Laptop running incredibly slow

[gabagoo]

I cant figure this out..... Doing anything on the internet is painfully slow on this beast. I have run avg / combo fix / malwarebytes and spybot search and destroy and nothing is ever found. I also run cc cleaner daily

What else can one do to determine what is causing the slowdown?

I really dont want to reload windows, in fact it is a Dell and I never even received a windows disk with it..... any ideas from the computer gurus?

 

[heyskull]

If the machine is over 3 years in service I would reformat and reinstall as the amount of updates can and do slow these machines down.
Is the disk not partioned with the operating system on it?

SC

 

[round man]

you may want to check the power setup/plan in control panel ,...some laptops will slow the clock speed on the processor and lower the power to the wifi adapter in order to prolong battery life,...

 

[kffernandez]

pls. have it checked by a techie person, or an actual pc tech. a lot of things can contribute to a pc slowing down. but with that said, i personally simply refuse to accept the idea that a pc using the exact same software can't run at the same speed it was running on when you first bought it.

btw, my guess is that a virus is probably slowing down your pc to a crawl - while being able to bypass your antivirus altogether. but like i said, it could possibly be caused by a lot of other factors as well.

kelly

 

[gabagoo]

Just the idea of of reloading I tunes and everything involved makes me cringe.... lol

I cant even seem to delete some programs lately. I think maybe it needs a fresh start.
Lets assume that the operating software is somewhere on the hard drive...how do I find it or is there a simple command to reinstall windows?

Also, I will back every file up that I can think would be important.... I know I can save playlists from I tunes but I also know that if I dont put the files back in exactly the way they were in the identical locations it will never find them...thats the part that worries me. I have music is about 5 or 6 different spots just based on long term useage...

 

[J Hill Designs]

google the laptop 'title' (ie dell dimension blah blah) and recovery partition

 

[QualitySigns]

Just the idea of of reloading I tunes and everything involved makes me cringe.... lol

I cant even seem to delete some programs lately. I think maybe it needs a fresh start.
Lets assume that the operating software is somewhere on the hard drive...how do I find it or is there a simple command to reinstall windows?

Also, I will back every file up that I can think would be important.... I know I can save playlists from I tunes but I also know that if I dont put the files back in exactly the way they were in the identical locations it will never find them...thats the part that worries me. I have music is about 5 or 6 different spots just based on long term useage...

Buy an external hard drive. You can copy everything important to it via USB before you fix your computer. You can plug the external hard drive into any computer and organize your files, etc. before you copy them to your laptop again.

Are you sure the computer didn't come with recovery CDs? If not, I would contact Dell and try to get some. My son's Toshiba laptop got all messed up (won't go into details), and I used the recovery CDs that came with the computer to fix it. The CDs completely format the hard drive and return the computer to its out-of-the-box state. It worked fabulously. Reinstalled his software and away we go. It took a few hours, but it was worth it.

Hope this helps.

 

[J Hill Designs]

recently computers just come with a recovery partition...no disks

 

[royster13]

And usually the 1st instruction is to make a "recovery" disk.....But I guess that most folks just "skim"....

 

[round man]

ok if you have to ask here you obviously do not have the tech savy to tune up the laptop and make it run smoothly,...take it to a good tech and pay them to restore it to an out of box factory default state.make sure they copy all your personal files off of it first so they can put them back,..often as not the registry become bloated(it is by default very complex and has many many entries) and needs to be cleaned in order for the windows system to boot and run smoothly,..every time you install a program and or remove a program there are changes made to it that often as not get left behind when it is removed. many times when you install a program( i-tunes for instance) several smaller programs get installed and are set to run when the machine boots these take up resources and slow the system(Kernel) down when booting and once it is actually running. Don't try to change any of these things if you don't know what you are doing as it can cause your system not to work at all,..pay a pro to do it.

 

[Techman]

REmove AVG. its the proven speed killer of almost all PC;s lately. Especially the scanner that is operating all the time.
Get avast which seems to be the latest darling.

If the machine is over 3 years in service I would reformat and reinstall as the amount of updates can and do slow these machines down.
Is the disk not partioned with the operating system on it?

Absolutely not the thing to do. It is not necessary at all.

 

[activitydude]

We use a program from PCTools called Registry Editor. Usually, the first time we run it about 300 or so "errors" show up. This is normally after we have taken all the trash off and installed Office.

 

[artbot]

two things recently really slowed down my pc. one the custom photo option on your google page. don't know why. my typing speed was dragging, read that it can help now i am back up to speed. also, in your internet options under connections un-check automatically detect settings (i think, it's been a few months). that sped it up too.

 

[activitydude]

We use a program from PCTools called Registry Editor. Usually, the first time we run it about 300 or so "errors" show up. This is normally after we have taken all the trash off and installed Office.

My bad. It's called Registry Mechanic, not editor

 

[Techman]

Doing anything on the internet is painfully slow on this beast. I have run avg / combo fix / malwarebytes and spybot search and destroy and nothing is ever found. I also run cc cleaner daily

He gives every one the answer right here. He cleans his machine, and nothing is found. The only other well known challenge is the AVG software. It has become the latest in bloatware and is well known among geeks as a resource hog. I have advised at least 17 others about this AVG bloat and to remove it. Their machines are back up to speed again. It is a noticeable increase.

 

[round man]

Techman is right,....the new avg link scanner can stop your web browsing dead in it's tracks, and it has been letting quite a few problems past its "protective" perimeter,.....

 

[njshorts]

REmove AVG. its the proven speed killer of almost all PC;s lately. Especially the scanner that is operating all the time.
Get avast which seems to be the latest darling.




Absolutely not the thing to do. It is not necessary at all.

try vipre, it's faster than avast, uses less resources and has great detection rates.







also, if any program advertises that it cleans your registry- don't be an idiot! run away. most registry cleaners do more harm than help.