why is my pc so slow?

Question

it has no viruses ive run norton twice! it takes forever to load msn and a web window.which sometimes doesnt even work. sonicstage and music downloader are really slow and lock it up, its a fairly new pc, i havnt got that many files what shall i do?

Answer 1

Hi, as it's a new PC, let's assume that the problem is not related to a slow processor speed or lack of memory.



You may have installed a piece of software that is using more system resources than it should - perhaps it is trying to connect to the internet for example but your firewall won't allow it. The firsts thing to try is System Restore (look in your Accessories folder within the Start Menu > Programs). This will turn your system back a few days and possible rectify the problem.



I find Norton to be very slow anyway - in my opinion, you should have free anti-virus software like AVG (www.grisoft.com), a free firewall (www.zonealarm.com) and free anti-spyware software (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx).



Running scans for virii and spyware will tell us if your PC is infected with something that might cause the slow down.



If the problems start with a specific program or sometime after you start, you should use the CTRL-ALT-DELETE button to bring up 'task manager' - this will show you all of the processes running on your computer. The processes are components of your software - click on the 'CPU' column and see which processes are using up the most of your processing power. That may show the culprit immediately.



If the problems begin when you start the computer, you should check to see which programs are started automatically. This is probably where you will find the problem. To make life simple, use a start up manager - the free software here (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml) is small, well used and just shows you which programs are starting up when you turn on your PC. Remove anything that you don't need or remove one thing at a time and reboot until you find the culprit.



I hope that helps.

Answer 2

Services You Can Disable



There are quite a few services you can disable from starting automatically.

This would be to speed up your boot time and free resources.

They are only suggestions so I suggest that you read the description of each one when you run Services

and that you turn them off one at a time.



Some possibilities are:

Alerter

Application Management

Clipbook

Fast UserSwitching

Human Interface Devices

Indexing Service

Messenger

Net Logon

NetMeeting

QOS RSVP

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager

Remote Registry

Routing & Remote Access

SSDP Discovery Service

Universal Plug and Play Device Host

Web Client





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Cleaning the Prefetch Directory



WindowsXP has a new feature called Prefetch. This keeps a shortcut to recently used programs.

However it can fill up with old and obsolete programs.



To clean this periodically go to:



Star / Run / Prefetch

Press Ctrl-A to highlight all the shorcuts

Delete them



------------------------------...



Not Displaying Logon, Logoff, Startup and Shutdown Status Messages



To turn these off:



Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicr...

If it is not already there, create a DWORD value named DisableStatusMessages

Give it a value of 1



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Clearing the Page File on Shutdown



Click on the Start button

Go to the Control Panel

Administrative Tools

Local Security Policy

Local Policies

Click on Security Options

Right hand menu - right click on "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"

Select "Enable"

Reboot



For regedit users.....

If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:



Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurren... ManagerMemory ManagementClearPageFileAtShutd...

Set the value to 1



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No GUI Boot



If you don't need to see the XP boot logo,



Run MSCONFIG

Click on the BOOT.INI tab

Check the box for /NOGUIBOOT



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Speeding the Startup of Some CD Burner Programs



If you use program other than the native WindowsXP CD Burner software,

you might be able to increase the speed that it loads.



Go to Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Services

Double-click on IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service

For the Startup Type, select Disabled

Click on the OK button and then close the Services window

If you dont You should notice



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Getting Rid of Unread Email Messages



To remove the Unread Email message by user's login names:



Start Regedit

For a single user: Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicro...

For all users: Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicr...

Create a DWORD key called MessageExpiryDays

Give it a value of 0



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Decreasing Boot Time



Microsoft has made available a program to analyze and decrease the time it takes to boot to WindowsXP

The program is called BootVis



Uncompress the file.

Run BOOTVIS.EXE

For a starting point, run Trace / Next Boot + Driver Delays

This will reboot your computer and provide a benchmark

After the reboot, BootVis will take a minute or two to show graphs of your system startup.

Note how much time it takes for your system to load (click on the red vertical line)

Then run Trace / Optimize System

Re-Run the Next Boot + Drive Delays

Note how much the time has decreased

Mine went from approximately 33 to 25 seconds.



------------------------------...

Increasing Graphics Performance



By default, WindowsXP turns on a lot of shadows, fades, slides etc to menu items.

Most simply slow down their display.



To turn these off selectively:



Right click on the My Computer icon

Select Properties

Click on the Advanced tab

Under Performance, click on the Settings button

To turn them all of, select Adjust for best performance

My preference is to leave them all off except for Show shadows under mouse pointer and Show window contents while dragging



------------------------------...



Increasing System Performance



If you have 512 megs or more of memory, you can increase system performance

by having the core system kept in memory.



Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurren... ManagerMemory ManagementDisablePagingExecuti...

Set the value to be 1

Reboot the computer



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Increasing File System Caching



To increase the amount of memory Windows will locked for I/O operations:



Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurren... ManagerMemory Management

Edit the key IoPageLockLimit



------------------------------...



Resolving Inability to Add or Remove Programs



If a particular user cannot add or remove programs, there might be a simple registry edit neeed.



Go to HKCUSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCu...

Change the DWORD NoAddRemovePrograms to 0 disable it



4096 - 32megs of memory or less

8192 - 32+ megs of memory

16384 - 64+ megs of memory

32768 - 128+ megs of memory

65536 - 256+ megs of memory



Good Luck!



