how to speed up my computer?...

[bryce]

My desktop has been running SLOWLY the last few months - I'm trying to think of something that would have caused this, and the only thing I can come up with is the new version of Norton I put on it (the PC is several years old.)

Regardless, is there anything I can do to try and boost it? I mean, besides adding RAM or whatever else it is that makes computers think faster. (A tech guru I am not...) I've tried doing a defrag and system cleanup, but that didn't do much, if anything...

Thanks in advance.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Try downloading "System Mechanic." You can get a free 30 day trial off the internet. I hear it's decent.

I have been having similar problems with my laptop. I even upgraded the ram from 512 MB to 2 GB and I'm still having problems. It boots up slowly, programs open slowly, and if I'm browsing using Firefox the computer will eventually slow down to a crawl.

[gstelmack]

Norton could be the culprit, although they are much better about hogging the system lately than they used to be.

Anything else you've put on there lately? What startup programs are running? Any of those could do it.

Could also be spyware / virus, although Norton should catch most of those.

[gstelmack]

You can try running task manager and see what's using CPU. Or better yet grab Process Explorer from the SysInternals suite at Microsoft (free download) and see what it says is hogging everything.

[BYU 14]

I changed to Norton 360 year before last and as soon as my subscription was up I got rid of it. Absolutely the biggest system hog of this type I have seen. My computer was running in mud with this thing.

[Fidatelo]

I go bareback on my PC's because I have yet to find a useful anti-virus suite that doesn't bog everything down. I'm sure someday I'll regret it, but it feels great in the present.

[bryce]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll take a gander at all of these suggestions when I get home tonight and see what is causing it (and hopefully even fix it.)

It sounds like Norton is doing it, though. I forget what version I put on it, though, so I'll check that, too. But, yea, as alluded to, opening any simple file (ie, an Excel spreadsheet) takes an eternity. Or opening several internet tabs, or even just going to a website - it feels like an old 14.4 modem! It's unbearable!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

For those that want to avoid the speed issues of antivirus software, I'd suggest WinPatrol. It's free to use and it will let you know if any program is trying to install to your system or is trying to save your registry settings. No speed issues and I haven't had any virus/spyware issues. It also makes it very easy to look over all of the programs that are being run when your computer starts up. Knocking out a few of those unneeded programs also helps quite a bit.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by bryce

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll take a gander at all of these suggestions when I get home tonight and see what is causing it (and hopefully even fix it.)

It sounds like Norton is doing it, though. I forget what version I put on it, though, so I'll check that, too. But, yea, as alluded to, opening any simple file (ie, an Excel spreadsheet) takes an eternity. Or opening several internet tabs, or even just going to a website - it feels like an old 14.4 modem! It's unbearable!

That's got to be a spyware issue. You likely have some stuff that snuck through. The bad part is that it's tough to remedy once it's installed.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

finallyfast.com

[DanGarion]

I suggest adding another hamster wheel, hamster, and cheese.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

I changed to Norton 360 year before last and as soon as my subscription was up I got rid of it. Absolutely the biggest system hog of this type I have seen. My computer was running in mud with this thing.

Heh. I ended up with 360 on Vista because Kaspersky and AVG just killed my box, while Norton didn't show much of a blip at all.

The only real performance issue I've had with 360 was version 1 and opening internet sites: the phishing filter lookup was slow, so I turned off the phishing filter. Version 2 is much faster at that.

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

finallyfast.com

SON OF A BITCH! I couldnt remember that website for the life of me!

[cuervo72]

Bah, beaten to it x2.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Dr. Sak

SON OF A BITCH! I couldnt remember that website for the life of me!

What, even with their horrible advertisements? or is that why you blocked it from memory?

[AgustusM]

I have had some success with this truly free utility. It will clear out all the temp file and crap. Also the registry cleaner is good as well, found it worked as well or better than others I had paid for.

CCleaner - Home

of course chances are if you are truly crawling you have some spyware, virus, something.

another decent free utility that will actually clean your system without requiring you to purchase (like almost all the others) is

Malwarebytes.org

[bryce]

is finallyfast truly free, or do they require some sort or purchase?

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Ah shit don't use them. I know nothing about them, I was making a joke.

Also, don't put your gold in an envelope and mail it to some guy for cash. Also, it's not your money and you can't have it now.

[bryce]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Ah shit don't use them. I know nothing about them, I was making a joke.

Also, don't put your gold in an envelope and mail it to some guy for cash. Also, it's not your money and you can't have it now.

hah.. yea, obviously i have never heard of finallyfast or their ads... (as opposed to 'saved by zero....')

