PC help question...?
 

OUr home pc is slow as crap even though we have Anti virus and spyware the is still something slowing it down.
It takes 5 minutes or more to boot up and even though we have a cable modem most of the time it takes way too long for the browser to work properly.
The last thing I want to do is run the reinstallation discs , and loose everything we would want to keep.

Any suggestions? If we do run the disc, is there any way to save our bookmarks/ favorites to a cd and save them for after we reinsatll the software???

Thanks!
aa

Please tell us the OS you are running.

Also, please list the antispy programs as well as the antivirus stuffs.

Also let us know how much memory the computer has.

Once you've had Mac, you'll never go back. Really!!!

im guessing its some sort of windows machine.. windows nt-xp generation service pack 2.. maybe a gateway if my luck is correct

nah, im thinking more along the lines of an off the shelf pc such as a emachine, sony, etc....


If not, Ill bet you that its a dell.

here is what ya do austin.. save everything you can to cd's.. for your internet bookmarks just copy them to a text document compile and list them all .. save all your pictures and other stuff you want to .. i recomend getting a gmail account for storage

Austin if you have an XP/2000 computer goto

-> C:
-> Documents and Settings
-> "You" The name of the folder you are using which is likely your name or culd be Administrator if you have Windows 2000
-> Open that folder and in that folder are the Favorites, My Documents, and Desktop folder if you want to save that information.

Burn all that to a CD and you should be ready to go. If you use MS Outlook or Outlook Express let us know since those files are stored elsewhere. :)

If you have the disk space, set up a separate D partition to keep all your documents, files, etc. You can also use it as a backup space if you have to reinstall the OS in the future.

Sorry to say, but its time for a new one if its more then 5 years old.

Dont buy best buys "INSIGNIA" brand, this $600 sony knockoff has given us a ton of problems over the last year, and has developed a strong plastic odor... wonderfull


We had a gateway that we bought in 1998, and put out of use in 2004. It had 64 MB of memory, and a P2 processor... Good stuff back then, crap now. I couldnt get it to run faster after I did a format, and loaded the memory up to 128...

New computers can be had for $600ish if you stick with a known name brand, and dont need a moniter and supporting stuff (printers, speakers, keyboards ECT)

Softwares $$ though:(
~Nate

I've been finding a similar situation on this machine and one other machine that I use occasionally.

Both machines run XP.

One machine is from Dell (this one) and the other is from HP.

Both machines have 512MB ram.

Both machines have anti-virus software from Trend Micro.

Both machines run Microsoft anti-spyware every night.

Both machines will run Ad-Aware every week or so.

Both machines will have their temporary internet files cleaned out frequently.


I've done everything that I can possibly do and, yet, both machines don't perform at anywhere near the speed they were when new. I distinctly recall that this machine would open Adobe Acrobat reader 5.1 in 1.5 seconds. Truly unbelievable. Now it takes 7 seconds to accomplish the same thing.

The browser (Firefox) will frequently stall and fail to load a page. Attempt it again and the same thing happens. Then, try it a third time and the page loads instantly. Sometimes four attempts are necessary.

So, for those who are very familiar with XP, is this a case where the registry slowly gets corrupted over time and the machine won't perform? Is the consensus that you must reload the operating system every couple of years? Anyone use "registry mechanc" or similar with any success.

My last desire is to spend an entire weekend reloading software on here.

Brian,

I'm no expert but I'm pretty familiar with PCs. I use my PC partially for gaming, and hence frequently build and modify my PCs, so I generally end up reloading the OS every 1.5 yrs max. I use two HDDs, one major one and a smaller, older one. I bounce my data onto the smaller drive then wipe the larger one and reload the OS. In the interim, the smaller drives serves as a backup for my main data.

I think that over the course of day-to-day use, all kinds of software gets installed/uninstalled, etc. so yes, the registry can get cluttered, but there can also be issues with drivers, background processes, etc. Systems slowing down without any blatant spyware/malware issues may have other background processes working to slow things down. You may also have malware that hasn't been detected by the programs you are using. Have you tried posting a hijackthis.exe log?

Generally, if performance really starts to slow and/or you start getting any number of weird OS messages popping up, I nip it in the bud and reinstall Windows. Since I generally upgrade annually, I reinstall the OS each time and I've never had any major issues with XP - it's been an excellent OS. I have never tried a registry mechanic - I'd reinstall XP before trying one of those. XP also has a repair utility you can launch from setup.

Just my $0.02.

Thanks for the help. What is "hijackthis.exe"??? I'm clueless as to what it is and what it does.

What does the repair accomplish? Is this one of the disc cleanup utilities? I have run the defragmenter but it provides no benefits.

I'll bet that I'm missing some techniques to clean these two up a bit. As mentioned, I'd rather not reload them.

