Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Computer people, I need help

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Computer people, I need help

    My beloved lappy is acting strange. CPU is consistently running 90% or higher (though after I wake it up, it will bounce around like crazy) with ~50% RAM usage. And it takes for.ev.er. to open anything. I actually timed it this morning. It took nearly an hour to open my web browser, and then 30 minutes later still hadn't loaded the page. Opening the Control Panel took a good 5 or so minutes and then it got stuck so I couldn't get to what I wanted to do with it. Malware and virus scans haven't picked up any bugs and I've uninstalled just about every program I feel comfortable getting rid of.

    Lappy is probably 5 or 6 years old at this point, so I'm wondering if the darn thing's just old and crotchety. Still, I'd like to keep using it cuz I can't exactly afford to replace it right now. So short of opening it up and installing more RAM or a new hard drive, is there anything else I can do? Anyone know of a good (preferably free) clean up program?
    I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)
    Tags: None
  • #2
    See if you can restore it to factory conditions. That would be like restoring it to the condition it was in when you first bought it.

    Comment

    • #3
      What about the cooling fans? It's not unusual for those to go bad on a machine that old, and the CPU will then slow down a lot in order to avoid melting itself.

      Comment

      • #4
        My MIL was having the same problem recently and disabling Windows Update from the Start menu cured it. You just have to remember to visit Windows Update occasionally to check for anything new.

        Comment

        • #5
          Quoth jedimaster91 View Post
          Lappy is probably 5 or 6 years old at this point, so I'm wondering if the darn thing's just old and crotchety. Still, I'd like to keep using it cuz I can't exactly afford to replace it right now. So short of opening it up and installing more RAM or a new hard drive, is there anything else I can do? Anyone know of a good (preferably free) clean up program?
          Off the top of my head, I'd say try these:

          1. Check your disk swap space.
          2. Check how full your disk is, you may be running out of room.
          3. Defrag, if possible (this requires a certain amount of free disk space).
          4. See how many programs are running, and what's sucking up your processor and RAM (in task manager). That might give you an indication of what's going on.
          Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

          Comment

          • #6
            Quoth mjr View Post
            4. See how many programs are running, and what's sucking up your processor and RAM (in task manager). That might give you an indication of what's going on.
            The biggest resource hogs are my antivirus programs. Honestly I think it's time to just get rid of Avast because it's been nothing but trouble since I downloaded it. Haven't defragged in awhile so I'll try that next and disable auto updates. The fan seems to be working ok for now. I've already replaced that once cuz dog hair and computers don't mix.
            I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

            Comment

            • #7
              Some things to try:

              Consider a different AV, just to see if it turns anything up, Webroot is supposed to be really good, and it has a 2-week free trial

              As was mentioned before, check HD space. 30% free or less on C: will slow Windows down, 20% will make it all but unusable.

              Check your Startup folder and clean any shortcuts out of there that are not absolutely vital to running the system. Also, run msconfig and clear out unneeded items from Startup. Also, on its Services tab, turn on "Hide all Microsoft entries" and do some housecleaning there. e.g., anything from Adobe is likely just a "quick start" TSR; these are seldom needed in this day and age. Reboot when done.

              Also, get Spybot S&D, and update/scan/immunize with that. It can ferret out some things other programs can't as well.

              One you may wish to look up manually is something called Conduit. It is very persistent (Malwarebytes is one of the few programs that can deal with it in any effective way at all), and tends to interfere in unexpected ways.

              Clear out temp folders.

              Go to a command prompt (run as admin) and type sfc /all -- this is the system file checker, it will check to see if any system files have been modified.

              Note -- If you're on w7 or later it's always defragging for you in the background anyway.

              When all is said and done -- You may wish to consider backing up your data files and then doing a nuke & pave (reinstall Windows from scratch/restore to factory defaults), as suggested above.
              "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
              "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
              "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
              "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
              "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
              "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
              Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
              "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

              Comment

              • #8
                There can be tremendous sustained activity of re-indexing after a .NET update...
                I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
                Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
                Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Quoth EricKei View Post
                  Consider a different AV, just to see if it turns anything up, Webroot is supposed to be really good, and it has a 2-week free trial
                  I do actually have Webroot and have had it for years. I just liked having a backup program for overlap purposes.

                  Gonna go try some of this stuff. *fingers crossed*
                  I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Quoth jedimaster91 View Post
                    I do actually have Webroot and have had it for years. I just liked having a backup program for overlap purposes.

                    Gonna go try some of this stuff. *fingers crossed*
                    FYI, and hopefully someone else can verify this (or maybe a Google search), but I think I read somewhere where you shouldn't have more than one AV on your machine active at a time...
                    Skilled programmers aren't cheap. Cheap programmers aren't skilled.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      They can interfere with one another, yes. If you can disable the active/real-time scanner, do so on all but one (in this case, leave webroot's active).
                      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                      "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Clearing out the startup menu really helped a lot. After that I was able to uninstall several programs I'm no longer using, so that freed up quite a bit of space as well. Lappy's not running as lickety split as when it was brand new, but it is running much better. Thank you guys so much for your suggestions and help.
                        I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          NP. Glad we were able to help! ^_^
                          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
                          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
                          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
                          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
                          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
                          "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
                          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
                          "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

                          Comment

                          Previous template Next
                          Working...
                          X