I swear my computer is running slower everyday- How can i make it faster w/o buying more spy./ad. programs??

Answer 1

All of the above is right. However Windows have a LOT of hidden caches that stores all kind of information. Who knows why. Go to http://www.evidence-eliminator.com and download the trial version. When you run it the first time you'll think you're deleting your whole drive, so much of the hidden stuff it will clear.But please read the instructions VERY carefully. Afterwards you'll find your computer has that 'new' feeling back.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Get Norton Utilities Software -- it's amazing and gives you lots of control.

Run the defragment program and tell it to place your programs at the start of the hard drive. Defragmenting is a BIG deal, especially if you are regularly moving lots of data around.

Go to the Windows Startup menu. Find all the programs that are loading at startup. If you don't know what they are, best to leave them running. But if you recognize it -- say, Real player or something like that, click on the box to disable it from running at startup. You can run it when you need it. Some of those programs are clever and re-install themselves into the startup tray, so I check mine regularly.

Clean out your cache in your web browser. Easy to do -- it's in options/tools, in most browsers. Gets rid of all the crap that builds up, all the small pics and graphics that come from every site you visit. You will have an idea of how much stuff is there because it might take a while. It can take only 30 seconds, but be prepared to wait as much as 1/2 hour after you click that button, and don't do anything else while it's showing the little hourglass icon. I helped a friend with this and she got back 150 MB of data. You see, most browsers have a set portion of storage to use for all that little stuff, and when it's stored, it slows it all down. I cache-clean at least every 2 weeks.

Also, more memory can help, that's true. But if your PC was fast at one point and you liked it, then it's probably all the junk slowing you down, unless you are using really intense graphics like in gaming. In that case, you can get a better video card that has its own memory, and it gives back a lot of speed to the main memory. It's often a cheaper way to go. Just ask a good computer retailer for more help on that...

Good Luck to You ~:)

Answer 4

Try to defragment hard drive. Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter
If you didn't defragment disk before or didn't do it for a long time, it might take several hours and you shouldn't use computer during that time.
Uninstall any programs that you don't use and uninstall all spy./ad. program you have. THEY slow down your computer! Install only SpyBot from http://www.safer-networking.org/ . Update it often and use it every week. If it can not help you, nothing can.

If it is your internet connection that is getting slow, that's different story - post your question again.

Answer 5

Ram doesn't wear out, so if your computer WAS working well and is now slowing down, it's not the RAM, it's the junk which is filling it up. You don't need to BUY any more ram, or any more programs, as there are 3 good FREE programs which are rated, in concert, to be the best.

Get them all, install them, update them weekly and run full scans every day if you need to. Use all three one after the other.

Adaware SE Personal
Spybot Search and Destroy
Microsoft Defender.

Answer 6

There are great spyware programs that are free. To troubleshot your computer you will need to do a good scan with both your virus scanner AND a good spyware program or two.

Spybot and Adaware are both free and I use both. I also use others as needed depending on what bug I uncover. Some of the bugs are very, very hard to get out.

go to BleepingComputer.com:
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com

Then go to their forums. You can get free help there but they are all going to tell you to do a full virusscan in safemode first, then run adaware and spybot. Then you should be able to post what info you have. There will be other programs they will recommend as well, all free.

I love them. Donate if you can because their service is worth it!

Answer 7

Tools>Internet options>delete cookies and files, clear history. Got to start>programs>accessories>system tools>disk defragment.
Get spy bot search and destroy and ad ware both are free.

Answer 8

Try out ad-aware personal and AVG Antivirus. Both free and very powerful. It usually gets my computer running smooth again.

Also, if you create a new windows user account and delete your old one, that also seems to give you somewhat of a fresh start.

Answer 9

Start with a defragment of your drive first.To do this,(windows xp)--click your start button--all programs --accessories--defrag.---If it is a virus,download avast,it is a little better than the other free ones,as it scans in boot mode(while your computer is starting up)--Some of these recent viruses are designed to hide in files that dont allow access to the antivirus programs.Heres your direct link for avast---http://www.avast.com/eng/programs.html-----make sure you get the free version,unless of course you want the more powerfull paid version,which is eventualy what i will do.Good luck.

Answer 10

Backup, format, and reinstall Windows. Start all over and be careful where you go and what you click on. Yes, keeping Windows, and anti virus, and everything else updated all the time is a pain. But isn't what you are going through now more inconvenient?