Slow computer.
 

My computer is starting to get slower. =(
What's the best way to fix this?
Is there online tools that work better then defrag or disck cleanup?

Note to any moderator: This thread was supposed to posted in the Lounge, so feel free to move it because I can't.

Get another hd.. one for storage.. If you want it to really run like a beast get two of the exact same hd raid 0... then just have one for storage.. Im thinkin thats raid 5..

What are you running as far as your cpu power supply hd ram etc??

Make sure to run a virus and spyware scan both in regular mode and in safe mode. If you download a lot you're bound to pick up something nasty along the way, you must stay vigilant. I would recommend setting up some kind of virus/spyware scan daily, you can automatically set it to go off at your convenience. I have mine go at 3:17 a.m. so when I wake up at around 7, I can delete what it finds, then do it again in safe mode before I start work at around 8 or 8:30 (working from home kicks ass).

Is it the net or the actual computer?

The actual computer.

Unfortanetly I'm not too computer savy. I wouldn't know if I already have virus protection or where to get if I didn't, or which one would be best, or how to set it to run at a certain time, or how to turn it off, or stop it from blocking certain downloads.

I'm sorry if my ignorance is making things complicated, but I'm not stupid or anything- so if I can just get an answer that makes sense one time I'll be set forever, which would be very much appreciated as I need a fast computer with all the music I've been downloading.

clear your airport

Spybot Search & Destroy is a decent free spyware software that actually works. There are a lot of them out there that let you download them for free, then after you run a scan it shows a bunch of spyware and **** on your computer but won't let you remove them without purchasing the product. Spybot doesn't do that. Another one to try is Trend Micro House Edition, which will go through your hard drives and Internet cookies, making sure that the ones there are ones you actually need and not spyware masquerading as helpful ones.

Unfortunately anti-virus software is something you will have to go out and buy as it is hard to find for free. You can try bit torrents if you want to download them, but it's an important software and I think is just easier to go out and buy it. I would recommend McAfee over Norton's Anti-Virus which is absolute **** in my opinion. I think you can get McAfee for like 30 or 40 bucks.

To get Spybot and Trend Micro I would suggest just going to google and doing a search. If you get Spybot then I would suggest doing a scan while you're in safemode, that way it can get the **** that latches onto your registry, to get into safe mode you have to restart your computer and just keep pressing the F8 button til a little list pops up asking if you want to start your computer in safe mode. Select yes and everything will be running in a 640x400 resolution, that is normal and you don't need to worry about it.

This is just one of the possibilities, it is very hard to accurately diagnose the problem without actually being able to physically see it and work on it. If any of the suggestions people offer you on here don't work, I suggest contacting your local tech support business and having them take a look at it.

I hope all works out and if you have anymore questions feel free to PM me.

^Thanks a bunch man.

You should just reboot entirely. make sure to use a system restore point and have all your essential programs you use backed up so you can quickly load them back on. This will make your computer the same as when it came form the factory.

You will get much better results doing this than trying to de-crap the computer. Also once its rebooted then add all the necessary programs. (spybot, adaware, avg antivirus...)

Schizotypic, if I were you, I'd do the following :

• Uninstall every program you don't need. I would also suggest uninstalling your antivirus because a lot of these virus programs are heavy in program requirements (examples Norton, McAfee) and I'll suggest one which is free, good and a little more easy on the requirements in a bit.
• Remove everything unnecessary from running at startup. In Vista, you have control over what starts with Windows. In XP, it only takes a sec to get Startup Control Panel, a handy little tool that gives a "startup icon" on your control panel that you can click. Then you can choose not to run stuff.
• Clean out all spyware. I see you've gotten some suggestions that you could use. I use Spyware Doctor myself and it's an excellent program. However, it's not freeware.
• Clean out and compact the registry. I would recommend the program Registry Mechanic made by the same company behind spyware doctor. All the programs you've had on your computer are gonna leave stuff in the registry and these are not always cleaned out, even after uninstallation.
• Get avast! Home Edition and install that. It's an antivirus program and it's developers sell it to businesses. For home users, however, it's free, easy on the reqs and it's also quite good.
• Do a thorough search for viruses on your computer
• Defragment it over night

Alternatively, if you're worried about getting viruses in the space of time between uninstalling your virus protection and installing the new one, just put those two events after one another ..

Doing these steps will help :)

edit :

Writing this up reminded me that I should do a little spring cleaning myself. I noticed that the last version of registry mechanic has something called "registry monitor" which basically watches your registry and let's you know if anything tries to do changes with it. I don't like unnecessary processes running in the background and this was easy to turn off!

Firstly, delete anythng you aren't using and don't need. And I mean EVERYTHING you aren't using and don't need. Most peoples computers are chock goddamn full of programs nobody needs and nobody uses. Safety Tip: If you don't know EXACTLY what something is and what it does, don't delete it. If its really huge and you really want to free up that space, google it and make sure you know EXACTLY what you're deleting.

