computer VERY slow

[57210788]

Just wondering if you guys (or gals) have any tips for me.

My computer has gotten VERY VERY slow in the last month or so. (I have XP)

I have and regularily use AVG, Malware bytes, CCleaner, Spybot search and destroy, and Regclean.

I defragged it recently as well but nothing is helping. I really don't want to totally reformat if I don't have to.

Any suggestions?

 

[xcellerate]

ctrl+alt+del, check your processes to see if any of them are using a lot of your cpu.

 

[57210788]

I thought of that but my "CPU uasage is usually under 5%, and the system idle process is generally 90% or better

 

[xcellerate]

how much free hard drive space do you have? Do you have multiple drives?
Have you tried turning off the antivirus stuff (so they aren't constantly scanning files).
What does your startup (msconfig) look like?

 

[Raziaar]

Yeah, check the hard drive space. If it gets too low things will definitely slow to a crawl.

 

[No Limit]

Make sure the turbo button is pressed.

 

[57210788]

I have a 74.5G hard rive with 49.9G free space

I've looked at my startup items.

There are a few I don't know about
ctfmon
VTTimer

also do I really need that stupid "tea timer" that came with Spybot?

 

[AtomicSpark]

When in doubt, reinstall!

 

[Vegeta897]

You'll never replace Numbers damn you.

 

[Schall]

I'd just reformat(takes about 30 mins for me), or try TuneUp Utilities 2009.

 

[Dinnesch]

When in doubt, reinstall!

This, there is nothing better than a freshly installed and quick-responding PC, especially after having had a slowing virus/whatever it is.

 

[Warped]

I tend to find that when I have a low amount of installed programs, is when my PC is running fastest even with a low amount of disk space left.

 

[57210788]

I ended up "shutting off" a lot of the stuff that is there at startup and it seems to be a lot faster now. thanks

 

[xcellerate]

yea, I've unchecked almost everything, the only things left in my startup are "Microsoft Windows Operating System" and the "Java Platform"...which I might just uncheck right now. The only items in my taskbar are my network and sound icons.

 

[Shamrock]

Make sure the turbo button is pressed.

This received no love. I don't believe it.

This made me lol so hard.

 

[No Limit]

This received no love. I don't believe it.

This made me lol so hard.

To be fair I doubt 95% of this message board is old enough to remember the turbo button.

 

[CyberPitz]

To be fair I doubt 95% of this message board is old enough to remember the turbo button.

I always had mine pressed down, because the larger number on the case made me feel superior.

 

[VirusType2]

If I reinstalled every time I have a problem, I'd spend every day installing and downloading updates. I've had the same installation for several years and don't have any problems.

My other computer has a brand new XP install, which I updated with all the latest service packs and is no longer connected to the internet, and for the past two weeks, it crashes once or twice a day. Hmm.

I suspect it's the program I'm using when it crashes. So I realized the problem isn't going away. First I try uninstalling things I don't need or use, as these are often causing a problem anyway. Then run a registry cleaner - carefully. You can also check start up programs. Sometimes you get kling-ons--programs that think they are important and want to run every time you start your PC. If that fails to fix the problem, check drivers.

 

[CyberPitz]

My work laptop is really starting to drive me crazy. If I go to "Start -> Shutdown" it takes over a minute to bring up the next box. When I hit Shut Down, it sits there indefinitely. I've done scans, defrags and everything. What have I installed recently? NOTHING. Gah I hate this laptop sometimes

 

[VirusType2]

It may be a registry problem. It could also be a program that is running in the background. See what processes are running and google them if you don't know what they are.

When you hit shut down, windows tries to close all applications, but some programs cause problems. But if you say it takes a minute before it even gives you the option to shut down or restart, then I think it's something else. Maybe both.

 

[Robbo]

To be fair I doubt 95% of this message board is old enough to remember the turbo button.

I was so young when those were around, I used to think it was like a car and that if you had it pressed down all the time the computer would run out of power faster.

 

[xcellerate]

that's why I never press the turbo button in my car.