{OT} -- Computer Problem

Earl you are so right. As the resident Techie in my family I should
have screwed up my first few times I helped out. Now I get the machines
running smooth only to have it farked up again by those I just fixed
it for.




Earle Horton wrote:
> Don't let relatives know that you have computer expertise. If you get
> assigned a computer maintenance or repair job, screw it up. If you are not
> going to listen to reason, the following may be helpful.
>
> Run http://securitycheck.symantec.com no matter what kind of anti-virus is
> on the machine now.
>
> Defrag the hard drive and make sure that it is not almost full.
>
> Put XP Professional on it.
>
> Make him justify any non-Microsoft software that he has installed.
>
> Earle
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> news:KBPrh.21233$wq.14150@trndny07...
> > I (my brother in law, really) have a computer that has a SERIOUS case of
> The
> > Slows. It takes FOREVER to open apps, and complete any number of different
> > tasks.
> >
> > It is an off-brand box that came from Fry's (I think). I don't recall what
> > the architecture is, but I'm pretty sure my 286-based laptop was faster.
> >
> > The computer is on its way to my house for a checkout. I'm not sure what
> my
> > strategy will be.
> >
> > The machine has a valid version of XP Home edition, but I do not know if
> it
> > has the Restore CD or not. Can I use a different copy of XP to do restore
> > operations? I assume that I have to use the Key Code that is on the
> > computer, not the one that belongs to the copy of XP that I will restore
> > from.
> >
> > Do not hesitate to offer suggestions on what to do ...
> >
> >
> >

That would be my approach too. I'd bet he doesn't have enough RAM though.

Dave Milne, Scotland
'91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

"Curtis" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> personally I would atttempt to figure out the offending application or
> driver before loading _anything_ .
>
> boot the workstation up, bring up task manager, take a look at your
> resources, what is using the most memory, what is the CPU at, you may
> find a service or app is using tons of memory...an example would be AOL
> messenger...if so de-install or kill that process.
>
> It sounds to me if the box is dead slow unless your hard drive is
> spinning endlessly, you probably have your memory or cpu maxed out by
> some process.
>
> If your hard disk is spinning endlessly, you can always remove your
> pagefile then defrag then add it back. if the page file gets fragmented
> especially with low RAM it can slow things down...
>
> good luck
>

oops didn't see that - well sounds like you found the culprit...100%
cpu yeah that will slow you down...here's a good link on optimizing
your page file ...

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm



The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering
in a
range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
20%.
And, it's actively Defragging at this time.

If you have the original XP disc that came with the machine I would
reformat the hard drive.
Then re-install windows XP.

I would also download all the drivers I need and have them on a cd
prior to reformat.


I've found that machines bog down after time with a lot of bloat from
programs either installed or deleted.
I reformat about once a year.
A re-format and reinstall even though its time consuming will pep the
machine up again. You will be left with a clean OS for a while anyway.



Jeff Strickland wrote:
> I just used REGEDIT to find and remove Adobe Acrobat 3.0 and SpyBeGone.
> Acrobat Reader 3.0 has long since been upgraded to Reader 7.0, but 3.0 was
> still in the registry. SpyBeGone was also removed, but still had a registry
> entry.
>
> I am positive that both of these programs are no longer used, but they
> remained in the Add & Remove Programs menu. I don't know if they were
> attempting to be loaded on Start Up or not ...
>
>
>
>
>
> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
> news:KBPrh.21233$wq.14150@trndny07...
> >I (my brother in law, really) have a computer that has a SERIOUS case of
> >The Slows. It takes FOREVER to open apps, and complete any number of
> >different tasks.
> >
> > It is an off-brand box that came from Fry's (I think). I don't recall what
> > the architecture is, but I'm pretty sure my 286-based laptop was faster.
> >
> > The computer is on its way to my house for a checkout. I'm not sure what
> > my strategy will be.
> >
> > The machine has a valid version of XP Home edition, but I do not know if
> > it has the Restore CD or not. Can I use a different copy of XP to do
> > restore operations? I assume that I have to use the Key Code that is on
> > the computer, not the one that belongs to the copy of XP that I will
> > restore from.
> >
> > Do not hesitate to offer suggestions on what to do ...
> >
> >
> >

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:05:50 +0000, Jeff Strickland wrote:

> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use the
> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
> cleans the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in the
> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry Requirement
> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>
> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different copy
> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?