Secondly, get iolo system mechanic. If you afford to, buy it since its really useful (Although iolos own technical support team are awful, but you should never need to speak to them.)

Run the pc totalcare option, and make sure every possible test and optimization is highlighted.

Thirdly, get a program called CCleaner. Run it in normal mode, then run it in registry cleaning mode (Under Tools)




After that you should have everything under control, but as a last check and test: Open up your comptuer case while the computer is off. Ground yourself by touching some bare metal (An amplifier casing, a radiator etc) and then get to work cleaning as much dust as you can out from the heatsinks, vents, and various nooks and crannies. If you feel confident, enough, remove the fans from the case to clean them properly.

The dust step is a last resort but I still reccomend doing it. Dust hurts computer parts over time and reduces reliability. Cleaning them out will help you a lot. I reccomend using a can of compressed air with a thin nozzle tip to quickly remove most of the dust from heatsink fins.

If you're wondering how dust wold affect computer speed, heres how: A lot of computers and processors have features where if the processor temperature goes above a certain level, the computer reduces the operating speed automatically to stop the computer cooking itself to death. Too much dust = too much heat buildup = the speed gets throttled.

Finally Fast.com | Get your computer to its peak performance


go there.

Worst advertisements ever run on Australian TV...
"My Computer used to be really fast, but now its only kinda fast..."

Complete with annoying American accent and all :)

PC Speed Scan Pro is an Example of Optimization Programs that Do Not Work

FInally fast apparently, doesn't work.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/computer/safetyscanner.mspx


better?

Yes, actually.

and this maybe never used it...


PC Pitstop: Free PC Scans and Tune-up Utilities



http://www.iobit.com



EDIT: also try the second one

"Uninstall every program you don't need. I would also suggest uninstalling your antivirus because a lot of these virus programs are heavy in program requirements (examples Norton, McAfee) and I'll suggest one which is free, good and a little more easy on the requirements in a bit"


also do what toretordon said...

If its colgged with a bunch of music there is no program you will get to make it faster.

Your best bet in this case would be to get another HD internal or external. My question would be is how old is this pc? Do you know what your working with?

There are several factors that can lead to your pc slowing. If you arent willing to get rid of anything (music) (programs that you never use) then you will more than likely continue to have this problem.

Well, if he has 100 000 files in his media library, scrolling searching and stuff in his mp3 player will be slower, but it shouldn't effect the running of other programs much, the time it takes to start up the OS and so on.

I don't think it's right to tell someone they should delete their music to speed up their comp ;) If you ask me, that's unnecessary.

^Seriously!!



Thanks for the advice everyone, very much appreciated.

No, Im just saying that i dont think software will help much. He would have to upgrade like I mentioned before with either and external or internal hd. He should not store all that music on his boot up disk if he wants his pc to run well. I guess what i meant to say was that if he is not willing to upgrade the only other alternative would be to remove some items.

You will notice virtually no pick up with internet downloads that are supposed to speed up your pc. Then you will start to stray from the most reputable websites looking for better results and may end up with even more crap on your pc, and possibly pick up a virus on the way.

Schiz...

First, list your computer specs so we can get an idea of what you're working with.
- How much RAM?
- Processor type and speed
- Hard drive size and space available?
- OS? (I'm going to assume XP in regard to what I'm going to type next)

You can find out your RAM by right clicking "My Computer" and going to "properties", then clicking the "general" tab.
Your processor type and speed will be there also.
For your hard drive, open "My computer" and right click your C drive and select "properties".

(all this is assuming you're using XP or Vista, although Vista might be slightly different)

1. Clearing out unneeded programs should be your first step. Use the add/remove programs utility located in the control panel to do this.
2. Clear out all unused files throughout your drive(s)
(If you're unsure what a file is or does, leave it alone or ask someone about it)
3. Defrag your drive(s). Defrag is located in Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools.

The next thing you'll want to do is disable any background processes you don't need. Background processes use your RAM, and if you're running low, you can safely disable a lot of these processes and free up some RAM.

First, go to Start > Run and type this in the box: services.msc

A console will open and show you all background processes for windows. Expand the box and situate it so that you can see the name of each service and the descriptions. The status of each service will tell you which ones are currently running and eating up RAM.
Leave the console open for now.

Next, go to Eldergeek Service Guide
Scroll down and you'll see a list of all XP services sorted alphabetically. Go through each one and read what each service does and look at the recommendation Eldergeek suggests. With each service you conclude is safe and/or practical to disable, double click the corresponding services in your services.msc console and do what Eldergeek recommends.

When you're done with that, go back to Start > Run and type: msconfig.
A console will pop up. Navigate to "Startup" and uncheck anything you don't want to start up when your computer boots up.
A lot of stuff in there, you won't be sure about. Leave it alone or investigate by looking at the Command section of the programs and going follow it out in the program folders to see what it is.

When you're all done, restart your computer.

Next, as some of the posters in this thread have offered, you'll want to make sure ad/spyware isn't bogging you down. Go to google and search for: Adaware. Download it. Also download Spybot seek and destroy. Run Adaware and kill all the stuff it finds. Run Spybot to crosscheck Adaware.

