PC Health tools?

[locksmith]

Any free tools for checking and fixing slow PC's?
 
Used a "free" tools on the Dell site that scans your pc, tells you you've got 5000 problems and then wants £25 to fix it

[madmondeoman]

Easy al you need is cleaner download from piriform.com and malwarebytes both free and clear the crap the malware adware etc.  Ccleaner has a great registry tool as well

[locksmith]

Ooops that sounded familiar, had a look and I've already got it, running scans as I type

[madmondeoman]

   lol

[DryRob]

It's a bit extreme but why don't you back up the files you want to keep and format the memory? You'll need a boot disc and install files for all of the programs you use though

[pitternator]

yeah I have done this twice now( actually involuntarily as virus screwed up hard drive)...and the PC  then works very fast. As you load on programs it just slows it all down. Favourite is having two anti virus systems on your PB, or 2 firewalls. Takes ages for anything to happen.
Also many laptops have very little spare memory once all these programs are on it, best thing is to delete everything you really dont need.

[Sunny Intervals]

What browser are you using ?

I run firefox with Ad Block Ghostery and No Script add ons.

Stops me getting internet clap in the first place, prevention is always better than cure 

[Tefer]

Ccleaner from Piriform is good. I use Malewarebytes too, good for the occasional scan, had the free trial for full version but switched back to free. I use Avast free as my anti virus, never had a problem yet.


You can do a Google search and turn of some of the window's crap too, like defender, no point in it running with an current AV or Anti-Malware software.


Along with Ccleaner's Registry cleaner you have their version of the windows start-up control, you can check what's all running at start-up and disable or delete any unnecessary stuff like Google updates, adobe updates and that.


This site gives a good review of what can be disabled without effecting the OS. [size=78%]http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm[/size]

[pointer2null]

start->command prompt


Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>format c:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format (Y/N)?Y

[madmondeoman]

del *.* /s
 
 

[locksmith]

Cheers P2N, here we go start/commandprompt   Y  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running IE in XP (fully updated).
After running ccleaner it does start faster (wasn't really a problem) but I'm still getting slow internet activity.
When I click on a fresh site/page it seems to take a few seconds for the page to load.
Getting more often IE will freeze for 15/20 seconds.
On iplayer it keeps stuttering (not buffering).
I've got betwwen 6 and 10 megs of broadband speed.

It's not suddenly happened but has got worse as time as gone on. Is it simply a case of the hardware getting too old and slow? (PC is 5 yers old)

Any ideas

[pointer2null]

5 year old hardware should run xp fine.
If you have the install disks you could do a re-install. that always tends to speed things up and clear out the junk, but you will need quite a few hours to get all the updates installed.
What sort of spec is the hardware (specifically how muc memory and processor cores & speed)?
 

[locksmith]

Celeron 2.66ghz 1 gb ram onboard graphics intel 82865G
 
It wasn't anywhere near top spec when I bought it, it was cheap
It's used as my business pc so doesn't do much more than internet surfing .
It's been fine for years but is slowly getting slowly if you know what I mean.

[locksmith]

Should have added,

Whilst waiting for web pages to become active, the bar at the bottom says things like "wating for twitter things" or lines containing adserver names.

Sky sports web site must take 15 seconds before my mouse will work again and if you try to scroll the page it takes a second or two to catch up - very frustrating!!

[pointer2null]

It is a little old, but you could see an improvement by adding some memory - upgrade to 2GB (4 is better).
Crucial memory is usually the cheapest, and they provide an online scanner that tells you what memory they guarentee will work in your system
http://www.crucial.com/uk/systemscanner/
 
A lot of pages now are so full of junky ads that it slows them down a lot, both loading and viewing. I'm getting the same effect as you describe and this is a workstation (Dual six core intel 3GHz processors with hyperthreading (effectivly 24 cores) and 48GB ram - look up HP Z800 fully spec'd)!
 

[locksmith]

It says maximum memory supported is 2gb (£45) do you think it's worth trying. I guess a new pc going to cost 3 to 4 hundred.

[alan sherman]

Have you cleaned out the browser temp internet files?

Also try Google's chrome browser or Firefox.  Both seem quicker then internet explorer to me and both have spell check integrated so I don't look too illiterate for my online ramblings.

[Tefer]

It says maximum memory supported is 2gb (£45) do you think it's worth trying. I guess a new pc going to cost 3 to 4 hundred.

Check memory needed and then try ebuyer.com i think you can pick up value ram for less than crucial stuff.


I must admit i never use IE now, Chrome all the way.

[Slaninar]

Celeron 2.66Hz 1 GB ram onboard graphics intel 82865G
 
It wasn't anywhere near top spec when I bought it, it was cheap
It's used as my business pc so doesn't do much more than internet surfing .
It's been fine for years but is slowly getting slowly if you know what I mean.

Works OK:

http://antivirus.comodo.com/


I would suggest format, fresh XP SP3 (or Service Pack 2 at least), good antivirus and firewall.
Then install programs you need, Firefox and it should be OK.


Celeron, 1GB RAM - it could have some problems loading and processing pages with lots of flashy effects. But it should WORK OK. Perhaps 1GB RAM more could help, but it should be fine the way it is (for surfing at least). Just make sure it is virus and ad ware free and you don't run too many programs (especially "in the background") you don't need.

[Sunny Intervals]

Whilst waiting for web pages to become active, the bar at the bottom says things like "wating for twitter things" or lines containing adserver names.

Sky sports web site must take 15 seconds before my mouse will work again and if you try to scroll the page it takes a second or two to catch up - very frustrating!!

I run a Dell Dimension 2600 to watch Sky Go

Celeron 2.6 with 512mb memory.

XP Home Edition

I have the same problem with the Sky page, they just have too many Flash items running on that page 

The rest of the Internet I find pages load fine, but like I said above I run FireFox with the add ons that stop the Ads and crap being downloaded unless you give the browser permission to dwnload them.

The add on's can be annoying to start with, as you learn which things you would like downloaded and which you don't, but once you get used to them they are great. and you only get the bits of the pages that you want and not all the junk.

[locksmith]

Ordered some ram and will try different browsers.

[madmondeoman]

Run ccleaner let it clear the crap
Run the registry part as well
Clear system restore points
Defrag
More than 2 years since it was installed reinstall it.
Memory would make a difference, does anyone else have slow internet connections at yours?