If you have the install disks - not the recovery disks that came with the
machine - you are home free. You can use the recovery version (if the OEM
supplied it) on the machine it shipped with (others if you are clever and
a bit lucky) but the honest-to-goodness Install Disks from MS will work on
anything meeting hardware specs.

I have a problem with about all of the anti-virus apps at times.
I've watched McAfee bring even the fastest machines to their knees. One
office had all sorts of email traffic and the 2007 version basically
killed the box during mail retrieval. To see if that is the problem,
disconnect the machine from the net, do a full scan, then turn the virus
scanner OFF and see what it's doing.

For a really infected machine - which this office got a couple of times - I
pull the drive and install it as a secondary drive in another machine to
scan it and clean it up.

Will Honea >

With Windows XP, you are a bit underpowered on ram. Many folks believe
that 512 mb is minimum, and more is better.

Good luck !!

--james--

My Dad has an AMD 2.5 MHz with 384mb of 2100 ram, I have a Celeron 2.2 with
756mb of the obsolete 133 MHz ram which runs incredibly faster. The only
real difference in the systems is the amount of RAM installed.

That being said there are a number of settings that you can change to speed
up windows.

From Explorer select 'Tools" then 'Internet Options"
Select "Delete Cookies", "Clear History", and both options of 'Delete
Files'. This may take a while, the longer it takes the worse shape the
system is in.

Make sure you have removed all of Norton's and that the MS firewall is
turned off. I used to run Norton Suite and Internet Security... after the
2004 version the drag on the system is oppressive so I only run Internet
Security now (includes AntiVirus)

Go to the "Control Panel", then select "System", then "Advanced", then under
'Performance: select "Settings". The default is "Let Windows Decide" which
will scientifically poll, survey, investigate, and finally choose the worst
possible combination imaginable.

If you select "Best Performance" it turns off a lot of the visual settings
that use up resources, it also doesn't look so good. Click on the options
one at a time an see if the change is important to you......I have found
that most of these make no difference to me except the last choice.... "Use
visual Styles on windows and buttons" will re-establish XP back to
color.....

Select 'Advanced" again and go to 'Virtual Memory: As you have too little
'real' memory you can make XP use hard drive space instead. It is slower
but will get your programs running.

If you got "$40,000 worth of Free software" I hope you have removed most or
all of it as it is useless.... that is why it was free....

From "My Computer" select your root drive and select "Disk Cleanup", allow
it to clean up anything it finds. Then go to "Tools" and "Error Check" the
drive. It will actually do the checking the next time you start the system
and takes a fair amount of time (it will tell you how far it is through each
step)

We will assume you have already deleted all the 'free' nudie pictures,
programs, and screen savers that have been downloaded and installed.
99.44/100% are virus laden and the remaining 0.56% aren't worth having.

If you are virus laden if may be faster to format the drive and reload
everything (the first thing to install after XP is the virus software)

In the case of a reload you can still use the recommendations listed above
to increase performance.

As for using 'your' serial number and another copy of XP..... I do not know.
The problem with many of the "Restore" CDs is they insist on reloading that
$40k worth of wasted space.






