Speeding up my computer

Have you checked what programs start automatically? You may have some running you don't need.

If the RAM isn't at 2 gig, I'd make that the minimum. (RAM needs only go up, it seems.)

Did you do the spybot S&D, malwarebytes, Ad Aware, whatever, in Safe Mode?

Do check to see what programs run at start up. It's easy to wind up with stuff running that you don't use.

Also, have you stopped or cancelled any Windows Updates? MS has this habit of hanging up processor cycles, tying stuff up, waiting for you to do the updates.

bsolah said:

This is a good idea. There are a lot of processes going on in the background and not sure which ones I need because in some cases, it isn't clear which processes match with which programs.

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There are some freeware programs that tell you in more detail about what programs are running than what comes with Windows. You especially want to know which ones are taking a lot of RAM and memory.

You can always look up processes at websites like process library.

By the way, what firewall software are you using?

You might also want to try backing up all your work and then reinstalling Windows on your machine. That'll get it working just like the day it was bought. If you know how to do it (and it isn't hard at all) then it's free.

I found I had several programs starting up in Start Up that I didn't use every day. Once I moved them things speeded up.

Have you cleaned out Temporary and History? I do that before I exit my browser but Crap Cleaner still finds loads still in there.

before I'd do a whole install I'd create a new profile and log on as that profile a few times, timing the last one. Then log on as my usual profile, and time that.

It's a low tech way to learn if what is slowing your computer down is related to how you use the computer, and some of what you've loaded on to it.

My laptop started dragging bad and when we added another gig - has 2 gigs now - it was surprising how fast it ran. After a year now it still runs faster than my desktop, which needs more ram too.

My friend's system has also slowed to a crawl in the last few days. He said it was so slow that when he typed, it couldn't even catch up and would lose letters. It took him a minute just to open an IE or Firefox window. And Internet access was slow for him. When I went over, I used his Internet (wifi) with my Mac and it was fine.

I haven't taken a look yet (will go over tomorrow). But according to him, he checked for viruses/malware all the time (he has the latest stuff). I would recommend him doing a defrag if he hasn't done one lately, and also check for processes that are not supposed to be running, etc. Probably good to run HijackThis and see if there's anything suspicious as well.

He has 2GB RAM (2.8GHz processor), so it shouldn't be the problem. The system ran pretty fast when it was new, so I don't really think memory or hardware is the problem. It shouldn't really slow down to where he is now, so either he has some malware still running or something is wrong (and I hope it's not hardware failure because it's a PAIN to have to reinstall everything).

He did say that he noticed the problem when he upgrade Java. I don't think it should matter, but he swore to me that everything worked pretty well until he upgraded. So that maybe something I need to check.

And maybe that's something wrong with your system, too. Sometimes those automatic upgrades could screw you up. I had to uninstall one upgrade (it's a Graphics card driver upgrade) and it royally screwed up Vista.

You do know not to use HJT's "fix" functions to repair things unless you know what you're doing?

That is a really stupid question the way it's written, isn't it? It's way early in the morning where I am. ;-)

http://iobit.com/

I've been using WindowsCare for about a year now and have never had a problem with it. I was experiencing the same problems you were and got it. Best of all, it's free.

Hope that helps.

Have you tried CrapCleaner?

It's great for getting rid of...crap And it can really speed up your machine too.

alleycat said:

There are some freeware programs that tell you in more detail about what programs are running than what comes with Windows. You especially want to know which ones are taking a lot of RAM and memory.

You can always look up processes at websites like process library.

By the way, what firewall software are you using?

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Googling them brings up what they are as well.

Also I suggest CCleaner. It's a free ware program that will clean up your registry. http://www.ccleaner.com/

Ccleaner - I STRONGLY recommend it. Cleaning your registry can work wonders.

I generally re-install my Operating System every 6 months or so. Some people have termed the slow down over time : 'Windows rot.'

Uninstall any software that you do not use at all. Defragment once a month, disk cleanup once a week, clear browser cache regularly. Everything adds up.

I downloaded and ran the Advanced Systems Care tat TnD recommended. I have a fairly new computer and I run Spybot once a month. This new utility picked up a lot of garbage that Spybot didn't.

I wasn't having any problems before, so I can't say I'm noticing any real improvement, but it did find a lot of junk in my PC.

Yes, there are times when it is nothing more than a rogue application that didn't get closed correctly or didn't stop completely and is hogging up resources. It's hard for the Average Joe to start looking at stuff like that. It's really annoying.

Williebee said:

Do check to see what programs run at start up. It's easy to wind up with stuff running that you don't use.

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How do you check this, oh 'puterly one?

Also, I'd recommend CC Cleaner. It's a nifty little free program (although I donated, since they're so nice) that tidies up. I seem to notice a difference when I keep this up to date.

ETA - Seems many people love CC Cleaner. I thought I was so cutting edge.

Just remember that CCleaner doesn't take care of all potential registry problems.

There's also ATF Cleaner that works similarly.

You might also want to look at something like Startup Delayer and Process Explorer.

If you get used to regularly looking at what processes are running on your machine, it's a lot easier to then spot something running that you're not aware of.