The slowness could be caused by a number of things, e.g. driver problems, windows/service pack problem, hardware etc, applications.
You can check to see which processes are running on your system and stop the one's you don't need by right clicking on your task bar, then click on task manager, then click on the processes tab and sort by 'cpu' column. You might see a process that is using up all the cpu time. It could be a application that has somehow gotten into an endless loop. you can stop the process by right clicking on the process and ending the process.
I'm also having challenges with sometimes very slow computer and especially very slow internet connection. I suspect that Norton Internet Security 2005 may be the culprit. Today it had a problem with ccApp and I couldn't connect at all until I shut it off. I finally got it so I could connect, but its still often slow. And the computer often is slow.
I did what you suggested, and looked in Task mgr. CPU showed 99 idle. I also sorted by memory. But I don't know what all those things are.
Is Explorer IE, or Windows Explorer? Its got the second highest mem usage after Firefox and right above ccApp which I know is part of Norton.
What is svchost.exe? I see it listed several times, some as system and some as network host or local service. I suppose that is something needed.
Where would be the place to post questions about making Norton work better so it doesn't keep slowing things down so much, or to confirm that it is the culprit?
Since switching to Firefox browser (as recommended elsewhere on the forums) Adaware and Spybot (also previously helpfully recommended elsewhere on the forums) don't seem to find spyware or adware any more except the minimal kind like the ones that keep track of recently used files and web sites, etc.
I've basically followed the steps Dell recommends and with 1 GB RAM I would think I should be fine that way.
How much RAM do you have? Have you followed the Dell recommendations? I assume you have anti virus protection. Do you have anti spyware protection? And other security protections? They say that spyware can really slow things down and of course viruses can too. And if you don't have enough memory (RAM) for the applications you are running that will slow things down.
If you had any questions on any of these basic issues I found very helpful info on the new user forums.
The 'explorer' process in task manager is the windows explorer. Internet explorer will be listed as 'iexplorer'. svchost.exe is a network/hostname related process which is needed by the system.
Your questions about norton should probably be posted on the virus/spyware board. You might also try the norton website or search using google.
Thanks.
I tried Symantec, both the web and then email and I actually got a fairly quick response this time. I'm a little leary of the solution presented.
The tech is trying to help me search for conflicts and is telling me to use msconfig and to deselect all the programs and click ok and then restart the computer.which the tech says will start with minimal background applications.
I thought that some needed to be left or it won't work right.
The next step given is to run msconfig again, and select 5 programs and enable only the symantec startup items and any other item that poitns to any of the symantec program folders and then restart the system.
Then I'm supposed to check for the error message. Except that I don't get an error message all the time. I was earlier today when it got really bad so I couldn't connect to the internet at all for a couple hours or more until I turned Norton off and I finally got it so I could connect again first to Firefox, and then after restarting again a time or 2 to Eudora.
The tech also did give a link to their website that is maybe a little more specific about what to check or uncheck, but not totally clear it does say to not disable those providing protection or some system files. It also is about system optimization--most of which I've already done and the part about removing threats only mentions using their software which I understand is inadequte for finding spyware. So it sounds like the tech is contradicting their website.
I only have 10 startup items checked and 1 or 2 look like Symantec, 3 I know what they are and I could temporarily disable them and most of the rest I don't know, but some I think are necessary system files.
It sounds like the symantec tech support is trying go through a process of elimination, in order to narrow the problem down to a specific program. That is probably a good idea, try disabling programs until your system's performance improves.
If you suspect that norton could be the problem, can you disable or temporarily uninstall it and see what happens?
Some other ideas that I have came across reading these forums regarding performance are:
Check your BIOS settings, these are settings that can be adjusted when your system is booting up. It depends what kind of system you have, on my dell dimension i have to press and hold F8 when the system is booting, in order to get at the BIOS settings. You can check with dell or look at your manual to find out how.
The settings in BIOS that could effect performance are your hard drive access, it should be set to DMA or UDMA for best performance. There may be other performance settings in there for your hard drive.
Also check the CPU settings, there may be a speed setting set to 'normal' or 'compatibale', it should be set to normal for best performance. If there is a setting for 'hyper-threading', try various settings to see if it effects performance.
