Laptop going very slow.

cosmowillie53

My Toshiba laptop (windows vista) has started going very slow on start up.
From turning on to being able to use could be about 15 mins. This only started today. I was using iGoogle (if that makes any difference) which finished up at midnight.

Any ideas please.

200motels

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

My Toshiba laptop (windows vista) has started going very slow on start up.
From turning on to being able to use could be about 15 mins. This only started today. I was using iGoogle (if that makes any difference) which finished up at midnight.

Any ideas please.

Your best bet is to back up everything you have on it that's important which should be done anyway on a ongoing basis and either do a factory reset or a clean install provided you have the disc with Vista on it. That's what I would do, but others on here might suggest other means to find out what's causing the problem in the first place, for instance it could be the hard-drive is failing or you have a virus, it could be a number of things, or on second thoughts you could try do a system restore when you eventually get in to Vista.

Jonny Blaze

Have you much free hard drive space? They tend to start booting slowly when you go over 75% of your total,

Also programs configured to run at start up can exacerbate the issue.

... also vista... it sucks!

Neon_Lights

Heres my method

-Scan for virii
-Quarantine and Get rid of any you have if any
-Backup all neccesary files
-Factory Reset or Clean install as above
-Get rid of all unneccesary processes at startup (do this regularly)
-Re-install any neccessary software and import any files if neccessary

Hey Presto as good as new.

As for chrome, it can take up quite a bit of your systems resources

Torqay

Neon_Lights wrote: »

Heres my method

-Scan for virii

Neon_Lights

Torqay wrote: »

Eh you dont want to backup with a virus really??

cosmowillie53

Thanks for all the advice/help above folks.

I have now done a full computer scan (its taken several hours) and it found a few minor problems which are now removed.

When I try to log in I'm getting this message (after about five minutes) ...
Logon process has failed to create the security options dialog.

This only started yesterday...after several years of hassle free login.

Any ideas.

200motels

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice/help above folks.

I have now done a full computer scan (its taken several hours) and it found a few minor problems which are now removed.

When I try to log in I'm getting this message (after about five minutes) ...
Logon process has failed to create the security options dialog.

This only started yesterday...after several years of hassle free login.

Any ideas.

Wipe it and re install.

cosmowillie53

Thanks for sticking with me here folks....I'm not much of a hand at this computer stuff...

This computer is used for emails and some photos mainly and a bit of browsing.

I checked to see what space was used and available..
( C )
Free space = 1.81 GB
Total size = 74.3 GB.

Would there be a lot of unnecessary stuff hanging around in the system that I could get rid of and if so how would it.

Thanks.

I

Torqay

That is certainly not enough free space.

Neon_Lights

All the necessary info on how to wipe your computer

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wipe+computer

Jonny Blaze

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

I checked to see what space was used and available..
( C )
Free space = 1.81 GB
Total size = 74.3 GB.

Would there be a lot of unnecessary stuff hanging around in the system that I could get rid of and if so how would it.

It's hard to say cosmo without knowing what you have on there.

Music and videos can take a huge chunk of space if you are stockpiling them. Also, if you download programs and keep the installer files that can be an issue I have seen with some people.

Games and some software in general can eat loads of space in your program files folder.

To try and get an idea of where the majority of your storage space is being used, try going to my computer and into the C drive and then then Users/Yourcomputername. Then you want to check the properties (right click on the folder and chose properties) of the folders Music, Documents, Videos, Downloads etc.

Basically anywhere you store your normal files.

After that try do the same on your program files folder and see how much space is used there.

If you don't have a huge amount of media files then I would bet on installed software being the culprit.

In which case you just have to go into your system information and uninstall any programs that you no longer or rarely use.

75 G isn't exactly a huge drive by today's standards though so I would be curious as to how old the computer is?

Could be other problems unrelated to hard drive size if it's really old.

Jonny Blaze

Also, if you click the start button and type 'disk cleanup' into the search bar you can use the windows cleanup tool to remove a build up of files from weird locations on your machine like cached internet files and full trash can etc.

mathepac

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

... I checked to see what space was used and available..
( C )
Free space = 1.81 GB
Total size = 74.3 GB.
...

