how to make my computer run faster

[jhutch2115]

Hey folks I need some tech support here. My computer tends to run slow dispite having cable, a good size hard drive,Nortin, and a  P4 w/530 processor. I think that I have picked up junk software applications that are dragging me down. So, I need to know how do I go through and make sure I don't have these additional crap dragging me down. Essentialy I want to do what the Geek Squad and other techs charge $80 to $100 to clean up your computer and have it run more efficiantly. I know sometghing is dragging it down because at times it will run real fast but lately, I can make a sandwich between down loads. Thanks in advance, Jim:) P.S. everytime my computer dosen't work well I swear I can hear Gates laughing at me!

[spc]

 
Step 1. box up your PC and ship it back to wherever it came from.
Step 2. visit Amazon.com and buy a Mac (cheaper than Apple.com  )
Step 3. feel rejuvenated in the knowledge that Bill Gates is a sack of shaZam!  and you're no longer supporting his sinful ways.
Step 4.  and most importantly  STOP INSTALLING USELESS CRAP AND VISITING TONS OF PORN SITES.....regardless of PC or Mac dozens of useless apps and spyware will slow shaZam! the f%$k down.

download one of the hundreds of free spyware detectors and get rid of that shaZam!.

[Weston]

if you do a "ctrl alt delete" while she is running and select the processes tab, you can look at all the applications that are running and each one will say what percentage of processing power its using, and how much memory its taking up. this may help you find where the problem is coming from. It probably wont help internet slowness tho.

Thank you oh zealous mac user for the helpful suggestion of just buying a mac because they are so amazing...

[yamahonkawazuki]

if you do a "ctrl alt delete" while she is running and select the processes tab, you can look at all the applications that are running and each one will say what percentage of processing power its using, and how much memory its taking up. this may help you find where the problem is coming from. It probably wont help internet slowness tho.

Thank you oh zealous mac user for the helpful suggestion of just buying a mac because they are so amazing...

and so pricey. had they like the evil ibm allowed multiple builders, tehn it would be different. meh NVM the mac user, hes a fanboy  , but do as stated above, and if you use P2P sites, run BOTH spybot search and destroy, and adaware, one after the other, not at same time. and run AVG as well. ( antivirus). try to avoid P2P sites whenever possible, spyware once established can bea bit of a bear to remove

[spc]

Yeah, Mac puts out a pricey product, but you get what you pay for...........like courteous support staff at retail locations and over the phone.  It's not for everybody, whatever, I enjoy trouble free computing.

[yamahonkawazuki]

enjoy it while it lasts, hackers and idiots of the like are seeing the trends and likes and whatnot, and are working tehir ways in. so eventually it will be a high priced pc lol. i love macs myself too, ive had many. but if i get anbotherone, ill jus build a "hackintosh", not hard to do, and 100% legal, but 1/4th the cost usually. when i get my med settlement soon, i am building my quad core gaming system, and may build the hackintosh wiht this unit. ( dual core opteron cpu and such ) and relegate it to server status

[ohgood]

Hey folks I need some tech support here. My computer tends to run slow dispite having cable, a good size hard drive,Nortin, and a  P4 w/530 processor. I think that I have picked up junk software applications that are dragging me down. So, I need to know how do I go through and make sure I don't have these additional crap dragging me down. Essentialy I want to do what the Geek Squad and other techs charge $80 to $100 to clean up your computer and have it run more efficiantly. I know sometghing is dragging it down because at times it will run real fast but lately, I can make a sandwich between down loads. Thanks in advance, Jim:) P.S. everytime my computer dosen't work well I swear I can hear Gates laughing at me!

a p4 530 should fly with xp on it. norton is slowing it down. removing norton is not a good idea though. time for a fresh install. sorry.

xp pro, with sp3, and AVG anti-virus. your router should serve as all the firewall (xp's firewall isn't horrid) you need.

do not browse porn.
do not browse warez.
do not browse p2p, or use limewire/p2p apps.
do not open email attachements.
do not install ANYTHING from RealPlayer or Sony.
do not install anything from a website with ActiveX.
keep your applications to a minimum, and keep them updated.

