I have AVG,ewido,AdAware and ZoneAlarm(all free versions) in my PC. I keep them updated and scan my computer everyday. Still, my PC is unexpectedly slow(256 MB , 2.40 Ghz). Is it normal or is there some virus or malware lurking in there?My Mozilla Firefox was disabled automatically without any reason today. PLZ help.
2006-09-08 02:02:26 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.
You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.
A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper 10. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the tech and user reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.
Also, another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another great program, and it's free. Go to www.sysinternals.com and download the program named "autoruns". This utility will tell you exactly what is running on your PC and provides a nice and easy way to shut down the ones you don't want to boot at start up. Once you have it installed use the tabs at the top of the window to access the various categories. If you use the "everything" tab it will overwhelm you because the list is massive. All you have to do is uncheck the box next to the program name and the program will not start at your next boot up. Hurry as this site has been bought up by Microsoft and these free programs may not be around much longer.
Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM Pro. It is free and is available from www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. With only 256M of RAM I think you are going to be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also.
I do agree with the others regarding your RAM. 256 is just not enough. I set up an old pc with only Windows XP and the FreeRAM meter installed. The meter uses 5K and Windows XP was using 165K. Based upon that (170K) it only leaves you 86K to run anything and everything else. What happens when you run out of RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to www.crucial.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though. If you are going to keep your PC for a substantial amount of time I recommend you see if you can easily go to 768M. This will give you plenty of RAM for anything you are running and you will usually see (on the RAM meter) that you have between 300 to 400M of RAM not being used.
Hope this helps.
2006-09-08 03:37:41 · answer #1 · answered by Dick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Defrag the machine. Upgrade your RAM. Stick with one AV program - using so many can bog down your system - AVG is plenty. Turn off a few programs that are set to start up when you boot the computer.
If all that doesn't help, do a good backup and run Quick Restore to format the computer.
If it still sucks, upgrade the processor or just buy a new one. Standard now for mid-level computer is 512 MB RAM and 3.0GHz processor, but I recommend 1 GB RAM and 3.2GHz.
2006-09-08 02:09:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You need to go through the registry of startup programs to see which ones load on your computer's startup. Go to Start -> Run. Type in 'regedit'. Then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run. Then see what programs are suspicious to you in the list on the right hand side, google it if necessary. Delete bad programs from that list, also delete executables and other files related to those programs and then restart your machine. You might have to start your machine in safe mode because some programs might not let you delete them.
Another good utility is Microsoft Antispyware. It is on a trial basis, but for 30 days you can use it in full mode for free. It is a very good utility, better than Adaware. You can download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
2006-09-08 02:08:55 · answer #3 · answered by puckstorm 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you have a small memory and if you want protection you must have minimum 512 MB.
to protect your computer for spyware you need Spy Sweeper and AVG is good, but the best is BitDefender(recommended with 512 MB)
2006-09-08 07:48:23 · answer #4 · answered by Razvan 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If your PC has been slowing down for a while you may need to clear more space on the hard disk. If it slowed down quite suddenly suspect malware.
2006-09-08 02:17:38 · answer #5 · answered by kittybriton 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if you dont have budget for your ram you could try to free up some space in your hard disk this will serve as a virtual RAM in your unit, by the way the best antivirus out now is bitdefender9, but itl cost you.
2006-09-08 02:23:35 · answer #6 · answered by Raewon 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Try this program spyware doctor if that don't find anything at the run prompt type msconfig look at all the programs you have running in the startup folder.
Hope it helps
2006-09-08 02:05:23 · answer #7 · answered by Network Admin 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
look i don;t think is something with the computer as you said there are some spywere and they must removed if there are strong you have to take an anti-spywere and i recommend you spy-doctor enter on www.softpedia.com
2006-09-08 02:06:42 · answer #8 · answered by Strange Ball 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
HAI I think there is some virus in ur computer...Get it cheched!!Thank u 4 ur answer which u gave yesterday(fibonacci)
2006-09-08 02:34:58 · answer #9 · answered by nilambari 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Spyware is a common problem and will affect all computers if your computer is not protected.
Read this forum which details how to use various anti spyware tools, instructions on how to set them up and even provides support if you have anymore questions.
General Spyware advice:
http://www.phx-web.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=8.0
Spybot:
http://www.phx-web.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=21.0
Windows Defender:
http://www.phx-web.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=78.0
HijackThis!:
http://www.phx-web.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=57.0
2006-09-08 05:32:46 · answer #10 · answered by pringle147963 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