Well, yesterday their ccApp part of Norton malfunctioned. I got an error message after something else froze and it mentioned that. I tried running live update for Norton several times until it said everything was fine (I have the automatic live update, but maybe that's just anti-virus, I'm not sure). After that I was not able to connect to the internet, either Eudora email or Firefox browser. And it even interferred with shutting down the computer. I tried shutting it down and instead of the normal shut down it sat there and eventually a message came up that ccApp was doing something. The first time I let it do its thing. AFterwards, I did a force shutdown manually and when it came up and I opened Firefox it created rules and it worked and eventuallyt he same for Eudora. But that was after wasting over 2 hours of my time when I was trying to get some important things done.
Besides that, it often is slow when I'm checking email. The little progress indicator will show that it has downloaded the stuff, but it will sit there, sometimes for another minute or 2 and sometimes it really hangs so I have to tell it to stop. I've also noticed when on the web lately, pages can be slow to load--and this is with high speed cable.
I know with email it checks stuff, including checking outgoing email for viruses. It just seems that it isn't very efficient at checking. It should be able to do that without slowing things down so much, and the same for the internet.
I've also had a number of times where for awhile it won't check email. When I first had trouble I thought it was my ISP, but I have now concluded that it wasn't. I've checked bandwidth and it checks out very fast--in fact it checked out faster than it supposed to be. I'm not concerned about the precise numbers but I think that means I have a reasonably fast connection like is supposed to happen with cable.
Maybe I should post a separate thread about Norton slowing down internet access. I've already turned off its anti spam and parental and privacy controls since I think at least the anti-spam was slowing things down and wasn't stopping the spam anyway. I think I should have stuck with the 2004 version that came as a 90 day trial with the computer. I thought I was upgrading and it should have been cheaper since there were rebates that should have made it free (which I haven't sent in yet and it might be too late.) I'm about ready to change security software except that I've heard that norton has security stuff built in so it is extremely difficult to get rid of.
I am in the same boat. My Dell 8400 with 1GB RAM has been running excruciatingly slow for the past two days. It started immediately after running Live Update on Norton Internet Security 2005. I think it is related. Symantec sent some suggestions including what they sent to you but it didn't help. I can't even open some programs at all. It takes about 15 minutes to reboot and when I go to open a program from the start menu I have to wait about 3 to 5 minutes for the submenus to open. I am at wits end. I have the feeling that if I call Dell, they are going to tell me to run the recovery and return the computer to it's native state. I really would prefer a fix. I do run antispyware programs but I uninstalled them today as I know that they can sometimes conflict with Norton (especially if they are releasing their own antispyware program). I did check for viruses but it came up clean. Anyone have any other ideas?
Which anti spyware programs are you running? I read an alert that there were some bogus ones that actually caused spyware. I think the FTC or someone got after some. And where did you get them from?
When I was waiting for this machine to arrive I purused the new user boards and read some really helpful info by Denny Denholm that recommended some antispyware programs. As I recall he recommended Adaware and Spybot. Both are free. Others including Dell recommend other programs, but I've read a lot of recommendations of Adaware.
I also use Firefox and before I switched from Internet Explorer Adaware and Spybot would find spyware they deemed a threat. Now they don't find any. I also use Eudora rather than Outlook or Outlook Express since hackers seemed to attack them more than others.
I had not heard of any conflicts between Norton and the antispyware programs and there had better not be since they don't really have a robust antispyware program yet.
Before I got this and Norton Internet Security 2004 that came with the machine, I was just using Norton Antivirus and I thought I was protected since it had some protection.
I don't remember having the problems with the 2004 version that came with the machine. I think I made a mistake when I "upgraded" to 2005. It looked better since it had more bells and whistles.
I had turned off some of the functions in Norton. I turned off anti spam--it didn't seem to be stopping it much anyway. Also privacy control and parental control.
When it wouldn't let me connect at all the other day and my isp tech support had me turn it off to check, I made sure I used Firefox since it seems to be safer and less vulnerable. Then I turned off the Internet Security when I checked email since I figured the antivirus protection was what was needed for that.
I think it might be better if we posted a separate post specifically mentioning Norton Internet Security 2005 and see what responses we get.
And I guess we could do an advanced search for it.
I was using Webroot Spysweeper which I got from AT&T worldnet, AOL spysweeper and Microsoft AntiSpyware. I keep the webroot program running all the time and use the other two several times a week to check for anything that spysweeper might have missed.
I agree about making this issue a separate post under Norton Internet Security 2005. It would be interesting to see how any others are afftected. Since my first e-mail from Symantec with their useless suggestions, they have not replied to my request for help. And I didn't even get nasty. I think they know they are the cause and they don't know how to fix it.
