Dell is slow, dont know the problem

Question

HI, i have a question or two. I have 638 mb of Ram,  and my computer was like lightening about 2 months ago. Now its hesetant, iv done everthing like downloaded 2 seperate memory boosters, internet speed increaser, have window washer, spybot, and also Adaware 6.0 SE. I do have a good amout of stuff downloaded, could this be the problem, and if so, do i have to go into every program and see if i want it or to delete it?   I will attempt to obtain my current stats and repost them, maybe that would help, such as the speed, memory at the current time , ect. I dont know what else to do, I restart my computer, ect, I also have no viruses,  I have a great antivirus program Zone alarms.     Would service pack two help. I currently have windows xp sp1. And everday i get an alert to download it?   gene

msil217 · Answer

First, I would Defragment the hard drive

Second, Run an Adaware scan.

Check your task manager. How many processes do you have running, and what is the CPU usage at idle?

Hope this helps.

Message Edited by msil217 on 11-03-2004 04:01 PM

Denny Denham · Answer

MindResearch2004, You say, 'iv done everthing like downloaded 2 seperate memory boosters, internet speed increaser.' With the amount of RAM you have there is no need for a memory booster and most Internet speed increasers are of little or no value. In addition to defragging as was recommended make sure you have run Disk Cleanup. If it were my system I'd get rid of the memory boosters and Internet speed increaser. Also, make sure that since you are running ZoneAlarm you are not also running XP's Internet Connection Firewall. You should install SP2 but since you have an Internet speed increaser I will assume that you are using a dial up connection. A better choice than downloading SP2 is ordering it on CD from here

Mary G · Answer

Zone Alarm is not an antivirus program. It's a Firewall with some email antivirus capabilities. You still need Norton Anti Virus or another brand.

dunedin · Answer

It is a good idea to run another virus/worm checker when you have any problems

Trojan Scan http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

Panda http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm

The number of programs you have downloaded should not slow you down as long as they are not running continually in the background when not in use.
You should check in msconfig for this. You can disable progams which are not needed to run at bootup
Go site below and disable all such programs as they can really slow you down
Start/Run/ msconfig, keep the page open then go to link below.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html

Read the Key at foot of page, then click on “Here” at top. Use the Search box to check all your entries

SP2

It is your choice whether to install it or not, but it will not speed up a slow system. You have some sort of problem which you will have to fix, Also the only way to install SP2 is to a squeaky clean system or with a clean reinstall of XP. To download it to your present system would produce even more problems.

Do you have Automatic Updates enabled? If XP has been downloading SP2 in the background, this will have made your system vey slow and I know that this download can take ages. Is it being downloaded automatically? Has it finished downloading or is it still happening? This could be the cause of your problem

dallascowboyswo · Answer

If you go to Start>Run> msconfig and then you want to remove what is in the background. You will first need to know what these programs are you can find out here what the programs are that are running in the background and wether you should keep them or not.

Inspiron 5100
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.66GHZ
512 MB RAM
32 MB MOBILITY RADEON 7500C
40 GB Fujitsu HD
QSI CDRW/DVD SBW-242
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated NIC
WPC54GS Linksys w/speedbooster wireless nic
BCM V.92 56k Modem
SigmaTel C-Major Audio
Bios ver. A29
Win XP Home SP2
pur. Jan 2004

BillDill523 · Answer

MindResearch2004:

If that Internet speed booster you installed is "Download Accelerator Plus" ( by Speedbit) get rid of it promptly and immediately run a spyware check. I tried that software, and boy, what a waste of time! A grave mistake, too. During the installation process it placed 8 spyware files in my registry; 6 sneaky tracking devices in my cookies folder; and a trojan horse rode in piggy-back and installed itself on my harddrive. It took about an hour to get rid of everything and to make sure my computer was clean again. Just remember, you will not get too much increase in internet speed--from any source--using a 56k dial-up connection. Some ISPs may seem a bit speedier by a point or two but either cable or DSL will actually provide you with the best hookups. Also, if you are using the latest version of Zone Alarm free, that may be causing some slowdown and/or freezes/lockups. In fact, the more utilities you install, the slower your computer becomes. Hope this helps. Good Luck, and regards.

Bill D

msil217 · Answer

I agree. If your connection speed is 28.8 like mine, or 56K dial-up, software will not make the connection speed faster.   I use Download express because I sometimes have problems with files downloading completely. And the ability to resume a download that is interrupted.   Download express does not seem to increase the speed of downloads, either, even though they pull files from several servers.   It just makes downloading more successful.

Windows General

Dell is slow, dont know the problem

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