Slow computer - what to do?

[johnrudgett]

My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running Windows Vista.

He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over 90% of his hard drive free.

What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you recommend one over the other?

I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh, he has Norton installed for virus scanning.

Thanks for your advice.

John Rudgett

(a concerned uncle)

"johnrudgett" <johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com> wrote in message
news:johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com...
>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.
>
> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?
>
> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.
>
> Thanks for your advice.
>
> John Rudgett
>
> (a concerned uncle)
>
>


See the replies to the previous thread (Magoo)

[HappyAndyK]

Originally Posted by johnrudgett

My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running Windows Vista.

He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over 90% of his hard drive free.

What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you recommend one over the other?

I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh, he has Norton installed for virus scanning.

Thanks for your advice.

John Rudgett

(a concerned uncle)

Is it a Vista OEM install ? Then removing unwanted startups and uninstalling programs / trialware would be one good way to start.

Make Vista Start, Run, Shutdown Faster ! & Remove crapware from your Windows Vista Computer may interest you.

Using the Registry Cleaner and a Registry Defragger would not result in any performance increase; however if you install/uninstall programs frequently, only then should you consider using one and that too, more from the point of good house-keeping.

CCleaner & Auslogics are safe and good freeware that I too use occasionally.

first thing i'd do is take off Norton, vista and Norton don't work to
well together. that should speed things up . also try this link ( 'Speed
Up the Performance of Vista'
(http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81...nce-vista.html)
).
scrooge


--
scrooge

ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP P35 ATX Intel
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 / 3.00 GHz processor
SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870 512MB
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB)
Thermaltake Toughpower 600W Power Supply

"johnrudgett" <johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com> wrote in message
news:johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com...
>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it.


If it has slowed down, he should not blame it on Vista. The reason it has
slowed down can only be what he has done or what he has allowed to happen,
by not running adequate prevention software (see below).


> I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.


If he had loaded it with music and videos, that would *not* be the reason
for the slowdown. The amount of the drive that is free is unrelated to his
speed. What affects speed is what hardware you have and what software you
are running (not what's on the drive).


> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem,


That's highly unlikely.


> and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?


Avoid them *all*. Although you will undoubtedly get messages from some
people here who disagree, registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil.
Cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry
alone and don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think,
and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may
have.


> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.


Two points:

1. Norton is the *worst* antivirus program on the market. If it didn't find
any viruses, there's a fair chance that there aren't any, but it itself
performs poorly and may well be one of the things slowing him down.

2. You don't say anything about his running anti-spyware software, so my
guess is that his problem is spyware infection. He should run at least two
of the better anti-spyware programs available.

His first step in addressing his problem should be scanning with
anti-spyware software.

The second step should be investigating what background programs he has
starting automatically.

Hi,

Chances are good that he's installed all sorts of stuff by now. This would
likely include spyware/malware, programs that have inserted themselves into
the startup axis, and potentially some viruses. Young people and P2P
applications in particular are a dangerous mix. It's not registry errors,
and so-called cleaners are not the solution. Malware cleanup more likely is,
this wite can help:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware

Also, Norton's software, while highly rated, also is known it inhibit system
performance. Once cleaned up, he may want to look into alternative antivirus
solutions that have a smaller footprint on system resources.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"johnrudgett" <johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com> wrote in message
news:johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com...
>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.
>
> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?
>
> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.
>
> Thanks for your advice.
>
> John Rudgett
>
> (a concerned uncle)
>
>
> --
> johnrudgett
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> johnrudgett's Profile: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/member.php?userid=833
> View this thread: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26097
>

Most registry cleaners that you see advertised on the web have allot of
false claims to make you download a free trial which will show many
errors but will not fix them unless you buy the full program.

Most of these registry cleaner when used to fix errors will probably
leave you worse off then when you first started and will sometimes
completely corrupt your whole registry usually only leaving you the
option of a restore or a complete reinstall.

The most likely cause of your problem would be some sort of Malware or
Virus that might be slowing things down.

Does your friend have decent virus protection and firewall I would
suggest using Avast for your virus software and COMODO firewall, that's
what I am using and have not had any problems with it.

It may also be some sort of hardware related driver issue or a program
incompatibility, and if he is using allot of apps that might also slow
down his system depending on the processor and amount of memory he has
installed.

Just because he has allot of hard drive space free doesn't mean he
can't still have allot of programs running and some programs can use
allot more memory than others, a good program to have is CCleaner as you
can go to Tools and stop programs you don't want to start when windows
starts.

