Help! My computer is running at a snail pace. Any ideas of how to make it run faster?

[applegrove]

I've already gotten rid of cookies.

[pintobean]

1. Is windows updating?

[applegrove]

3. Yes.

[pokerfan]

2. Install Ubuntu

:hide:

[smalll]

25. Like most normal people (and I suspect the OP too) I have NO idea how to "install Ubuntu" --

and honestly, I take a little pride in that. And have a little pity for those of you who can not only "install Ubuntu" -- but even moreso -- a little pity for those of you who think it somehow makes you look like a "big man" (rather than a social misfit) that you can do that. :shrug:

[pokerfan]

40. Whoa...a bitter and unprovoked attack...

... I like it!

But seriously, if one can burn a CD, one can install Ubuntu. It's just an operating system; it doesn't make anyone better than anyone else. Lighten up.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

41. I like it too.

It's cathartic.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Threaten it.

That always works for me.

[thewiseguy]

5. What computer is it? The processor? How old?

[applegrove]

8. The computer is about 7 or 8 years old.

[havocmom]

12. probably just not handling the newer hoops you are expecting it to jump through

But be sure and clean it out and defrag. See my post below. I have managed to keep an 8 year old computer running well with some basic cleaning DONE REGULARLY.

[flvegan]

6. Better/lighter sneakers?

Aerodynamic body suit?

[applegrove]

10. LOL!

[quakerboy]

7. Blood doping. Steroids. Speed

Oh... Er, Ram, processor, video card?

[applegrove]

16. LOL!

[havocmom]

9. How long has it been since you cleaned the dics and defragmented?

That helps a lot

Registry cleaners are good too, but tread lightly until you get the hang of them ccleaner is the one I use on several computers. It was highly recommended by several of the tech-savvy posters in the computer forum and it has been most helpful

post over there and some very kind people will help you out.

[applegrove]

11. I haven't defragmented in a while. I'll try that thanks.

[havocmom]

13. Click on Programs, then Accessories in your start menue

Is there a disc cleaner there? I don't recall what year that was included in windows. Otherwise, look into ccleaner.

And those people in the computer forum are wonderful teachers!

[Orrex]

14. Get really stoned

Everything will seem to be moving much faster.

[applegrove]

15. LOL!

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. Follow this link

http://www.linuxmint.com/

[old mark]

26. I did. What the fuck is it? nt

[ohheckyeah]

18. I suggest downloading and using

CCleaner to clean up your registry.

[TreasonousBastard]

19. It could be indexing while Windows and several programs are...

doing their automatic updates.

Happened to me this week when the damn thing was ridiculously slow for a couple of days. Went through the usual malware scanning that took forever and nothing turned up. I saw a little window pop up telling me my firewall was updated and it sped up a little. Then, yesterday it magically came back to life.

If I could find where they all are, I would turn off automatic updates. Even with broadband, if they all update at once, they fall all over themselves and take forever to work it out.

And indexing is a real killer when you have hundreds of megabytes of files and Windows is looking for every word in them.

I also suspect, but can't prove, that some Windows software screws up your machine at first, but later sorts itself out. I installed Barnes & Noble Desktop when I got my Nook (didn't really have a choice-- it downloaded and installed itself when I opened an account) and Calibre, an eBook conversion utility, just before it slowed down.

[MrScorpio]

20. Try harsh language nt

[Petrushka]

21. Here's a link that might provide a few helpful ideas --->

http://daol.aol.com/articles/are-you-an-online-hoarder?icid=main|main|dl9|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fdaol.aol.com%2Farticles%2Fare-you-an-online-hoarder

[MilesColtrane]

22. A jockey's whip and a promise of sugar cubes if it picks up the pace?....

[lillypaddle]

23. If you have high speed cable internet

call them and have them send a refresh signal. Works wonders.

[smalll]

24. Yep! Pay some overwieght crypto-furry nerd who looks like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons

to remove the viruses that his fellow diabetic crypto-furry nerds (who look like Comic Book Guy) have created for free, out of the (badness) of their hearts.

Also, when they complain about H1-B visas? Support them!
Then when they support illegal immigration so that Jose and Juan can build their houses or mow their lawns for a pittance? Why, anyone opposed to that kind of guest worker is just a RACIST! :shrug:

[whistler162]

27. Theres your problem....

you think snails work for nothing.

Defrag the hard drive.
Run CCLeaner, http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner, and see what you can remove from the startup procedure.

[gvstn]

28. Try

Shift+Ctrl+Esc to open Task Manager.

Look at the bottom of the window that opens...what % is the CPU and what % is the memory?
Click the Processes tab and look for which process is using the highest % of CPU between 1 and 100. (clicking the word CPU in the processes window will re-order the list and one of 3 clicks will bring the highest numbers to the top of the list) Anything there using above 10% of CPU?

[woo me with science]

30. +1 nt

[woo me with science]

29. A few simple steps.

1. Clean the drive (download CCleaner or use Disk Cleanup on your system)
2. Defragment
3. Remove unnecessary startup programs
4. Use CCleaner's registry cleaner
5. You could also use CHKDSK (Start, Run, CHKDSK)

In case it is malware or spyware,

1. Download and run Superantispyware.
2. Download and run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

Beyond that, I would post on the computer forum.

[blogslut]

31. I recommend this answer

However, I advise that you NOT remove irritating/unnecessary startup programs but disable them instead. This software is wonderful for disabling startup programs safely:

http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html

[woo me with science]

33. Thanks for the correction.

I meant remove them from startup, not remove them entirely.

[never cry wolf]

35. How does one determine which startup files are unnecessary?

I've checked them but have no idea what does what?

[blogslut]

36. If you download Winpatrol

And click on the Startup Programs tab, you can get info on each program that's in there.

NOTE: Not a whole lot of info, but enough info that you can Google the name of the program and determine whether or not it's necessary. Just the same, if you disable a startup program via Winpatrol and you don't like the result, you can simply re-enable it via Winpatrol. It's not going to disable bootup files or anything like that.

[krispos42]

37. Spybot S&D has a feature that lets you manage your startup list

You can disable some things that tend to run in the background but you don't really need. There might be a ton of stuff just running to check for updates. Or there might be a malware program running and sending all your usage back to some scumbag data-aggregation company. I also tend to turn off all of those toolbars that some software wants to keep putting in your browser.


More RAM wouldn't hurt, either. Clean out your cookies and temporary files, run a disk defrag.

[woo me with science]

38. There are techie websites with lists.

You could also go to the computer forum here and post what you have in startup. See what sort of advice you get and give some time for people to disagree before you act.

[HERVEPA]

32. I would suggest donating the computer to a snail.

Seems like a good fit.

[SoxFan]

34. Tetrahydrogestrinone seems to work

[Yavin4]

39. Did You Run A Virus/Malware Check?

There may be some nasty software on your computer causing it to slow down.

[BlueCollar]

42. make Firefox your default browser and

see if that changes the speed. It worked for me...Internet Explorer was too busy...

[dembotoz]

43. the obvious--reboot?