I did speak with Dell last night and they told me that since the system is instable, I should do a full restore to its original state although it might not work. If that is the case, I have to reinstall from the CDs. I am not a happy camper. This will be a major hassle. I will say that Dell was very co-operative and did try a whole bunch of things and make lots of suggestions. I also appreciated that the tech support person didn't treat me like an idiot.
Well, hopefully we will all get the answers that we are looking for. I have lots of data to back up and e-mail to print out before I do my restore. I will keep you posted on my outcome.
Hi, My name is Josh, i am 13 years of age, and i am usualy good with computers.. but, not this time. I Can NOT get rid of any spyware or adware using these following programs:
Ad-aware
Spybot
Webroot Spysweeper
Spy Hunter
Spy Doctor
Spy Warrior
But wait, These programs do get rid of the trjans,spyware and adware... and when i ran the next scan for all of these i have NO threats.. But, when i restart my computer.. EXACTLY the same adware and spyware are back again??
The programs that i'm currently using are:
Ad-aware
Spybot
AVG Anti Virus
Zone Alarm
I have tried all these things.. but nothing had worked. Also, One time when i turned on my computer.. my Desktop background was blue.. and Mozzila Firefox was default.
BUT i haven't had any crashes???
The computer that i am running is: Windows XP, Home Edition, Service Pack 2.
matt986
6 Posts
0
May 31st, 2005 16:00
delteco
7 Posts
0
May 31st, 2005 16:00
delteco
7 Posts
0
May 31st, 2005 17:00
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 05:00
I did what you suggested, and looked in Task mgr. CPU showed 99 idle. I also sorted by memory. But I don't know what all those things are.
Is Explorer IE, or Windows Explorer? Its got the second highest mem usage after Firefox and right above ccApp which I know is part of Norton.
What is svchost.exe? I see it listed several times, some as system and some as network host or local service. I suppose that is something needed.
Where would be the place to post questions about making Norton work better so it doesn't keep slowing things down so much, or to confirm that it is the culprit?
Since switching to Firefox browser (as recommended elsewhere on the forums) Adaware and Spybot (also previously helpfully recommended elsewhere on the forums) don't seem to find spyware or adware any more except the minimal kind like the ones that keep track of recently used files and web sites, etc.
I've basically followed the steps Dell recommends and with 1 GB RAM I would think I should be fine that way.
=======================================================
Inspiron 5160, 2.8 gHz with hyper threading, WinXP Home SP2, 1 GB RAM, Norton Internet security 2005, Adaware, Spybot, CD/RW DVD combo drive 60 GB, 4200, Hitachi warranty replacement HD.
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 05:00
How much RAM do you have? Have you followed the Dell recommendations? I assume you have anti virus protection. Do you have anti spyware protection? And other security protections? They say that spyware can really slow things down and of course viruses can too. And if you don't have enough memory (RAM) for the applications you are running that will slow things down.
If you had any questions on any of these basic issues I found very helpful info on the new user forums.
delteco
7 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 05:00
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 06:00
I tried Symantec, both the web and then email and I actually got a fairly quick response this time. I'm a little leary of the solution presented.
The tech is trying to help me search for conflicts and is telling me to use msconfig and to deselect all the programs and click ok and then restart the computer.which the tech says will start with minimal background applications.
I thought that some needed to be left or it won't work right.
The next step given is to run msconfig again, and select 5 programs and enable only the symantec startup items and any other item that poitns to any of the symantec program folders and then restart the system.
Then I'm supposed to check for the error message. Except that I don't get an error message all the time. I was earlier today when it got really bad so I couldn't connect to the internet at all for a couple hours or more until I turned Norton off and I finally got it so I could connect again first to Firefox, and then after restarting again a time or 2 to Eudora.
The tech also did give a link to their website that is maybe a little more specific about what to check or uncheck, but not totally clear it does say to not disable those providing protection or some system files. It also is about system optimization--most of which I've already done and the part about removing threats only mentions using their software which I understand is inadequte for finding spyware. So it sounds like the tech is contradicting their website.
I only have 10 startup items checked and 1 or 2 look like Symantec, 3 I know what they are and I could temporarily disable them and most of the rest I don't know, but some I think are necessary system files.
delteco
7 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 15:00
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
June 1st, 2005 20:00
Besides that, it often is slow when I'm checking email. The little progress indicator will show that it has downloaded the stuff, but it will sit there, sometimes for another minute or 2 and sometimes it really hangs so I have to tell it to stop. I've also noticed when on the web lately, pages can be slow to load--and this is with high speed cable.