'-)

Answer 3

What it sounds like is spy ware...you will need to either download (or have a friend download it on to a disc for you) spy bot search and destroy. then run it and you will probably find a whole lot of spy ware or ad aware...these file tend to slow your computer down not to mention some of the spy ware is actually looking for an access point for worms or viruses. I was told by an IT person that you should have at least 2-3 anti spy programs on your computer since just having one doesn't get all of them...good luck

Answer 4

There might be several things that could cause your computer to slow down:

A Virus. If you have a current virus protection program, I suggest that you do a scan, and then delete the results.



Too many games/temporary files/pics/too many programs on Hard Drive: Delete any of the above items that you have not used recently. If you don't want to get rid of them, then just burn them to a DVD, and this will free up some space on your hard drive.



If you are still having problems, you might want to have your Hard Drive checked out by a computer tech...it might be worn out.



Good luck!

Answer 5

Please have the patience to read ALL of these:



1.Download CCleaner from http://www.ccleaner.com/ and run it once daily before shutting down your computer. It removes all the trash files that are created while surfing through the net. Use its Issues section once every 2 weeks to delete all the unused registry keys. If you have a lot of Auto Start entries, then you can remove them from its Tools>Startup. But keep the important ones like firewall and the real-time protection shields of your anti-virus and anti-spyware.



2.Keep a decent anti-virus, a strong firewall and two anti-spywares in your computer. Always keep the real time protection shield (or resident shield) of the anti-virus and one of the anti-spyware active. Update them and scan your computer once every week with both the anti-spyware and once every 2 weeks with anti-virus. I have given the links to some free and good anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall; get them all:

AVG: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free

AdAware SE: http://www.download.com/ad-aware-se-pers...

SpyBot Search and Destroy: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/spy...

Comodo Personal Firewall: http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/

Never keep two anti-virus or firewall on a single system. If you are already using a good anti-virus or firewall, then you need not download the corresponding one. You can, however, use as many anti-spywares as you want.



3.Keep a virtual memory booster as an auto-start entry. It frees the clogged RAM. I use RAM Booster, which is very effective. Here is the link to download it:

http://www.download.com/rambooster/3000-...

After downloading it, follow the steps:

*. Click on Edit>Options and tick the follow options:

(a) Set auto optimisation on

(b) Show CPU usage

(c) Start minimised

(d) Launch automatically at start up

Also, increase the auto optimisation level and 'Mb of RAM to free at auto level' as per your requirement.



4.Keep at least 35% of your C: free. Transfer all the music, image and video files to other drives.



5.Defragment your hard drives (especially C:) once every month. To defrag, go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Defragment. It takes a lot of time (50 minutes or over) so don’t become impatient. It’s for your computer’s good.



6.Get the free Google Web Accelerator to boost up your Internet speed.

http://webaccelerator.google.com/



7.Keep your Recycle Bin empty.



8.Use minimum possible shortcut icons on your desktop.



9.If you have genuine Windows, keep it updated every month.



10.Trim down the number of games if you have way too many.



11.You will hate this suggestion, but believe me; blank wallpaper helps a faster startup.



If nothing works, you should reformat your computer. You may also upgrade your RAM, preferably 512 MB or higher, if you are willing to spend a few bucks.

Answer 6

If it was me I would install my windows again and format all of my files, so if there are any viruses they will be deleted (there are some viruses that Norton cannot recognize them). Or I would repair my windows but the first way is better.

Answer 7

you should also check for spyware and Adware on your system. these can often eat up a lot of bandwidth and slow your internet connection down.



Cleaning out your temp files and cookies can help as well.



You didn't mention what type of internet connection you are using, you may just have a bad connection with slow speed. Even if you are on cable internet, if you have a lot of users and neighbors are eating a lot of bandwidth, this can slow you down a lot.

Answer 8

Do disk cleanup and defrag (in homestead windows). Delete each little thing you do not choose or use, or keep it on a memory stick.. Then defrag lower back. till you've a fix disk (you'll carry it lower back to it truly is unique state and lose all of your information), or a homestead windows disk the position you are able to carry modern information you're stuck. more effective memory is the most probably thanks to advance speed, yet extremely you may tidy up first in the previous spending.

Answer 9

Cool Bunch of responses;

I would opt for trying the Utilities first. Then go to a total reinstall.

Ockhams razor, simplest explanations are the best

Answer 10

You should have an anti-spyware solution on your computer. I recommend that you go to http://www.download.com and get AD-AWARE and SpyBot Search & Destory. Install, run, update and scan your computer with both programs.



These are cleanup tools. Ad-aware cleans files, and SpyBot cleans the registry



Good luck and Happy Computing!

Answer 11

Check the startup files, and remove unwanted programs from startup.

Answer 12

delete temp files, clear cookies and run defrag to clean up your hard drive

Answer 13

try defragmenting your harddrive

You can find the option in Start>all programs>accesories>system tools>disk defragmenter.

And you can also try:

tune-up utilities 2007 software

Answer 14

check your start up list.......see what's running in the background



click start......click run......type msconfig.....hit enter........click the start up tab......see how many things are running in the background......if you know what you're doing turn off any programs you don't need all the time......if you're not sure what you're doing don't touch anything as turning off the wrong thing can make your system not boot.

Answer 15

Probably poor signal,or you'd better get road runner,or overload of information.

Answer 16

wots ur PC config????



If nothing is working... format ur active directory where ur OS is loaded once.. reinstall the OS & check...

Answer 17

delete your temp files

Answer 18

Run scandisk and defragment it.

Answer 19

empty your temporary internet files, that should help

Answer 20

defrag ur pc.

Answer 21

reformat, erase everything and start over.

Answer 22

have u tried defragmenting it?