Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Sorry to bother everyone with this, but it's driving me crazy and I know some of you are very handy with this type of thing. I recently got a high speed cable modem, but my computer is painfully slow online. I checked with customer service and they told me the modem is fine - when the computer isn't connected to it, it pings like crazy. They're convinced there is a file sharing program or something else hogging up my bandwidth. I don't have anything like that installed, the computer was recently cleaned out and XP was reinstalled. I have spybot, ad aware, and AVG antivirus. Right now I'm scanning with trend micro, but it (along with everything else) is soooooo slow. Somebody help me before I drop this thing from a 10 story window!!! ::
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 I don't know much about computers, but have you tried going to Start Control Panel Add/Remove Programs That will show you the programs that are installed. If there's something in there you didn't put in there, remove it. There used to be a way to get to start up, where you could check boxes of what you wanted automatically start running when you start up your computer, but since I got XP installed, I don't know where to find it. Or, you could just call the computer geek in your family. That's what i'd do.
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Oh, but make sure you don't need the program before you remove it. Duh. Sorry.
sweetie62 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 are you sure you don't have a music downloader or something? kazaa used to make my computer really slow so i downloaded a new program and its working fine again
windy1 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 elvy call the computer geek in the family.when you start removing things, unless you really know what you are doing, you can remove stuff you need for optimum performance(wow, now that sounded good!). When I got dsl, things weren't running right, had the sbc techs out here 3 separate times. They kept saying that there was a powerful new virus going around. Sounded good to me. Then my son in law (he built and programmed the computer)came over and in about 10 minutes had the thing up and running perfectly. I'll loan him to you for 10 bucks!
Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Posted January 8, 2005 In addition to the above mentioned programs, the other installed programs are Emedia Blues Guitar Legends (shouldn't be connected to the internet at all, it's a guitar instruction program w/specific songs) MSN Messenger & Toolbar (I'm gonna uninstall the toolbar) Mozilla Firefox (an alternative to Internet Explorer, shouldn't be causing my problem) Windows XP Hotfix KB840374 (I have no idea what this is. Could it be causing my problem?) Thanks for the responses y'all.
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Call your geek. I wouldn't mess around with anything that says XP on it. LOL.
DiggsUK Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Are you on AOL Elvish? If so, it gets overloaded easily and every user gets slowed down. My 'computer geek' recommends a change of provider in these circumstances. Regards
Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Posted January 8, 2005 in about 10 minutes had the thing up and running perfectly. I'll loan him to you for 10 bucks! Hell, I'll do better than 10 bucks - I'll pay give him gas money and the Rolling Rocks left in my fridge that I had in stock pre-pregnancy. :: I'm hoping my little sister's bf can help me out - they're supposed to come over later. Fingers are crossed! Not on AOL - thank God, Diggs! And I'm not touching the XP thing. Too scary!
windy1 Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 That's what Colin told me too. That's why I got the sbc dsl. I was on AOL, and he would freak everytime he used my computer, at how slow everything was. I had also tried Kazaa, after the dsl, and it would never connect. I got winmx and that works great.
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 I have limewire. I just installed it. I had XP installed a few weeks ago. Next, i'm going to re-install my cd burner. Nero. I'm slow about these things. well, lazy's more the word.
Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Posted January 8, 2005 That's one of the things that's so frustrating - I haven't even had a chance to load anything back on yet. And at this point I'm afraid to!
Addictedtoclassic Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 There used to be a way to get to start up, where you could check boxes of what you wanted automatically start running when you start up your computer, but since I got XP installed, I don't know where to find it. If you go to the "Start" button at the bottom left of your screen, select "Run...". When the screen opens up for what program to run, type "msconfig". This will bring up the System Configuration Utility. Click the tab labelled "Startup". This is where you will find all the programs that load during the initial start up of your PC. When you are surfing the Internet (and it doesn't really matter where you go), there are a lot of websites that will secretly install programs onto your PC without you knowing it. This is where you can disable those programs from running. Windows XP Hotfix KB840374 (I have no idea what this is. Could it be causing my problem?) This is very important as it fixes some of the security and other issues within Microsoft Windows. In fact, you should go to the Windows Update website and do a Windows XP update to fix any open issues with your copy of Windows XP. They have a program that will automatically search your version of Windows and inform you of any updates that are needed. One of the things that can slow your Internet connection is the amount of files stored in your "Temporary Internet Folder". From your desktop, double-click on "My Computer". Right-click on the "C:" drive and select "Properties" from the menu. This will bring up a window for "C: Properties". You will see a button labelled "Disk Cleanup". Click that button and (after a minute or so) and the "Disk Cleanup" window will open. Deselect (click on the box and make the check mark go away) everything EXCEPT "Temporary Internet Files". Click "OK" and this will remove the files kept in that folder. Do this every so often to keep your internet program running at top speed. If this still doesn't fix the problem, you might want to try using "Internet Explorer" and finding out if you receive a faster connection. Sometimes the Internet programs are setup differently causing an unwelcomed response in connection speed. I've never used Mozilla before so I can't tell you how to properly setup your connection so that you get the fastest speed possible. I hope this helps!
