laptop is really bogging down

woodstock

woodstock

Final Approach
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this just started when I re-upped my trend micro-pc-cillin subscription. not sure if that is why... I also DL a ton of new photos - large files - but I don't think that's it, as I have a massive hard drive.

it's certain internet pages that cause it to nearly crash for a few seconds there.

I defragged it - anything else I can try?
 
Beth,

Run a full virus scan of the hard drive, and run a couple of spyware programs.

If it's all clean, then it's something else.

Did you load any new programs? like for the camera?
 
I did, but I don't use them. and the trend PC is a virus scanner/spyware program in itself.

I think it's laboring more than it used to. I hear more of a hum coming out of it than before - I'm only on the internet for crying out loud. that's 90% of what I do on here.
 
None of the anti-spyware stuff catches everything. I use three: Spybot Search and Destroy, AdAware, and Windows Defender. One of 'em wanted to declare Jeppesen software as spyware, I simply set up an exclusion.

One other thought: did you run the "clean up disk drive" function? It cleans out any downloaded or temporary files that are no longer needed.

The reason I asked about new programs is that a lot of them install crap that loads on start-up ('to speed things up when you want to use our program'), even though you only use it rarely.

There are a couple of other tricks, too, to identify and clean malware that might be missed.

Or it might just be Windows. I still have an issue with networking to certain websites on the wireless at home. Never figured it out....
 
It's got a fever... and the only prescription is more memory!

Don't have a clue really, just couldn't resist.
 
If you take it to a computer shop they will tell you it just a slow computer and you need to buy a new one
 
how big is your HD? I thought mine was big but a few thousand pics later and it is maxed out, running on fumes (er...electron shells. or something like that) Anyway, its really slow.
 
woodstock said:
it is huge and no wheres near full...
Click to expand...

Define "huge". :D My first PC with a hard drive had a 20 MByte HD. I thought that was "huge" at the time. I just installed a network backup system that has 4 250 GByte drives. They seem "huge", but the system would have handled 4 500 GByte drives if I had wanted. :D One little box with a Terrabyte of storage, and it could have had 2 Terrabytes. Now, that is "huge" (today). :p
 
Skip Miller said:
Yep, that's huge.
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Meh. Mine's got a 120 gig drive, which is basically full. :(

And, since the biggest you can get right now is 160, it's not even worth upgrading.
 
woodstock said:
I think it has 100 gigs on it...
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Size isn't the only issue. Look at file fragmentation, too. If things get too fragmented, you can break up the chunks of real estate used by virtual memory, even if the drive is "nowhere near full."

There is one bundled with windows (start -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools -> disk defragmenter) or you can use a "real one" from Symantec or elsewhere. The windows version does OK.
 
Ken Ibold said:
There is one bundled with windows (start -> all programs -> accessories -> system tools -> disk defragmenter) or you can use a "real one" from Symantec or elsewhere. The windows version does OK.
Click to expand...

Windows version does better than Symantec, IMHO. I won't allow Symantec stuff on my system. Bloatware that loads at startup and chews up system resources, nearly impossible to remove.
 
wsuffa said:
Windows version does better than Symantec, IMHO. I won't allow Symantec stuff on my system. Bloatware that loads at startup and chews up system resources, nearly impossible to remove.
Click to expand...
You can't win that one. The disk and backup utiltiies that Microsoft ships with Windows came from Norton, nee Symantec. They got the same sorta deal that Don Corleone offers. "We're giving away your software and you will like it."

I think the theory was that they'd get paying customers coming for more. That was before Symantec discovered the cash flow in the AV racket.

Microsoft tried that with the Stacker disk compression tool and ended losing $millions in a court judgement for patent violations.

17. During the ensuing months of negotiations, Microsoft proposed that Stac grant to Microsoft a world-wide license to incorporate STACKER data compression technology and know-how into future versions of its MS-DOS operating system software. Microsoft steadfastly refused, however, to offer to pay Stac any royalty for Stac's patented data compression technology.

http://www.vaxxine.com/lawyers/articles/stac.html
Click to expand...
 
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wsuffa said:
Windows version does better than Symantec, IMHO. I won't allow Symantec stuff on my system. Bloatware that loads at startup and chews up system resources, nearly impossible to remove.
Click to expand...

I feel obliged to say: what he said!

Nothing Symantec shall again dwell in my realm (except, I guess, WinFax Pro, until I find a suitable replacement therefor).

I say, look for any programs which are loading at start-up (look in the start-up folder, and also, in services loading at start-up by clicking "start, run, MSCONFIG, <enter>" and looking in the "Service" category.
 
You haven't by change updated Adobe Reader to version 7 recently by any chance? Version 7 puts a "quick start" application into your startup directory and this quick start application seems to suck up system resources. Removing the application from your startup directory and a quick reboot might improve performance.

