Windows XP Home Edition

[dulcimers]

I'm running Windows XP home edition on a HP Pavilion ZE5185 laptop which is wirelessly networked to a desktop computer on the second floor of my house so I can have my printers upstairs out of the way.

A week and a half ago I had some problems with the network -- thought I'd make a tiny change in a network that was working fine, but ended up having major problems. The network was not "recognized" by the laptop. Eventually I was able to resolve the network issues, but now the system is super slow. Things used to pop up instantly, but now it's a 20 second or so wait.

Not only that, but I keep getting "Program Not Responding" errors while running several different programs - too many to think it's the individual programs. It's a real pain.

One of the programs that fails consistently is my Pegasus eMail Program. I finally decided to removed it completely (including all directories), and I started clean with a up-dated version of the program. It didn't make a bit of difference. The program still loads unbelievably slow, and fails over and over.

I use Norton with auto-updates religiously, so I'm sure the problem is not virus related.

The only programs I have added lately have been TurboTax programs and Quicken Basic.

I suppose I can unload all of my "new" programs and see if the problem persists. Short of that, is there any way to know why I'm getting repeated "program not responding" messages with most every program I run?

Could it be something with the network? I was told by a technician that the wireless notebook card 'might' be bad because it was fluttering on and off. But once I got it set up, it seems to work fine.

PLEASE help!

Sharon Skaryd
aka dulcimers

 

[Andyleates]

Can you tell us more about what was changed on the network which caused it to fail, and what you did to fix it?

Andy Leates MCSE CCNA MCP+I

 

[francais]

Simple things first. You've probably checked this already, but just in case...
1. Start Task Manager.
2. Click the Networking tab and check out what is going on with your network...
3. If everythigs appears normal, i.e. no major fluctuations ect...go to next step.
4. Click the Performance tab and watch it for a spell to see if you have any major CPU Usage fluctuations. Go to step 5.
5. Click the Processes tab. Look at all your running processes. If you haven't already, click the View drop down list and expand the views to include CPU Usage and Peak CPU Usage. Check all the processes and see if any one of them is recurrently eating up your memory. If you isolate a culprit process go to Adminstrative Tools Services and try stopping the service to see if your performance improves.
Also check the System Properties Device Manager to see if you have any hardware devices that may have old or corrupt drivers.
You mention using Norton, I assume you're using the antivirus software...that's fine. But if you access the internet without a good firewall or with no firewall at all you may have picked up some sort of malware. Suggest you
scan both computers for spyware/malware with either Pest Patrol, AdAware, or SpyBot Search and Destroy (freeware).
Also be sure to have the WinXP Internet Connection Firewall
turned on for the computer that you use to access the internet.
Not sure if any of this helped...hope so though!

 

[dulcimers]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I followed my own suggestion before I read yours. I uninstalled the Turbo Tax programs and Quicken which I had added to my computer last week.

I knew the network had worked fine before I messed with it, so I didn't think that was the problem. It's working fine.
So is everything else! I will re-install the tax programs one at a time when I need them, but for right now, I'm happy.

I will look into your firewall suggestion. I know it's my system's weakness.

By the way, you asked what I did before to get my network working. It wasn't me. I had a house guest who is a pro in that area. He tweaked things and got it working.

If I have more problems, you can expect to see me back here. But for right now, it's purring.

Sharon