OR:

buy a used macintosh laptop/desktop. USED, as in, 1/2 to 1/4 the cost of new. i have a small family of mac laptops/desktops. the oldest is a 800Mhz machine (almost 7 years old now) that still runs the most recent version of all software (including Leopard which is most recent) just fine. it's actually as snappy as a modern xp machine. no kiddin.



i used to be a linux zealot, decided it wasn't really all that grand, and now enjoy computing on macs. yes, there is no need for anti-virus on macs, no need to defrag, no need to be a computer mechanic at all. you just use it, and it works.

the only time i've suffered a problem was when i deleted a few files in /etc/* that i shouldn't have. it was rectified by copying the files over from the other two cloned laptops.

i take that back, i corrupted a iPhoto library by removing a external RAID before a rsync was complete, again, that was my dumb fault.

cloned you ask ? yes, all three laptops are exact software clones. meaning, when i check email on one, the other two update the 'read' vs 'unread'. the bookmarks are the same. desktop images the same. files the same. everything.

there, i plugged a product with no benefit to myself at all.

ps- I hear windows 7 sucks a good deal less than vista, almost to the point of being as non-sucky as xp.

[simon79]

...

i used to be a linux zealot, decided it wasn't really all that grand,

...

What made you change your mind about Linux?
Just curious, I've been using Ubuntu 8.10 on my PC for some weeks now. So far so good.

[scottpA_GS]

 I agree w/ ohgood..

1> Download a free copy of AVG
2> remove old antivirus before installing the new one, also remove any crap progrmas like PC-fix, computer tool box or Winhelper any crap like that... Anything that looks like generic ad generated software DELETE! (uninstall) even if you bought it at the store. its all JUNK! Also in Ad/remove programs... remove any strange looking programs like shopping tool bars, any extra tool/task bars, screen saver generator crap and other....

3>reboot after all those un-installs and install AVG
4> update and run a scan... in safe mode if needed..
5> download adware by lavasoft install, update and run
6> download Spybot S&D update, imunise and run

run/do  Each once at a time.. or you will really have a slow PC 

I have also used ( Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware ) a few times and it seems to work VERY well...

ALL ARE FREE!!!! It just takes your time, and you have to keep at it every few weeks or so...



Those should be the only programs you need to protect and keep your PC clean  Use Windows Auto update and install them as needed... As long as you have all that goin you will be fine... I use Limewire, and Bittorrents all that time and have no trouble.. if I think I opened crappy I I delete it and run all the above programs to check things out 

Also.. how much RAM do you have? RAM will help ALOT! you can never have too much... max it out! I have 8GB and still want more!!! 

Also, being on cable internet your speed wil vary... check it at diff times a day with http://www.speedtest.net Cable is usually a shared system... meaning if your neighbors are downloading all kinda Pron or many of them are on at the same time It can have a BIG impact on your speed..

 

[Jay_wolf]

I was just going to add with Scott , ram makes a huge huge amount of difference , when i got the Vaio Upgraded from 1gb to 2gb , it felt like a new computer ,  if u have one large hard drive , have it put into to 2 partitions , say C and D, put all ur music and documents on to D. and just keep windows on C . my vaio is like lightning!

Spyware is a Buddha Loves You , that tends to slow things alot , if ur a core 2 duo , it helps when running multi processes , Eg Windows and a anti virus scan

[natedawg120]

yeah norton anything blows, i use the symantec corp edition; same company but doesn't give you the drama, avg is a good alternative to norton.   

As for your current slow down i would need more detailed specs on OS, processor, ram, and hdd usage(how full).  There are a couple reasons things slow down and i would say that to run XP sp3 well you need at least 512MB of RAM preferably 1GB to 2GB.  If you are a chronic downloader and have your OS hdd more than around 80% full you will notice a slowdown, the further past that the slower the OS will be.  There are lots of other things bu the last thing is key.

if it has been more than a year since the last reformat and there has been a gradual slow down i would just say reformat the thing.  You will spend less time backing up your data reformating and reinstalling everything than you would trying to figure out why and what is causing the slow down.  plus if you install the right software on a clean install right off it will last a little better and if you have a little IT know how in you look up disk cloning, you get it set up the way you want once and then the next time its a duck you just take 10 minutes and restore your image.

