Computer running slow - any idea why?

Dinarius · 14-10-2006 7:58pm #1

I use a Fujitsu Siemens laptop.

Pentium 4/2.5Ghz
512Mb RAM
40Gb HD
XP/Pro

For the last while this laptop has been running noticably slower. e.g. Opening, say, Control Panels folder, the icons take a while to populate the folder and change from b&w to colour.

Even with just Firefox open, if I go Start/My Computer, the Windows Torch symbol appears (signifying that it's looking for the folder) instead of just opening immediately, as it used to.

This evening I had Outlook, Firefox and Photoshop open. It took an age to open an image file. It never used to be like this.

When I open Task Manager, CPU usage is minimal and there is RAM to spare. Yet it is still like a snail!

I have AdAware, Spybot Search and Destroy and AVG Anti-Virus. I updated them all this evening and ran a total scan. Nothing of any consequence appeared.

Any idea what might be wrong or what I might check?

Thanks.

D.

Ruu_Old · 14-10-2006 7:59pm

Have you had long? How full is your hard drive? Its fairly tiny @40gb.

Dinarius · 14-10-2006 8:07pm

Hi,

Yes, it is, but four years ago 40Gb was fairly standard!

28Gb used of 37Gb.

D.

tman · 14-10-2006 8:48pm

have you ever defraggled the hard drive?
worth a shot if you haven't done so yet

thebman · 14-10-2006 9:17pm

Yes defrag. That is the most likely cause of the problem.

Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools

If you have less than 15% free HD space, you could probably do with deleting files.

Ruu_Old · 14-10-2006 9:27pm

Clear out the TEMP folder, try to free up a bit of diskspace and defrag as the others suggested. Turn of the indexing service if its turned out and you don't really use the search feature a whole lot. Open My Computer->Right click on the C drive and untick the box beside Allow Indexing Service.

shockwave · 14-10-2006 9:42pm

Did you run a complete virus,rootkit,trojan,scan.There could be a really stubborn virus hidden somewhere.This is the usual cause of a slowdown in speed.Also clear out your registery using a registery cleaner,this could also help.

greglo23 · 14-10-2006 9:59pm

a handy free tool for cleaning temp files and the registry is easycleaner . get it here http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm

Dinarius · 15-10-2006 4:49pm

Thanks guys.

I defrag more often than I vacuum, so that's not the problem! ;-)

Will try the registry cleaner and let you know how I get on.

D.

Dinarius · 15-10-2006 6:00pm

I downloaded the program.

Very neat. Nice user interface.

I ran a few of the options......Registry, Duplicates, Unnecessary and IE cache clearout.

I then went to defrag and the program wouldn't open! I then tried to access it via My Computer/Properties and it said that the program wasn't installed! Scary!

Fortunately, as per the EasyCleaner instructions, I had left everything in the recycle bin, so I just Restored everything. Once again the Defrag program opened.

I then tried the options one at a time. After Registry, Unnecessary and IE Cache (obviously) Defrag was still there, so it must have been something in Duplicates that was lost and preventing it from opening.

When I run Duplicates, I get thousands of hits, mostly from Adobe Photoshop related files and programs. Too many to select and delete individually. Far too many, in fact. So, I think I'll just leave the Duplicate option unless someone has a way round that problem. i.e. how to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

Ta.

D.

Computer running slow - any idea why?

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