JoelP
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| posted on 27/2/06 at 11:12 PM |
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Slow computer
its really starting to bug me.
It takes forever to load pages, spybot cant even manage an update within 15 mins, check the log and its full of 'checksum doesnt add up's.
I ran the trendmicro house call, what a pisstake. It took about 3 hours, and when i tried to use it to delete a few things it started searching again
- are they having a larf?
Theres too much stuff on the desktop on doubt, but it cant make that much difference can it?
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mookaloid
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| posted on 27/2/06 at 11:43 PM |
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is your hard drive too full?
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gingerprince
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| posted on 27/2/06 at 11:49 PM |
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When did you reinstall? I routinely reinstall my laptop, probably every 6-12 months depending on how much I add/remove in that time. Winblows is
just crap and gets full of stuff.
I now have a Ghost image of a "clean build" that I revert to, so rebuilding doesn't take anywhere near as long.
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tadltd
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 01:42 AM |
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I had this problem a while back, and found it was something to do with a file called 'spoolsv.exe', a printer spooling program that is
shipped with WinXP.
If you ctrl-alt-del to get the Task Manager to open, then click on the Processes tab, scroll down and have a look for that file. If it's running
you will probably see that it uses 99% of the CPU. Click on it and then click 'end process'. It may start up a few times again. If it does
it means theres a file queued up to be printed somewhere on the machine! You have to delete all the queued printer files for it to behave itself.
Do a google search on the file name for more info.
Best Regards,
Steve.
www.turnerautosport.com
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pbura
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 03:11 AM |
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Last week, I cleaned up a relative's computer that had trojans that interfered with Spybot and House Call.
First, do Start>Run from the Start menu and type 'msconfig'. Click the Startup tab and uncheck everything, except your antivirus
program. Click OK and restart your computer.
AVG Antivirus (free) picked up the bugs that were blocking House Call. Here's a link for it:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
After you get your computer clean, run Windows Update. There has been a slew of security updates released recently. The computer I worked on
hadn't been updated in a couple of years and needed nearly 40 patches.
Good luck!
Pete
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Humbug
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 07:23 AM |
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A useful free tool is Crap Cleaner to get rid of temporary files, etc.
http://www.ccleaner.com
It's also worth checking if the hard disk needs defragmenting:
Start button->Programs->Accessories->SYstem Tools->Disk Defragmenter on a standard XP installation
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JoelP
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 05:00 PM |
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disc has about 6GB out of 20 left unused, so not that. Ive never reinstalled, and its about 4 years old, so that could be it. 'spoolsv' is
running, and keeps coming back, but it says CPU usage is zero. I've got AVG but it never finds anything, i'll try that startup stuff first
in a minute
im downloading crapcleaner now
cheers!
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flak monkey
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 05:10 PM |
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Clear all of your temp files and if you can find them the index.dat files which are scattered around your hard drive - they are hidden system files
(the files which keep a log of everything you do, ever pretty much, after a while they get huge, but they are a pain to delete and need to be erased
in dos usually...problem if you have XP)
Run a full scan disc and defrag
If you run spybot it will find any registry keys missing hooks in advanced mode and you can then just delete them.
Start using Opera or Firefox to browse the net.
Before you do any of the clean up, unistall anything you havent used for a few months, and make sure you delete all the crap and folders things leave
behind after they have uninstalled. You can oik out the registry entries with either spybot or regcleaner (attached i hope).
That should see you speeded up a fair bit without any drastic measures. The best way to do it is a full reformat, but it takes a while if you dont
know what you are doing...
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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JoelP
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 10:05 PM |
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what should i do with the regcleaner? it comes up with about 100 entries on the register. Whats the concequences of removing something thats still
needed?!  cheers david.
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flak monkey
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 10:10 PM |
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Oh yes, i should mention be carfeul what you remove with it. It should only pick up installed applications and not windows critical stuff. Look
through the list of entries to see if theres anything in there that you have uninstalled and its left reg entries behind.
Theres also a start-up tab which lists all the programs you have loading when windows boots. Disable any that arent installed anymore, or that you
dont want to run.
Any changes you do make are saved in the backup tab, and can be restored from there as well.
Just be reasonably careful though.
David
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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JoelP
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 10:15 PM |
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i went through the msconfig thing on the startup menu and turned it all off, to be honest theres nothing i want on the list?! Plus i never uninstall
things, maybe its time i had a clearout!
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JoelP
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 10:22 PM |
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theres too many things i dont recognise 
on the bright side, its speeded up a bit now
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flak monkey
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| posted on 28/2/06 at 10:35 PM |
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If you dont recognise it, leave it well alone. There is a way to get the full registry directry of any entry:
Right click on any entry and click 'advanced' and it will tell you the registry path to it, it mught give you more clues as to what it
could be.
Glad its speeding up a bit!
David
[Edited on 28/2/06 by flak monkey]
Sera
http://www.motosera.com
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trogdor
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| posted on 4/3/06 at 11:58 PM |
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the best advice to do would be to format the hard drive and reinstall everything! i am amazed how quickly the computer goes whenever i do it.
that said it is alot of hassle and it should be a last resort. i have learnt the hard way to look after my comp and not let it get full up with
programs that arent used or old documents or temp files.
i reguarly go through my programs list and delete anything i don't use then defrag and clean up my files.
hope u can get the comp clean without a reinstall!
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JoelP
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| posted on 5/3/06 at 10:53 PM |
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me too, since its a bent copy of windows im on and i lost the disc!
Might be time for an upgrade.
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trogdor
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| posted on 6/3/06 at 12:47 AM |
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is there any other type of copy of windows?
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tweek
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| posted on 8/3/06 at 11:03 PM |
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hit ctrl-alt-delete and bring up the task manager, click processes, with no other windows open there should be no more than about 40 processes
running, if there is go through every process and type each process name into google, it should bring up info on what the process is, whether its
nasty or not and how to get rid of it if it's bad.
that might help.
"oh dear..." said god,
"I hadn't thought of that"
and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic
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