Home › Forums › Archives › Computer Support › Computer Support Discussion › help!! my computer is slow!!
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May 27, 2005 at 1:56 am #18447mckunt03Member
I own a Dell 4600C Dimension desktop… I got this computer during summer of 2003, before I went off to college as a freshman. Lately it seems to be going really slow and I suck with computers so I’m not really sure why. If anyone could let me know things to do as far as what will help to speed it up that’d be great. I don’t really use anything else on my computer except for the internet, word to write papers and AIM.
May 27, 2005 at 2:11 am #122546SpecializedMembermckunt03, Try a few things: run a program which removes Spyware and Adware, such as Adaware SE. Make sure your computer isnt being bogged down by any unuseful programs or utilities that you dont use. Clear your Temporary Internet Files (IE->Tools->Options->”Delete Files”). If all else fails, buy more ram or overclock your CPU :D. This will be another lesson. If you have any further questions, visit the IRC channel-> irc.bigblueball.com; #bigblueball. Identify your problem and someone should come to your assistance. If I am there, I will most likely answer your question promptly. It is much easier to work with someone in real time than over a message board. Oh, also. Google’s Webaccelerator helps a bit if you have a broadband connection. link: http://www.google.com/webaccelerator
May 27, 2005 at 2:16 am #122542TigerbladeParticipantgiven that you’re not extremely computer-savvy, as you say, here’s a few basic tips to get started with: (i’ll assume you’re using windows XP?)
1. Do a Disc Cleanup. go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disc Cleanup. (the location in your start menu may be slightly different, it’s been a while since i’ve seen a “default” menu) Run that at least once. it’ll clean out cookies, temporary files, and other such things that are just taking up space.
2. After you’ve run a Cleanup, try Defragmenting your hard drive. In the same start menu folder as before, there should be a “Defragment” program. run that at least once, perhaps several times depending on how much fragmentation there is (how much red shows)
3. Run a virus scanner and whatever adware scanners you might have. i recommend Ad-Aware and Spybot as excellent programs. don’t run them at the same time, run each individually and clear out anything they find.that’s some of the starting steps… if you like i can go into some more detail with some services you can disable and prevent from starting up, which would give you extra memory availability and perhaps even free up some processor usage/speed.
May 27, 2005 at 7:21 am #122540EEDOKMemberyea it’s really a simple 3 step process
1) clean up all adware/spyware/viruses
2) run a program like CCleaner to clean up your registry and get rid of your temp files, and do a defrag
3) tweak your XP to use less memory, by removing what programs run at startup, and get rid of theme styles you don’t noticeif you have any questions on any of these steps, just ask.
May 27, 2005 at 11:56 am #122539Jeff HesterKeymasterTigerblade wrote:2. After you’ve run a Cleanup, try Defragmenting your hard drive. In the same start menu folder as before, there should be a “Defragment” program. run that at least once, perhaps several times depending on how much fragmentation there is (how much red shows)before you defragment you should disable your pagefile. if this file is fragmented it’s likely that it’s impossible to defragment it. make sure to reenable the pagefile after you are done with defragmentation. don’t forget to write down the “default” minimum and maximum pagefile size!
to get to the pagefile “screen” right click on the my computer icon on your desktop. then go to “Properties”. move over to the “Advanced” tab. click the “Settings” button under the “Preformance” frame. Move over to the “Advanced” tab in the “Preformance Options” screen. click on the “Change” button under the Virtual Memory frame. write down the min and max file size for your pagefile. select the “No Paging file” radio button and click “Set”. click “Ok”. now it will ask you to reboot. once you have rebooted start the defragmentation process. start>>programs>>acessories>>system tools>>disk defragmenter
May 27, 2005 at 2:38 pm #122544seb_thib_55MemberTry opening up START then click on run. Type msconfig and click on ok.
On top of the new window click on the Startup tab. Take off all the check marks. You probably have lots. But dont remove the checkmark beside Registry Scan.
Then it will ask you to reboot your computer click on Ok. It should run much faster. Works for me. 😉
May 27, 2005 at 3:26 pm #122548mckunt03Memberseb_thib_55 wrote:Try opening up START then click on run. Type msconfig and click on ok.On top of the new window click on the Startup tab. Take off all the check marks. You probably have lots. But dont remove the checkmark beside Registry Scan.
Then it will ask you to reboot your computer click on Ok. It should run much faster. Works for me. 😉
is it really ok to unclick all of the boxes? there are a lot of things on the list and i only know what 2 of them are, haha… and i don’t even see registry scan 😮
May 27, 2005 at 3:27 pm #122549mckunt03MemberEEDOK wrote:yea it’s really a simple 3 step process
1) clean up all adware/spyware/viruses
2) run a program like CCleaner to clean up your registry and get rid of your temp files, and do a defrag
3) tweak your XP to use less memory, by removing what programs run at startup, and get rid of theme styles you don’t noticeif you have any questions on any of these steps, just ask.
i use an adware, the adware SE, and my brother showed me how to do a defrag, etc… i’m just unclear on step number three… thanks again for helping!!
May 27, 2005 at 5:09 pm #122541EEDOKMemberwell first off run this http://www.snapfiles.com/get/ccleaner.html
Now to properly get rid of programs that run on startup, get Microsoft anti-spyware go into startup and hit disable this item to disable the ones you don’t want to run every time your computer boots up(you are not uninstalling these), then in the system explorer remove any BHO’s and ActiveX objects you didn’t install.
Then to tweak windows XP’s theme settings go to start>right click my computer> properties>advanced>Performance(I may be wrong as I’m guessing bigtime here as I don’t have windows XP) and you can uncheck all the boxes of the stuff you don’t notice.May 27, 2005 at 10:39 pm #122543TigerbladeParticipantmckunt03 wrote:is it really ok to unclick all of the boxes? there are a lot of things on the list and i only know what 2 of them are, haha… and i don’t even see registry scan 😮no. you dont want to unclick them all. to disable some of the services, follow BlackViper’s guide to Windows XP service configurations, found here: http://www.blackviper.com/ (Since blackviper has been down for a while for some reason … here’s an archived version of his page)
i have very few processes running at startup. basically it’s whatever is needed to run my wireless card, and my virusscan. that’s about it. depending on your computer and your personal needs, you can leave certain services enabled or disabled, some of them come down to pure user preference. also, you could check TheElderGeek for their list of configurations for services, found at http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htmMay 31, 2005 at 2:47 pm #122545Jon8RFCMemberIf you don’t mind, could you post a screenshot of your task manager processes? I’ve found that there is a cpu-“hog” type process out there that does work like SETI/Folding, but it doesn’t show up on SpyBot or Ad-Aware because it, technically, isn’t either of those. Someone just decided to force their preferred “cause” to be installed with some programs, except it is a hidden program. I can’t remember the process name, but I’ll recognize it if you can post a screenshot for me.
I’d appreciate it if you could also (in task manager’s processes tab) go to view>edit columns and put a check beside “user name”. This will help me narrow it down more easily if there a bunch of processes running.
You can either post it or email it to me at [email protected]
May 31, 2005 at 10:02 pm #122547m3rcyMembereveryone knows the best solution is a format.. 😀
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