Why is my computer running slow?

[pmb_phy]

My computer can run real slow sometimes. I try to do something as simple as open Windows Explorer and it takes a while to start up, too long in fact.

But what is really really really bad is Kaza. Does anyone have Kaza? When that damn thing is running it takes forever to do something as simple as minimize a window. It just sits there and spins its wheels.

What's going on?

Pete

 

[Chen]

Kazaa is known to be very resource intensive and malware infected. There's really no going back once you install it, even the best anti-malware programs can't clean your computer completely. So that's one reason your computer may be running slow, even when Kazaa is not actively running. Another reason is lack of RAM, insufficient free disk space, fragmented hard drive or slow hard drive.

I don't know how big your disk is, but make sure you have around 20% of it free. Delete any large files you don't need (I suppose you have a few if you use Kazaa much...), and defragment your hard drive. All of this will ensure Windows has enough disk space to use for memory when your RAM is not enough, as well as ensure the space is not scattered all over the disk but rather concentrated in one big spot.

But bear in mind that your computer may be just slow, period. I have a Mobile Pentium 4 1.6GHz with 512MB RAM and 60GB and it is just too slow for me. I don't know if it's because of the programs I install or use, but even simple operations sometimes take ages to run. There's nothing anyone can do about this. Personally I think it's partially due to Windows XP, in my opinion it's slower than say Windows 2000. But this computer is almost 2 years old, which is why I'm replacing it this summer with a new laptop - P4 3.2GHz with 1GB RAM. Hopefully that will be enough.

 

[pmb_phy]

Kazaa is known to be very resource intensive and malware infected. There's really no going back once you install it, even the best anti-malware programs can't clean your computer completely.

Thanks. That damn Kaza pisses me off big time. Now you're saying that even if I remove it, it will still leave it messed up? How about if I use Ad Aware? Maybe it dumped a bunch of junk like that on my system and using Ad Aware will help clean it off?

It's been a while since I defragged my hard drive. I'll do that today.

I have a 3 gig HDs partitioned into two 1.5 gig HDs.

Could there be a problem with virtual memory? Doesn't the computer use disk space as a ram kinda sorta? It has a finite amount of space for that right? Seems to me that the smaller that space the slower the computer. Is that correct?

1.6GHzz is too slow? I recall my early days of computing when my friends computer operated at a blinding speed of 4 kHz and a whopping Ram space of 16 Kb.

It's all Bill Gate's fault. Double the speed and memory and he'll assume he has use of more than double that space and then he'll use it all up.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Chen]

Ad Aware will probably find most of the malware Kazaa installed, but not all. And even those that are removed are sometimes installed back automatically whenever you restart the computer. I'm sure there are ways to overcome this, but they probably involve editing the registry manually and deleting all sorts of keys.

3GB is extremely small... assuming most it is already taken, Windows has very little space to use as virtual memory (to compensate for insufficient RAM). You can adjust these settings on Windows XP by right-clicking the My Computer icon on the desktop and selecting Properties. There go to the Advanced tab and click Settings under the Performance group. Again go to the Advanced tab and click the Change button. There you can change the minimum and maximum amount of disk space Windows will be allowed to use for virtual memory. For example, I allow it to go between 1GB and 2GB, but that's because I have a 60GB drive. I'm not sure how much you can afford with a 3GB drive...

And yes, 1.6GHz is too slow (in my eyes) for modern applications. You didn't run Photoshop on that 4KHz computer, did you?

 

[dduardo]

What operating system are you using? There are many ways to speed up windows xp. For instance, turn off all the effects. Also turn off system restore and turn off services you don't use.

Also, what processor? If you got one of those cheap celerons or durons you got ripped off. The internal cache is very small and your computer will inherently be slow.

 

[DarkAnt]

run spybot as well as adaware

 

[pmb_phy]

What operating system are you using? There are many ways to speed up windows xp. For instance, turn off all the effects. Also turn off system restore and turn off services you don't use.

Also, what processor? If you got one of those cheap celerons or durons you got ripped off. The internal cache is very small and your computer will inherently be slow.

Model: HP Vectra
CPU: Intel Pentium II
Speed: 347 MHz
Ram: 128 MB
Operating system: Windows XP

How do I
(1) Turn off all effects
(2) Turn off system restore
(3) Turn off services I don't use (i.e. what are they, how do I determine them etc.)

Pete

 

[dduardo]

Time to upgrade don't you think? Windows XP wasn't designed to run on such an old system. I would suggest going back to windows 98.

If all you have is windows xp then here is a website that will guide you making your operating system faster by turning off effects, system restore, etc...

http://www.cae.wisc.edu/fsg/winxp/winxp-tweaks.html

 

[pmb_phy]

Time to upgrade don't you think?

As soon as I get back to the workplace that will be one of the first things I'll want to get.

Thanks for the info. To utilize that website I need to know the size of my registry. How do I determine that?

Thanks

Pete

 

[Chen]

:surprise: If I'm complaining about Windows' speed with my specs, I can't imagine what you must be going through!

 

[dduardo]

The registry isn't that big. It is just text so give it an extra 8MB or somthing.

The page I gave you above doesn't talk about turning off services. It is actually quite easy. Just go into the control panel->admistrative tools->services. On the page it will give you a description of what each service does. Things like messenger, remote registry editting, etc you can turn off and disable at startup. Just read the descriptions and make up your mind if you need it.

