Computer help - any geeks here?

[kobe008]

All of the suggestions so far are good ones. If you really want to you could list all the processes running and we could tell you if something should be running or not. More than likely though your laptop has simply run its course. Even doing all the suggestions given it may not speed up very noticeably especially with the amount of ram you have. Ram is the first thing you always upgrade in a computer. Other option is to get a new laptop and with Windows 7 coming out I would highly recommend it if possible.

Also, why must we be geeks in order to help with this problem. I work in the IT industry and know lots about computers but am far from a geek.

[Broken Arrow]

I'm not a geek either. But... a lot of the more sophisticated malwares are not listed in the processes. And turning them off there won't get rid of them either. But it is a helpful first step to diagnose things....

Even on a perfectly clean machine, I agree that one of if not the biggest obstacle is the RAM. A lot of laptops do make it easier to install an additional memory module, but finding exactly what you need isn't easy for average people to do. Best thing may be to take it to somewhere or someone who knows how, and pay them to upgrade it for you. Either that or if we can get more details, perhaps we can track it down for him....

Windows 7 has a 1 Gig requirement (32-bit), which is far better than Vista's but even if it runs, it will still suffer the same virtual memory swap issue. Plenty for Linux though....

That or talk with the wife about a new laptop....

[disneysteve]

Also, why must we be geeks in order to help with this problem. I work in the IT industry and know lots about computers but am far from a geek.

No offense intended. Personally, I do not use "geek" as a derogatory term but rather to mean someone who is an expert, almost to the point of obsession. I think "the Geek Squad" brand of computer service people has made the term mean something different than it used to.

If someone wants to call me a personal finance geek, I'll take that as a compliment.

That or talk with the wife about a new laptop....

We've actually been looking at new machines but as an additional computer, not a replacement computer.

Despite the issue I started this thread about, I'm very happy with my laptop. I use it every single day and even if I couldn't change a thing, I would continue to be happy with it. I just thought if I could clean things up a bit, it would be even better.

[Broken Arrow]

The term "geek" is starting to be considered as a compliment now... I just don't personally consider myself knowledgeable enough to qualify. I believe real life computer geeks do make a distinction from "dork" and maybe "nerd", which is still considered derogatory.

If you intend on keeping it, I'd definitely consider a RAM upgrade, along with a clean re-install. I'll bet the RAM wouldn't cost you much. Maybe $30 or less.

[Caoineag]

Definitely a RAM upgrade. I consider 1GB the min of any windows based operating system but then I am not a patient person. :P

[Seeker]

Steve,

Do check Event Viewer as I posted above... if you have any kind of hardware errors identified in your System Log there, you'd be well advised to immediately backup your data, replace the drive, and then start with a fresh new install.

The fact is that your computer is 4 years old, or maybe even older. If you've run it daily and you are starting to experience these wierd errors all of a sudden, then I'd suspect a hard disk failure IS developing.

You mentioned the Start button issue... most likely data corruption. You mentioned speed issues, most likely something is starting to fail hardware-wise... bad sectors on the hard drive and maybe even in the boot sector. You mention the computer hanging... could be software or hardware with this... but bad sectors on the hard disk drive is one reason why software starts acting up.

If your computer was running fine before and you have not added anymore software to it (and you've already said that you regularly run AVG, Ad-aware and Spybot)... and considering the age of your computer.... then it IS most likely that you are experiencing the beginnings of a hard drive failure.

If you have recently added more programs to it, then I'd agree that the computer probably will need more RAM. But please make sure the computer itself is viable before throwing more RAM into it.

[wincrasher]

Steve,

If you are a mac guy, why do you want to run a Windoze laptop?

You can even get MS Office for the Mac.

Your memory should be 2 GB for XP. Lots of programs are notorious for loading a bunch of crap on your system. HP printer/scanner software and anything from Norton are big offenders. Like others have said a yearly reinstall is standard.

At this point, if you are going to continue with a Windows PC, I'd just get some more ram and move on to Windows 7. Word is that it's a leap from Vista and is better on slower systems.

But still, I'd get a macbook.

[Broken Arrow]

I've already pre-ordered Windows 7. Well, they were offering pre-ordering discounts, so I figure I might as well take advantage of that.

