Political Crossfire Forums

[californian conservative]

I have a 4-5 year old computer that for no apparent reason has been slowing down. It is not due to viruses or spyware as i have an anti-virus, an anti-spyware, and a firewall. (i use the anti-virus and anti-spyware daily). It isn't more information to look through as i generally don't add programs on this computer. I defrag at least bi-weekly. I have a guess that it could be the registry (but this is only a guess i'm pretty close to computer illiterate) and that changes over time in the registry have caused it to slow down but i have no idea. Are my ideas worthless? Or is the slowing down natural? What's your take?

[Melcar]

What OS are you running? I will assume some form of Windows, in which case I would advise a complete reformat. Regardless of which OS is being used, it's recommended to perform a clean install every 2 years or so to avoid performance loss. Things get bloated, registries get corrupted, unnecessary files pile up, etc. leading to decreased overall performance.

[californian conservative]

Melcar wrote: What OS are you running? I will assume some form of Windows, in which case I would advise a complete reformat. Regardless of which OS is being used, it's recommended to perform a clean install every 2 years or so to avoid performance loss. Things get bloated, registries get corrupted, unnecessary files pile up, etc. leading to decreased overall performance.

It's XP. I've had to reformat before and it was a pain in the ass. is there anyway besides reformating to get rid of unnecessary files and clean up the registry?

[californian conservative]

thank you by the way

[FCTE]

californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: What OS are you running? I will assume some form of Windows, in which case I would advise a complete reformat. Regardless of which OS is being used, it's recommended to perform a clean install every 2 years or so to avoid performance loss. Things get bloated, registries get corrupted, unnecessary files pile up, etc. leading to decreased overall performance.

It's XP. I've had to reformat before and it was a pain in the ass. is there anyway besides reformating to get rid of unnecessary files and clean up the registry?

You can try a registry cleaner like Norton Systemworks. I run it once a week and it finds on average 32 registry errors from basic use alone. It also finds icon errors when you delete icons from your desktop it creates small fragments and then other program fragments, it has a one touch fix all program that is superb.



What happens is that over time Windows code degrades so reformatting at least once every two years if not every year is the rule of thumb.

[californian conservative]

FCTE wrote: californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: What OS are you running? I will assume some form of Windows, in which case I would advise a complete reformat. Regardless of which OS is being used, it's recommended to perform a clean install every 2 years or so to avoid performance loss. Things get bloated, registries get corrupted, unnecessary files pile up, etc. leading to decreased overall performance.

It's XP. I've had to reformat before and it was a pain in the ass. is there anyway besides reformating to get rid of unnecessary files and clean up the registry?

You can try a registry cleaner like Norton Systemworks. I run it once a week and it finds on average 32 registry errors from basic use alone. It also finds icon errors when you delete icons from your desktop it creates small fragments and then other program fragments, it has a one touch fix all program that is superb.



What happens is that over time Windows code degrades so reformatting at least once every two years if not every year is the rule of thumb.

Sounds promising, is it free?

[FCTE]

californian conservative wrote: Sounds promising, is it free?

Uhh, no.

[californian conservative]

FCTE wrote: californian conservative wrote: Sounds promising, is it free?

Uhh, no.

figures, how much is it?

*Edit

Why would it be free, it's Norton....Duh :!oops:

[FCTE]

californian conservative wrote: FCTE wrote: californian conservative wrote: Sounds promising, is it free?

Uhh, no.

figures, how much is it?

*Edit

Why would it be free, it's Norton....Duh :!oops:

$60

[Demonic Spoon]

You could have a fan clogged with dirt, or one that's just nonfunctioning. Open up your computer and look at the fan. If it's clogged with dirt, you have a problem. Even if it's not, you may still have one.

Feel around. See how hot it is in there.

If it's a broken fan, you will need a new one. I'd do this ASAP because overheating can permenantly damage your hardware.

If it's simply dirty, then ya need to blow the dust out. To make sure it's dirty, look BEHIND the actual fan and see if it's caked with dirt. If it is, then it is not letting air through to cool what's necessary.


Get a vaccum that can PUSH air (Do not try and suck the dirt out...it wont work) or a can of compressed air and blow the dirt out.



A temporary solution (or permenant, if you like a ghetto-looking computer) is to open up the case to let heat escape. You may need to put a fan nearby and have it blow air into the computer.





Or, as others have said, it could be the registry.

[FCTE]

Demonic Spoon wrote: You could have a fan clogged with dirt

You put dirt in your computer?? :?

It's not a f#cking planter. :gdgf:

[Melcar]

Overheating con also cause slow downs and other performance loss. Like Demonic Spoon said, open up the case and clean it up; who knows what has been s*cked in, specially if it hasn't been cleaned in 5 years. Other than a complete clean up and a clean re-install of Windows, I can't think of any other efficient way to completely fix a +3 year installation of Windows. It's not that bad actually... besides, it will feel like you just got a new PC :) .

