Computer Check Out

[Shakespeare]

I would appreciate recommendations of techs who run check-out programs on computers. My Dell laptop has slowed dramatically and freezes and won't open up or close pages at times. All of this is random. May be a dastardly attack.

Thanks

 

[Will B]

My first suggestion would be to get the latest updates for your virus protection. Once you have that let the anti-virus software run a full scan to clean up anything. If your anti-virus has a registry cleaner, run that, too.

After that has completed, go to The home of Spybot-S&D!. Download the program and, then, run it. It will clean up all the adware and malware programs.

If it's still slow after all that, my guess is that you have a ton of stuff running in the background that needs to be turned off using msconfig.

What version of Windows are you running and is there a particular program that causes errors? In a lot of cases, newer software doesn't run so hot on an old platform...

 

[Em]

Could be something as simple as adware. Run spybot, Malaware, or Ad-Aware, and clean that up.

It may also be time to add some ram. As more and more content gets dumped onto websites, you will be slower and slower. At a minimum, you probably want 2G of ram,
Are you running XP, vista, or windows 7?

If you are running xp, the easy way to check for ram is:
-left click "start"
-right click "my computer"
-left click "properties" and under the "general" tab, you should see the amount of RAM, near the bottom. Your computer won't likely recognize more than 4G of ram, so don't blow your money. RAM cards for laptops should be installed in sets of equal ram. eg- if you have two 256MB cards, it will show up as 512 RAM. If you want to upgrade, you will not buy one 2G card to install beside one of the two existing 256MB cards. Instead, if you want 2G of RAM, you would install two 1G cards, and give your other RAM away to someone else. At the most, you would install two 2G cards, giving a total of 4G, but remember that your computer will show somewhere between 3G-3.8G. You should be able to buy RAM fairly cheap for lap tops. You can google your brand and model computer (look on bottom) with "ram" and find online sources which will show you the specs on what you need. EdgeTech is a good source with great prices. Install is easy, and you should be able to see videos online for how to install.

 

[Shakespeare]

Thank you for your advice, and I will follow it. I run Vista Home Premium---3 GB Ram. I use Western Digital MY BOOK for back up. Haven't installed anything new. YahooMail and web pages just sit there and blink and refuse to budge when I try to close out with the X or minimize. I go to taskbar and close or minimize by right clicking the page. I use AVG Internet Security Suite 9,0,801.




QUOTE=singinchicken;658942]My first suggestion would be to get the latest updates for your virus protection. Once you have that let the anti-virus software run a full scan to clean up anything. If your anti-virus has a registry cleaner, run that, too.

After that has completed, go to The home of Spybot-S&D!. Download the program and, then, run it. It will clean up all the adware and malware programs.

If it's still slow after all that, my guess is that you have a ton of stuff running in the background that needs to be turned off using msconfig.

What version of Windows are you running and is there a particular program that causes errors? In a lot of cases, newer software doesn't run so hot on an old platform...[/QUOTE]

 

[Shakespeare]

Murray, thank you for the advice and suggestions. You and SinginChicken must be techs! I run Vista Home Premium, Serv Pak 2, 3 GB RAM, and use Western Digital MY BOOK for back ups. With the advice and info from you and SC, I will begin the process of addressing these problems. Thank you once again.

 

[Will B]

One other thing that I have found is that if my anti-virus is running a full scan or is updating, my programs will lag until it has finished.

 

[Em]

If you have 3G of ram, you should be good to run even Vista. It isn't a lack of ram. Most likely, it is adware or as singing chicken mentioned, it may also be scans running in background (set them up to automatically run at night when you are sleeping, to avoid that.) It could also be auto updates for Microsoft or other software.

msconfig can move all of those extra programs from your start up page. That can really slow you down. However, you can wreck your system if you start removing some programs from startup, so be careful if doing that.

Most likely, it is adware that has invaded your system.

Do you use internet explorer? If you do, try downloading Mozilla Firefox (free) and use it as your browser. clean up the adware and from there, you shouldn't be getting much more adware as Firefox filters it very well.

 

[Shakespeare]

I have the latest edition of Firefox. Never use IE. I do get auto updates; however, they are scheduled in the wee hours for the reason you mentioned.

Tonight, I will start the processes that you and singinchicken recommend.

Can't tell you both how very much I appreciate this help. I'll let you know how this play ends.

 

[Shakespeare]

I bought Spyware Doctor and Registry Mechanic. Still have a glitch or two, but thanks to both of you, my keyboard life is humming along.

 

[Will B]

Glad to help...

I'm a closet techno geek at heart!