slow startup/system lagging

[GUJUm0deL]

I have a DELL, P3 128RAM 667mhZ, but when I start my PC it takes soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long to start up...and since I signed up with Earthlink Cable service (the cable service is provided from Time Warner Cable) it takes longer for it to startup...
I called the cable company and they checked the modem saying that the modem is working fine, so the problem has to be with the PC...
Is there a software that I run to check all my specs et al to see if anything is corrupting the system?? Or do I simply buy more RAM?? I have not failed; I merely found 100,000 different ways of not succeding...

 

[jmatt]

Cable/DSL help .

http://www.speedguide.net/

http://www.rmorley.com/myprograms/cabledsltweak/index.html

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/dslspeedtweaks/

http://www.cable-modems.org/articles/speed_tweaks/

http://www.5star-shareware.com/Internet/Dial-Connect/intelli-dialup.html

Intelli-Dial-UP v2.51 Freeware .
Intelli-Dial-UP boosts your modem, LAN, or cable connection speed to make your Internet access
up to five times faster.
The program is an Internet boosting utility that modifies a number of settings in the Microsoft
TCP/IP stack to give you the fastest way to access the Internet. By default, both Windows 95 and
98 do not come optimized for people accessing the Internet with a modem nor do they come
optimized for a cable modem, but instead come optimized for people accessing the Internet with
an In-House Network (LAN). By adjusting and optimizing your computer for a modem connection,
Intelli-Dial-UP can increase your connection to the Internet.

 

[GUJUm0deL]

I already did the speed boost from

http://www.speedguide.net

and I also visited

http://www.dslreports.com

But the problem isn't with the cable connection, its with the PC itself...the PC is slow as heck...takes a long time to startup and after its start it seems to lag...
Is there a program or a website that can check my PC and find out whats wrong??

I have not failed; I merely found 100,000 different ways of not succeding...

 

[joegz]

You need to check what programs you have starting when your system starts. You did not mention what OS you are using so here some general information.

Check the programs in your STARTUP folder.
Check what starts up from the registry in the following keys.

HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_Local_Machine|Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

It may be a matter of a process of elimination to figure out what program is slowing you down. joegz
"Sometimes you just need to find out what it's not first to figure out what it is."

 

[zechsea]

about the Intel connection booster jmatt mentioned above, have you (or anyone) used this yet? Does anyone know if it can really do any good? And even more importantly, can it do any bad? I'd like to try it, but I'm a fervent believer in not fixing what ain't broke (although too often, I seem not to practice what I preach), and my connection actually is fine, but I feel like it could be better. About a year ago, I was connected during a thunderstorm (baaaad idea, now I know), when lightning struck, apparently very nearby (knocked pictures off walls in >1 room of our house), and I was knocked offline. From that moment, I could not stay connected for more than 10 minutes or so at a time, and the speeds it was reporting were abysmal (28800 was tops, sometimes as low as 9600 bpm). After suffering with that for a few weeks, I replaced the modem, and it returned to (almost) normal. But it still never reports anything over 45000 or so bpm (usually low 40000's), even though another computer in the same house consistently connects at 52000 bpm, and I think the lightning from that incident probably caused some lasting damage.
I'd like to give that utility a try, but I certainly don't want to make anything worse, so if anyone can report any experience (positive or negative) with it, I'd appreciate hearing it.
Thanks
Rebecca

 

[GUJUm0deL]

joegz -- I am using windows98SE, and for the startup programs all I have running is:
1) System Tray
2) Norton Auto Protect
3) Popup Stopper
4) NAV DefAlert (have no idea what that is, all I know is that its Norton)
5) NPROTECT (again, no idea...only norton)
6) Load Prower profile
7) Adobe GammaLoader (I have turned this off, many times, but it seems to startup on its own...)
And, when I right click on "MY COMPUTER" to "Property" and under "Perfomance" I see that I have like 89% to 92% free resources I have not failed; I merely found 100,000 different ways of not succeding...

 

[GUJUm0deL]

zechsea, I used it from

http://www.speedguide.net

and from

http://www.dslreports.com,

and they work...
My cable connection is more then 2MegaBits!! I have not failed; I merely found 100,000 different ways of not succeding...

 

[joegz]

Is this a USB modem? Have you tried disconnecting the modem and restarting to see if it makes a difference? You may try disconnecting all hardware except for the essentials and see how the machine boots up. Hopefully this will allow you to narrow it down further to a hardware or software issue. joegz
"Sometimes you just need to find out what it's not first to figure out what it is."