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General Category => Computer questions => Topic started by: edward on July 03, 2015, 10:00:03 pm
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Does anyone know of a good good program to buy, as my computer has been very slow, and freezing, sluggish at times, don't really want to take it to the shop. any help would be appreciated. thanks edward
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Edward,
Question for you. Is this sluggish behavior recent or long term? If you have a Windows machine you might be able to use one of the earlier restore points that the computer makes to restore the computer back to before it started to do this. It will not destroy your information just roll back to a time before the computer started to act wonky.
You need to see if you have any hard drive space left. Your computer uses your hard drive space as a kind of extra memory and if the hard drive is all full then it has to wait for the normal memory to empty a bit before it can proceed, this can cause your sluggish and freezing behavior.
Another thing to check is to get a program that detects and disinfects your system from programs called malware. Essentially these are unwanted programs that while mostly benign can clog up your computer. You can get a decent but free anti malware program form the link ---> https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/ (https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/). Install it or a program like it and run it. It might do the trick for you.
DW
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I tried to restore it before, but won't let me take it back to an earlier time, also I have Malware installed on the computer. edward
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Put your computer into safe mode and re run both the virus scanner as well as the malware scanner. Doing this will give you a decent chance of getting anything that is stealthy. Since you can not or was not able to use a previous restore point your options are rather limited unless you know someone that is decent at IT and is close by.
DW
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I also use malwarebytes. I also periodically run a free program, adwcleaner.
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Dw I a;ready have that on my computer, and ewally doesn't help. edward
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The best software to sort hidden malware and trojans is Combofix, it takes a while but highly recommended, here is the link
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/dl/12/ (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/dl/12/)
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The best way to both speed up the pc and get rid of malware is to:
1. Save all user data (pictures, etc) and program data (install programs, etc).
2. Full format of drive.
3. Reinstall Windows.
4. Reinstall user programs and data.
Now your programs will run faster and you have no malware. Backup up your system before you try this.
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Tannks for the combacks, had to put the comouter in the shop, seems to be a hard drive problem., hopefully will get it back tomorrow. edward
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Tannks for the combacks, had to put the comouter in the shop, seems to be a hard drive problem., hopefully will get it back tomorrow. edward
I would get the Vipre internet security 2015
and the fixmestick at www.fixmestick.com or you do like me and get it from www.hsn.com. the fixmestick is a usb antivirus that runs off the usb stick. Works great for the virus that get pass the anti-virus software.
soemthing to think about getting both of them are great in getting rid of the virus the both vipre internet security 2015 and the fixmestick I have lifetime updates and software updates for the life of the computer. On hsn is where I got the vipre internet security 2015 and I got the 10 pcs lifetime protection and 3 lifetime protection of the fixmestick. I run the fixmestick once a month. and the fixmestick is not a replacement for the antivirus software both antivirus software the fixmestick is hand in hand.
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The best way to both speed up the pc and get rid of malware is to:
1. Save all user data (pictures, etc) and program data (install programs, etc).
2. Full format of drive.
3. Reinstall Windows.
4. Reinstall user programs and data.
Now your programs will run faster and you have no malware. Backup up your system before you try this.
??? The only problem with this solution is the malware and or viruses will be in the data and programs you reinstall
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You might think about replacing the computer if it's more than 3 years old. This seems drastic, but I could kick myself for not doing that a year ago. I got a new laptop for business use and it is incredible. 10 seconds from power-on to the Windows interface. I use Norton 360 on my machines. It's a little expensive but can be installed on multiple PCs (I think it allows up to 5). The best thing is my sister-in-law got one of mine infected. I called Norton and they spent about 1 hour cleaning it up at no charge.
I also got a Chromebook last year for travel use. That is a slick machine. It doesn't do everything exactly like Windows does, but they are very inexpensive (<$200), very light (2 lbs) and the battery lasts 10 hours. The Google office apps are free, so if you don't need to interface with Microsoft Office from other people, if you mostly browse and write a few letters and some spreadsheets, the Chromebook is an excellent option. My 7 year old grand-niece is getting a Chromebook from the local school for 2nd grade - I guess it's cheaper than buying books and functions fine for their needs.
