Technology PC Help for Technophobe

[bigdan]

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Friends:

My computer is slow as ****, kinda all of a sudden.

I have Symantec Antivirus and Spybot 1.6, both of which tell me everything is hunky-dory. Is there anything that I can do to run some sort of check, or look to see what's slowing me down, short of paying someone way too much money to find out an answer for me?

I'm using wireless internet, which runs between 56 and 24Mbps, and I have no idea what is making it fluctuate between the two speeds.

Thanks in advance for any advice...

dc

 

[TMP-SMX]

The computer itself or the internet it slow? If you are talking about your computer it could be that your RAM is just extra full with multiple programs and you haven't restarted in a while. Once that happens things start going into the virtual memory. If your hard drive is nearly full or about less than 10% free space then that will make the problem even worse. So first of all, make sure you have plenty of free space after restarting. Second, defrag your hard drive.

As for internet, how are you measuring those speeds and what are you doing when it fluctuates. It could be a lot of things like interference or poor signal.

 

[bookgodess15]

This program is also a nice supplement to defragging your hd.

Also, agreeing with TMP-SMX, what are you using to measure your internet speed? This site does a pretty accurate job of it. If your speed is fluctuating, it could be either the obstructions between the wireless router and yourself, or or could be the router. Is it old or beat up? Located in a place where it doesn't have clear transmittance (ie., somewhere high up, clear of obstructions)? Has it always fluctuated, or is it just now?

 

[bigdan]

Bitchin'.

You guys rock. Real good look on "defragmentation", whatever the hell that means. I don't wanna jinx myself, but I think my PC is working MUCH MUCH faster (at least for now).

How often would someone typically defragment?

Seriously, thanks a bunch.

dc

 

[bookgodess15]

How often would someone typically defragment

Ir really depends on how often you use your computer, what you're doing on it, and how much free space you have. And a little bit on how old your hardware is. If

:: you use your computer +3hrs a day
:: you do a lot of installing/uninstalling/reformatting
:: there is very little free space
:: most of the things on your computer are programs, not stagnant files like music or pictures

then you might want to do it monthly. Otherwise, maybe twice a year? It's really at your own discretion. Whenever you notice it slowing down again--but it shouldn't be for a while. If you've never defragged your computer since you bought it, then there had to have been a whole slog of stuff to clean up. You should be good for a while.

 

[JuniperB]

Download/install and run CCleaner (short for Crap Cleaner). It does a darn good job of clearing the crap...

Defragging is good too.

As well as upgrading the RAM.

Cheers,

JB

 

[Fring]

Make sure you have enough hard disk space. An extra (free space) of 15 percent would surely help.

Another thing you might need to consider is to reinstall your OS (Operating system) Nothing beats a freshly install OS in your computer. No matter how religiously you defrag your hard drive, remove unneccesary programs, run anti virus or what not, it will always slower than a freshly installed OS.

I do it yearly and my hard drive is partitioned in 2 so I put all the programs and OS in Drive C and I put my games and back up documents on drive d. So I always have drive d safe for my files whenever I need to format drive c.