[Demonic Spoon]

FCTE wrote: Demonic Spoon wrote: You could have a fan clogged with dirt

You put dirt in your computer?? :?

It's not a f#cking planter. :gdgf:

Now they tell me.

I'm gonna go sue the bastards that sold me this computer. The owner's manual said NOTHING about not planting daisies in the motherboard...

[californian conservative]

Melcar wrote: Overheating con also cause slow downs and other performance loss. Like Demonic Spoon said, open up the case and clean it up; who knows what has been s*cked in, specially if it hasn't been cleaned in 5 years. Other than a complete clean up and a clean re-install of Windows, I can't think of any other efficient way to completely fix a +3 year installation of Windows. It's not that bad actually... besides, it will feel like you just got a new PC :) .

well, i've cleaned before, but not since i moved which was close to a year ago. A new pc probly comes with a hard drive bigger than 40 gb, 128 mb ram etc. : ) And i guess i'm just predjudiced against reformating because the last time i did it i forgot to put all my pictures from my European vacation on a cd :bang:

[californian conservative]

Demonic Spoon wrote: FCTE wrote: Demonic Spoon wrote: You could have a fan clogged with dirt

You put dirt in your computer?? :?

It's not a f#cking planter. :gdgf:

Now they tell me.

I'm gonna go sue the bastards that sold me this computer. The owner's manual said NOTHING about not planting daisies in the motherboard...

lol, nice avatar btw

[Melcar]

californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: Overheating con also cause slow downs and other performance loss. Like Demonic Spoon said, open up the case and clean it up; who knows what has been s*cked in, specially if it hasn't been cleaned in 5 years. Other than a complete clean up and a clean re-install of Windows, I can't think of any other efficient way to completely fix a +3 year installation of Windows. It's not that bad actually... besides, it will feel like you just got a new PC :) .

well, i've cleaned before, but not since i moved which was close to a year ago. A new pc probly comes with a hard drive bigger than 40 gb, 128 mb ram etc. : ) And i guess i'm just predjudiced against reformating because the last time i did it i forgot to put all my pictures from my European vacation on a cd :bang:

That's a low amount of RAM for XP. You should at least run with 512MB.

[californian conservative]

Melcar wrote: californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: Overheating con also cause slow downs and other performance loss. Like Demonic Spoon said, open up the case and clean it up; who knows what has been s*cked in, specially if it hasn't been cleaned in 5 years. Other than a complete clean up and a clean re-install of Windows, I can't think of any other efficient way to completely fix a +3 year installation of Windows. It's not that bad actually... besides, it will feel like you just got a new PC :) .

well, i've cleaned before, but not since i moved which was close to a year ago. A new pc probly comes with a hard drive bigger than 40 gb, 128 mb ram etc. : ) And i guess i'm just predjudiced against reformating because the last time i did it i forgot to put all my pictures from my European vacation on a cd :bang:

That's a low amount of RAM for XP. You should at least run with 512MB.

It was one of the first XP so that gives a time frame and it wasn't a very good computer at the time. I tried playing World of Warcraft on it, and even with the lowest graphic settings (and DSL) i lagged horribly. Although come to think of it it might be 256..... maybe.......

[Sid]

XP is a horrible memory hog, if I were you, with a machine more than two years old, I would just stick with 2k.

[David]

californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: californian conservative wrote: Melcar wrote: Overheating con also cause slow downs and other performance loss. Like Demonic Spoon said, open up the case and clean it up; who knows what has been s*cked in, specially if it hasn't been cleaned in 5 years. Other than a complete clean up and a clean re-install of Windows, I can't think of any other efficient way to completely fix a +3 year installation of Windows. It's not that bad actually... besides, it will feel like you just got a new PC :) .

well, i've cleaned before, but not since i moved which was close to a year ago. A new pc probly comes with a hard drive bigger than 40 gb, 128 mb ram etc. : ) And i guess i'm just predjudiced against reformating because the last time i did it i forgot to put all my pictures from my European vacation on a cd :bang:

That's a low amount of RAM for XP. You should at least run with 512MB.

It was one of the first XP so that gives a time frame and it wasn't a very good computer at the time. I tried playing World of Warcraft on it, and even with the lowest graphic settings (and DSL) i lagged horribly. Although come to think of it it might be 256..... maybe.......


You are badly in need of more RAM.I'd max out what your MB can handle.Even 256 is bare minimum for XP not to mention all the other stuff you've installed and have running in the background over the years.

[Demonic Spoon]

3 things...

1) Go to START -> Run -> Msconfig. Go to STARTUP, and hit DISABLE ALL. This will stop all background programs from starting up when your computer starts up, increasing performance.

2) Get Spybot Search & Destroy and Windows Defender. Search for spyware.

3) Go to www.newegg.com and get your ass some more RAM!