Try typing MSCONFIG into the Run box and checking the last tab for Start Up items.
Some are probably unnecessary but will be working in the background, thus slowing up the machine.
Have you also done anti-virus and malware scans as well as defragging the system.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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My computer just gets slower and slower. ...... And what makes a computer slow?
>>
::: :-) it is trying to live up to your name. ::: but seriously, it depends on the specification of the computer.
how much ram do you have, how fast is the processor, how many programs are loaded at start up, how many or which security aplications are starting up, how big your cache has built up, how much your hard drive is defragmented, and so on.
to keep my hard drive as tidy as possible requiring a minimum of defragmenting, i have partitioned it so that in partition
1. i have just the operating system (windows xp),
2. all other installed applications
3. for constantly changing/updated security programs
4. my documents,
5. for temporary files and cache
6. for the system page swap file
music and videos go on a second hard disk.
try running the crapcleaner utility as previously recommended to clear out some junk.
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L
any possibility the disk's dying? Any noises from it? I'd suggest running Scandisk (but make sure you can walk away and leave it, it wil take ages).
Another option is a virus I'm afraid. Have you run a full scan recently?
Or, it could just be filling up with old junk which can be cleaned up. The suggestion to check programs started when it boots is good.
JH
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If you are running XP I would go straight to the Microsoft Safety Centre & do a "Full Service Scan" check. safety.live.com/site/en-gb/default.htm
For spyware / malware I use Spybot Search & Destroy www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html and Ad-Aware from www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
You can use both on the same PC.
Alternatively if you are using XP then you can consider Windows Defender from Microsoft www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=...n
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power defragg.com will give you a free 30 day defragger for free and its better than the built in xp one
microsoft if you are on xp also do windows defender this is free and very good. i use it in conjunction with spybot and also spy defender......all free and very good.....
dont forget to clear your cache and remove any programmes that you no longer use via your control panel
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sorry victorbox looks like plaggyrism it wasnt :( im a slow ritter..........
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You can fanny around with allnumber of utlities and defraggers, and at best get a partial improvement
Format the disk, and reload XP. Speeds it up shed loads every time.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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not if you paid £900 for your computer the company goes belly up and microsoft say your system isnt supporting a valid disc..............
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If you paid 900 quid for a computer you should have a recovery disc or a (legit) copy of Windows with it!
For the record, I need to reformat mine around every six months or so.As RF says, keeps it running dead quick.
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well you had best face that situation sooner rather than later, because at some stage XP is going to go udders up on you big time, so practise your format and reloads regularly.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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thanks for the info but anything important ive started putting on disc .
i got the first warning about 2 months ago from micosoft and since then they have been warned about putting a programme on my computer that tells me my copy is illegal from the american government i believe,anyway i removed it and just manually check once a week if there are any more patches to upload...........
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got the first warning about 2 months ago from micosoft and since then they have been warned about putting a programme on my computer that tells me my copy is illegal
>>
oldman: this may be of interest to you -
blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2006/07/16/667063.aspx
and the follow up
blogs.msdn.com/wga/
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thanks for that - Dalglish ive read the first one but got a bit bogged in the second one i will reread it tomorrow ,my computer came from a business that no longer exists i have had it 3 years and it was £900 it was my first foray and i didnt even know what a mouse was when i got it (in fact the ball fell out of it and i didnt know what it was or where it wemt) no discs came with it and i have always tried to stay abreast of updates etc .
2 months ago my computer kept filling my screen with the logo that my copy of xp proffesional was a copy and microsoft wanted £90 to fix it,i went into the microsoft updates found the one filling my computer with this message and deleted the file..........up to this time i always had respect for microsoft but got to say my attitude changed that day like i guess it did for many people in my position
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found the one filling my computer with this message and deleted the file
>>
oldman: official microsoft instructions on how to remove the nag
support.microsoft.com/?kbid=921914
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>>Format the disk, and reload XP. Speeds it up shed loads every time
Seconded. By the time you mess around, it's usually quicker to start over.
Just be sure to have everything backed up beforehand, not forgetting your email/contacts!
Lee -- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
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you will all have les-cargo worried sick by now.
as it is, iirc, he already has his computer overloaded with all kinds of protection. i have never had to reformat or reload xp on any of the 3 machines i run at home (possible because of the way in which i have partitioned the hard drives).
anyway, iirc, les-cargo uses his machine for little else than surfing the net and emails.
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Oh right, the question.
>>Are there any criteria for checking computer speeds
There are a lot of benchmarking programs for absolute performance, but an indication of how well your own box is performing is to look at the task manager - in XP, press CTRL-Shift-ESC together and it'll come up. Look at the performance tab and it'll tell you a couple of things - how much of the processor is being used at that point, the physical memory available and being used and also the swap file usage. You want the processor to not be running at 100% all the time, to have spare capacity in the physical memory (and the peak ideally below this) and finally to have little usage of the swap file. The swap file is used when the computer runs out of memory and uses the disk as temporary storage. This makes things very slow.
