Please Help--Snail Speed and Freezing up.

I've used Avast, AVG, and Avira, and they're all free. Sometimes they ask if I want to upgrade to the premium (paid) versions, but it's never required. Just make sure you download the right version.

Alternatively there's Windows Security Essentials or Windows Defender.

2 gbs of memory seems really low. For a quick and dirty fix you can try increasing your virtual memory - basically using your hard drive for memory.

Have you tried defragmenting the hard drive?

You can turn off some of your start-up programs by going through msconfig. It doesn't uninstall the programs so you can still turn them back on when you need them.

Reliable registry cleaner (I've been using it for over a decade, have hand-vetted what it wants to kill, and have NEVER seen it screw up):

http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm

It's absolutely free, and it doesn't pull that "look what I found, now you need to pay" crap. (Some 'registry cleaners' actually insert junk so they can claim to have found hundreds of errors, even when none are present.)

But what Maryn said. Now is the time to do a backup, before something gets screwed to where you can't do a backup.

Make sure you don't have "scan on any access" turned on in McAfee (I don't use the nasty thing so don't know where they put it) -- that will bring any computer to its knees, since Windows accesses hundreds of files every minute.

Please be aware that when you suggest to a naïve user that they use any tool to edit the Registry you are potentially inviting disaster.

Other things to consider when kindly offering support.

Ask the triage questions:

What Operating System and version?

How much free disk space?

How much RAM?

What have they added, updated or removed in terms of software ?

What anti-virus/malware software are they using?

I am a fan of SpyBot as well. It has a nice immunize function for your web browsers.

I have a small netbook that behaves much the same way most of the time. I think the time has come to back up my files, wipe it clean and start over with it.

AW Admin said:

Please be aware that when you suggest to a naïve user that they use any tool to edit the Registry you are potentially inviting disaster.

Click to expand...

Not this tool. That's why I recommend it to naive users (in fact, when I was fixing PCs for real money, I beat my clients over the head until they agreed to run it religiously once a week). All it does is remove garbage that doesn't point anywhere. It doesn't edit valid strings. In its early days I hand-vetted what it wanted to kill (I'm comfortable with RegEdit) and it was always right. Occasional users have reported errors -- usually with software that does something dodgy with the Registry in the first place, like some antivirus apps -- and Toni always quickly fixes that (what he calls his 'blacklist').

A while back one of the big review rags did a comparison of registry scrubbers, and found that only three were valid tools (all the rest either inserted junk for themselves to report their wonderful finds, or just didn't work). And of the three that actually worked as advertised, EasyCleaner did the best job as well as being priced right.

Junk in the registry is no longer a big issue, what with today's fast high-memory systems and Windows doing better at handling it, and it's been a good while since I've seen a box that's slow/unstable because of such junk. But if someone is going to run a registry cleaner, they might as well run one with a solid history.

Disconnect the system from the internet and see if the slowdown goes away. If so, a couple possibles that spring to mind are a failing router or network chip (if svchost.exe is constantly busy, that's a probable cause), or could be you've acquired malware that's busy sending garbage.

For noncritical sites I use the browser's password manager, in which case lost cookies are no big deal.

I think I'd still want to see what's sucking CPU (low RAM slowdowns are usually spastic rather than continuous), and if there's a lot of internet traffic that's not accounted for.

Some questions:

1. How much free space is on your main hard drive?

2. How many antivirus/antimalware security programs are currently installed on your system?

3. Is the slowdown just in terms of using the Internet or when you are not connected to the Internet and opening a large file, or starting a large program, for instance?

4. Have you tried creating a new non Admin user via the Users control panel and logging as as that user ? Does the problem persist?

5. Do you usually run as Admin?

6. What search bars or plugins are installed in your Web Browser?

What you need to do is create a Second account. At first, as a test, make it a non-admin account.

If you have the same problem(s) it suggests that the problem is with the entire system, not just the data associated with one account/user.

If you DON'T have the same problems, it suggests that there's something odd about just your account.

For the long term, going forwards, it's a very bad idea to run as Admin all the time.

Admin accounts have special abilities, including the ability to install software. It's a really bad idea to run as Admin because it can open the door to malware in some ways that a regular non-Admin account wouldn't. For one thing, you can absentmindedly click OK and give malware permission to install itself.


If you have created a test account, per above, a second non-Admin account, when you can, you should make it your account with Admin privileges.

Then change your current, main account, to non-Admin.

Don't name the new account Admin. Use something else like Big Triceretops or Super Triceritops or whatever.

Web browsers can have tiny programs and files associated with them. One kind is a plug in. Two other kinds are called search bars and extensions. Cookies are another. Many of these are just fine; others are malware designed to seem legitimate. Here's a basic introduction to Web browsers in general as a starting point in terms of various files and addons.

Installing the anti-virus program after the fact may be an indication that you were already infected and that the malware is now actively combatting the anti-virus software.

I'm not saying this is the case, I'm saying it is possible.

> I have 2.00 gigs of ram

Swap City, here I come. I think the applications you are running are taking more memory than is physically available, so the operating system swaps memory blocks in and out in order to have every process have their fair share of resources. It's like trying to move to a new apartment using only one cardboard box; it's the shuffling that's costly.