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Well, I guess we know who the Songfacts family computer geek is. And thanks, ATC. I've searched everywhere on this darn XP for that Startup thing. It used to be Start Programs Accessories System Tools System Information Tools then System Configuration Utilities. With XP, I'd get as far as System Information, and it wouldn't be in the tools. Rats.
Addictedtoclassic Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 I know this because I've had to find it for myself. I had some major computer problems a while back when I got my laptop because I wasn't being careful on the Internet. Had all sorts of s--t running around. It was an absolute mess. Then I found myself a good spyware/adware remover and a method of cleaning my computer (which I do regularly) and haven't had a problem since. The problem with the Internet these days is so many people have found ways to hack into your computer without you even knowing. It's quite scary actually.
Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Posted January 8, 2005 Thanks for the suggestions, Addicted. I did a disk clean up and now I'm defragmenting. I don't notice a speed difference between IE and Mozilla at this point, but it does seem like things are getting a bit faster. Still not as fast as they should be though - maybe the defrag will help.
Addictedtoclassic Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 Defragmenting helps your computer to organize its files for faster location and easier access. In theory, it should put your computer closer to peak performance. Did you check your "Configuration Utility" for unwanted start-up programs? Those can often degrade the performance of any PC. As a quick side note, the speed issue on your computer may not be caused by one thing. It could be a combination of things. One by one you may see some difference, but it could take quite a bit of time.
Addictedtoclassic Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 I prefer Engineer with an Electronics degree, that just sounds more professional. But jr, you can call me whatever you like!
_jr_ Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 You Got it. Engineer with an Electronics degree. Kay?
Karhul Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 In addition to the above mentioned programs, the other installed programs are Emedia Blues Guitar Legends (shouldn't be connected to the internet at all, it's a guitar instruction program w/specific songs) MSN Messenger & Toolbar (I'm gonna uninstall the toolbar) Mozilla Firefox (an alternative to Internet Explorer, shouldn't be causing my problem) Windows XP Hotfix KB840374 (I have no idea what this is. Could it be causing my problem?) Thanks for the responses y'all. HOLY S##T!!. DOWNLOADING TOOLBARS IS NOT GOOD AT ALL!!. GET RID OF IT NOW!
edna Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 I feel like a Martian... I have a mac, it´s running damn slow today and I´ll have to wait till I gt my ADSL connection to internet, at MY home, to have this problem solved... I know nothing about computers, I´m a journalist/translator...
Elvish Posted January 8, 2005 Author Report Posted January 8, 2005 Did you check your "Configuration Utility" for unwanted start-up programs? Those can often degrade the performance of any PC. As a quick side note, the speed issue on your computer may not be caused by one thing. It could be a combination of things. One by one you may see some difference, but it could take quite a bit of time. I did remove some of the start-up programs that weren't necessary. Everything in combination seems to have helped, but it's still not as fast as it should be. I'll keep tinkering with it. Thanks for your help, Aaron - and everyone else.
Addictedtoclassic Posted January 8, 2005 Report Posted January 8, 2005 You Got it. Engineer with an Electronics degree. Kay? Such a funny guy... ::
cosmosis Posted January 9, 2005 Report Posted January 9, 2005 Go here: http://reviews.cnet.com/Bandwidth_meter/7004-7254_7-0.html and post the results back. Also some web pages will load slowly for many reasons, this one being one of them. You should really try downloading files from websites to really know. Go to snapfiles.com or linuxiso.org and start downloading a big file. See how fast it downloads. Or maybe you need to open port 80 on your NAT or router? None of the programs you mentioned will slow you down, btw. I also have this program: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/netmeter.html that constantly draws a graph of any network and internet activity. If you have something d/l or uploading, it will show.
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