Slow computer

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Tradertom

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 12805 6-Apr-2007 19:58

My desktop is so slow.I am on dialup but its not that.Even clicking from my icon ..say outlook express it takes sometimes a half min to come up.Same with IE7.I have defrag & removed the auto start programs but it is still extremely slow.almost always/I am not very computer savvy so any help appreciated.I recently had memory uped to 512 it is 1.29 Ghz

freitasm

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Geekzone

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# 66516 7-Apr-2007 08:39

I know being on dialup makes things harder, but you shuld invest some time in downloading a good antivirus (www.avast.com) and a good anti-spyware (www.lavasoft.de). You might have more than just a few programs running on your PC...

Also, you should run the Windows Update if you haven't done so in the last few months... It will take a long time on dialup, but it will protect your PC against known flaws.

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cokemaster

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# 66519 7-Apr-2007 09:10

I also recommend using msconfig or a similar application to check your start up 'lists' for applications that load when your computer loads. Often they will cause delays when you are booting and take up memory.

Things like * (Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, QQICQ) messenger don't need to load on start up unless you want to use them straight away, other applications may be media players, download programs etc. If you are running distributed computing applications (@home etc), consider checking the settings on them to ensure they are set to lowest priority or to be on the safe side - disable them outright.

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tookool47

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 66521 7-Apr-2007 09:45

Kaspersky Internet Security is also good. And check the packages loading at start-up. Good luck

weblordpepe

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Ultimate Geek
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# 66555 7-Apr-2007 19:29

And of course my recommendation is to install Ubuntu Linux. :)

You can just pop the disc in the drive & reboot, and mostly everything should just work straight away.

rscole86

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# 66558 7-Apr-2007 20:14

If you are having problems with IE7, you can download Firefox before you do anything else. This will hopefully enable you to download anti-virus and anti-spam software.

If you cannot download them, then you can get an OpenOffice CD from DSE that will have Firefox on it.

Also on the disc is Zonealarm, which will help you with keepign your PC secure.

Tradertom

6 posts

Wannabe Geek

# 66559 7-Apr-2007 20:29

Thank everyone for your help-much appreciated