computer problems...please help!!?

Question

My boyfriends computer is going very slow. When you go on a web site, if you click on the "X" it starts all over from the beginning and you lose everything. We have done disc clean up several times in the past. I just found out about defragmenting, which I will have to look into further.

My question is; should we call geek squad to wipe out the hard drive and start fresh? He really doesnt have the money for a new computer. He is going to try and get a credit card, but his credit is terrible due to foreclosure/divorce. If he gets one, he'll be paying double for it with the interest and finance charges. I say try geek squad it will be sooo much cheaper. We are not computer literate, and dont really know what to look for in a "good" computer anyway. He just wants the cheapest computer, and in the long run I dont think it will last. HELP!!!

Thank you for trying to help, I dont have a lot of info, but its windows xp, and I believe its a compaq computer. (im not on his now)

Answer 1

This advice is for Windows XP.

Yeah, try installing a 15-day trial version of Norton A/V.

Next see how much free disk space you have.
Right-click Start and select Explore.
Right-click the C: drive and select Properties.
If it's less than 30%, delete some files or transfer them onto CD or another hard drive.

Delete your cookies and temporary Internet files by clicking
the Tools dropdown menu on Internet Explorer and selecting Internet Options.

Then defrag it by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage. You should see the defragger.

Answer 2

There are many reasons the computer may be running slowly. The two major ones:
1) The computer is old. In this case, you might want to upgrade. If you go to the properties of 'My Computer' you can see what kind of machine and how much RAM there is. Please post this info to the site.
2) It is possible you have spyware and malware on your machine, especially if you have attempted to download free music or free software or pr0n.

If the problem is #1, getting more ram is generally cheaper than getting a new computer. You can visit crucial.com to find out what kind of memory you need for your machine.

If the problem is #2, then reinstalling windows will help. You will lose all your data so backup everything first! I don't know about the geek squad, but you can probably find someone in your locale that can come over and reinstall windows XP. If you don't have a copy, a new copy of winXP is around $100.

Answer 3

Lots of good advice from everyone here. I'd back up any data if needed and do a fresh install of windows. Its super easy if you have the restore disk (or Windows 2000, or xp). Just boot right off the CD drive. You might have to change that in the bios, but its super simple and you'll save a ton of cash. Sometimes the nasty viruses are just too resilient and restore themselves fast.

Answer 4

If you dont want to upgrade hardware,There are some softwares you can download to speed up your computer.
First,You should Fix Corruption and Errors within your registry.The registry is a main part of your computer's Operating System. With time, as you use Windows and install and uninstall programs, your registry will get congested and full of errors. So your computer could slow down. So, if you can clean it up this problem can be solved.Sometimes you can speed computer up by 300%. To clean up registry,You can download a software called regsitry cleaner---Clean registry,remnant,corrupt files and temp files,history,cookies,etc.. This site:
http://speed-up-pc.info/index.php?t=speedpc
lists top 5 registry cleaner,you can download and scan for free.
Second,Get rid of spyware/adware in your computer.spyware/adware hamper your computer's performance.It use system resources and slow your computer down.

So, to speed up your slow computer, use a registry cleaner software and clean your registry files first. It will make all the difference, and provide you with the immediate fix you need for your slow computer.Then,download a good anti-spyware to get rid of spyware/adware in your computer.

Answer 5

Ummm. sad story...

There are a number of things you can try first, like virus / spyware cleaning
May be a repair install of Windows.
Depend on what Windows you are using, and what specs of your computer, no one can really give you detailed help.

Answer 6

Yeah, just have them wipe out the hard drive and start over, the computer will be just like the day he bought it.

Answer 7

first try running a virus scan ( avria ) it's free and good , then run a spywere scan , spybot or windows defender.