my laptop is running really slow. why?

Question

i have 66 processes.
my commit charge
total 407848
limit 599908
peak 438256 page file history is at 400MB constantly

my fire wall is inpenetrable, my shield is up!

i have mcaffee security center and it is at optimum..

how do i know which programs to remove from the task manager?
im worried i may kill it by deleting its brain or something!

Answer 1

Run Avast! , Ewido and Ad-Aware SE PErsonal in Safe mode, to get into safe mose reboot and after the bios screen but before Windows loads repeatedly press the F8 key. You'll know it oyu made it beacuse your pc will be slow and the screen will run at 800 x 600.
Then reboot and run Ccleaner.
Then defragment your hard drive. Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk defragmenter.
All this will take several hours so be patient.
Then use Winpatrol to cut doen the number of programs that load on startup.
If that lot doesn't work then post back.


The Windows firewall doesn't stop malware on your pc from dialling out. Either of these firewalls are free for personal use and stop unwanted incoming and outgoing traffic. You choose which programs are allowed to access the internet. They are both fairly easy to use and updated regularly.
http://www.zonelabs.com Zone Alarm firewall
http://www.kerio.com Kerio firewall

Shields Up security site, check your firewall works
https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

http://www.mozilla.com/ Firefox web browser
http://www.opera.com/ Opera web browser
Instal both these web browsers, turn off javascript on one and use that browser for vising unknown websites. They don't support Active X so thats one less way for problems to get on your pc.

Winpatrol is a handy utility that tracks cookies on your pc and stops unwanted changes to your startup folder.
http://www.winpatrol.com

Spywareblaster works with Internet Explorer and Firefox. It won't uninstall spyware that is already on your pc, but it will prevent hijacks and other malicious changes to your browser.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

http://www.avast.com Avast Antivirus

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/30863/lng/uk/tpl/tpl01 -Ewido anti trojan

Ad-Aware SE Personal anti adware
http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/

Spybot Search and Destroy anti spyware
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

http://www.bitdefender.com -BitDefender can be used as a second, on demand anti virus.

http://www.ccleaner.com Cr*pcleaner Registry cleaner and privacy tool

Microsoft have two free online scanners that look for malware.
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx
You can also download Microsofts free Windows Defender from the official Microsoft site, and the Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Remember to update and run all of you anti malware programs at least once a week.

Answer 2

You don't say how much memory you have or how big is your hard drive. A multitude of processes running will slow you down if you don't have much memory or a big hard drive.
Hit Ctrl-Shift-Escape and see what is running. It will tell you how much memory is being consumed by each program. Your computer does not require 66 processes running at the same time, so see if you can stop those that are hogging memory.
Another thing you can do is go to Internet options and Delete cookies, temp Internet files and History. Set history to 0 days. Click "Settings" and set temp Internet files to the recommended amount.

Answer 3

You need to clean up your files - try loading ccleaner (justsearch ccleaner on yahoo and you can free download it then run the clean function and remove all your internet files and junk also run the issues function as well this will remove your empty files and links etc.

You might also want to download ad-aware - this is free as well and will get rid of any ad-aware.

Also you might want to defrag your system if you have installed and uninstalled a load of programmes - this is a windows function and you can find it on start - programmes - accessories-system tools - defragmentation.

There are quite a few things that may also help like ensuring your microsft updates are in fact up to date.

Good Luck

Do you have a anti-virus system on your laptop?? If you don't then you may have a virus or just toooooooo much junk!!

Answer 4

I can tell you your problem right now. It is a Vista. They are horrible I had one. You can Not download that many programs onto the computer or it will start going even slower. So delete some of the stuff that you have downloaded. Also you can take it back to windows and say it isn't to your likeing and you want to give it back and that you want another computer. You can also get your money back for false advertising. They say it runs great but it really doesn't. But you will need to take all your music off so your comp can run faster.

Answer 5

Too much rubbish clogging it up. delete unused files. Although these things are supposed to be foolproof, some files contain instructions that keep the CPU running hither and so. This slows it down considerably. Also delete some of your security programs like firewall and stuff like that. some are unnecessary.

Answer 6

More information about the hardware needed TBH...
Has it always been slow, or is this a recent phenomena?

If it's always been slow it might not be up to the job especially if it's only got 128 mb ram.

Like everyone else has posted, check for malicious software/viruses/trojans as these can and will cripple your system and reduce it to an unusable crawl.

Answer 7

haha slow coach....

laptops are always slow after a while, even when they're not affected with spyware, trojans etc....

if your laptop gets hot, then that contributes to it's slowness...
i.e. hot cpu = slow cpu

just turn it off plug it out. and stick in the freezer for an hour, (if its a freezer where ice forms inside then dont)

after u take it out turn it own and you WILL notice a massive speed increase.

just dont do it if its a freezer that forms lumps of ice everywhere from freezing the air.

Answer 8

maybe you install a program with more MHz then the one on the computer,that will make it run slower or even freeze,if that's the case uni stall the program and it should make it run faster.

Answer 9

Do you really need that many processes running?..I have about 36 running at the moment (according to ctrl alt del)

Answer 10

Run a disk defrag? Apparently if over 15% of your files are fragmented then it can cause it to run slow... heard it somewhere...