Incredibly slow computer

[Tammster]

First of all hello and thanks for taking the time to read this post.
I have been searching through the forums and faq's for an answer to fix up my computer but I have not found a good solution as of yet.

After I installed a few programs (registry fix 6, xoftspySE) and updated to service pack 3 my computer became even more slow than usual. I also scanned and cleaned up files with both programs. + I used Ccleaner to fix problems. It takes ages to start a program or wait for the taskbar to open. Programs also tend to freeze faster than normal. First my desktop icons stopped moving. But thanks to the help on this thread

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=692319

I was able to fix it. At first I thought it was a W32.Blaster.Virus. I scanned for the virus with Symantec. It couldn't find it. I also used a stinger scanner from

http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/.

but found nothing. I used mcafee and bitdefender to look for other problems. Neither program could find anything.

Another problem, that started simultaneously with the first one, is that Internet Explorer is not able to open correctly a new window when the html page contains a link that opens a new window: it opens a new window without link, so a blank window.

I had the same problem. But now that I used the solution provided by linney on this thread

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=723934

I was able to solve the drag and drop problem. I also used the regfiles fix that linney provided a link with. And I did a computer scan to see if anything had been drastically changed in the registry. Now I am no expert so there could still be problems that I am unaware with in my registry. I have the feeling that registryfix6 has caused the problem but I am not sure. + my computer was already slow to begin with. I now used uniblue registrybooster 2 to look for registry problems and to defrag registry. It fixed over 600 problems but the slowness still exists. I tried to use SpeedUpmyPC 3 from uniblue as well. Same problems exist. I installed bootvis to help me speed up my boost time.

Other problems that exist are that I can't open a new window with my internet explorer at all anymore. And yes I also clicked ctrl to try to open the pop-up. I thought reinstalling a new version of explorer would fix the problem but it didn't. I can't use ctrl + f either. On firefox these problem don't exist. I also can't start defraging.

The image provided gives information about memory use.

Does anybody have any idea what I should do to fix the problem(s)? Maybe they are seperate problems I do not know.

 

[stduc]

I am afraid I don't have a solution for you - however.

Assuming you have no applications running, 47 seems to be a lot of processes. Use MSCONFIG to remove the ones you don't need. (such as updaters and quick starters which IMHO are pretty useless)

You don't say which, if any antivirus software you are using. The wrong one (opinions vary) and too many anti-virus antispyware programs can slow a machine down a lot and offer no real benefits. Many anti-virus products scan all programs on startup - why? I don't know, I can't see the point myself if the exe file has already been checked. This kind of antivirus activity can really slow a machine down. See if you can disable this activity in your anti-virus software. To see if your problem is antivirus activity related, pull your internet connection and disable antivirus (stop it loading using MSCONFIG) and reboot.

Stop any services you don't need. For instance wifi, if you don't have wireless and indexing if you don't do many disk searches or don't mind them being a bit slower.

Defrag your hard drive and then remove and reset your paging file as one fixed at 1.5 x your RAM. This will make it contiguous if you have enough space on drive C. A fragmented paging file can really slow a system down.

I suspect you would benefit from more RAM. A total of 1GB would help tremendously I think.

IE7 problems are normally due to add-ins. You can check quickly by running IE with no add-ins. To do this click START --> ALL PROGRAMS --> ACCESSORIES --> SYSTEM TOOLS and select Internet Explorer (No Add Ins)

If IE runs OK in this mode you know the problems is caused by an add-in which can be disabled in regular IE mode by clicking on TOOLS --> MANAGE ADD-ONS. (Remove one at a time until the problem is fixed and then add the others back - keep notes!)

Also you could try to reset your IE settings back to the defaults (as a last resort!)

TOOLS --> INTERNET OPTIONS --> ADVANCED TAB and then click the Reset Internet Explorer Settings button.

If you can't access your internet options within IE directly due to the program hanging, open the control panel and open Internet Options directly from there.


[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[Tammster]

Thanks for the tips! I tried to run internet explorer 7 without add-ins but the problem remains. For some reason I can open a new window when using the page button but I can't do it with the right-click mouse button.

I used MSconfig to stop some services and startup programs. I however believe you cannot touch the microsoft files in services without screwing up your PC (is that correct? - thought I read it somewhere)?

I did mention which virus scanners I used but I'll mention them again. I have MCafee and Bitdefender. I currently have bitdefender turend off and mcafee turned on.

For some reason defrag seems to work again.

Thanks for the help!

Defrag your hard drive and then remove and reset your paging file as one fixed at 1.5 x your RAM. This will make it contiguous if you have enough space on drive C. A fragmented paging file can really slow a system down.

How do I reset paging file as one fixed at 1.5 x RAM?

 

[stduc]

To reset the paging file, remove virtual memory, re-boot and then re-add it.

To do this, go to My Computer properties, advanced tab, performance, advanced tab, and change virtual memory to 'no paging file' - reboot.
Now - defrag the drive you are going to put the paging file on - C probably
Then navigate to virtual memory again and select custom size and set the size to 1.5 x actual RAM - in your case 1536KB. So set the size on drive C (say) to 1536KB (both initial and maximum)

I used MSconfig to stop some services and startup programs. I however believe you cannot touch the microsoft files in services without screwing up your PC (is that correct? - thought I read it somewhere)?

You are correct - in the sense that stopping services can seriously screw your PC up. Google for advice and use the services management tool to stop/start services.

This link will get you started

http://www.optimizingpc.com/optimize/windowsservices.html

McAfee is quite a serious resource hog. If you can - stop it (while NOT connected to the internet) temporarily and see if performance improves and by how much. If it makes a huge difference then consider using something else. AVG and Avast seem popular and don't seem to use too much in the way of system resources.

Thanks for the tips! I tried to run internet explorer 7 without add-ins but the problem remains. For some reason I can open a new window when using the page button but I can't do it with the right-click mouse button.

You tried to run? Or you did run IE without add-ins?
If you did succeed in running it without add-ins as described in my first reply then you may need to repair it.

see

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318378

Method to follow if you have Internet Explorer 7
If you have Internet Explorer 7, you can repair damaged files or missing registration information in Internet Explorer 7. To do this, follow these steps:1. Start Internet Explorer 7.
2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
3. On the Advanced tab, click Reset.
4. In the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog box, click Reset to confirm.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[cdogg]

If you are heavily infected, and it sounds like you are, then no amount of antivirus or anti-spyware applications is going to save you. It might make things better, but you'll likely still experience weird glitches from time to time at best.

After spending about an hour or so trying some of the solutions you've come across, there comes a point when it is more beneficial to install Windows from scratch to actually "save" time. I recommend getting your hands on an additional hard drive for cheap and use it to do a clean install of Windows. Disconnect your old hard drive to be safe the data doesn't get manipulated, and so that infections don't somehow cross over to the new install.

Before you pull data off the old drive to the new one, be sure to get the new install setup the way you like it (install all the 3rd-party apps you need, configure the desktop, etc). Once you've done that, get your hands on a utility like DriveClone or Acronis True Image to save a copy of what you've rebuilt to CD or DVD. Then if things go wrong again down the road, you've got a 20-minute restore solution versus spending hours reloading everything.

Ask a friend or kid neighbor to help you out if you haven't done it before or don't feel comfortable...

Just my 2¢

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
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