Slow Laptop Issue.

[Kevin Palmer]

My daughters computer is SLOW. Come to find out, she went a few months without any protection on it. Now, it drags feet.



I am not able to restore it to an earlier point, (it wont let me).



I do not have restore disks.



So, any advice???



Thanks in advance.

 

[TracN Jack]

run msconfig.exe and see whats running at startup, disable or remove unwanted spyware / programs





do you have windows defender installed?



is there ALOT of files on the desktop?



Have you logged in under another user and it performs faster? If so then her profile could be the culprit

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I did not try the other user idea, it will at least help narrow it down a bit.



I am not familiar with the defender program. Norton is on it and doing a scan now, but I seriously do not think it will solve the issue.



I'll try the msconfig when the scan is done.



Thanks...

 

[TracN Jack]

to be honest norton security suite can turn any computer into a brick....



I like Symantec Corperate antivirus though

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Well, I can look into that but no sense until I see what all I need to do with the present issue at hand.

 

[Ron Tobias]

Run the following freeware/shareware programs and it'll speed it right up"



http://www.trendmicro.com/hc_intro/default.asp (On-line virus scan)

http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html (spy/ad/mal ware remover)

http://www.ccleaner.com/download/downloadpage.aspx?1 (Crap Cleaner)

 

[George C]

I would bet she picked up some spyware/adware somewhere along the way. These things are more troublesome than viruses and will definitely slow the computer down. Run the scans RT recommended as as well as Spybot search and destroy that you can get free from download.com. I would also download a program called hijackthis and if you can save the log file and post it here. This shows what is running on your computer and we can remove things from there. One more thing, go to start, run, and enter %temp% and delete these files. There is a lot we can try before having to reformat.



George

 

[Curt NA]

Here's some of the programs I use on all my home PCs (5 of them!) to keep them running smoothly:



AdAware Personal (spyware removal, manual scan):

http://www.lavasoft.de/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php



SpyBot (spyware removal, manual scan):

http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1



Spyware Blaster (passive anti-spyware, manual updates):

http://www.download.com/SpywareBlaster/3000-8022_4-10486084.html?tag=lst-0-1



AVG AntiVirus (resident antivirus with regular updates):

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/avg-anti-virus-free/lng/us/tpl/v5



IMHO, I don't use Norton or McAfee products as they seemed to slow down my PC considerably (especially on startup).

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Coastie,



I assume you are describing the computer I sold you a while ago. As you stated, the NIS 2005 subscription would have expired by now. That version did not included Spyware/adware protection, so I used to run Spybot every few months, because my daughter would visit places that would place that junk on it. I believe it was pretty clean when I sold it to you though.



If I remember correctly, she only had 256 MB of RAM. Upgrading that would speed it significantly. I never bothered, since we were having the overheating issue, common with Toshibas. As I remember, you just wanted it for parts initially anyway (the monitor, I believe).



I wish you would have posted this a couple of weeks ago. I ran across those installation disks while the movers were packing me out. They are in non-temp storage now, and I won't see them for a couple of years now. You may want to consider formating the hard drive and installing EDUBUNTU Linux. It looks like a better option for a slower laptop like you have.



I hope you can get this resolved and your daughter can get a few more years of good use from that laptop. My daughter still says that is the coolest Christmas gift she ever got.

 

[Tony Favaloro]

Try running a "Defrag" and "Scandisk" On your hard drive. Double click on "My Comp" ; right click on the hard drive; left click on "properties"; click on "tools" tab; click on "Defragment" follow instructions. You may have to defrag more than once on each hadr drive - start with C. After defraging, do a "scandisk" (or "check now" ) under the "tools" tab for each hard drive. This should help. Also, download, install, and run "Microsoft Defender" and "Ad-Aware" to - free versions available on internet. Good luck!

 

[Dan Chatten]

I have MS-defender running on multiple PC's and L-tops with Norton Corp Antivirus and they scream right along.



Here is my .02



1. Go out to MS and install that software - it is free. There is an explorer option within defender that will allow to you disable or remove startup programs. I would start by disabling everything. Then add back in one at a time (as needed). There is another cool little free-be called Startup Inspector for windows.

2. As recommended - I would run a couple of free-be's out there in addition to defender to nail all the spyware - AdAware Personal (spyware removal, manual scan) works for me.

3. Defrag the disk. That can significantly slow down a PC. Also, make sure you have ample disk space. Do not run at disk capacity! This is going to cause fragmentation all over the place. You can run the XP defrag or go out to diskkeeper and get their 30 day free use copy if you want more graphical features. If you need disk space scag an external drive at BJ's for short $'s and off-load (i.e.. Music, Video,etc).

4. Last, open task manager. What do you have for available memory? If your disk are heavily fragmented and you have low memory then information is going to page to disk. If they are fragged then it is working like a dog and that can slow down a PC significantly.



I hope all the great tips in this thread work for you.



Dan

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Hey Nelson,,,,



It is the same computer. I got her running well again. We did have additional protection, she just let it run out and neglected to inform me.



She had a TON of in the background stuff as well as a fair amount of extra programs. There was like 48 startup programs, got it down to about 15 or so. Got her wireless issue solved as well.



Will run the above suggestions as well as it can't hurt any.



Forgot to mention, installed an additional 512 of RAM and until recently it has been great.

Just a matter of getting it all worked out.



Thanks Nelson..

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Glad to hear. I am happy things worked out.

 

[Mark Tomkiel]

By the way, if you have comcast internet, you get free mcafee. What's even better is that you can install it onto as many PCs as you want, even outside of Comcast's network.