# Slow running computer



## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

Just had to replace a video card and 2 drives. My computer was running very slow and now is running even slower. The replaced parts are no different than the ones I had in it. I'm starting to think I have a virus, or spyware, even though I have antivirus and spyware software. I have done all the ordinary, clean disk, defrage and everything else. Help please. Thanks

Edit: I did not replace the Drives or the video card because of slowness. They just decided not to work any more.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Which operating system are you running? How much memory do you have?


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## Thales (Jan 24, 2009)

When you say slowness is Windows booting slowly, is it running slowly when you try to do things in Windows (like open a program)? Does it run slowly all the time or just when you boot it up and immediately afterward? Finally, what operating system are you running?

If you can answer some of those questions I should be able to provide you with some troubleshooting steps to see if you can't get this resolved.

-Thales


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## woodsman (Dec 8, 2008)

What I used to do in my former life is to install a brand spanking new version of OS and all the software I needed on my workstation, then image it and anytime the system become unwieldy, instead of spending countless hours investigating and fixing what got broken just dump the image back onto the drive, be done with it in under 30 minutes and back to work. Of course I kept all my data elsewhere

Not saying it's gonna help you now, but as long as you have a new drive why not start fresh?


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

Thales said:


> When you say slowness is Windows booting slowly, is it running slowly when you try to do things in Windows (like open a program)? Does it run slowly all the time or just when you boot it up and immediately afterward? Finally, what operating system are you running?
> 
> If you can answer some of those questions I should be able to provide you with some troubleshooting steps to see if you can't get this resolved.
> 
> -Thales


Sorry should have included this info. I run xp and it boots up slow, it runs slowly all the time, all programs run slow.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

airotciv said:


> Sorry should have included this info. I run xp and it boots up slow, it runs slowly all the time, all programs run slow.


Okay, if you have XP you can see how much memory you have by right-clicking on the My Computer icon and looking on the General tab. You'll see it under Computer.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Should read:


Nevada said:


> Okay, if you have XP you can see how much memory you have by right-clicking on the My Computer icon *CHOOSE PROPERTIES* and looking on the General tab. You'll see it under Computer.


Has your computer slowly been slowing down ,or did it just slow down one day?
Does it happen only when you're on the internet or when you are not on the net also?
Have you updated and ran Anti-virus and anti-malware programs? 
Have you checked the performance in the task manager? (Right click on the task bar and choose task manager, go to the performance tab) -- what percentages is it staying between?


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

mnn2501 said:


> Should read:
> Has your computer slowly been slowing down ,or did it just slow down one day?
> Does it happen only when you're on the internet or when you are not on the net also?
> Have you updated and ran Anti-virus and anti-malware programs?
> Have you checked the performance in the task manager? (Right click on the task bar and choose task manager, go to the performance tab) -- what percentages is it staying between?



Thanks, I have more than enough memory, My computer has been slowly slowing down. Internet runs fine, It is slow with all programs. Ran Anti-virus this week. What is anti-malware? As for the task manager I have know idea what to look for here. Help, thanks.

Edit: I figured out that task mamager is telling me what processes are running in the back round. What has to be there? As I see there are many things running. Thanks.


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## Birchbark (Apr 3, 2008)

I think you should answer the questions they ask or i really dont think they can help you.

How much memory do you have? Did you look? Did you look at the performance tab in manager? If so where was it running. Run your antivirus and google anti malware.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

malware is spyware, adware, and even cookies, so Anti-Malware is anything that detects and helps you eliminate it. Here are links to 2 really good, free one. I have both on my computer and update and run them weekly. Malwarebytes and Spybot

Birchbark is right: it would help us to help you if you provided the info we asked for, I do tech support for a living (and have for 11 years now) and there are reasons I ask each question. If you want us to help you, we need these answers


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

airotciv said:


> As for the task manager I have know idea what to look for here. Help, thanks.
> .