I know with email it checks stuff, including checking outgoing email for viruses. It just seems that it isn't very efficient at checking. It should be able to do that without slowing things down so much, and the same for the internet.
I've also had a number of times where for awhile it won't check email. When I first had trouble I thought it was my ISP, but I have now concluded that it wasn't. I've checked bandwidth and it checks out very fast--in fact it checked out faster than it supposed to be. I'm not concerned about the precise numbers but I think that means I have a reasonably fast connection like is supposed to happen with cable.
Maybe I should post a separate thread about Norton slowing down internet access. I've already turned off its anti spam and parental and privacy controls since I think at least the anti-spam was slowing things down and wasn't stopping the spam anyway. I think I should have stuck with the 2004 version that came as a 90 day trial with the computer. I thought I was upgrading and it should have been cheaper since there were rebates that should have made it free (which I haven't sent in yet and it might be too late.) I'm about ready to change security software except that I've heard that norton has security stuff built in so it is extremely difficult to get rid of.
MarilynT
13 Posts
0
June 3rd, 2005 23:00
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
June 4th, 2005 04:00
When I was waiting for this machine to arrive I purused the new user boards and read some really helpful info by Denny Denholm that recommended some antispyware programs. As I recall he recommended Adaware and Spybot. Both are free. Others including Dell recommend other programs, but I've read a lot of recommendations of Adaware.
I also use Firefox and before I switched from Internet Explorer Adaware and Spybot would find spyware they deemed a threat. Now they don't find any. I also use Eudora rather than Outlook or Outlook Express since hackers seemed to attack them more than others.
I had not heard of any conflicts between Norton and the antispyware programs and there had better not be since they don't really have a robust antispyware program yet.
Before I got this and Norton Internet Security 2004 that came with the machine, I was just using Norton Antivirus and I thought I was protected since it had some protection.
I don't remember having the problems with the 2004 version that came with the machine. I think I made a mistake when I "upgraded" to 2005. It looked better since it had more bells and whistles.
I had turned off some of the functions in Norton. I turned off anti spam--it didn't seem to be stopping it much anyway. Also privacy control and parental control.
When it wouldn't let me connect at all the other day and my isp tech support had me turn it off to check, I made sure I used Firefox since it seems to be safer and less vulnerable. Then I turned off the Internet Security when I checked email since I figured the antivirus protection was what was needed for that.
I think it might be better if we posted a separate post specifically mentioning Norton Internet Security 2005 and see what responses we get.
And I guess we could do an advanced search for it.
MarilynT
13 Posts
0
June 4th, 2005 10:00
I was using Webroot Spysweeper which I got from AT&T worldnet, AOL spysweeper and Microsoft AntiSpyware. I keep the webroot program running all the time and use the other two several times a week to check for anything that spysweeper might have missed.
I agree about making this issue a separate post under Norton Internet Security 2005. It would be interesting to see how any others are afftected. Since my first e-mail from Symantec with their useless suggestions, they have not replied to my request for help. And I didn't even get nasty. I think they know they are the cause and they don't know how to fix it.
I did speak with Dell last night and they told me that since the system is instable, I should do a full restore to its original state although it might not work. If that is the case, I have to reinstall from the CDs. I am not a happy camper. This will be a major hassle. I will say that Dell was very co-operative and did try a whole bunch of things and make lots of suggestions. I also appreciated that the tech support person didn't treat me like an idiot.
Well, hopefully we will all get the answers that we are looking for. I have lots of data to back up and e-mail to print out before I do my restore. I will keep you posted on my outcome.
MarilynT
Spunking
1 Message
0
June 5th, 2005 00:00
Hi, My name is Josh, i am 13 years of age, and i am usualy good with computers.. but, not this time. I Can NOT get rid of any spyware or adware using these following programs:
Ad-aware
Spybot
Webroot Spysweeper
Spy Hunter
Spy Doctor
Spy Warrior
But wait, These programs do get rid of the trjans,spyware and adware... and when i ran the next scan for all of these i have NO threats.. But, when i restart my computer.. EXACTLY the same adware and spyware are back again??
The programs that i'm currently using are:
Ad-aware
Spybot
AVG Anti Virus
Zone Alarm
I have tried all these things.. but nothing had worked. Also, One time when i turned on my computer.. my Desktop background was blue.. and Mozzila Firefox was default.
BUT i haven't had any crashes???
The computer that i am running is: Windows XP, Home Edition, Service Pack 2.
I really need help.. and have been depressed
Any pro suggestions would be great