Desk top running slow - tried obvious - help!

[Doctorbiker]

I've got a three year old Dell desk top - 3000mhz with 1.5 gb ram windows XP.

It has started running so slowly - slower than my old superdream! Tried de-frag and a clean out on disk. Still slow - takes 15 minutes to start up and settle down.

Any suggestions before I take it to somebody?

Sean

 

[GSwadd]

Go get startup.cpl from here http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml and install it. It will give you a control panel application to easily control what starts at startup. Just click off anything you don't still have installed or need, reboot, and your pc should get a new lease on life. Be brutal with programs that install a startup part as most are not needed. Just keep graphics, mouse and net related stuff. If its still slow run Adaware and Spybot to check for malware.

 

[Riktus]

Do a Ctrl+Alt+Del and have a look at task manager - then look at "running Applications" my guess is you have got Malware - some malware like IEXPLORE.EXE are very difficult to get rid of without reformatting.

Lots on internet search about IEXPLORE.EXE and it is a nasty little problem. You dont tend to get issues with FireFox though so depends what you have been using.

P.S dont panic if you see "explorer.exe" this is the std windows explorer - best to read up on the interweb as I dont understand alot about it my MIS department sorted mine when it had the malware but they found it easier and cheaper to replace the Drive.

Rik

 

[cookie]

my first action would be to download, update and run spybot

 

[Doctorbiker]

I'm running f secure security with spyware protection but i do as suggested - many thanks for help.

By the way I'm having to write this on my work lappy!

Sean

 

[Redboots]

CCleaner

Also try Crap Cleaner (CCleaner)

The registry is probably full of junk... When will they get rid of that piece of crap design?!

John

 

[bisbee]

If you go to computeractive.co.uk you can find lots of free downloads I recently tried a registry cleaner that got rid of loads of sh1t hth

 

[Bryn]

Easy thing that might help.. go to User CP , edit options... uncheck the signature box......

that may speed things up on ukgser at least

 

[Blackal]

Careful there...................

Do a Ctrl+Alt+Del and have a look at task manager - then look at "running Applications" my guess is you have got Malware - some malware like IEXPLORE.EXE are very difficult to get rid of without reformatting.

Lots on internet search about IEXPLORE.EXE and it is a nasty little problem. You dont tend to get issues with FireFox though so depends what you have been using.

P.S dont panic if you see "explorer.exe" this is the std windows explorer - best to read up on the interweb as I dont understand alot about it my MIS department sorted mine when it had the malware but they found it easier and cheaper to replace the Drive.

Rik

Had me worried there, so checked up and found that:

"iexplore.exe" is legit

"ieexplore.exe" is caused by malware


(I guess they made the second "look like" the first deliberately )

Al

 

[exeter_lad]

Solved it yet?

Had similar problem on my duaghter's laptop. Added more memory, took it back to PC World for health check. All scanned, all OK. Still took ages to load, expecially IE which took 10 - 15 minutes!

I had a look in Task manager and found a process taking up huge amounts of memory. Name unrelated to anything I knew of (can't for the life of me remeber what it was - will try and get details from my daughter). Lokked up filename on the web, found instrcutions to remove it and all is well.

Not much help, but just look in Task Manager when you have no programs open and see what is using all the meory.

 

[turbine_2]

Also worth looking at the replacement process explorer from sysinternals.com (bought out by MS and the products are so good that MS still give them away). Has the advantage of listing out the 'hidden' processes that are running and individually listing out those processes that are started under svchost.exe