to check performance in the task manager (Right click on the task bar and choose task manager, go to the performance tab) -- what percentages is it staying between? There is a little graph in the upper left that says CPU Usage and what I want is the usual high % and the usual low % -- watch it for 30 seconds or so and let us know. I also must know how much memory you have if we're going to help you "Enough" means different things to different people. My 85 year old father-in-law has 256 mg of RAM, since all he does is check e-mail; its "enough" for him, I'm crippled with less than 1 gb of RAM, for what I do 2GB of RAM is 'enough' but 4 GB is better

As far as what processes have to be there it really depends on what programs and hardware you have loaded -- ie it varies so much theres no real way to answer that question. I could tell you what Windows needs but if you killed everything else your; programs, printers, etc would possibly stop working.


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## Southpaw (Jan 2, 2003)

Excuse me, I would like to jump in here if I may. I too am having slow running computer. I have Windows XP. It runs slowly after I have been up and running awhile. I have checked the task manager at it runs at 0-11%. Memory is 2.52 free of 37.2. I often get an error message that says program not responding particularly after running software such as Fotofusion - its a photo editing software. Thanks much.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Southpaw said:


> Excuse me, I would like to jump in here if I may. I too am having slow running computer. I have Windows XP. It runs slowly after I have been up and running awhile. I have checked the task manager at it runs at 0-11%. Memory is 2.52 free of 37.2. I often get an error message that says program not responding particularly after running software such as Fotofusion - its a photo editing software. Thanks much.


Never heard of Fotofusion, its possible that the program has a memory conflict, especially if it slows down after running for a while. Rebooting should bring it back if that is the case. Malware can also cause this slowing down, have you installed and ran one of the anti-mailware products we have listed above?

For memory we need to know the amount of RAM (Right click on your 'My Computer' icon and choose properties, on the General tab tell us what it says for RAM (near the bottom)


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## Southpaw (Jan 2, 2003)

I have not run malware. I have a program called SecureIT which I had understood runs all the time so to speak and takes care of spyware and viruses. I will check out malware though.

Memory is 256 mb.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Southpaw said:


> Memory is 256 mb.


256 mb is the bare minimum for XP now. Memory usage is a lot more now that it was before Service Pack 2. I suspect you're running low on memory.

To verify that, the next time your system gets slow do a Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the task manager, then click on the performance tab. If you are using more than 256 mb then you know it's a memory problem.


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

Sorry been gone over the weekend, and then had family to deal with. To answer the memory Question I have 4 GB. Task manager 0-7%. Hope that helps.


Edit: If I watch task mamager for longer than 30 seconds it is 5-7%. I and DGD have 4 games on the computer, Indiana Jones, Railroad, Sims 2 and Spore and they have been on the computer before the slow down.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Nevada said:


> 256 mb is the bare minimum for XP now. Memory usage is a lot more now that it was before Service Pack 2. I suspect you're running low on memory.
> .


 I agree, if you get a couple things running you will slow down with 256mb


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## Southpaw (Jan 2, 2003)

To verify that, the next time your system gets slow do a Ctrl-Alt-Del to bring up the task manager, then click on the performance tab. If you are using more than 256 mb then you know it's a memory problem.
__________________

Thank you for your response. I checked that and it says 502 MB. Also, my CPU usage spiked to 78% (after using Fotofusion software). 

Forgive me, but now what?


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## Southpaw (Jan 2, 2003)

So I will upgrade my memory. Is doubling it going to do the trick or do I need more? The Lumapix Fotofusion program is digital software designed for "scrapbooking" pictures, etc. Thanks.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

If you can, double will help a bit, 4x would be much better.
Luckily memory is cheap compared to what it was a few years ago.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Ya memory is cheap Unless you have a DELL like mine, which takes SPECIAL Memory (Proprietary ) that is ONLY available from Dell aarrrrgggg. And IF I wanted to go from 256 to say even 512 would be OVER 300 Dollars Not going to that~!!!!! And I wouold HATE to find out what it would cost to go as high as 1 Gig~!
I am going for a IMAC first, before I spend another dollar to Dell~!


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