would appreciate help.. please!

gubby

I know all you computer experts are sick of the like of me coming on here looking for help. (but if you ask me something about rearing kids or grandkids i may be able to help you lol)
Firstly,, why is my computer so slow.. its relatively new. (not even a year yet) running windows xp. is there any way of making it speed up. especially when online. I have only a dial up connection.
can u tell me (in simple baby steps) how to stop things on start up. it seems to take ages to load up a load of crap but i dont know what i can delete and what has to stay.
I would really appreciate help here
thanks

Karoma

Click on Start
Click on Run..
Type in msconfig -6
Click Disable all
Reboot your computer.
Tick the box that says "Stop showing me this bloody irritating message that points out the obvious"
If this does the trick - you can go back in to MSCONFIG (steps above to be repeated) and put a tick next to items that you want to start up.

a tick = this item starts when the Windows does.
removing the tick does not remove the application; it only stops it from automatically starting.

Update your antivirus software, and download some free anti-spyware tools also!

If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to post!

UberNewb

Ok,

What kind of PC do you have. I'm guessing that because its fairly new it should be running fast. Anyway the easiest why to stop apps from loading is to check your
Start -> All Programs -> Startup

You can remove programs from there that you don't want to load on Windows startup.

Now the next way is to run msconfig

Start -> Run and then type msconfig and press return. A program should open up with a few tabpages on it. Click on the Startup tab and you can uncheck various programs to stop them from starting up.

Don't just go unchecking everything you see you have to find out if you need it or not. The easiest way to find out what each of these files are is to google the file name and read what it says about them.

Now you could also have some viruses on your PC so you should have a Virus protection program installed (don't uncheck that in MSConfig). If not you can download free ones from the internet which are very good.

Also you could have spyware running in the background so you should have spyware protection installed as well.

Now don't tell me you don't have a firewall? If not theres free ones aswell

Free Virus protection AVG Virus Protection

Free Spyware protection Spybot - Search and Destroy

Free Firewall program Sysgate Personal Firewall

Hope that helps you a bit.

greglo23

have a look here .http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=231147
these are almost all free tools that you can use to clean up your computer and tweak it to run faster. this one will clean up a lot of the crap which accumulates over time.http://www.codeode.com/privacymantra/index.html
its a very small download 48kb.

Karoma

i'd be worried if an AV program runs solely as a startup item - and not a Service. The benefits of disable all -test->re-enable selectively outweigh unticking a few items. And googling for what an item does may not be of use if it's a trojan masquerading as a legit item.. *snip*

HungryJoey

Just out of intrest, What are the spec's of your PC. A possible hardware upgrade may Speed thing's up for you, depending on your current setup.

Hj

UberNewb

Karoma wrote:

i'd be worried if an AV program runs solely as a startup item - and not a Service. The benefits of disable all -test->re-enable selectively outweigh unticking a few items. And googling for what an item does may not be of use if it's a trojan masquerading as a legit item.. thanks for repeating everything else again anyway.

Your post wasn't there when I went to reply to his question! I'm only trying to help him.

I would suggest that you (OP) read this. How to use MSCONFIG

Karoma

Fair enough .edited. there was a substantial gap...meh!
Yes-As i said "solely". i.e. some of the consoles and access to config's will be run as a startup item. Look at services..

maidhc

In fairness it is probably not legitimate services that are slowing down the computer (yes they can do, but most things in the systray dont make that much of a difference with a modern celeron/p4)

1) Make sure you have an up to date anti virus program, such as AVG www.grisoft.com/

2) Check your computer for spyware using adblock or similar.
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (get the free one)

3) If your computer is using Norton AV (i.e. if its a Dell and it came preinstalled) UNINSTALL IT, it brings the most powerful machines to their knees.

4) Get the most recent drivers for your modem.

5) Failing all that reinstall windows (or get a child, or grandchild to do it!)

gubby

Thanks for they help everyone.. I do appreciate it. Btw.. I am not a he.. im a she. and honestly, I dont think the grandkids would be much help yet. she is only 4 lol