You'll need to figure out what's eating up your HD space before you do anything.

Are any of your programs set to make automatic copies or backups of documents or databases? Have you stored GBs of photos, images, movies or music?

If you have you'll need to archive them off to some external medium (USB drive, external hard-drive, DVD, etc) and delete / erase them from your c/ drive

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

...

Would there be a lot of unnecessary stuff hanging around in the system that I could get rid of and if so how would it. ...

See above - it is more likely to be user rather than system stuff unless VISTA has gone mad.

cosmowillie53

I did a disc cleanup but that hasn't made any difference.
I have about 1000 photos stored. It seems each photo is approx. 1.8 mb (average)
I don't have any games/video's or music. I have saved emails but not alot.
Is there a way to automatically uninstall unused/seldom used programs.
How would I know if there are programs set up to automatic copy /backups.
The computer is about four years old.
Tks

Jonny Blaze

There's not really a way you can automate the process of uninstalling programs from windows im afraid.

You'll basically have to do it one by one.

You will want to be careful doing this though as there are some programs that will be in the list which can affect hardware operation or other aspects of your system.

1000 photos would only really equate to about 10-15 gig of HD space so there is likely some software installed that is eating your space, provided you have no real other media files or what have you.

Possibly your best option may be to do as suggested above and backup all of your photos onto a separate removable drive and re-install the operating system.

This will clear any excess software installed on the machine (except maybe some of the crap they install with the OS anyway) and usually results in a big speed boost on older units.

If you have a windows disc that came with the computer you can use that to reinstall, just make sure you have your product key written down somewhere before you do.

If you don't want the hassle of all that you could look at getting a new system. If you don't need it for much more than web browsing, email and ms office then you can pick up a cheap laptop with basic specs for about €300-350, which will be far better than your current 4 year old machine.

Hope this helps!

cosmowillie53

Thanks for reply.
I would really like to have a go at deleting/uninstalling bit by bit if I could.
I see an old AVG free 9.0 (2010) 71.4mb. I tried to uninstall but it will not go away. Is there a way to do this without installing another program to do so.
I also see some Java updated there going back to 2008/2009 about 300mb. Is there any reason why that should still be there.
Thanks

Jonny Blaze

Well AVG is a well respected free anti virus package. I don't use it myself and never have but some people swear by it so it may be worth holding on to if you have no other anti virus software installed on your machine.

Java is an important piece of software that lots of other software depends on to run, however looking at my own java installation it seems strange that it would be so big. You could stand to lose it anyway since most things that use it will provide you with a link to the latest update when you try to use them anyway. It is so old because they release periodic updates to it all the time. My own install is about 112 mb.

As for uninstalling AVG, i couldn't really tell you. Though in principle there should be no software you can't uninstall from your own machine.

I would suggest just googling 'AVG free wont uninstall' or 'permanently remove AVG free' or the like and see what you can discover from that.

cosmowillie53

I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed which seems to be ok.
I mentioned Java 2008/09 because the latest one installed is June 2013 and I thought this would have all the latest updates leaving the others redundant.

Jonny Blaze

Yeah the java software deployment scheme is a bit of a mess alright. Like I said you would prob be ok to uninstall the older one.

tricky D

First thing to do is run crap cleaner http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner‎

Get rid of AVG, it was fine up until a few years ago but then became a resource hog. Also having 2 av utils running is a bad idea, they clash and slow the system down. MSE should be fine on its own.