"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
news:ZZQrh.9550$Wz.3592@trndny06...
> Yes. The computer says 375,280K, that would be 375M.
>
> Processor is a Celeron running at 2.66Ghz.
>
>
>
>
>
> "Dave Milne" > wrote in message
> . uk...
>> I'm assuming you mean Mb when you said K. Either way, you are better off
>> with 512Mb for XP.
>> What processor are you running ?
>>
>>
>> Dave Milne, Scotland
>> '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ
>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>> news:yqQrh.9544$Wz.3408@trndny06...
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> I have defragged and error checked since Christmas. Still slow.
>>>
>>> I have 13G of Used Space and 24G of Free Space. 375K RAM. The 'puter
>>> came
>>> with 128K, and I added 256K, the total is 384K, but displays as 375K.
>>>
>>> The machine is running McAfee Security Suite, 2006 (or 2007, I forget
>> which)
>>> that was recently (Thanksgiving, 2006) installed. the machine was slow
>>> before McAfee was installed, and I was thinking it was "virually
>>> enhanced"
>>> then, and that's why I put the McAfee in. My b-in-law has signed up for
>> FiOS
>>> (fiber optic internet), and that comes with a security suite that I am
>> going
>>> to be setting up. Therer are two versions, one is free and the other is
>>> a
>>> fee-service. I have the same fiber optic service, and my wife bought the
>>> fee-service security suite for three of our machines, but my machine
>>> still
>>> is using the McAfee Suite and seems to run fine. (I replaced Norton
>> Security
>>> with the McAfee back in November -- at the same time I installed the
>> McAfee
>>> in my b-in-law's machine. My machine runs okay, his machine is slow --
>>> the
>>> machines at my house that have the fee-service security offered by the
>>> IP
>>> run fine.)
>>>
>>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>>> the
>>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans
>>> the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in the
>>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>>> Requirement
>>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>>
>>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>>> copy
>>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "YouGoFirst" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>> > You should first get a registry defragmenting program. The program
>> should
>>> > also look for errors in the registry. (I use a program called WinASO
>>> > to
>>> > both defragment and check for registry errors.) Another source of
>>> > pain
>>> > and anguish is the anti-virus program. The more recent versions of
>> Norton
>>> > suck up immense computing resources. You can turn off a bunch of
>>> > scans
>>> > that Norton does, and that helps. You should also defrag the hard
>> drive.
>>> >
>>> > Part of the problem is that as XP has been upgraded by MS it eats up
>> more
>>> > and more resources.
>>> >
>>> > "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>> > news:KBPrh.21233$wq.14150@trndny07...
>>> >>I (my brother in law, really) have a computer that has a SERIOUS case
>>> >>of
>>> >>The Slows. It takes FOREVER to open apps, and complete any number of
>>> >>different tasks.
>>> >>
>>> >> It is an off-brand box that came from Fry's (I think). I don't recall
>>> >> what the architecture is, but I'm pretty sure my 286-based laptop was
>>> >> faster.
>>> >>
>>> >> The computer is on its way to my house for a checkout. I'm not sure
>> what
>>> >> my strategy will be.
>>> >>
>>> >> The machine has a valid version of XP Home edition, but I do not know
>> if
>>> >> it has the Restore CD or not. Can I use a different copy of XP to do
>>> >> restore operations? I assume that I have to use the Key Code that is
>>> >> on
>>> >> the computer, not the one that belongs to the copy of XP that I will
>>> >> restore from.
>>> >>
>>> >> Do not hesitate to offer suggestions on what to do ...
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>
>>
>

PS Stay away from Registry Editors.

Most of the time their use results in a system even more screwed up than
before unless you know exactly what you are doing.

You may also consider LavaSoft's Ad-Aware and another program called Spybot.
Both offer a free version that is quite useful.






