My Computer is so running so SLOW lately

LukinFan

Just in the past few weeks, my computer has really slowed down all of a sudden. It all started when my sound suddenly went away:

http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=306615

I got a new soundcard, but it still takes longer then usual to load and it takes twice the amount of time to read and burn a disc. Before it took on average no more than 30 minutes to read and burn a disc, now it takes about an hour to do both.

I have room on my computer and I've recently defraged it. I've also recently installed a new burner, so I know that's not it. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

norm

what are the specs? processor, ram etc.

when did you get it?

off the top of my head i think you might need to reformat or replace the hard drive....sometimes a fresh install of windows does the trick but if the hd is older it might be failing

Stone Is God

cutback wrote:

what are the specs? processor, ram etc.

when did you get it?

off the top of my head i think you might need to reformat or replace the hard drive....sometimes a fresh install of windows does the trick but if the hd is older it might be failing

If that's the case you'll want to go get an external hard drive so you can back up the files that you have.

Red Burrito

Stone Is God wrote:

If that's the case you'll want to go get an external hard drive so you can back up the files that you have.

I have been thinking about getting an external hard drive myself. Do you recommend any thing in particular?

Stone Is God

Red Burrito wrote:

I have been thinking about getting an external hard drive myself. Do you recommend any thing in particular?

It all depends on how much space you need. I have a 250GB Western Digital that I use to back up files on a file server at work.

LukinFan

cutback wrote:

what are the specs? processor, ram etc.

when did you get it?

off the top of my head i think you might need to reformat or replace the hard drive....sometimes a fresh install of windows does the trick but if the hd is older it might be failing

I've had my computer for about 3 years now

and I have 11.1 GB free space left

How do I reformat my hard drive? Is this something that is easy to do?

Stone Is God

LukinFan wrote:

I've had my computer for about 3 years now

and I have 11.1 GB free space left

How do I reformat my hard drive? Is this something that is easy to do?

Go to My Computer and right click on the icon and go to Properties. There you will find what's in the CPU along with how much RAM you have. It's possible that you might just need more memory to speed it up. If it has anything less than 1GB of RAM you might need more.

PatrickBateman

You say when reading or burning a disc.....
Just for haha's do this first:
Right click My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager.

Now look for "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" and click the + to expand.

Right click > Properties on each of the controllers (Primary IDE, Secondary IDE) and make sure on the "Advanced Settings" tab under "Transfer Mode" for each device they all say "DMA if Available". If any of them say "PIO only" change each one to DMA and reboot.

TheDecline13

buy a Mac!

OffHeGoes29

Whens the last time you blew out the dust and hair from your case? Mine was doing the same thing for months, so I took it apart and found a dustball had formed around the copper cooling fins. After cleaning it out, she runs like a champ.

Start with the simple things first.

LukinFan

cool- thanks, I'll try these things out when I get home

LukinFan

PatrickBateman wrote:

You say when reading or burning a disc.....
Just for haha's do this first:
Right click My Computer > Properties > Hardware > Device Manager.

Now look for "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" and click the + to expand.

Right click > Properties on each of the controllers (Primary IDE, Secondary IDE) and make sure on the "Advanced Settings" tab under "Transfer Mode" for each device they all say "DMA if Available". If any of them say "PIO only" change each one to DMA and reboot.

I'm looking all over for "device Manager" and I can't find it :(

iluvcats

have you tried hitting control alt delete and looking at what is running in your task manager? you may have files you don't need (or a sneaky spyware!)

my father in law had a slow computer and no virus protection....after fighting with it for hours, we determined he had 4 viruses.

LukinFan

iluvcats wrote:

have you tried hitting control alt delete and looking at what is running in your task manager? you may have files you don't need (or a sneaky spyware!)

my father in law had a slow computer and no virus protection....after fighting with it for hours, we determined he had 4 viruses.

yeah, I tried that :( but thank you

melva02

Red Burrito wrote:

I have been thinking about getting an external hard drive myself. Do you recommend any thing in particular?

If you get an internal hard drive and a case, you have more options for how you might want to reconfigure in the future. Make sure the case's internal connection matches the hard drive (such as SATA), and make sure the case's connection to the computer is USB2 or something similarly fast (don't know what the other options are).

The first extra hard drive I ever bought was a Western Digital. Almost 3 years later, it started making that clicking noise that means it's about to fail, which does happen somewhat unpredictably, so I'm not completely dissing the specific drive. But it was still under warranty, just barely, so I called and was told I could send it in, and was given a return authorization number. It took me a few days to mail it, and it arrived there a day or two after the warranty expired. They shipped it back saying it was no longer under warranty, despite the return authorization I'd gotten the week before. I don't buy Western Digital anymore.