Then work on getting your c drive to at least 10% free space by deleting stuff, removing some programs, defragging and getting a 2nd disk assuming you only have the one. 75GB is nothing these days.

cosmowillie53

What does the cleaner remove. Is it just the stuff that not really needed or is it everything on the computer. The words Clean/Delete/Erase can be frightening ....
How can I uninstall AVG. I have tried and it will not remove itself.

one man clappin

CCleaner just removes all temporary cache that is in your system. Also cleans recycle bin. It is worth doing at least once a month to keep on top of clutter.
You can download AVG removal tool from here
Also how much RAM have you got in your laptop. Got to crucial.com and download their scanner, after a few moments it should tell you how much RAM you have installed and how much you can add. Might be worth investing in that if you are planning to hold onto it.

cosmowillie53

I have now cleaned the system and removed AVG.
Crucial.com tells me that maximum memory is 4GB . Installed 2GB.
Under the heading Storage Sata 9% full (74 GB Total Storage).

unkel

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

Crucial.com tells me that maximum memory is 4GB . Installed 2GB.

That might or might not be adequate. Not enough RAM is the most common reason for system slow downs on Vista based systems that didn't have a great spec when new

Boot up your PC, don't start any programs, just hit the ctrl + shift + escape keys

This brings up the task manager, under performance tell us how much of your RAM is in use

Bog Standard User

open control panel >

click switch to classic view then open administrative tools > computer management > disk management

is there any unallocated space left on your hard drive? it should look something like this



even for vista 75gb is very low... most vista laptops came with 120gb or better drives

cosmowillie53

I have had a look at disc management but unlike you example there is no section showing unallocated space.

unkel

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

I have had a look at disc management

Did you have a look at your RAM usage?

cosmowillie53

Have just looked for ram. There is no heading Ram usage but it
shows CPU usage moving between 1 & 9 % . Physical Memory 54&%

bonzodog2

memory usage is on the performance tab

cosmowillie53

Memory usage is 1.01 GB.

unkel

That's ok as long as you won't be running lots of applications at the same time

Now hit the windows key + E

This opens windows explorer

Now tell us how much space is left on your C drive

cosmowillie53

Space free is 5.26 GB.

unkel

That's ok too. At this stage the speed of your laptop should be much better already, is it?

Try uninstall any programs you don't use. Try get rid of any stuff you don't need (films / downloads etc). If you don't have any antivirus program (after getting rid of AVG) google "microsoft security essentials" and install it

Make sure you are running Vista service pack 2 (SP2) . You can see this by clicking on the windows button and typing "winver" in the empty box and hit enter

The report back here

cosmowillie53

I think computer is a bit faster. I have MSE installed. Sp2 is running.
I dont have any films /music etc .
The problem I have with uninstalling programs is I'm not sure what I can do without. I dont know if one thing depends on another to work... Do you have an example of what I dont need.
This computer is really only used for mails/photos/browsing .

unkel

Don't worry about it, you're ok

cosmowillie53 wrote: »

I think computer is a bit faster. I have MSE installed. Sp2 is running.

Those are the important bits. You have sufficient memory, you freed up a good bit of hard disk space and your system is reasonably secure

Just use it and run ccleaner now and then

cosmowillie53

Yes , I will leave well enough alone.

I have another question.. There is one other user on this computer and when she tries to login she gets to the welcome screen and then it freezes...screen goes blue(ish). The only way she can login is to turn the computer off and start again . What can I do to cure this startup problem.

Thanks.

bonzodog2

You might try creating a new account, and copying any documents etc using an admin account from the old to the new

200motels

Another way in Windows to clean up crap on disk is disk clean-up. Link below tells you everything you need to know.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ie/windows/delete-files-using-disk-cleanup#delete-files-using-disk-cleanup=windows-8

cosmowillie53

bonzodog2 wrote: »

You might try creating a new account, and copying any documents etc using an admin account from the old to the new

As I haven't tried this before I want to make sure nothing gets lost ...I don't want to get into the bad books...
Will the emails transfer and will the same password work.

ED E

If it hasnt been advised already, ccleaner should free up a chunk of disk space. Itll also clean out the registry.

If you really wanted to speed things up an SSD + clean install would give it a new lease of life, but you'd probably need a little help doing it.

cosmowillie53

I have done the ccleaner and it did clean things up well so I think I will leave it at that.

See above: One other user on this computer and on login their screen freezes . How do I sort that out without looseing saved items especially emails.

Thanks.