There aren't many solutions for this sort of problem. Either limit the number of big applications you run simultaneously or install more RAM.

-cb

Uh, isn't McAfee notorious for slowing computers to a crawl?

Whatever you do, stay away from Registry Easy. It's only going to nag you for money. Your problem is almost certainly not registry related anyway.

You obviously don't have enough RAM -- I would never advise running Windows and trying to do any work at the same time with less than 4GB. All you can do is keep a tight watch on how much is going on. In Control Panel, find "Programs and Features" and get rid of Skype and anything else that isn't used.

Autoruns from Sysinternals can help you permanently stop programs from running at startup. Just be careful not to stop anything unless you know it's not essential. Here is a site with a shipload of info on startups. I know...[sigh]...TMI.

If your hard drive has less than 25% free space, Windows will have a hard time. It needs wiggle-room for temporary files and memory-swapping, and won't even be able to defrag if there is too little space. If you are short on space, uninstall anything you don't use, back up any files you aren't currently working on and get them off the hard drive. Check your downloads folder. Get rid of anything you don't need.

If you have lots of drive space, ignore the previous paragraph.

You can get a lot for $0.02 ....

RAM is obscenely cheap for the difference it makes, but buy it from a reputable source; I favor Crucial (http://www.crucial.cim)l, but there are others. Most sites can help you via text/email/a list in terms of what you can use in your particular computer. RAM for your computer may have to be installed in pairs or have other rules. Check before you buy.

Buy as much RAM as you can in terms of the maximum your computer can use.

Try shutting down all the apps you can (that is, shut down anything YOU opened) and re-starting your Web browser and watching a video.

Do you still have the problem?

Tri,

Hate to bring this up but McAfee is a known resource hog and can and will slow down your system. Your problem started prior to installing that on your system, so its probably not the cause. Just FYI on how it can be a resource hog. There are plenty of AV programs out there that work just as well for free like Avast or even the Windows Security Essentials.

What did you install/uninstall before this slow down happened?

What was your previous AV (anti-virus) software and did you uninstall it all prior to installing McAfee?

Definitely hit Crucial and their Crucial Scanner and find out about adding more RAM. Once you know what to look for, type, style, etc., you can call around and get a better price or price match without having to pay for shipping.

You can uninstall programs by going to the MS globe (bottom left on Windows 7) that replaced the green Start button, selecting Control Panel then selecting Programs. That should help you uninstall Skype. Then run CCleaner to remove the residual debris left over from that.

CCleaner will remove registry listings for old programs that have been uninstalled and clear up some space on the HDD (Hard Drive). Don't expect massive free space to appear though. Another free utility program besides CCleaner and both CCleaner and this one are recommended by PC techs, is Glary Utilities. Glary is free and easy to use. Really easy. Just let it do its thing and stay with the default settings. I've installed Glary for senior citizens that have limited knowledge of PC's and they love it because its easy to use. And its free. I have both Glary Utilities and CCleaner on my system and use them both.

http://www.glarysoft.com/

Be careful going back to a restore point. Make sure you back up with USB sticks/CD/DVDs so you save data prior to hitting that restore point. Strange things can happen so back up as much as you can.

You stated you were running Win 7, 32 bit edition. Unlike earlier operating systems, Windows 7, both 32 and 64 bit, use more RAM then XP and Vista. The lack of RAM could be the total crux of the issue. This sucks as you're going to be 'removing and replacing' to find the problem.

How familiar are you with your computer? Do you know if you're running a single core or dual core processor? Single core processors with limited RAM and a higher operating system (OS) like Win 7, can bog down when something new is added like a program.

If you feel confident enough, try downloading CPU-Z or HW Monitor. Both are free and both will tell you about your system. One, CPU-Z tells you what hardware you have, that would be HDD, CD/DVD optical drive, any sound cards or video cards you may have installed and about your RAM. HWMonitor shows temps (that can be an issue too, dust buildup inside a PC can kill it), voltage (that will show you if your power supply is going out), and fan monitoring to let you know if your fans are operating like they should.

http://www.cpuid.com/


Check your hard drive to see if it needs defragged. Also check if you have the option to install another HDD, larger or smaller, to act as backup instead of a partition on your existing hard drive. Hard Drives are also relatively inexpensive and you could get a 500gb or 1TB HDD pretty cheap. No need to partition something that size.

Getting to the add-ons and search windows issue. You stated you use Firefox. Along the upper left you should have File, Edit. View, History, Bookmarks, Tools, Help. Click on Tools and select Add-ons. That should open up a window that shows what add-ons you have currently installed on Firefox. That should also show you what add-ons are not compatible. Personally, I'd remove AdBlock and install AdBlock Edge. Its a smaller program for Firefox and it works a lot better than the original AdBlock. You can find it by searching for it in the add-on section of Firefox.

With Firefox there are tabs just below the File, Edit, View, area. Below those tabs are the search windows.

The search windows are just below the whole File, Edit, View area. That is the white horizontal rectangle that web addresses appear in. To the right of the rectangle will be another smaller rectangle. If you have more than those 2, you need to remove them. Those can normally be found in the Start (MS Globe, bottom left that replaced the green start button), Control Panel, Programs, uninstall a program.