Now I buy Seagate. They own the Maxtor brand now but I still go with the original Seagate ones. The reviews on newegg.com have been helpful whenever I need to buy a hard drive...apparently some sizes seem to be less reliable than others, though it could be a sampling error since newegg reviews are based on a few users' experiences and what they've heard around from others.

Melissa

melva02

LukinFan wrote:

I've had my computer for about 3 years now

and I have 11.1 GB free space left

How do I reformat my hard drive? Is this something that is easy to do?

Not that easy, and possibly not worth it if it turns out to be a hardware problem. Reformatting your hard drive means erasing it and reinstalling your operating system (such as Windows).

I agree that you should be looking at how many processes are running. Maybe you could post a list and we could look for unnecessary ones? You get the list by pressing ctrl-alt-del. (If that brings up some choices, select task manager or manage tasks.) In the Windows Task Manager there's a Processes tab.

There are also some background processes you might want to get rid of. Try http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/startup.htm to read more about how to get rid of stuff. The Quicktime task manager (qttask.exe) is a pain in the ass that reinstalls itself every time you update iTunes. You can get rid of it by changing the name of the file, I think. Otherwise it puts itself back in the startup list every time you reboot.

I highly recommend the Process Guard program, which asks you every time a process tries to start. It can remember your preferences, so for example it will allow the Firefox processes to start without asking, but it will ask you again when you get a new version. This is a great way to keep viruses off your system, and to keep track of what Windows is trying to sneak in. It's best to disable Process Guard while installing new software so it doesn't mess up the installation.

What OS are you using (Win XP, 2000, Vista)? Do you have the .NET framework and can you possibly live without it? That thing messed up my computer big time.

Two other programs I recommend are Zone Alarm which lets you control which programs can access the internet (such as blocking a program that doesn't need access but is just trying to report back to the mother ship about your use of the program), and Acronis backup which lets you take a snapshot of your operating system and go back to that version later. So, for example, if I'm looking for a new DVD editor, I can make a backup before I install any of them, then install one and try it out. If I don't like it, I can revert to the backup, which is better than uninstalling because it leaves no trace of anything the program might have installed or changed. Acronis is easiest to use if you have two hard drives, or a partition making two virtual hard drives on one physical one (I use Partition Magic for that). Roger, PM me if you want help setting that up and we'll see what your options are.

Melissa

LukinFan

melva02 wrote:

Not that easy, and possibly not worth it if it turns out to be a hardware problem. Reformatting your hard drive means erasing it and reinstalling your operating system (such as Windows).

I agree that you should be looking at how many processes are running. Maybe you could post a list and we could look for unnecessary ones? You get the list by pressing ctrl-alt-del. (If that brings up some choices, select task manager or manage tasks.) In the Windows Task Manager there's a Processes tab.

Thanks Melissa

I tried doing this, but it won't let me copy and paste the files. Is there another way to post it?

norm

let's try this....

click Start>Run>and enter "msconfig"

under the "General" tab, remove the check mark next to "Load Startup items"

Restart your computer and see if it seems speedier...

LukinFan

cutback wrote:

let's try this....

click Start>Run>and enter "msconfig"

under the "General" tab, remove the check mark next to "Load Startup items"

Restart your computer and see if it seems speedier...

fuck! I tried this and now it's making me reactiviate Windows and it doesn't seem any faster at all.

edit: I reinstalled windows but everything is still slow- and everything seems different now. I'm coming up with a runtime error now after it loads. ???

LukinFan

Anyone know how to stop programs from automatically loading. I didn't have QuickTime and Google Updater loading before but they are now???

zacman13245

Similarly to the previous post, run msconfig, and navigate to the "Startup" tab. There you will see a serious of items and check boxes next to them. There you should see all the programs that start once Windows loads. Some of those are not safe to uncheck, they will cause errors in Windows or other programs. The safe ones to uncheck would be programs like Quicktime, any of the iTunes fields, the Adobe ones, Google or Yahoo toolbars, etc. Without seeing the computer, I wouldnt know for sure other than the programs listed above are safe to turn off, but I did find this list which should help in determining which are needed and which arent.


http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
startup program list.

LukinFan

zacman13245 wrote:

Similarly to the previous post, run msconfig, and navigate to the "Startup" tab. There you will see a serious of items and check boxes next to them. There you should see all the programs that start once Windows loads. Some of those are not safe to uncheck, they will cause errors in Windows or other programs. The safe ones to uncheck would be programs like Quicktime, any of the iTunes fields, the Adobe ones, Google or Yahoo toolbars, etc. Without seeing the computer, I wouldnt know for sure other than the programs listed above are safe to turn off, but I did find this list which should help in determining which are needed and which arent.


http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
startup program list.

cool- thanks!