[makenzie71]

my computer is a workhorse...it goes through all the shaZam!.  Lots of P2P stuff and it's the test bed for anything that goes onto my wife's pc, so I get a lot of viruses and bs.  I have an assortment of programs that help me keep it clean and running.

First thing, though, is defrag the system.  If it's been years since the last format, defrag it and see if that helps.

Outside of that, d/l and run the following:


Superantispyware
CCleaner
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
HijackThis

You can get all of them from techspot.  Run them in that order, make any suggested repairs, and save log files to post after you've done it.   This is for viruses and malware and corrupt issues, though.  If your computer is slow because it's a POS, there's not much we can do about it.

And it's really lame when anyone says to just sell it and buy a mac like that will fix all the problems.  Macs may not be as susceptible to malware and such but you ignore the fact that less than 1% of computer problems stem from virus and malware.  The rest is hardware issues common to both brands and human error that nothing can cure completely.

[yamahonkawazuki]

+1 to everyhting mentioned above. i know its a pain in the ass and or time consuming, BUT in many cases a fresh install, THEN the aforementioned helps as well, im due for a reformant soon, i do this every 6 mos or so, unless needed sooner. but im putting it off until my rebuild, ( quad core etc, then a fresh install

[ohgood]

...

i used to be a linux zealot, decided it wasn't really all that grand,

...

What made you change your mind about Linux?
Just curious, I've been using Ubuntu 8.10 on my PC for some weeks now. So far so good.

Best I remember my heart wandered after a: emerge -uD world   

which is/was the command to update (recompile) everything on the gentoo system. i don't -not- like linux, i just found mac os was an easier way to be lazy.

gentoo, suse and debillian (debian) were my favorites. ubuntu has a polish like no other turd (said with nothing but love, really).

the real kicker is updating a mac to current means a 3-4 minute wait and ONE reboot. no kernel re-compiles, no database corruptions, no 4-5 day recompiles for KDE.


******

best thing linux taught me was the value of "dd". you can data dump anything, anywhere, anytime, even over a secure shell. rcp, rsync, ssh, dd, and a few others mean dumping an image or file/directory to another machine 800 miles away is breeze, and fairly secure.

300Mb images of kinda important data just zoom through the wires and they're only an md5sum away from being trusted !

[Cal Price]

I've done much of the above advice including installing spybot and run speed is now reasonable, however it still takes forever to log-in, I'm using a PC with "Windows XP Office" using just two tabs, I'm sure it used to be a lot quicker - any advice??

[makenzie71]

cal...what kind of computer and what are it's specs?  Same question to the OP.

[Cal Price]

mak, It's a Dell dimension 3000, a fairly cheap item about four years old. Intel celleron, I don't do games or the like just keep documents, music and pictures. 266 Ghs 512 RAM - whatever that means   

I've "cleaned up" and the machine tells me I have no need to defragment.

[makenzie71]

Well one thing you can do is go get a 1gig stick of RAM and install it.  It's an easy process that I can take a video of if you'd need it, and it'll pick up a pretty good bit of speed.

Is the computer used for the internet?  If so, even only a few years old, a computer has a tendency to pick up little annoyances that don't really register as issues...and they, individually, aren't really.  But when you get 100 different things using a small percentage of your available memory it gets troublesome.  Have you run any of the programs I listed above?  Start with CCLeaner.  That program will delete all of your offline saved content..cookies and the like...and will clean up your registry.

[Cal Price]

Cheers for the advice mac, i have toyed with the idea of adding RAM, I'll look into that.
yes I do use it on the net but not a great deal, a bit of mail, this forum and a couple similar plus some shopping but not a huge amount.

[Cal Price]

mac, I ran that CCCleaner, it found 873 problems  the big ones being 375 empty registry keys and 384 windows startup items. I am a bit reluctant to subscribe as all these free downloads problem-solvers seem to find loads of problems that are not realy problems, maybe I'll just try increasing the RAM and see what happens, any thoughts??