why is my computer doing this?

Question

why is my computer being so slow. ive downloaded several antispyware and antivirus software. nad have destroyed them all but it is still slow. what should i do?

Answer 1

the first thing i would do is grab a personal firewall

i believe zone labs provide it for free !

there maybe an intruder system using your pc which makes it slower
or you may also wanna run disk cleaner (is in start menu if you r using xp sp2) Close all programs, go to Start, Accessories, System tools, and Disk Cleanup. this service deletes all the useless files in the pc.

u should also once run the disk defragmenter to reorganize the files stored on your pc.

anothr reason might be that too many programs are ruunning at once ! you can stop them manally through task manager or should also uninstall some programs from your hard disk which are of no use to you or not suppose to be there

or u might wanna download and install a pc optimizer program which deletes junk files, fixes registry (which might be the problem u r facing) some might also speedup startup speed and or defragment hard disk

all of these services are availiable on free indivisual softwares some of them are free try searching at download.com

a free beta version on pc optimizer is availiable by aol
u just need a aim or aol screen name to access and use it.

http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=pcoptimizer


Good Luck
hope that helps :D

Answer 2

It could be Malware causing the problem, but that is not always the case. Most of the time it is your computer causing the slow down. Try these first and see if it speeds up.

Cleaning your computer.

Clean your Browser Cache:

Tools>Internet Options>General tab>Delete Cookies, Files and Clear History buttons.

Go to the Sites button by Temp. Files and change the number to 50.


Check and make sure your HD for Defragmenting:

Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools> Disk Defragmenter.


Clear Temp. Windows Files:

Exit all running programs except your AV and AS programs. Exiting these might be necessary later (not usually).

Start>Run> type "%temp%" (no quotes)>menu bar "Edit" click Select All>in the expanded menu select Delete or right click on the pane with the files highlighted and select Delete. Close window.


Clear clutter in DSL modem (If used) and RAM:

Turn off the modem, computer and monitor in this order. Wait a minute or two and then restart in reverse order. Turning off he computer and monitor clears the RAM of clutter.


This MS site cover 10 areas that can slow your computer. Check these out also.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/community/columns/IEtopten.mspx

You can also try some online scan sites for Malware that might be defeating your installed programs. Here is one that is very good.

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Answer 3

Probably needs reorganizing.


Close all programs, go to Start, Accessories, System tools, and Disk Cleanup. This may take a minute or two to load.
At the very least, check "temporary Internet files, REcycle bin and compressed old files."

temporary internet files - internet files that stay on your computer so that next time you go on the internet, it loads faster.
Recycling bin - stuff u threw out.
compressed old files - old files, I dont know what they are but I dont miss them.

Click OK and let the computer delete those files...can take up to 5 minutes. It will automatically close.

Then go to Start, Accessories, System tools, Disk defragmentator. This also takes couple minutes to load. Make sure all programs are closed. You can do an analysis, press defragment option and let it be. Warning, this procedure takes couple hours, up to 6 to 8 hours if you've never done it before. I suggest leaving your computer on for the night.

Each time you delete something into the recycling bin, the space that it took up becomes blank and each time your computer turns on, it has to read through these blanks to get through to important data. What defragmenting does is move useful files into these blanks so the computer doesnt have to read over blanks. Its compacting the data basically.



Another reason is that you might have too many programs running in your system tray. You can manually stop them from opening them up somehow but taht i dont know how to do. I usually just close them as they open and leave the basic items on like firewall, messengers and etc.

Good luck!

P.S. If you are anal like me, i go through my program files folder and delete any programs that i know that arent supposed to be there. And if you want, open IE and go to Tools, Internet options, delete files, delete cookies and clear history.

Answer 4

Computers slow down because their hard drive gets plugged up with the internet version of garbage. Like any other machine they need regular basic maintenance.
Try deleting all the temporary files and cookies .If you are running Windows it is very easy. Click on Tools then Internet Options. Click Delete Cookies . Click Delete files. Once you have done that run your disk cleanup and disk defragmenting programs. You'll find those two handy items on your start menu under all programs and system tools.

Answer 5

did you install a program say like a weather monitor or something like that. these use up a ton of system resources. also limewire can greatly slow you down

Answer 6

goto www.ewido.net and run the free version.If its there ewido will find it.
here are some more free ones.
Spybots search and Destroy http://www.download.com/3000-8022-10122137.html?tag=pao
adaware se> http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10399602.html?tag=lst-0-1
http://www.webroot.com/land/freescan.php
a-squared Free> http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_frame.asp
http://housecall65.trendmicro.com/
X -Cleaner Micro Edition scan http://www.spywareguide.com/onlinescan.php
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spywareguard too.
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan/

Answer 7

try a disk clean up delete your cookies and do a disk defreg !