Why is my computer running so slow??

Question

I have a mcafee security, a spyware terminator, and a windows live one care on my computer to stop viruses, adware, and spyware but my computer is still running slow. Any suggestions on how I can make my computer run faster without paying money? I have already spent enough. Thanks very much for everyones help.

Answer 1

10+ things you should know about troubleshooting a slow PC = http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=172694

Registry tweaks to accelerate Windows XP = http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=173620&tag=nl.e138

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=122339

23 Ways To Speed WinXP = http://www.techbuilder.org/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=59201471
Game XP = http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=game+xp&spell=1
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/training_videos

Adding more ram may help. Go to and put in your system specs at = http://www.crucial.com/support/install.asp = "Eliminate the hassle and risk of getting the wrong memory — guaranteed or your money back! In just 3 easy steps our Memory Advisor™ tool will show you exactly the right upgrade for your computer."
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner = " The Crucial System Scanner automatically detects your computer's information and gives you the details you need to purchase a compatible upgrade. To run the Crucial System Scanner, you need Microsoft Windows 95 or higher. " +
For a good price see: = http://www.newegg.com and/or

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Home.jsp - http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Home.jsp
http://www.memoryx.com/
http://www.4allmemory.com
Test your ram with these: Memtest86L= http://www.memtest.org +

RAM Reliability Test = http://hcidesign.com/memtest

Ram Idle = http://www.freewareweb.com/cgi-bin/archive.cgi?ID=1423
Adding more ram may help.
Also Control/reduce what loads at startup with = Codestuff Starter = http://www.webattack.com/get/starter.shtml .
Clear your cache and go to your local settings folder and empty your "temp" folder.
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/WindowsXP.htm
Speed tweaks = tweaks and downloads to optimize PC speed without overclocking = http://www.setiathomescreensaverspeed.co.uk/index.html
http://arstechnica.com/guides/tweaks/sgp-tweaks.ars
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

Windows XP Tweaking – Startup and General Performance Tweaks = http://arstechnica.com/guides/tweaks/sgp-tweaks.ars
= "A guide for tweaking your system."

For desktop pc better performance, I suggest you set your desktop background/wallpaper and screensaver to "none", then right click on desktop, click properties, click 'appearance', choose ' windows classic style'.
Then Start/Settings/Control Panel/Display/display properties/screensaver/monitor power/power schemes/settings/turn off monitor after 10 minutes, and set the next 2 drop down boxes ( 1. Turn off Hard Disks, and 2. System Standby) to "never"/apply/ok/ok.

Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Advanced tab /under Performance click on Settings / Visual Effects tab/
Adjust for best performance / Ok / Apply / Ok
Then Start/Control Panel/Display/display properties/screensaver/monitor power/hibernate/take check mark out of "Enable hibernation"/apply/ok/ok. Do not to use hibernate on desktop
If I'm going to be away from the pc for more than an hour, or whenever there is lightning in the area, then after shutting it down properly, I unplug the UPS (which all the computer stuff is plugged into) and disconnect the cable.\

To manage your startup programs, use
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html = CodeStuff Starter

or
http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

http://www.pcreview.co.uk/startup

also see = Autoruns = http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Autoruns.html =
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option helps you to zoom in on third-party auto-starting images that have been added to your system and it has support for looking at the auto-starting images configured for other accounts configured on a system. Also included in the download package is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV format, Autorunsc.
You'll probably be surprised at how many executables are launched automatically!
Autoruns works on all versions of Windows including Windows XP 64-bit Edition (for x64) and Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition (for x64).


http://www.silentrunners.org/sr_scriptuse.html = Silent Runners Revision 49.

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Paul Collins START-UP = http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

Process Explorer = http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

http://www.processlibrary.com/freetools/

Startup List 2.02 = http://www.techspot.com/downloads/3552-startup-list.html

http://www.netsquirrel.com/articles/index.html

What's Running is a product that gives you an inside look into your Windows 2000/XP/2003 system. Explore processes, services, modules, IP-connections, drivers and much more through a simple to use application. Find out important information such as what modules are involved in a specific process. Control your system by starting and stopping services and processes. Configure your startup programs easily. = http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx
Version 2.2 of What's Running = http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

http://www.processlibrary.com/freetools

http://www.indiahowto.com/how-to-clean-up-windows-xp.html

Clean your cache, = http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup and/or
Disk Cleaner = http://www.diskcleaner.nl ,or
Open up IE and go to Tools/Internet Options/General tab and Delete Temp files and History, then Boot into safe mode, = http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406 , then enable CHKDSK, = Click your "My Computer" in the start menu, R-Click the C: Drive, go down and click on properties in the drop menu. When the properties folder opens, click on the Tools Tab, The first item in the list is to do CHKDSK. Put a check mark in all the boxes/start/yes/apply/ok . The PC should be rebooted in safe mode to do the scan. To view the results of a CHKDSK go to Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Application, look for the most recent Winlogon event and double-click on it.

Then reboot into safe mode = http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406?OpenDocument&src=sec_doc_nam , or Start/run/msconfig/Boot.ini tab/check /safeboot - reboot. Afterwards uncheck it and reboot., then go to Start/all programs/accessories/system tools/disk cleanup , and run disk cleanup: Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disc Cleanup and put a check in ALL the boxes(Note: Only check the "compress old files" box if you are running very short of disk space, as those files which haven't been accessed recently will be compressed to save disk space, but at the cost of slightly slower access times to those files. Nothing will be deleted or "cleaned up" as a result of checking "Compress Old Files."). Click OK then Yes in the next little window. Let it finish.