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so what is the update on your computer dude
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Does anyone know of a good good program to buy, as my computer has been very slow, and freezing, sluggish at times, don't really want to take it to the shop. any help would be appreciated. thanks edward
It sounds like you need to do a clean windows install on that computer and reinstall all drivers and all windows updates and reinstall all software on that computer that you use. Backup your personal files before doing a clean windows install. This will make your computer run like new again. By install more software on that computer will just make your computer run slow and slower. By reformat the hard drive and do a reinstall of windows this will make your computer run fast like new again. What version of windows do you have. If you have windows 10 install on that computer I would down grade back to windows 7 pro. There been to many updates with tons of bugs in it. And windows 10 is not ready for prim-time yet. Windows 7 has about two more years of support from Microsoft until the year 2020. What model is your computer and is it a laptop or a desktop.
I'm A+ certified computer tech.
been doing this for about 28 years now.
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If you get a new computer what are you wanting? laptop or desktop? Me if going laptop get a HP, I had a dell and about 2 years of using it the screen messed up would really dark could barely see the screen had to use a external moniter. I now have a HP and love it, its about 4-5 years old still runs great and still runs pretty fast. I ordered straight from HP to get the latest software and hardware, its what I was told by a computer guru. For desktop same thing go HP, my other half has a HP desktop and still runs great, no issues and its about as old as my laptop. I also had a HP desktop before going laptop's that lasted about 6 years before starting having hardware issues and it crashing and got too slow.
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Just change your old one and take new computer with some good parameters
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I have read through all the answers and nobody that I saw recommended adding RAM. I have a Win 10 machine that my neighbor took to Best Buy. They convinced her that it was beyond saving and sold her a new machine. She did keep her hard drive. I managed to get her old computer. It's an Acer with the Intel I-3 chip. I bought two identical 1 tb drives and added enough memory to bring it to the max 16 gig. This little machine that was "dead" is the fastest machine I have ever had. I've got a Toshiba laptop running the I-7 chip and it is slower than my desktop. I have always thought that something is wrong with it but haven't gone into it yet. It's been about 4 years so I'm not in any hurry. Anyway, the info above is all pretty good but it is still a good idea to max out the RAM.
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I have read through all the answers and nobody that I saw recommended adding RAM.
You are absolutely correct.
If any Windows machine runs more applications and services than will fit into RAM, the machine will start using virtual memory. That means that segments of RAM will be swapped to and from the hard drive.
What this really means is that your computer will slow to a crawl! Moving blocks of memory to something as slow as a spinning hard drive is painfully slow. Even if you have an SSD (solid state drive), it will still have a major impact on system performance.
There are two solutions - running few apps (including closing browser tabs), or install more memory.
Most recent computers will allow up to 16Gb ram, even though they often ship with only 2Gb installed. This is not overly expensive, and addresses the issue in the best way possible.
If the computer is older, it should still allow up to 8Gb ram, which will help. I have an older Toshiba 12.5" laptop with 8Gb installed and an low power dual core i7 CPU. As long as I don't go crazy opening applications and browser tabs, it is still a great performer
Buying a machine with the latest and greatest CPU buys you bragging rights. Buying a machine with a balanced configuration (CPU, RAM, storage, video, buss type) will give you a machine that continues to be useful far past the time you would ever expect.
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I agree with most of what folks are saying, however Microsoft has a ways to go as their OS while getting better is still not what it should be. Neither is Apple which is nothing more than UNIX with a User Interface. There are better ways to handle software and hardware out there being developed that do not have either of the big 2 companies ( Microsoft and Apple ) inside. More than anything is to keep your system patched, and protected. It does not hurt to have a bit of room for RAM upgrades either. The more you make the unit solid state - IE nothing is spinning to get information the better, as well.
DW
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Another problem that many users don't understand is how many programs are loading at start-up. Other than your security software, you really don't need anything loading right at start-up. You can open the software programs that you need and then close them when you are finished. On my machine, I keep my anti-virus, a firewall program, a password keeper, my printer/scanner utility and the necessary programs to control my internet/network systems. That's it. Nothing more is needed. People have a way of trying new free software that self-installs and forces it's way onto the startup folder/taskbar. Clean all that stuff up. Go into the control panel and see what programs are on your computer and UNINSTALL the ones that you don't use. That will make a much better working environment and speed things up.