Here is a guide that can help you decide which services you need:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

You can also speed up your computer by turning off system restore:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];310405

 

[pmb_phy]

I suppose this would just be easier if I find something better than Kaza. Any suggestions?

Pete

 

[Chen]

http://www.slyck.com/irc.php .

 

[pmb_phy]

http://www.slyck.com/irc.php .

I'm asking about something to replace Kaza. That program didn't seem comparable to it. I tried it and it seemed like too much of a pain to use. In fact I couldn't see how to download music with it.

Pete

 

[Chen]

You could try WinMX for music but I would still recommend IRC and newsgroups over anything else. Dedicate 30 minutes and see the light.

 

[pmb_phy]

You could try WinMX for music but I would still recommend IRC and newsgroups over anything else. Dedicate 30 minutes and see the light.

WinMX ! That's the one whose name I couldn't recall. Thanks!

Pete

ps - I'll give that a try too

 

[chroot]

Newsgroups are the best way, period. There is absolutely no contest from either IRC or any of the lame peer-to-peer programs. You've been told better ways to get music; if you don't want to listen our suggestions, don't ask for them.

Get an account on easynews.com, or, if you prefer, astraweb or UNS, and enjoy.

- Warren

 

[pmb_phy]

Newsgroups are the best way, period. There is absolutely no contest from either IRC or any of the lame peer-to-peer programs. You've been told better ways to get music; if you don't want to listen our suggestions, don't ask for them.

Get an account on easynews.com, or, if you prefer, astraweb or UNS, and enjoy.

- Warren

What's with the snide attitude? I asked if anyone had a suggestion for something to replace kaxa. Do you know what a suggestion is? It's to an offer for consideration. It is not a request for someone to tell me what to do whether like their idea or not regardless of whether I think its a bad idea or not. Listening to a suggestion means to hear or read that that suggestion and then come to understand it. That is precisely what I did. I read what Chen wrote. I downloaded and installed it and tried it. I then explained to Chen in more detail what I was looking for. I reminded him that I was replacing Kaza. One of the things I used Kaza for was to download music. Another thing I used it for was toi download e-books and video clips and I plan on looking for software etc in the future. With that in mind Chen then gave me exactly what I wanted WinMX. That is precisely the program I was looking for but I couldn't recall the name if my life depended on it. You may have your own personal opinion whether this is the correct choice for me but that is at most what it is - your opinion. I am in a much better position to determine what my needs are and what my desires are and what things I prefer etc. However since Chen went on to emphasize the IRC/newsgroups I told him I'd look at it too, i.e. in addition to WinMX.

Try not to be so judgemental in the future and keep that when someone asks you for a suggestion that they are not asking you to run their life for them.

 

[chroot]

You're still making a stupid decision. Do whatever you want.

- Warren

 

[pmb_phy]

You're still making a stupid decision. Do whatever you want.

- Warren

The only stupid decision I've ever made was deciding that it was possible for you to actually be reasonable and less arrogant someday. I now see that was bad decision.

Had I actually decided to take your advice ... now that'd be a stupid decision.

 

[killerinstinct]

Try manipulating some cookies, delete some unuseful programs, and keep you desktop decimal. It will save a bunch of memory. And defrag once in a while.

 

[killerinstinct]

Try manipulating some cookies, delete some unuseful programs, and keep you desktop decimal. It will save a bunch of memory. And defrag once in a while.

 

[pmb_phy]

What does " keep you desktop decimal" mean?

 

[Pattielli]

Killinstinct, do you have some problem with your internet connection ?
Why your doubled post's time is far different from the first one's !
You know, I am afraid that some will be deleted when casting or forcing is being APPLIED !

 

[Mudvaynelethaldosage]

I have had similar sounding problems. I can't really say due to lack of info. I have a 35omhz pentium 2 on Windows ME (started on 98, but made the mistake of going to ME). A 56k dial up modem with aol. 7.83 gig hard drive. 320mb of ram.
Try disk cleanup, then defrag. Be sure to check for spyware and adware. That slowed my pc down so much, it was almost impossible to download something to fix it. I could provide a lot more help with more info on your hardware and software. I haven't read the whole thread, so you may have posted your system setup already. For the spyware and adware, try the 30 day trial for System Mechanic. It's easy and very powerful. Be careful, you can really **** up your pc if you're not careful and don't understand what you're doing.

 

[Artman]

Your system is only slightly above the minimum requirements for XP. In addition to the good suggestions above, an increase in RAM should help, with enough RAM your system will not have to rely to heavily on virtual memory, (which is a lot slower than RAM, and could really be slowing you down). RAM is fairly cheap right now if your computer can handle more.

 

[Luminous Blob]

I'm asking about something to replace Kaza. That program didn't seem comparable to it. I tried it and it seemed like too much of a pain to use. In fact I couldn't see how to download music with it.

Pete

Try Soulseek. It is leagues above Kazaa when it comes to finding good quality and hard-to-find music to download.

Also, you might want to check out bittorrent. Visit www.suprnova.org[/url] (not to be confused with [url]www.supernova.org[/URL]) which has a good list of torrents available for download. Check out the "music" link at the top of the page to see if any of the music you're after is available (the main page only displays the newest torrents).

 

[username]

My favourite peer-to-peer software is dc++, c my last post
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=28998

For downloading binary files from newsgroups I use
http://www.newsrover.com/

EDIT: I have yet to see 2 gig binary posts in newsgroups