But yeah, Microsoft does not recommend running XP with anything less than 1 gig, and 2 gig is recommended.

[disneysteve]

I did the Disk Cleanup and Defrag today. Watching the Defrag progress was pretty, seeing all those skinny blue lines become fat blue lines and big blocks of white developing.

I still need to check out the list of start up items and see if I can speed up the start time.

Thanks for all the tips.

wincrasher, we decided a few years ago to go over to the dark side and get a Windows machine. My daughter was starting to do a lot of school stuff that needed to be compatible to work on at home. And, of course, the Windows machines are a whole lot cheaper (but you get what you pay for).

[disneysteve]

go to Start>Run and type msconfig. click on the startup tab. you should see a list programs with checkboxes next to them. these are the programs that run at startup, and most are just helper programs that make a particular program start up faster like QTTask makes quicktime startup faster and Reader_sl makes adobe reader start faster. uncheck the ones that you don't use often.

Most things on that list aren't intelligble (not to me, at least). Does disabling them harm anything or just slow down particular programs opening?

[lovcom]

Get more ram. It is cheap and it is the fastest way to turbo charge a slow poke machine...get as much as the machine will take, as it is super cheap these days. Doing this will often make a huge difference.

[disneysteve]

Update: I ran Disk Cleanup and Defrag and I unchecked a bunch of items from the Startup list. The computer is definitely starting up (and shutting down) quicker. There are still a bunch of things on the startup list still active. I wasn't sure if there was anything that shouldn't be unchecked. Is it okay to disable all of that stuff?

[simpletron]

Most things on that list aren't intelligble (not to me, at least). Does disabling them harm anything or just slow down particular programs opening?

is it harmful? possibly but easily corrected. the programs in that list can potentially be related to anything other than the OS and can potentially prevent programs from the same company from working properly. So if you turned off everything, certian programs might not work and certain hardware could not work fully. to fix this, you run msconfig again and check the related programs. I wouldn't turn off everything because you probably still want things like your anti-virus to run automatically. it is like turning off the light switch, it is only bad if you need the light to do other things but can be easily fixed by turning the light back on.

to help you figure out what is what on that list. go to here ProcessLibrary.com - The online resource for process information! and search for the file name in the command(ex. "C:\progam files\company\blah\run.exe -ABC123" search for run.exe). you'll get a short discription and then use your judgement on whether it can be off.

I have my reservations about a ram upgrade because up until last year I used XP Pro on a 512MB, 2.0 ghz P4 desktop at home. I rarely exceed the 512 MB(most of the time it was between 250-400MB), but it was my CPU that was pegged at 100% while I was multitasking that cause me to buy a new computer. the hardware requirements for XP haven't change since it came out back in 2001(recommended system: 300 Mhz intel CPU and 128MB of ram), it is everything else that has increased its requirements.

[Broken Arrow]

Ram is typically a cheap upgrade. I am guessing $30 or less in Steve's case. Ram is also among the easiest DIY upgrades that can be performed on a laptop.

Having more ram would not hurt either, but having less than required always will.

Sure, if the computer is running just fine for you, then there's no need to upgrade. However, if you are experiencing slowdowns, such as in Steve's case, then a ram upgrade isn't a bad idea. Especially if he plans to keep the laptop.

But hopefully, the problem is just a matter of process bloat.

[MTLaura]

Event View

DS,
You might also want to make sure that no hardware issues are developing ... look in Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Event Viewer. See if you have any red x's with Disk Errors and any type of repetitive hardware errors.

If there are some red X's or Warning signs, how do you go about fixing them? Last night I had problems with Yahoo IM, which I don't normally use directly except when someone wants to share pics. Otherwise, I use Yahoo in Trillian. There are also some warning signs earlier in the month, but I'm not familiar with the source. This is in the Application area. In Security there are lots more red X's. Other than Firefox crashing for no apparent reason, the system has been running just fine ( I play lots of movement type games....to keep the old brainpan working ).
Where's a good place to learn about these errors?
Thanks for the help!
IDLaura
P. S. This is a custom system I built 5 yrs ago: MSI pentium mobo, 3.2 gb processor, 1 gb RAM, XP Pro on a 180 gb hd partitioned as D:\ (only 22gb used.....need to get more music put on this thing...but thinking of building me a new system and giving this to my daughter)