Posted on 01/11/2007 10:12:41 AM PST by LouAvul
Fragmented disk, spyware, memory resident programs.
Maybe you haven't logged in...
I mean, hey, I used to be able to go out and party and dance until 2 a.m. and not even suffer the next day at work. Not anymore.
(Maybe your cache needs to be cleaned out?)
"memory resident programs
What are they?
I installed SP2 with Norton Internet Protection and had to unistall SP2 because it slowed my computer down.
Norton is a resource hog.
I installed symantic
Ditch Norton and get AVG. Your computer's performance will return immediately.
symantic does slow the computer down.
Also, If you have ANY AOL programs on your computer, Symantic acts as a cover for computer to computer networking.
Also, for good measures, dump temp files, ensure you don't have programs running in the background, do file maintanence and check if Google Tool Bar has installed inself. It launches and runs in the background and you don't even realize it.
At my stage in life, most men buy a Corvette. I just installed Service Pack2. :(
Clean your cookies 3-4 x a week and run maintenence on your computer weekly or at least 2 x month.
If you toss your cookies 3-4 times a week, does it make you bulimic?
Mostly they are started via the Startup group (Start/All Programs/Startup), others get added to the services list. There are a few apps that will allow you to change what gets started, but if it shows up in the system tray it should be configurable to not automatically run. Google msconfig for proper use - it will do the trick for what gets started at boot time.
In my experience a fragmented disk will have more bearing on performance than memory resident programs.
It's also important to have your swap file properly configured for optimum performance. Rule of thumb is swap file size = 1.5 times the amount of RAM. If you have 1gig of RAM, you should have your swap file size be 1.5gig.
But then I installed symantic and that slowed it somewhat.
Question asked, question answered. Symantec is system-hogging bloatware that is easily replaced with free programs that are more efficient and less intrusive. Symantec is a blight on any computer it comes into contact with.
Start > Run > Type msconfig > Hit OK or Enter > System Config Utility will pop up > Click the "Startup" tab > Uncheck anything you don't need. You probably have quite a few things checked that you don't need running. Most folks do.
Download and install Service Pack 2. Then install Ad Aware and Spybot. Run both one after the other, to remove most of the spyware on your system. Then download and install AVG Personal Edition. Remove Symantec.
Atleast, this was what I was suggested to do, when I too experienced the same problems in my otherwise-smooth PC. It worked for me!
Except for anti-virus, get rid of Norton. Don't go without XP SP-2, a lot of security updates require that it be installed first.
Had an IT guy work on my machine to find out why it stalled when we had network problems. After fixing broken dll files, reinstalled SP-2 and something like 60 MS security updates were downloaded.
My bottom line is that with Windows firewall (comes with SP-2), antivirus, and a couple of free anti-spyware/adware programs, the computer works just fine.
A disk optimization program (aka Crap Cleaner) may be worth a try. I used something similar and it did seem to help.
http://www.ccleaner.com
Also run ad-a-ware to make sure you don't have tracking cookies or some other spyware slowing you down. I run two spyware programs every day because I found the program I bought and installed does not catch certain things that Ad-a-ware does.
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