My computer is crawling. What to do?

Early B.
Early B. Posts: 7,900
edited May 2008 in The Clubhouse
My computer suddenly started to slow down considerably yesterday afternoon. Rebooting doesn't help. There's another computer on my home office network that is not affected. I haven't added any new software within the past couple of days. My AVG & Ad-Aware spyware and AVG anti-virus software has scanned my computer, but the problem persists.

How do I begin to isolate the problem and fix it?

Thanks.
HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

"God grooves with tubes."
Post edited by Early B. on
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Comments

  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2008
    How old is it? Could it be a hard drive issue causing longer then normal load times?
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited May 2008
    Airplay355 wrote: »
    How old is it? Could it be a hard drive issue causing longer then normal load times?

    The computer is almost two years old.

    I should add that my computer slows down only when I'm surfing the 'net.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • greene1968
    greene1968 Posts: 126
    edited May 2008
    that happened to me last year on my laptop. One day just got real slowww. i did the virus scans, adawares etc. Updated drivers, etc. ended up, wiping it out, and reloading xp, bam..back to normal. Only time i had the problem, and not sure what it was...windows was choking on something
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  • honda cber
    honda cber Posts: 267
    edited May 2008
    not to seem trite, but do you defrag often... or ever?

    if yes, the regular stuff applies. try also crap cleaner (very useful) and spybot.

    if no, try that first.

    also, clear you 'net cache and all of that stuff if you havent yet.

    then....

    go to start> run and type msconfig (wait, this is an xp machine, right?)

    see what kind of crap runs on startup and forever thereafter. you can just about disable everything on the startup menu without any ill effect. you will want to keep your AV software as well as any wireless network or keyboard/mouse kind of stuff (probably). if you arent sure what it is, google it, because almost all of them are listed somewhere by someone.

    i dont know why EVERY program feels the need to be run from startup so it will load faster, even though you only use it 2x a year.

    if none of this helps, there are some more things you can try without having to reload winders. let us know.

    a
    gear list:
    1 down, 4 up....
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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited May 2008
    You can also try a RAM upgrade.

    I have a Sony Vaio from 2002 running 512 MB RAM and a Pentium 4 1.6 GHz processor which is kinda archaic by todays standards. Its ran pretty much flawless for nearly 6 years but a few months ago it started slowing down on some things. Websites with a lot of flash animation and stuff really slows it. I found memory on sale for almost 50% off at Circuit City last night and upgraded to a full gig of RAM and it made a very noticeable difference. Dont get me wrong, its still a little choppy on some of the heavier websites but nowhere near as bad as before and most other websites load up damn near instantly.

    Look around at CC and BB for memory on sale. Every once in a while you can get them for a song.
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited May 2008
    honda cber wrote: »
    not to seem trite, but do you defrag often... or ever?

    if yes, the regular stuff applies. try also crap cleaner (very useful) and spybot.

    if no, try that first.

    also, clear you 'net cache and all of that stuff if you havent yet.

    then....

    go to start> run and type msconfig (wait, this is an xp machine, right?)

    see what kind of crap runs on startup and forever thereafter. you can just about disable everything on the startup menu without any ill effect. you will want to keep your AV software as well as any wireless network or keyboard/mouse kind of stuff (probably). if you arent sure what it is, google it, because almost all of them are listed somewhere by someone.

    i dont know why EVERY program feels the need to be run from startup so it will load faster, even though you only use it 2x a year.

    if none of this helps, there are some more things you can try without having to reload winders. let us know.

    a
    +1!
    I do this on a regular basis. It can make a big a big difference in performance.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • MacLeod
    MacLeod Posts: 14,358
    edited May 2008
    A few tips on speeding up some operations-

    http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html
    polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
    MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
    08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st

    polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited May 2008
    Thanks for the suggestions, fellas. My system is not crawling anymore while I'm on-line. I did several things, and I ain't sure which one(s) did the trick. Here's what I did:

    1. Ran Windows Disk Cleaner
    2. Ran Crap Cleaner (2 GB of crap!!!! -- the Disk Cleaner utility should have caught most of this!!!)
    3. Went into msconfig and removed a few items from startup
    4. Ran Disk Defragmenter Analyzer, but it said I didn't need to defrag
    5. Disabled AVG Firewall and enabled Windows firewall
    6. Rebooted the router
    7. Rebooted the system

    My system slowed down considerably yesterday right after I downloaded a bunch of pics from the 'net for a PPT presentation I'm putting together. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

    Thanks again.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • fossy
    fossy Posts: 1,378
    edited May 2008
    MacLeod wrote: »
    A few tips on speeding up some operations-

    http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html

    good info right there . thank you
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  • engtaz
    engtaz Posts: 7,669
    edited May 2008
    Good chance removing startup items and rebooting rooter was the biggest help.

    engtaz
    engtaz

    I love how music can brighten up a bad day.
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  • SKsolutions
    SKsolutions Posts: 1,820
    edited May 2008
    +1^^ Router.
    -Ignorance is strength -
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  • honda cber
    honda cber Posts: 267
    edited May 2008
    BTW,
    4. Ran Disk Defragmenter Analyzer, but it said I didn't need to defrag
    i recommend doing it anyway. i defreg once a week regardless of the analyzer, and frankly, you can do it even more often with no ill effect (and, it wont take long at all).

    glad your 'puter is going to make it.

    a
    gear list:
    1 down, 4 up....
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited May 2008
    If your computer is crawling I would try and tie it down so it stops moving.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited May 2008
    BaggedLancer wrote: »
    If your computer is crawling I would try and tie it down so it stops moving.

    He's high:p
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited May 2008
    ben62670 wrote: »
    He's high:p

    High on life sir!
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  • petrym
    petrym Posts: 1,912
    edited May 2008
    Careful folks... BL is currently mentally enhanced by psychotropic opioid analgesic chemicals due to his new and improved evacuation pipeage. ;)
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  • dbaldus
    dbaldus Posts: 730
    edited May 2008
    I bet it was the crap cleaner that did it - great tool. 2GBs is a LOT of crap.

    Also, there should be a Startup tool cleaner on CCleaner as well that will get rid of things that you don't really need, but that part of the tool is kind of hidden if I remember right.

    If you want to run it but you're having problems finding it, let me know and I'll find it for you and get back to you.

    2-channel
    Squeezebox Touch| MSB Analog DAC | Audio Research Ref 40 Anniversary Edition| Pass Labs X350.8 | Wilson Audio Sasha 2

    Home Theater
    Arcam AVR 550 | GoldenEar Triton One | GoldenEar SuperCenter XXL | GoldenEar Aon 3 | JL Audio Fathom F113v2
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  • fatchowmein
    fatchowmein Posts: 2,637
    edited May 2008
    Early B. wrote: »
    My system slowed down considerably yesterday right after I downloaded a bunch of pics from the 'net for a PPT presentation I'm putting together. Not sure if that had anything to do with it.

    Try this...

    Delete your temp internet files. Sometimes, when you download a bunch of pics, depending on your settings and your browser, your browser's cache gets overloaded and your surfing slows to a crawl because every web page you open loads an image but those image must wait for your system to delete some temp files first.
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  • devani
    devani Posts: 1,497
    edited May 2008
    fatchowmein wrote: »
    Try this...

    Delete your temp internet files. Sometimes, when you download a bunch of pics, depending on your settings and your browser, your browser's cache gets overloaded and your surfing slows to a crawl because every web page you open loads an image but those image must wait for your system to delete some temp files first.

    oh no, what about all those hot pics?:D:D
    Video: LG 55LN5100/Samsung LNT4065F
    Receiver: HK AVR445
    Source: OPPO BDP-93
    HT: POLK SPEAKERS RTi6, FXi3, CSi5, VTF-3 MK2
    2Ch system: MC2105, AR-XA, AR-2A, AR9, BX-300, OPPO BDP-83
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