Sloooooooooow everything

Bluestone

It's never too late to dream big
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
1,232
Reaction score
3,013
Location
one foot in US and one in Oz
I'm at the point where this problem is interfering with my ability to post on AW and therefore I come less often, so obviously I need to get help! From this board, hopefully.

Problem #1:
When AW opens, the home page looks fine for a few seconds - everything is in place and reads clearly. But after that it essentially goes black - not every spot, and usually a photo, graphic and the banner remain in place, but an entire article, such as the one that currently talks about green eyed jealousy. Plus, I then have to remember where the forums link was and click on some place that no longer has words on it. This happens every time now.

Problem #2:
When I'm in the thread I go to (mostly purgatory) the whole screen slows down to such an excruciating pace that it either freezes up or I give up. Sometimes I persevere, but then I can't go through pages (and there are many if you are familiar with this thread) because it won't let me, or it goes at glacial speed. Then, should I actually get to post, my typing might be delayed. Oddly, this isn't happening right now, but it did just a few minutes ago.

I am wondering if it's a browser problem. I have a 5 yr old laptop (where did the time go?) XP Professional operating system, which only supports Explorer 8. Occasionally I go to a site that says it doesn't support my browser and I need to update it, but you can't update beyond 8 for XP. I don't have a problem like this with other sites, although in general the computer has slowed as I load more stuff on it and I know I need to upgrade memory or buy a new one, but hoping there is a short term solution.

Is there anything else you need to know? Any help would be appreciated.
 

alleycat

Still around
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
72,873
Reaction score
12,224
Location
Tennessee
Have you tried another browser, say, Firefox or Chrome?

Does this only happen on AW and not other websites?

How much RAM do you have now? Although I don't really think it's a problem with not enough RAM if you've bought the computer in the past five years.

Do you know the upload and download speeds of your Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

Have you tried cleaning out your cookies and cache?

If needed, can you take a screenshot so we can tell better what's going on when your screen goes dark?
 

cbenoi1

Banned
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
5,038
Reaction score
977
Location
Canada
Yep, give Google Chrome a spin. I had the same problem on an old XP desktop and Chrome saved the day.

WinXP is no longer in active maintenance, now that Win7 and Win8 are out. You might want to consider upgrading (I doubt your laptop have the hardware for this), or get a newer laptop. There used to be a time when I could extend the life of a PC up to 10 years by upgrading bits of it incrementally. Nowadays, even the electronic wirings and cards change specs every few years so this has become difficult if not impossible.

-cb
 

AW Admin

Administrator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
18,772
Reaction score
6,285
I'd suggest trying Chrome or Firefox, your choice.

Also, how much free space you do have on your hard drive?

What anti virus /malware do you use?

Are you on dialup or broadband (cable, DSL, etc.)?
 

Bluestone

It's never too late to dream big
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
1,232
Reaction score
3,013
Location
one foot in US and one in Oz
Thanks so much for the fast responses.

Okay, I have 23 GB free space.
I use AVG.
Broadband.

I clean out cookies periodically, but not recently.

I do use House Call and Anti-Malware and things like that occasionally, because as slow as it's been I feel there must be something lurking. It seems to be okay there.

I switched to Chrome a couple of months ago and couldn't figure it out so I switched back. I know, I should persevere, but it seemed like a pain and I was so used to Explorer.

Here's a screen shot of a partial AW home page. It's black all the way down where there is text - or at least it's a reverse text. I highlighted it and it was there in white.
screenshot.png


Sorry this is so big. Is it messing with AW?
 

Brian12

Computer Security Enthusiast
Registered
Joined
Mar 18, 2012
Messages
11
Reaction score
0
Hi Bluestone,

First, try using a different browser (Google Chrome or Firefox). If that doesn't fix the problem, follow the steps in this guide: http://www.selectrealsecurity.com/slow-computer/

It provides simple instructions on how to speed up a slow computer.
 

alleycat

Still around
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Messages
72,873
Reaction score
12,224
Location
Tennessee
That looks vaguely similar to what someone gets when they do a "View Image" on a website, but not quite. I'm wondering if you have some kind of malware that is creating that same effect.

I don't think that has anything to do with your computer or ISP speed, or even your browser unless there is some weird setting that is doing it.

Maybe AW Admin will have some idea about what's wrong.

Would you suggest she download and run MalwareBytes, Medi?
 

cbenoi1

Banned
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
5,038
Reaction score
977
Location
Canada
Another thing to check is the software you have installed in the last 2 - 3 months. Maybe one of them has installed a service that runs permanently, thus taking up a large CPU slice.


Your laptop may also be a victim of "thrashing", when memory-resident applications have grown well past the available RAM in the system.

Check this - link -.
( http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2012/mar/12/windows-xp-hard-disk-thrashing )


WinXP has been abused over the years and it's not uncommon for even the most stupid of software utility to install a Windows service or some other process in the background that otherwise hogs the system down. Apple's iTune is the king of CPU / memory hog applications. Adobe and Roxio are never too far off either. File sync applications like Dropbox, Google Drive and others like them tend to have large memory footprints that can push an already fragile system into thrashing territory.

Over-zealous Antivirus software can also pin a system down for hours. I have MacAfee on my little netbook and it steals away the show whenever it decides it's time to do a complete system check in the background.

-cb
 
Last edited:

Charles Farley

Bango Skank
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
4,250
Reaction score
1,139
Location
Ninth Circle
Hold on a sec . . . .

If you look down in the bottom right hand corner of Bluestone's image . . she is not connected to a network . . .

You say you use broadband . . .but , , if this picture is correct . . it looks like you might be hooked up wirelessly . . . .even that looks strange because there are no bars indicating any connection . . .

check your drivers . . your network card . .your configuration for network connections . . .
 

Bluestone

It's never too late to dream big
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
1,232
Reaction score
3,013
Location
one foot in US and one in Oz
So many things to consider!

I am on wirelessly, actually. My computer guy ages ago removed the bars because...oh, heck, I don't remember why. But he said it connected faster that way. If you notice, I do have the little computer with the airwaves, which indicates it is connected.

I have Adobe and Dropbox...no Roxio. I have iTunes with tons of music on there, but I haven't run it in ages. If it's not open does that matter? I know, that was probably a stupid question.

I opened the link to the uk article, cbenoi1, and oh boy, was that going to be time consuming. I tried a couple of things in processes on the Task Manager, but I don't think I'm motivated to go through his whole routine. Thanks, though.

I appreciate all the suggestions. I'm going to bite the bullet and convert to Chrome again and run another Malwarebytes. I'll let you know the outcome. After that, I think I'm off to buy a new computer.

Hope you've all had a lovely Thanksgiving.