[AgustusM]

I think the CW is that finally fast is useless at best, and spyware at worst.

[MizzouRah]

First thing I suggest is adding enough RAM to bring your pc up to 2 GB.. in addition to that...

1. Backup your data
2. Perform a clean install of Windows
3. Use AVG for free as your anti virus unless you just paid for Norton.
4. Download super anti spyware and use that to protect you against spyware/malware
5. Make sure you have the latest drivers/patches for your pc


Over time your pc gets loaded down and a good reinstall of Windows can REALLY get your pc back to performing fast once again.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

if I'm browsing using Firefox the computer will eventually slow down to a crawl.

Despite mass love for the browser, this is it's Achilles heel. Google's Chrome will likely force Firefox into rethinking things. Close out Firefox once in a while, and it will help. This can be said for a number of resource hug type programs though.

[I. J. Reilly]

Does anyone know how to go about doing a Windows reinstall on a Dell machine that was shipped without the windows disk? Is it possible without the disk, or can I get one from Dell or Microsoft?

Next question, does adding memory help in overall speed of operation, or only with specific app’s? I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 5100 with only 1GB of memory, but after cleaning it up it’s only 45% full. Would that have any effect on speed, such as opening files and the like?

[rjolley]

For the restore disk, I was able to get one from HP by calling their customer support. For some reason, there wasn't one included in my box and HP wanted to charge around $50 for a new one. After complaining a bit that they didn't enclose one, so I should get one for free, they sent it. Might be an avenue to try.

As for the memory helping, it will if you run multiple programs at the same time, especially Firefox, which takes up a lot of memory over time. Having more memory will keep the machine from swapping portions of memory to disk to accommodate the programs and the operating system. I would recommend 2G minimum, but if you can go higher, it can be beneficial.

[MizzouRah]

3GB is the max you would want to go since Windows XP only reads about 3.5GB max on most pc's.

Memory is always the first thing to help your pc's performace, although a reinstall of Windows on a pc that hasn't had it done in over a year or more will help tremendously.. unless you are a freak like me and run all kinds of things to keep it clean and running smooth. (That's why my kids have their own pc to screw up)

[I. J. Reilly]

Thanks rjolley and MizzouRah.

It looks like Dell has an online request form for a backup disk so hopefully I won’t have to subject myself to the help desk. Hopefully a reinstall will do the trick; I’ve never done one on this machine so it is definitely due.

Whether memory is an issue or not, after looking at the specs for FM09, looks like I’ll be adding memory anyway.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by I. J. Reilly

Thanks rjolley and MizzouRah.

It looks like Dell has an online request form for a backup disk so hopefully I won’t have to subject myself to the help desk. Hopefully a reinstall will do the trick; I’ve never done one on this machine so it is definitely due.

Whether memory is an issue or not, after looking at the specs for FM09, looks like I’ll be adding memory anyway.

I'm sort of in the same boat. I have been putting off doing a re-install for sometime now, but it's really gotten to the point where my laptop is just so slow it's frustrating.

I have tried everything. I upgraded the RAM, ran all the free downloaded products mentioned above that are supposed to clean/speed up the PC, checked for spyware/malware, all of that stuff and nothing's really improved it.

I think I am just going to save all of the key files onto my portable hard drive and resore it.

[JAG]

Not sure if you'll find this helpful, but I found this guy's work to be useful to me.

TweakGuides.com

[Bonegavel]

We use CA etrust here at work (and oddly I use it at home too ) at it seems to be fairly friendly.

You couldn't pay me to install a Norton product on my PC. Well, I would accept money but it would have to be far more than anybody would likely ever give for such a silly overused statement.

[AgustusM]

Originally Posted by I. J. Reilly

Does anyone know how to go about doing a Windows reinstall on a Dell machine that was shipped without the windows disk? Is it possible without the disk, or can I get one from Dell or Microsoft?

Next question, does adding memory help in overall speed of operation, or only with specific app’s? I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 5100 with only 1GB of memory, but after cleaning it up it’s only 45% full. Would that have any effect on speed, such as opening files and the like?

Not all models support this but some Dell's have a reinstall partition that will restore the system to the day it was shipped (warning this wipes all your data, so backup first) You can access this partition by hitting Cntrl-F11 at boot before the windows splash screen.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by JAG

Not sure if you'll find this helpful, but I found this guy's work to be useful to me.

TweakGuides.com

Thanks for this. I followed some of his tips, especially on installing AVG, and it seemed to work pretty well.