STARTUP TYPE select DISABLED

7:) Click APPLY & then OK

8:) Restart the computer for it to take effect.

Windows' Task Scheduler is another one. It runs every 8 minutes checking for scheduled tasks to perform...a HUGE waste of system resources.

If it isn't used or needed, it can be disabled as described above...just look for 'Task Scheduler' instead.

For a whole list of Windows' services that can/should be disabled to free up a ton of RAM (and other optimizations), check out my page at http://www.geocities.com/br_dalamar_br/PCHealth/index.html
 
aZTEK said:
does it only run slow on internet explorer? if so , try downloading www.firefox.com and using that, maybe IE is being slow for some reason.
Click to expand...

Agreed, Firefox is your best bet. It works like IE and even looks a little like IE, but is much more secure and totally customizable in every aspect :D. Download it and you can kiss spyware/adware goodbye. It completely ignores the ActiveX controls that spyware creators use to get in thru Internet Explorer.

I am 9 months totally spyware free with Firefox and counting...

The ONLY reason I use Internet Explorer is for Microsoft Updates (can only be done using IE).
 
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