Slow Computer?

The voices tell me that you're right. usasma.
Soooo...... maybe I'm not paranoid?

Hey all I'm new here, been viewing this site for a few months, since I got back from defending our fine country. My computer was very slow on startup for about 20 minutes! It was the Windows automatic updates, I would recommend turning off and doing manual updates. Anybody know why this is so slow? And if it uses so much of the processor? what is being scanned? I can scan my whole computer in 2 minutes through search, and do a virus scan in about the time it takes windows update to scan? Why would they scan my whole hard drive, Not saying that is what is happening, but geez! If it is a bug, best programmers in the U.S., why isn't it fixed yet?

Edited by lumpy39us, 06 February 2007 - 07:22 AM.

I really think prevention is the key. I use sandboxie a very cool program I use it to surf the web, play games, chat etc. When you run it nothing is written on your hard drive, I am not sure but I'm guessing in memory. Anyways it prevents spyware, because once you delete the sandboxie virtual space it's gone, nothing gets written to the hard drive at all. Anyways check it out. All I know i don't get spyware or trojans from surfing.


www.sandboxie.com

Computer getting slower - takes about 10 minutes to start up now and very slow when using it. Used Windows Cleanup and a programme called Cleanup, Registry Mechanic, Defragmenter, BitDefender Virus Checker, AdAware, just downloaded Spywareblaster. Started getting a message recently saying my Virtual Memory is low. Don't seem to have things I don't need loading on start-up when I look at msconfig. A few of them seem to be BitDefender as they start with bd. My processor is an AMDAthlon XP2600+ 1.91 GHz.Would increasing my ram from 256 help? Anything else that might help.

Yes, increasing the RAM would yield a major difference in computer speed, especially if you are using Windows XP, which takes a lot of RAM just to operate.
Regards,
John

yeah this is a thorough list. good work dude

Thanks for advice I doubled the RAM and it certainly loads a lot quicker now and is a bit faster - could be faster but at least there is an improvement.

My god, this topic has really saved my computer! It was doomed, but i managed to clean it up with help from this topic and tutorials about malware on your site, thanks alot for your help :D

sand boxie rocks!!

With regard to viruses/spyware its worth noting that once you've removed it you'll want to keep it off there so its a good idea to install a firewall.

Zone Alarm is a good free firewall and can be downloaded here:
www.filehippo.com/download_zonealarm_free/

With regard to startup programs if you dont want to download anything just go to Start then Run and type in msconfig then click the startup tab. Just be careful what you turn off though!

How do I know which ones are safe to turn off. Any place that I can check out what programs can be turned off with no problems?

You bet there is. Look at the tabs at the top of the BC forum: both the Startup List and the Uninstall List have a wealth of information about applications, and both are searchable. I would recommend that you do not use MSCONFIG to manage startups, since it was designed as a diagnostic tool; many of the available tools also will provide more information than will MSCONFIG, information which makes decisions easier.
Regards,
John

Thank you jgweed!

I am bout to really get nuts with this variable speed... I have deleted everything I didn't use; cleaned completely the PC weekly (two wellknown applications appart of the antivirus); defragment almost every two weeks; nobody except myself manages the PC; etc, etc. But, every two or three weeks it functions as a rheumatic turtle. Takes a lot to close; a lot to open mail application; a lot to change page, etc. Nothing necessary to say about opening Mozilla... Speed, obviousl,y is checked every time. What to do? A significant fact is that the free space in my both hard disks changes from one day to the other, radically. As to move from completely full towards less than three quarters occupied. Many, many thanks. Sorry for this insistence about something that seems to be almost ridiculous because of the frequency. I think that XP is not a so formidable system as it's said...


Mod Edit: Edited to remove unnecessary quote. ~tg

Edited by tg1911, 09 May 2007 - 11:01 AM.

merellogalasso,
Please start a new topic, in the proper forum, if you would like help with this problem.
Directions on how to do that can be found here:
New User Orientation

With regard to viruses/spyware its worth noting that once you've removed it you'll want to keep it off there so its a good idea to install a firewall.

Zone Alarm is a good free firewall and can be downloaded here:
www.filehippo.com/download_zonealarm_free/
. . .

Well, on XP SP2 there should be the Windows Firewall turned ON by default. Experience shows that it does its main job of protecting against being hacked quite dependably.

An additional Firewall program like ZoneAlarm (NOT free anymore, correct?) is just additional ballast, IMHO at least.

ZoneAlarm continues to offer a free firewall, and maintains updates regularly. I have used it for a number of years, and have been free from most problems. I used it along with Bitdefender Anti-spy/anti-virus.
In a new system, I've changed to Norton 360. Has anyone had experience with it? So far, it has been faster and trouble-free.

Edited by Qdon, 21 May 2007 - 09:27 PM.