Run your virus program and scan all drives. Kill whatever it finds if it finds anything.

(When you run the spyware killers and your virus scan, make sure you unplug your network cable so nothing tries to re-download when it gets killed.)


Another tip:
If you don't have much RAM, you can increase your pagefile. A pagefile allows you to set a portion of your hard drive to be allocated for virtual memory, thus increasing your RAM. This is practical if you have a lot of space on your hard drive but don't have a lot of RAM.
To do this, go to Start > My computer "properties" > Advanced > Performance section "settings" > Advanced.
At the bottom, you'll see "Virtual memory".
Click "change".
You'll see your drive letters. By default, your paging file will be on C: and it will show how much space on C has been allocated for virtual memory.
Depending on how much RAM you have and how much drive space you're willing to give up, the paging file should be set with that in mind.
Initial size should be equal to your RAM, and max size should be almost double your RAM to take the most advantage.
If your paging file isn't being used much, the max size won't be allocated until it's necessary. The initial size, however will be allocated no matter what, so know that whatever you put in the initial size, will be taken away from your hard drive's available space. The max size is for over-spill and it's allocated dynamically.
If you don't have a lot of drive space, you'll have to set your initial size to a number you feel okay with, but it needs to be enough to make a difference.

You'll notice that it's already set at a specific number:
You can test to see if you're using all your current pagefile by opening up a couple programs and get your computer lagging, then press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and navigate to the Performance tab on the task manager.
The bottom graph represents how much of the pagefile you're using. If it's maxing out, in comparison to what you have it set at, then you know you need to increase your pagefile size.

Next, you may want to get a registry cleaner to clear out all the old keys left by programs that haven't uninstalled correctly.
This can slow your computer down because your registry is constantly in use, and if your computer is accessing keys, it has to scan through all the old crap to look for the keys it needs. Cleaning the registry can help.
You can find free reg cleaners all over the web.

Ok.
If you do everything I just listed, you should have a noticeable improvement in speed on your computer. Basically, you want to get everything back to the way it was when you first got the computer, but it's not totally possible because you've undoubtedly added things since then. By taking care of all the aspects I've gone over, you should have offset things enough to get your computer back into shape.

If you don't understand something I've written, please feel free to ask and I'll clarify.

what he said... but i wanna add one more sprinkle..



verdical it sounds like he needs to upgrade his cpu or attempt to oc his cpu and ram obviously depending on what he is running.. I believe you and I have asked him more than once. I almost can just about promise that between your list and a modest overclock, he would be right at factory spec..


What are you running verdical??
Just curious

Im phenom x4 920 2.8
WD raid 0 both 320's
4 gig g skill (still running xp for protools purposes)
500 watt psu...

I'm running a core 2 duo e8400 @ 3.00ghz
4 gigs kingston RAM (although XP only utilizes 3.25 and only shows 3)
Two 250 gig drives @ 7200 rpm, no raid, plus another 2 externals
Msi mobo
Nvidia 9600gt @ 512mb, factory overclocked
550w psu
2 monitors, Acer & LG 20" widescreens running off dual DVI

Nice...

I did that raid recently.. Very big difference..

The 2 7200's will spin crap up better than a single raptor...

I didnt post my vid card but your is better mine has more mem.
I think mines a 9600 gt but its 1 gig it was like 70 bucks...

which xp service pack are you running?? Cause my xpsp3 reads 3.5 gigs in xp.

Gamer or for music??

Yea I was contemplating getting raided drives, mirrored, but I ended up just getting two 7200 rpm drives to save money.

I built the computer at Vigor Gaming specifically for music production because I know the quality of their systems are top notch, but I do play a couple games here and there, so the only add-on to accommodate that was the graphics card. Everything else, I had music production in mind.

I forgot we talked about what you run already.. Not pc specs though..

Sonar 7 PE, NI Reaktor 4 & 5, Absynth 3, tons of plugs, porn.

You can raid the 2 drive if they are the same to 0. Then use the external for storage and as a fail safe if you get a bug..

Thats kick ass.. you have a way to get to any of your stuff??

As in my music? Yea I have about 60 songs on Acidplanet. Mostly electronica stuff.

Edit:
If you get bored and feel like hearing any of it, I'll throw you a link. I produce under the name Dropkulture.

Ill have to take a look, cant do it now cause im at work... Sweet

Have you given my sig a shot?? Im pretty new to the electronic world of music..

I'll link you to my Dropkulture stuff in a PM.

I think I glanced at your stuff a while back but I'll give it some ear tonight now that I've gotten all my studio stuff back from Germany.

Sweet that would be awesome...

Schiz,

I hope your pc problems get better.. Before we went off subject verdical posted some valuable info.. This should do the trick.. Once again good luck.

Um, thanks. Yeah, it did get a little faster.
I think I'm just going to all my music on DVDs and just completely clear my computer once every three months. That way it'll always run like a beast.

Do you know what you running ?