Bruce
 
flyingcheesehead said:
And, since the biggest you can get right now is 160, it's not even worth upgrading.
Click to expand...
But you can upgrade in other ways while keeping the original drive. External hard drives are great for storing rarely used, large files, like big photos.

Now lets look at a few answers in this thread so far...
Comment: I also DL a ton of new photos - large files
Q: how big is your HD?
A: it is huge and no wheres near full...
Q: Define "huge".
A: I think it has 100 gigs on it...
Huge is not a very specific answer, nor is the answer "no wheres near full". This is a technical issue, and answers given should be as specific as those given when flying. You don't want ATC to tell you in full IMC with a vacuum failure: "The airport is some ways off to your leftish, I think", after all.

You may be right that your drive is nowhere near full, but we can't prove that without specifics.

For specifics, do the following:
Open Windows Explorer (NOT IE) - Start - All Programs - Accessories - Windows Explorer
Expand the left hand tree until you find "My Computer"
Under "My Computer" right click and select properties.
The dialog that opens will show Used, available and total capacity both numerically and graphically. Please report the three listed numbers in Gigabytes. (Or the full numbers if you feel like typing them out).

Next item:
Comment: it's certain internet pages that cause it to nearly crash for a few seconds there.

Nearly crash? Is that like "a little pregnant"? A computer crashes or it doesn't, and when it does, it can be an application crash (minor) or an O/S crash (major) - either way you get error reports.

So is it just freezing? Is it just the browser that freezes or is it the hole computer? Using what browser? If its IE and its a site that's having problems, IE is part of the operating system, so if IE freezes it can freeze the computer.

The steps I'd start with have been partially covered:
1) Check disk capacity and usage
2) Removal of all temporary internet files and offline content
3) Full defrag including system scandisk and repair
4) Full spyware scan using at least two different, reputable spyware removal tools. (AdAware, SpyBot S&D and MS AntiSpyware are my preferred)
5) Full virus scan with most recent updates

If the problem hasn't been identified then, the big guns come out...
 
I've done 2 and 3... I'm at work so I don't know number 1 yet, but the computer is only a year old, I'd find it hard to believe it's full. it could be.

yahoo is one page that seems to freeze up. the whole screen goes white and the little hour glass cursor is sitting there thinking... if I can click to another page I had already loaded, I do, but it takes a while to get there. it's being bogged down by the slow page. I mostly noticed this after yahoo "asked" me to try their beta version, which sucked... so I switched back to regular yahoo mail and it was about that time that it started acting funny.

my work computer is fine, and this laptop is not only 3 or so years old, it gets heavy usage. the same photos go here as at home.. and I have TONS and tons of word documents and emails on the work one. and the HD is smaller.

I really don't see how my home puter can be full when this one isn't, and is working fine.
 
while we are at it, once I loaded the new trend PC (annual subscription) I think this also coincided with this BS.

it also updates me nearly every 30 minutes with someone "computer" that wants to hook up to my computer. I had thought it was because I tried to share an MSN folder with a friend of mine - as soon as I sent the request to him these bleeps started coming in to me... I deleted the shared folder and he did too - but I still get them.
 
woodstock said:
I've done 2 and 3... I'm at work so I don't know number 1 yet, but the computer is only a year old, I'd find it hard to believe it's full. it could be
Click to expand...
I suspect you're right, but mechanics don't skip the engine compression check cause they think its probably ok. We're trouble shooting a technical problem - specifics matter and you only take possible causes off the table when you can confirm with facts that they are gone.

yahoo is one page that seems to freeze up. the whole screen goes white and the little hour glass cursor is sitting there thinking... if I can click to another page I had already loaded, I do, but it takes a while to get there. it's being bogged down by the slow page. I mostly noticed this after yahoo "asked" me to try their beta version, which sucked... so I switched back to regular yahoo mail and it was about that time that it started acting funny.
Click to expand...
This is a potentially major clue. Was it just beta yahoo mail or was it some bigger beta project at Yahoo?

I really don't see how my home puter can be full when this one isn't, and is working fine.
Click to expand...
As I said, you are probably right, but like I also said, you don't remove possibilities from the table cause you think they're not likely. You either prove they're off, or you leave them on.
 
woodstock said:
adaware is free right?

and doesn't trend pc-cillin do the same thing?
Click to expand...
AdAware is free, and I'm not familiar with trend and pc-cillin, but as someone else pointed out, I've never seen a single anti-spyware program that catches them all.
 
woodstock said:
while we are at it, once I loaded the new trend PC (annual subscription) I think this also coincided with this BS.

it also updates me nearly every 30 minutes with someone "computer" that wants to hook up to my computer. I had thought it was because I tried to share an MSN folder with a friend of mine - as soon as I sent the request to him these bleeps started coming in to me... I deleted the shared folder and he did too - but I still get them.
Click to expand...
Could you give a little more background on this? Where was this friend when you tried to share the folder? Was he hooked up to your network or him to yours or what?
 