"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
news:ZZQrh.9550$Wz.3592@trndny06...
> Yes. The computer says 375,280K, that would be 375M.
>
> Processor is a Celeron running at 2.66Ghz.
>
>
>
>
>
> "Dave Milne" > wrote in message
> . uk...
>> I'm assuming you mean Mb when you said K. Either way, you are better off
>> with 512Mb for XP.
>> What processor are you running ?
>>
>>
>> Dave Milne, Scotland
>> '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ
>> "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>> news:yqQrh.9544$Wz.3408@trndny06...
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> I have defragged and error checked since Christmas. Still slow.
>>>
>>> I have 13G of Used Space and 24G of Free Space. 375K RAM. The 'puter
>>> came
>>> with 128K, and I added 256K, the total is 384K, but displays as 375K.
>>>
>>> The machine is running McAfee Security Suite, 2006 (or 2007, I forget
>> which)
>>> that was recently (Thanksgiving, 2006) installed. the machine was slow
>>> before McAfee was installed, and I was thinking it was "virually
>>> enhanced"
>>> then, and that's why I put the McAfee in. My b-in-law has signed up for
>> FiOS
>>> (fiber optic internet), and that comes with a security suite that I am
>> going
>>> to be setting up. Therer are two versions, one is free and the other is
>>> a
>>> fee-service. I have the same fiber optic service, and my wife bought the
>>> fee-service security suite for three of our machines, but my machine
>>> still
>>> is using the McAfee Suite and seems to run fine. (I replaced Norton
>> Security
>>> with the McAfee back in November -- at the same time I installed the
>> McAfee
>>> in my b-in-law's machine. My machine runs okay, his machine is slow --
>>> the
>>> machines at my house that have the fee-service security offered by the
>>> IP
>>> run fine.)
>>>
>>> I suspect (still) that my b-in-law's machine might have a virus. I use
>>> the
>>> built-in Defrag that comes with Windows, but I haven't a utility that
>> cleans
>>> the Registry. I have a strong suspicion that my troubles are in the
>>> Registry, but I am not smart enough to know what is a Registry
>>> Requirement
>>> and what is a Bogus Registry Entry.
>>>
>>> Do you, or anybody else, know if I can reinstall XP using a different
>>> copy
>>> of the OS than the one that came installed on the machine?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "YouGoFirst" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>> > You should first get a registry defragmenting program. The program
>> should
>>> > also look for errors in the registry. (I use a program called WinASO
>>> > to
>>> > both defragment and check for registry errors.) Another source of
>>> > pain
>>> > and anguish is the anti-virus program. The more recent versions of
>> Norton
>>> > suck up immense computing resources. You can turn off a bunch of
>>> > scans
>>> > that Norton does, and that helps. You should also defrag the hard
>> drive.
>>> >
>>> > Part of the problem is that as XP has been upgraded by MS it eats up
>> more
>>> > and more resources.
>>> >
>>> > "Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
>>> > news:KBPrh.21233$wq.14150@trndny07...
>>> >>I (my brother in law, really) have a computer that has a SERIOUS case
>>> >>of
>>> >>The Slows. It takes FOREVER to open apps, and complete any number of
>>> >>different tasks.
>>> >>
>>> >> It is an off-brand box that came from Fry's (I think). I don't recall
>>> >> what the architecture is, but I'm pretty sure my 286-based laptop was
>>> >> faster.
>>> >>
>>> >> The computer is on its way to my house for a checkout. I'm not sure
>> what
>>> >> my strategy will be.
>>> >>
>>> >> The machine has a valid version of XP Home edition, but I do not know
>> if
>>> >> it has the Restore CD or not. Can I use a different copy of XP to do
>>> >> restore operations? I assume that I have to use the Key Code that is
>>> >> on
>>> >> the computer, not the one that belongs to the copy of XP that I will
>>> >> restore from.
>>> >>
>>> >> Do not hesitate to offer suggestions on what to do ...
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>
>>
>

Microsoft's not done till Lotus won't run.


"Earle Horton" > wrote in message
m...
> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
> stuff.
> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
>
> Earle
>
> "Dave Milne" > wrote in message
> .uk...
>> Please make sure he tells Earle the justification :-)
>>
>> Dave Milne, Scotland
>> '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ
>>
>> "Earle Horton" > wrote in message
> news:45afd2e1$0$7864
>> > Make him justify any non-Microsoft software that he has installed.
>> >
>> > Earle
>>
>>
>
>

Unless your needs are unusual all you need out of Office is Word, Excel,
and PowerPoint and my main use of Excel and PowerPoint is the stuff people
send me for laughs or to review.


"Jeff Strickland" > wrote in message
news:6wRrh.9554$Wz.6650@trndny06...
>
> "Earle Horton" > wrote in message
> m...
>> This step is just to make sure he is not using weird shareware or PD
>> stuff.
>> It doesn't seem to be the issue in this case, but you never know.
>>
>> Earle
>
>
> I don't think the shareware is an issue. Everything I can find seems to be
> valid. That is, the machine has the assrotment of Office programs, the
> software to support hardware devices, that sort of thing.
>
> Since I cleaned Acrobat Reader 3.0 (a long ago deleted program),
> SpyBeGone, and the McAfee Security Suite, the machine is much faster.
> That's M-U-C-H faster.
>
> The Task Manager was reporting CPU Usage at 100%, but now is hovering in a
> range of about 5% to 30%, and seems to spend most of the time at about
> 20%. And, it's actively Defragging at this time.
>
>