>>And what makes a computer slow
Too many processes hogging resources - check the processes tab and sort by CPU usage or memory usage - you'll soon see what's hogging your resources. For example, Sophos antivirus will routinely use 45-50Mb of your memory and slow things down nicely. If you're not sure what things are, google the process name, it'll usually come up with an explanatory result.
>>My computer just gets slower and slower. At the moment it takes 5 minutes to warm up before I can do anything at all
Slow log ons can be down to a number of things, but computers will slow down over time as more programs and utils and updates are added. Only real answer is the one TVM gives for a rebuild. This needn't be a terrible thing though as you'll be prepared for a disaster (heaven forbid!), and if you use something like Go Back then you can easily return to the rebuild state without affecting your files.
hth
Lee -- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
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Cracking advice from Lee, as always.
TO be be honest, rebuilds are good once in a while as they get you into the practice of backing stuff up and realising just what you do and don't need. Even though I seem to need to do them a higher than usual number of times, I'm still amazed how quick the PC runs afterwards.
I have loads of partitions - one for the sole purpose of sticking stuff I need on. If you do this, reformatting the C drive will leave this untouched and it will appear with all your stuff on when you put Windows back on as if nothing has ever happened.
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The only amendment I would make to Lee's post this is:
Replace
>but computers will slow down over time as more programs and utils and updates are added.
with:
but computers *running Windows* will slow down...
I have not known a unix-like such as Linux or Mac OS X do this. Reinstalling is not a computer thing but a Windows thing.
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Windows XP is the most stable and most reliable OS I've used over many years and that goes back some time before the launch of Windows 3.1.
Try a Repair of XP; full details of how to do it (to save me typing it out) at:
www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
As for nagging Windows Genuine Authentication, which affects a large number of genuine users of XP and is regarded as malware by many of those in the know, let XP's WindowsUpdate do its work, but select the option to "Notify me but don't automatically download or install them" in Security Center.
This will ensure that you only download the updates that are relevant for your system. Don't install Microsoft's so-called critical updates with the letters WGA or similar in the listing.
It saves an awful lot of hassle as many of us have discovered.
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I agree Win XP can be very stable indeed, but only if you are "in the know" enough to hack the registry and/or perform a range of tweaks and modifications, run the "correct" selection of anti-malware software and, we now learn, as long as you don't download a selection of Microsoft's own patches.
You know what?
"It saves an awful lot of hassle as many of us have discovered."
reads a lot like:
"He's a good man really. He doesn't beat me as long as I don't do anything wrong. It's not his fault, it's mine."
The OP needs a reinstall. It's simplest way of fixing it.
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I run XP on most of the computers in the house. Automatic updates on. No tweaks or changes. No firewall or anti-virus software, but various things such as Spybot are installed.
They don't get re-installed. They just run. I don't recall anything happening to any of them in the last year or so, even the one that my daughter and the local kids play on.
On the other hand I don't install dodgy stuff, I don't browse dodgy web-sites and I never open e-mails from people I don't know.
I love windows - cheap, simple, effective and does what is says. Who can be bothered with all the effort of linux or somesuch. And before you say anything, I do nothing to maintain windows so even having to go and find where to download linux woudl require more time, effort and technical awareness than windows ever requires of me.
Actually we've lost two keyboards, a DVD drive and a mouse to the hardware dump in the sky, but that's all been related to coca cola, orange juice and a particularly unfortunate incident with a strawberry jelly.
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Whatever works for you. But looking back over previous incarnations of this thread, many people don't have your experience. And in fact before I ditched Windows, neither did I.
>Actually we've lost two keyboards, a DVD drive and a mouse to the hardware dump in the sky, but that's all been related to coca cola, orange juice and a particularly unfortunate incident with a strawberry jelly.
This is by far the greatest threat to computer security in my experience. Replace strawberry jelly with yoghurt and I feel your pain.
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>>o hack the registry and/or perform a range of tweaks and modifications, run the "correct" selection of anti-malware software and, we now learn, as long as you don't download a selection of Microsoft's own patches.>>
With all due respects that is complete twaddle...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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>With all due respects that is complete twaddle...:-)
These are quotations from some of your recent posts:
" Have you also used Set Program Access and Defaults from the Windows Start button (Custom)?
Windows has a neat trick of reverting the Defaults back to IE and OE if you don't keep an eye on it...:-)" July 17, 2006.
"Try typing MSCONFIG into the Run box and checking the last tab for Start Up items.
Some are probably unnecessary but will be working in the background, thus slowing up the machine." August 1, 2006.
"This will ensure that you only download the updates that are relevant for your system. Don't install Microsoft's so-called critical updates with the letters WGA or similar in the listing.
It saves an awful lot of hassle as many of us have discovered." August 2, 2006.
The list goes back and back and back. Twaddle? Just reporting it as I see it.
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