Any idea how to get rid of this runtime error that is popping up now? Also it doesn't seem to be reading my virus protection now- an error code is coming up now saying that it can not communicate with it- but the program is still on my computer which is strange. I just want to pick up my computer and throw it out the window!!!!! :(

TheDecline13

man save up some dough and buy a mac!!!

melva02

LukinFan wrote:

I tried doing this, but it won't let me copy and paste the files. Is there another way to post it?

You could take a screenshot of it, or just type them out...sorry.

I think messing too much with the startup stuff might have caused the runtime error. I think you might be due for a reformat and new install of Windows. How big is your hard drive and how much stuff is on it?

Will you be in VA anytime soon? I can do it for you. I did my parents' and they seem happy with what I set up.

Sorry for your troubles.

Melissa

demetrios

Best to take it to you local ma or pa's custom PC shop.
Burn what you can on data dvdrs, cdrs etc..

Does you PC have the Window's Operating Sticker Key on the tower case?
Then you're good to go.

Take it to the repair shop, get it completly wipped out.
Start from scratch. A brand new pc.
Clean the dust inside, clean everything.
Tell them to have the lastest Window updates installed.
That's it!

I just did one for one of my pcs.
Purr's like a kitty now!

LukinFan

melva02 wrote:

You could take a screenshot of it, or just type them out...sorry.

I think messing too much with the startup stuff might have caused the runtime error. I think you might be due for a reformat and new install of Windows. How big is your hard drive and how much stuff is on it?

Will you be in VA anytime soon? I can do it for you. I did my parents' and they seem happy with what I set up.

Sorry for your troubles.

Melissa

Thanks Melissa and everyone else. I wish I was going to be in VA sometime soon, but no, I'm all the way down in FL :(

How much does it cost to get the computer reformatted and Windows reinstalled- what you and D were both basically talking about?

Also, not sure if this is something related, but now my top driver isn't reading discs correctly. I use it as the DVD burner, it will burn about 4% of the disc and then pop up with an error message. It just started doing this today after everything yesterday. I tried it on four discs and all of them did it :( I then read and burned the disc on the bottom driver and it worked. Time for a new drive/burner? Something related to what I did yesterday? I'm so frustrated lately with this thing :(

zacman13245

Sounds like after you reformatted, you may have lost some of your hardware's drivers. Luckily, those are easily downloaded and installed. Problems with drivers can often times lead to errors. Try this:

Start>My Computer (right click)> and hit Properties on the grey menu that appears > Hardware tab > Device Manager.

Are there any yellow question marks? Red "X"s?

LukinFan

see below

norm

LukinFan wrote:

After going into the "Hardware Tab", I didn't see "Device Manager"

It says:

All Disc Drives and then in the box below that, it's blank with nothing in it. Below that it reads:

Device Properties
Manufacturer:
Location:
Device Status:

Then below that, there are two buttons: Troubleshoot and Properties

No X's or Question Marks at all

??????

this is what he's talking about:

http://72.5.51.168/_img/Device-Manager.gif

i wish i could be there in person to help, rog....i'm terrible at troubleshooting this way....my diagnosis from here is that you need to reinstall windows and reinstall all of your software....usually, when i do it, i buy and install a new hard drive because they're really cheap now and if something goes wrong i have my old hard drive to fall back on....and it's an instant backup

if you're not confident that you can do it yourself, maybe you have a geek friend or you could take it to the geek squad or a place like that...:)

LukinFan

cutback wrote:

this is what he's talking about:

http://72.5.51.168/_img/Device-Manager.gif

i wish i could be there in person to help, rog....i'm terrible at troubleshooting this way....my diagnosis from here is that you need to reinstall windows and reinstall all of your software....usually, when i do it, i buy and install a new hard drive because they're really cheap now and if something goes wrong i have my old hard drive to fall back on....and it's an instant backup

if you're not confident that you can do it yourself, maybe you have a geek friend or you could take it to the geek squad or a place like that...:)

Thanks cutback- I got it now. When it coems to computers, I only know the basics- thank you. How much do hard drives usually run?

Zacman- there is nothing in the window listed after I hit "device manager"- it's completely blank. Should it be?

Brisk.

Try getting some of the latest adaware/spyware/antivirus prorams and scan in safe mode.

Could help you out more if you had MSN ;p.