It's a program that analyzes portions of the registry and HDD and produces a log file with the results. It's useful as an intial screen to see what is running/lurking on your PC. It also allows you to remove items from the scan log directly, but this should only be done if you are sure what you are doing.

Basically, you can reinstall a clean version of XP from setup. You'll keep your programs/data and it may help with your problems. It can be worth a try before you reformat. You'll lose any service packs or updates, so you'll have to run Windows update following installation. It's hard to troubleshoot a PC over a forum like this though, so all advice given with a grain of salt! ;)

I ran the program and will send you the results for any insight. I didn't see anything that stands out other then some old McAfee software that I no longer use.

I'm familiar with restoring to a former date and time. I've done this but was unsuccessuful in increasing the speed of the machine.

I've had a problem with services.exe hanging up my machine for 2-3 minutes at a time. I tried all the remedies I could find but nothing cured it, except a complete format and OS reinstallation. I suspect some sort of virus but none of the tools detected anything unusual. Strange. All the more reason to have good backups of stuff you care about.

Hey thanks for all the help.
I have an E Machine
Windows XP
I have Norton Anti Virus and MS Anti Spyware.

I just downloaded a free scan called "Spyware Doctor" and it found like 512 "problems with my pc". Like 450 registry errors. But to repair them it's not free. Like $39.
If these will work I am OK with that, but also don't want to waste $39. if it's not too good.
I also saw this software called "STOP SIGN" that is $7. / month. with a $$$back guarantee....That says it scans removes and monitors and they have 24/7 tech support.

Most of these issues started when this WInFixer crap showed up on my PC. It can't uninstall, and always pops up when I change screens...I'm almost ready to order it so I can just find out who they are and kick their asses!!!

Download "Ad Aware" or "spybot" through download.com and it's all free and it should catch and delete everything for free. Give that a try and check back.

Brian - You're doing pretty much everything you can do to keep your machine in excellent running order but the XP systems do just slow down over time due to unavoidable errors and there isn't anything you can do about it.

Yes, do download spybot and adaware. Run the indepth scan too.

This may be kinda tricky, and I only reccomend it if you know what you are doing. Go to start then click run. Trype msconfig then go to the services tab. Check the "hide microsoft serices box." Then uncheck the ones that you cannot identify. Then go to startup, and uncheck the ones there that you don't know what they do. Just be careful, as this could disable some programs, such as antivirus and antispy software.

FWIW; I ordered Stop Sign from EAccelerate and it cleaned up everyting. Itis $7. per month, but worth it.

...........so.......I presume that the errors are in the registry, correct?

None of the registry cleaners.........PC Mechanic.....as an example........can help with cleaning it up........I'm stuck with a reinstallation???:confused:

It's just unbelievable that XP can't be "fixed" by some type of program with the knowledge of the problem.

Once your PC is exactly how you want it, pick up a copy of Norton Ghost or PowerQuest Drive Image (I use Drive Image myself) and create a ghost image. It's saved my a$$ dozens of times with a 20-minute complete restore.

The errors are in the registry. The registry is like a manuscript going to the publisher by the time it's been edited 300 times with red pen and paragraphs are crossed out sure it's clean but it doesn't read well. :rolleyes:

Curtis.......any idea if "registry mechanic" or similar ilk can improve this situation?? I'm tempted to try it.

When my machine gets too slow I prefer to format the disk instead of screwing around with all that crap and pay for them to fix it. I have all my stuff on one of the partitions of my 200 GB drive, back it up and flush the disk. Yes, we used to use Regclean but they took it off. It does give some relief but you also have other issues. Sometimes it would take off stuff that was necessary. Windows Office suites of all things and you would have to reinstall software. Finally, I found it was easier to flush the entire thing than to band-aid the thing. Also when you flush, you have a new hard drive that is formatted and free of some of those pesky programs that are still hanging around lurking. Sometimes you can use Codestuff Starter to see what is being activated on your machine. Also use your task manager to see how close to the edge you are running as far as resources.

another possible solution...System restore
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/getstarted/ballew_03may19.mspx

I attempted this. The longest point for a restore is 90 days ago. When I attempted to use the 90 day date, the restore failed. I also failed on two subsequent dates.......closer to the current date.

Yeah, that thing doesn't work worth a crap. You should turn it off completely and delete the files if you start ghosting.

If you want your PC to run the way it should I reccommend this...

http://eacceleration.com/helpdesk/

30 day money back guarantee; $7. per month/ and a responsive 800# for tech support

Try the MS HelpDesk
 

Check the services
 

Check the services , you may have programs installed and running that you don't need and will slow the computer down. Also go to task manager and see what processes are running on you machine and sort by CPU and then by Memory and let us know (need to do this while its going crazy on start-up).

You could have downloaded or installed some inefficient software that's beating the crap out of your PC.