my computer thinks too much

[Tash]

when i turn it on, it takes like 10 minutes to 'think' and leaves me waiting impatiently! you know, the little light starts flashing speedily and the hourglass pops up saying leave me alone to sort myself out. why is my computer doing this? is there something i can do to fix it? cos it didn't originally do it, then suddenly one day it had a fit so i restarted it and then it came on and started having fat thinking fests to start its day...

[thalbergmad]

This happened to me once and it turned out that my computer was infested with spyware.

Go onto download.com and download a free spybot. This will search and destroy any spyware.

I guess there could be many other reasons why your computer is doing this. I am sure there are enough cyber wizards on this forum to offer at least 500 possibilities.

This could be interesting and it might take until the 10th post before God or Jesus is mentioned.

Hope you get it sorted.

Thalxx

[gorbee natcase]

when i turn it on, it takes like 10 minutes to 'think' and leaves me waiting impatiently! you know, the little light starts flashing speedily and the hourglass pops up saying leave me alone to sort myself out. why is my computer doing this? is there something i can do to fix it? cos it didn't originally do it, then suddenly one day it had a fit so i restarted it and then it came on and started having fat thinking fests to start its day...

Only the Sith deal in absollutes

You could throw it at a wall and buy a new one, a faster one. one with more power than even the greatest one immagionable, this is the path to new computing powers. But don't let it consume you, the internet has for me, the path to being a geek that leads. meditate on this you must.

[pianolearner]

My computer seems to do the opposite. Sometimes it takes a while to shut down. I think it's because I added my PDA and now it spends time looking for it before it gives up a shuts down.

In your case, I recommend doing a 'Defrag' using the standard windows Disk Defragmenter. This normally speeds things up a little.

[Tash]

yeah i just did a defrag after adobe told me to, then compressed everything cos i am seriously low on space!
yes i am tempted to buy a new one, except i can't be bothered transferring my entire life of stuff on this one
hmmm i would relaly like to meditate right now except a 2000 essay on colour and astronomy awaits me- i've done 1128 words and it's due today!!agh i'm such a slacker!

[Bob]

I heard that computers slow down a bit when you fill them up to 90%.

[pianolearner]

I heard that computers slow down a bit when you fill them up to 90%.

True. Windows uses spare disk space as a temporary cache like RAM.  So when you have only a small amount of disk space it spends a lot of time opening and closing temporary files to make room when it needs to.

You should get a USB disk drive Tash and move files off your system drive, or you can add an extra internal drive. They are so cheap now and easy to install.

[sonatainfsharp]

This isn't entirely complete, but it will get you started:

Defrag
Disk clean-up
Check Errors
Check for unwanted Processes/Start-up items
Updates (i.e. MS automatic updates)
Anti-virus Scan
Anti-Spyware Scan
Programs List--check for applications you don't use any more.
Update Drivers--especially for video, audio, and CD drives
Registry Mechanic/Error Doctor/RegFix (Trial Versions)


Computers slow down over time because they need simple maintenance, such as above. Computers don't slow down simply for being "old" (unless something flat out breaks).

Something else to think about is how much RAM you have; it may have been plenty at first, but perhaps you have added a lot of "stuff" that runs in the background all the time, thus needing more RAM.

Without looking at it, that is all I can say, as there can be 5,000 things that are making it slow. So, start with the list I gave you above, and that should do something noticable for now.   Good luck!

[rc]

Ever see that movie Office Space? the scene where they take the fax machine out into the field?

...That's how technology problems are solved.

[cherub_rocker1979]

This could be interesting and it might take until the 10th post before God or Jesus is mentioned.

God has not allowed anything bad to happen to my computer since I got it in August.

[Bob]

How do you update drivers?

What's the registry mechanic do?  What is it?  Where do you get it?

[semme]

This could be interesting and it might take until the 10th post before God or Jesus is mentioned.

rofl


i would recommend a program like tune up utilities 2006, it has lots of features help you cleaning up your computer.

[pantonality]

Like the first poster my first thought is spyware. There are two free programs that have proven very helpful, Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware. Here are links to both;

Spybot Search and Destroy (donationware): https://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Adaware, free version available: https://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Download and run both. You may even need to download it onto a different computer as these are well known programs that many spyware programs block. If that's the case burn them onto CD or dump onto a USB disk and install from that.

Spyware hijacks your computer to do someone else's bidding. If you're completely infested your computer is so busy doing the bidding of others that it doesn't have time for you.

[pianolearner]

Basically there are many things that can cause your computer to slow down and all of them should be investigated.

[Tash]

well this thing doesn't feel like quoting today...ohwell...so anyway, wat's the deal with RAM? i don't know how to ckeck that...i've done the defrag, disk cleanup, i don't believe there's any spyware- i downloaded that spybot thing once and i came up clean, and my computer's been retarded for like 2 years now. everything's updated and virus-free and there's like 30% memory to spare thanks to compressing

[pianolearner]

well this thing doesn't feel like quoting today...ohwell...so anyway, wat's the deal with RAM? i don't know how to ckeck that...i've done the defrag, disk cleanup, i don't believe there's any spyware- i downloaded that spybot thing once and i came up clean, and my computer's been retarded for like 2 years now. everything's updated and virus-free and there's like 30% memory to spare thanks to compressing

If you are using Windows XP.

-Go to start
- Select ‘Control Panel’
- Click ‘System’

It will give you all the details of your computer.