Some Quick Comments,

you do not need Winfax, Windows will do it for you, dont ever put anything from Symantec on your machine,

if you are slow, go to your folder in Documents and settings, go to local settings, if you dont see it, go to folder options in control panel, open it, select view, then select show all folders, go back to explorer, open local settings, then open temp and delete everything except those items with the current date.

once that is done, go to the windows directory, and delete all of the blue uninstall items, then go down to windows\temp and delete everything there, empty your recycle bin,

now go to My Computer, right click on it and select properties, then select restore, click on the box to turn off restore, when the hourglass goes away, click on the box to turn it back on, this might take a minute or two.

do another defrag, on the large drives even if it says you dont need to defrag, it you have more than 4 red bars, do it anyway.

get rid of trend micro, go to www.nod32.com buy their software and install it, it is the only one available to the consumer market that is any good at all, closest thing I have seen yet to bulletproof. It also catches almost all of the spy and malware, put windows defender on, it catches the rest.

should run a little better now.
 
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nope, he lives in MD and I live in VA. I don't know if this is what happened, but it seemed coincidental. I just sent him a folder-share request with a photo in it, as a test. the yahoo was beta-email. I hated it so I opted out.
 
woodstock said:
nope, he lives in MD and I live in VA. I don't know if this is what happened, but it seemed coincidental. I just sent him a folder-share request with a photo in it, as a test. the yahoo was beta-email. I hated it so I opted out.
Click to expand...
How did you go about sending him a folder share request?
 
woodstock said:
nope, he lives in MD and I live in VA. I don't know if this is what happened, but it seemed coincidental. I just sent him a folder-share request with a photo in it, as a test. the yahoo was beta-email. I hated it so I opted out.
Click to expand...

I'd place money that this is continuing to try and reconnect, and killing network performance. A pox on Yahoo.

There is a reason I refuse to install Yahoo and Google toolbars, despite continued nagging from all sorts of programs and updates to do so. Packaged marketing. It's as bad as so many programs that install crapware automatically.
 
For what it is worth, the tool bars, yapoop, google, aol and others, are a conduit to your computer for anyone that wants access to it.

yapoop will tell you that their tool bar will block ads, but the default has it disabled, i also think that it allows certain ad and spyware through even when enabled.
 
One thing that got mine at work was having a full recycle bin. Everytime you delete a file it has to dig to the end of the FAT table of deleted files to find a place to add the entry for the new file. Simply emptying the recycle bin fixed that.

If you ran system cleanup it did that for you, so nevermind.
 
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thanks for the help guys. My recycle bin was 10% full. I just deleted it.

I also noticed this, this morning:

my laptop is plugged in 100% of the time. always charging. this morning I brought it downstairs - just on battery. 25 minutes later the battery is almost depleted. is this something else entirely or a clue as to why it is so slow - something is wrong there, too. (it is usually plugged in, this morning is a rarity).

it takes so fricking long to load up a page (meaning, 5-10 or more seconds, ok, impatient I know).
 
have you cleared all your caches?

I am assuming you are still using Internet Exploder. In IE
Tools
Internet Options
Temporary Internet Files - Delete

When I was running slow on the net with a broadband connection, I cleared those out, and voila back to normal.
 
woodstock said:
thanks for the help guys. My recycle bin was 10% full. I just deleted it.

I also noticed this, this morning:

my laptop is plugged in 100% of the time. always charging. this morning I brought it downstairs - just on battery. 25 minutes later the battery is almost depleted. is this something else entirely or a clue as to why it is so slow - something is wrong there, too. (it is usually plugged in, this morning is a rarity).

it takes so fricking long to load up a page (meaning, 5-10 or more seconds, ok, impatient I know).
Click to expand...


The battery is a different issue. I got 1-1/2 years out of the battery on my laptop. 1.5-2 years is typical battery life, especially if it's plugged in all the time. You should cycle the battery periodically by using it.

Assuming you've run multiple anti-spyware programs (SpyBot S&D, AdAware, Microsoft Defender, etc) then I'd suggest 2 things. 1) go to dslreports.com and run a speed test. See if your results are comparable to what you should be seeing, and 2) get a copy of HiJackThis from TomCoyote.org, run it, and post the log it produces. That can help identify malware that the other programs miss.

One other question: how much memory do you have in the computer? Too little will result in sluggish performance....
 
thanks Bill. it's got a buttload of memory. I think at least a gig of RAM. it's a 100gig harddrive, too. I can't remember the rest and I am at work.

I was actually thinking of taking Trend PC off of it - my firewall/virus program - bc it really started this **** when I re-upped the license.
 
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