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My computer is slowing down!!


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Guest Kasamiko
Posted

Hi m8,
I've noticed that my computer is slowing down, before my boot up takes only a minute now it takes almost forever!!
I do a full system scan for virus, run AD-Aware and other adware remover, defrag all drives, uninstall unneccesary programs but to no avail..
What else should I do??

Rhonn ;) ;)


Posted

Buy a bigger hammer ;D. Well that's what I feel like doing, to my machine sometimes. If you have Windows XP and have recently installed new software, try restoring your machine to an earlier point, or even if you haven't installed new software.

Posted

Don't use XP restore. It is better to turn it off. If you have ever cleaned the system clean of a virus & then performed system restore to patch things up, it will unleash the virus again. No antivirus can look into the files catched by the System Restore feature. & it really messes up your system. If you are running windows XP try clearing all files in %WINDOWS%\Prefetch directory. (this may be a hidden directory). your computer will gardually speed up :)

Guest Kasamiko
Posted

Can't find that prefetch folder ???. I've turned all attributes to visible but still can't find it..
my windows is in "D:\Windows"

Rhonn ;) ;)

Posted

:)kasamiko download stinger.exe and use it to scan for viruses and trogens, before you do any system restore, if you do. ad ware gets rid of spy ware stuff stinger scans and deletes files damaged by the viruses, this will help. if your runing windows xp. and your computer keeps shutting down, or saying shut down initiated by nt authority system. it would be the w32 blatser worm , you can download the free w32 blaster worm removal tool, but if you dont have that problem then its ok,

Guest Kasamiko
Posted

Steven I may sounds wierd but believe me I do a full scan with PCCillin, AVG and NAV 2004!! Yes 3 of them ;D but found no infections.
I also run AD-Aware, Spy-Bot & Spyware killer..still negative.
I noticed even the time that I don't have an interner yet, installing and uninstalling softwares eventually will slow down your system..
Maybe those software leaves come traces or files which makes booting slow.

rhonn ;) ;)

Posted

Are you using WindowsXP? If yes then you should find the folder at D:\Windpws\Prefetch . On my machine it is not hidden. Clear it when you do major changes to your system (like install/uninstall spree:)). This folder is used by windows to preload the programs you use on your PC. However windows dose not clears a program entry when you remove it.
Doing this will not immidiately speed up your PC but in a day or two it should get faster. If this fails then reinstalling windows is the definate answer. Personally i reinstall windows atleast every 6 months because it seems to me that it just gets slower longer you tweak with it. Also check out http://www.x-setup.net/ use this software carefully or you might fry your windows ;)

Guest Kasamiko
Posted

Yes, i'm using WinXP Pro..but can't find it!! :( see the screen capture.
When you say Reinstall windows you mean just install a fresh copy of windows, you dont reformat the entire drive?

post-0-14279141748507_thumb.jpg

Posted

This is strange indeed ??? Anyway I was talking of formatting the drive clean & doing a fresh install. I know it's painful but most of the times i have no choice ;D I keep my data on saperate partitions so it is of no problem for me. Try using the Xsetup software from http://www.x-setup.net/ it offers more options than any other software & it is free too (though it is named pro).

Posted

:)kasamiko its not a good idea to re install windows over the top of what you got, reformatting it all is the best option but if you have a spare d drive you can transfer all your good stuff onto it then reformatt your whole c drive, then after that you transfer it back to your c drive from the spare drive or slave drive.

Guest Kasamiko
Posted

Hi Ante,
The only programs running in my system tray is PCCillin,Spy Sweeper and Volume control. My running proccesses are all the same eversince I installed my XP. But my registry is going FAT!! ???

rhonn ;) ;)

Guest Kasamiko
Posted

I'm sure those leftover by some software that i installed. Can you recommend a good registry cleaners? I'm using system mechanic and registry first aid but can't get raid of those leftover..

Rhonn ;) ;)

Posted

Norton system works is grate for all windows ver. It is a good tool to recommend espically the 'speed disk' (the defragementor). It is lightyears ahade of the default defragmentor that comes with windows. If you have NTFS then i don't think you should even need to defrag often.

Posted

Rhonn,
If you try out lots of software and then remove it you should note that every one of these adds to your registry. After a while, your registry gets bigger and bigger. Your computer has to read the registry at start up. Since most users cannot go into the registry and make changes due to any mistake could cause a crash, they simply reinstall windows. If you are familiar with your registry, you can go in and clean out (delete) all folders that were left by software you no longer have or need. Beware, though. This is the backbone of your system and can cause a crash. There are programs out there which claim to clean the registry and restore bad links. These can help to speed up the boot process.
Another thing you can check is this. Press Start, then Run and enter "msconfig" and hit enter. This will bring up the Microsoft configuration screen. Go to the tab marked "startup". Look at the list. Your computer is starting all of these items everytime you boot up. If it is a very long list, you will want to find out what the files belong to and possibly remove several.
To find out if this will speed things up, you can temprarily disable some of them in this screen. Then re-boot.

MP

Posted

Ante, noope, I am not giving up.
For example, recently, my computer (windows XP) mess up with some dll file corrupted. Even I try to perform a system restore or start on a safe mode can't success.... i.e. can't bootup windows....

thus my way is to reinstall it..... without another choice.
of course if I am not lazy I can have a backup using Norton Ghost.... :P




Trigger,

I think you just give up to easy!



Suraj,

I am very happy with Norton but I never use NTFS, it is too much pain when shearing files.


Posted

DO NOT USE SYSTEM RESTORE it dose slows down your PC when you least expect it. It is a rather bad implimentation of Norton's GoBack (http://www.symantec.com/goback/ sotware. If you turn it off completely it will save you disk space & unexpected problems. It is also helpful to stop unnecessary services take a look at http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/Windows2000/UserTips/Network/Disableunnecessaryservicestoimproveworkstationsperformance.html and http://www.tweakxp.com/tweak34.aspx.

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