Then run Disk Defrag from safe mode. After booting into safe mode go to Start/all programs/accessories/system tools/Disk Defragmenter. When you open "Defrag", click on "analyze", and it will tell you if you need to defrag or not. (or see = http://www.dirms.com ).

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/proddocs/chkdsk.asp

Answer 2

According to your description,there are some regsitry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer slow".You need to clean you computer.
Every time you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the registry.over time, the registry can grow to enormous proportions, especially if the various programs you've installed do not do a good job of deleting and/or updating it's Registry entries.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make your computer faster.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically!It even can speed up your computer by 300% or more!
There are some comparison and review of
TOP 5 registry cleaners.
http://www.****************************

You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 3

Check what processes are running on your computer using Task Manager. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and click on the Processes tab. Look down the CPU and Mem Usage columns for any process where the digits are high. Do a Google search on the process name to find out what it does. Incidentally, anti-virus software uses up a lot of resources

Answer 4

When you bring up task manager does it show anything using a large portion of your RAM or processor capacity?

If nothing unusual show up there try these suggestions below:
Try running defrag.
Try running Hijackthis. - it is a free program you can download. After running HiJackthis you need to post your log to their forums and experts will look at it and tell you if you need to delete anything.



Does it run slow all the time or just when using certain applications?

Answer 5

follow that ::--

1.CLEAN YOUR TEMPORARY FILES AND OBSOLETE REGISTRY ENTRIES REGULARLY. how ?? --->
Download CCleaner and run it’s Cleaner section, 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 a while to delete all the unused registry keys. Another good cleaner, Disk Cleaner,
can be used along with CCleaner for even better results.

2.REMOVE ALL THE UNWANTED AUTO-START ENTRIES. MOST IMPORTANT PART
If you have a lot of Auto Start entries, then you should remove them. To do so, go to Start > Run. Type 'msconfig' in the box and then click 'Startup' tab. Uncheck anything that is unnecessary.
Of course, you can revert that in future. Just go back to MSConfig and check anything back that you removed from the start-up list. However, you should not remove any of the security related startups (read next point), like the real-time shields of your anti-virus / anti-spyware, firewall etc.


N.B. 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, provided you use the real-time protection shield of only one of these.

3.ALWAYS MINIMISE THE USAGE OF RAM.(Only for those with 256MB or less RAM)
For this purpose, you may 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-...
To configure it, please follow these 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, change the ‘Auto Optimisation Level’ and 'MB of RAM to free at auto level' as per your requirement.

4.DON'T JAM YOUR MOTHER DRIVE (C:).
Keep at least 35% of your C: free. Transfer all the music, image and video files to other drives.

5.DEFRAGMENT THE HARD DRIVES PERIODICALLY.
Defragment the 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.You may get the free Google Web Accelerator to boost up your Internet speed http://webaccelerator.google.com/

7.ALWAYS KEEP YOUR RECYCLE BIN EMPTY.

8.USE MINIMUM POSSIBLE SHORTCUTS ON YOUR DESKTOP.

9.IF YOU HAVE GENUINE WINDOWS, KEEP IT UPDATED EVERY MONTH. IT HELPS A LOT BY FIXING MANY VULNERABLE SECURITY ISSUES

10.HEAVY GAMES CAN PUT A LOT OF PRESSURE ON VIRTUAL MEMORY. SO, STAY AWAY FROM THEM IF YOU HAVE 512MB OR LESS RAM.

11.SET YOUR WALLPAPER TO BLANK.
You will hate this suggestion, but believe me; blank wallpaper helps a faster startup.

Note :- when u run antispyware or antivirus run it in safe mode
how --->To do so, go to Start > Run Type 'msconfig' in the box choose diagnostic from
the general tabe and retart ur computer run the antispyware and do not forget to do all over
again but choose normal instead of diagnostc

Answer 6

Download
Abexo Disk Defragmenter.
www.abexo.com
It does the task extremely fast. Most of this type software take a lot of time doing the defragmenting.
They have a free trial version. Download and see the results.

Answer 7

Hi. Sounds like you have malware under control. Good for you! Go into "Task manager" (Ctrl alt del - once) and find out what is chewing up your resources. You can stop a program by right clicking and then "end process". Hope this helps.

Answer 8

use Ctrl-Alt-Delete, go to processes, and set explorer (by right clicking on it) to "above normal" priority. do the same for any other programs that run slowly. It'll get tiresome, sisnce they'll all reset when you restart, but it works pretty good.


Also, NEVER use the "Realtime" priority. It crashes windows.

Answer 9

If your computer is old, it can have fragmented drives.

To defragment a drive:
Go to "My Computer."
Right click on the drive (you'll want the C drive) and click "Properties".

Go to the tab that says "Disk tools" or something like that.

Click "Defragment Now."

sit tight!

Answer 10

Advanced Windows Care2 Personal.
http://www.iobit.com. Use the tools and
keep start up programs to the minimum.
Click My Profile ( in the left ) for other ideas/ answers.

Answer 11

Without trying to get the 10points...as the 2nd guy seems to want...very fast typer or C&P expert... Do what the first guy said defrag and might add in a disk clean-up while you are at it.