Here are the programs that try to start on my computer and you can see
what I have disabled.


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: 2008-11-11_223820.jpg |
|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7843 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
Mr GRiM

'[image: http://valid.x86-secret.com/cache/banner/423964.png]'
(http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc.php?id=423964)
::*If you feel I have helped, tip the scales! Thank You!*::

Just use Process Explorer or Windows Task Manager to see what process(es)
slow down the laptop. You did not mention how much RAM is installed, Vista
score, Performance and Reliability reports etc.
New driver installed via Windows Update might also be at fault.
Michael

"johnrudgett" <johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com> wrote in message
news:johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com...
>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.
>
> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?
>
> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.
>
> Thanks for your advice.
>
> John Rudgett
>
> (a concerned uncle)
>
>
> --
> johnrudgett
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> johnrudgett's Profile: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/member.php?userid=833
> View this thread: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26097
>

"johnrudgett" <johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com> wrote in message
news:johnrudgett.3ipmxw@winvistaclub.com...
>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.
>
> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?
>
> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.
>
> Thanks for your advice.
>
> John Rudgett
>
> (a concerned uncle)
>
>
> --
> johnrudgett
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> johnrudgett's Profile: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/member.php?userid=833
> View this thread: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26097
>


If he was pleased with it at the start, then Vista or what is WAS in startup
are not the problem.

Look to programs which the user has installed since the beginning. Right
click on the icons in the notification area and select properties. There may
well be an option to uncheck 'start with Windows'.

Internet Explorer works better of 3rd party toolbars are not installed.

Remove Norton 'Anything' and replace it with AVG or Avast free versions.

Download and install Malwarebytes. Run it in safe mode, then again in normal
mode. Presently, it is the best on the lot.

Get the free version of WinPatrol. Among other things, it pops up a warning
if a program is trying to install itself into Start-up.

Run Disk Cleanup and Defragmenter now and again. Avoid registry cleaners
unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing with them..

Report back after doing al of the above..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

John, first off: DON'T use Registry Cleaners.
They do more harm than good.
Only way to work in the Registry is manually: if you don't know, don't touch
it.

Norton is bloatware, and is a resource-hungry Anti-virus Program.
My advice:
Remove Norton; and install Avast Anti-virus, along with the other Programs
listed below: Spybot Search & Destroy, and Malwarebytes, SpywareBlaster.
Slowness is often caused by Spyware/Malware, so do a scan with the Programs,
Spybot S & D and Malwarebytes.

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html

Avast Anti-Virus is XP and Vista compatible (32bit and 64bit Versions),
FREE, auto-updating, and a low resources user of your computer.
And, only have 1(one) Anti-Virus installed / running on your computer at any
one time..
Conflicts may occur if you have more than 1(one).

http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html

Spybot Search & Destroy 1.6 is a very good, FREE Anti-Spyware Program.
Download, install, update, and immunize your System with it.
Then SCAN with it.
Update it, and scan your System once a fortnight.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

SpywareBlaster 4.1 is a non-intrusive, FREE Anti-Spyware Program (no
scanning by you!).
SpywareBlaster prevents the installation of many so-called spyware, adware
and malware programs by disabling the CLSIDs of popular spyware ActiveX
controls, and also prevents the installation of any of them via a webpage
Update it once a fortnight.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Malwarebytes is as the name says, a Malware Remover!
For the Free version scroll down their page to either download from
Download.com, or Major Geeks.com

Download, install, and update.

--
Mad Mike


"johnrudgett" wrote:

>
> My cousin's son got the latest model laptop a few months ago. Running
> Windows Vista.
>
> He was thrilled about it - but now he's very disappointed. It seems
> his machine has slowed down a lot from when he first got it. I thought
> he had loaded it with music and videos, but when I looked, he's got over
> 90% of his hard drive free.
>
> What could be causing his machine to run slow? I've heard about
> registry errors causing this problem, and been researching registry
> cleaning software. Came across some review sites, not sure how reliable
> they are. Have you used any of these cleaning software, and can you
> recommend one over the other?
>
> I'd love to help my nephew get his laptop back up to speed again. Oh,
> he has Norton installed for virus scanning.
>
> Thanks for your advice.
>
> John Rudgett
>
> (a concerned uncle)
>
>
> --
> johnrudgett
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> johnrudgett's Profile: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/member.php?userid=833
> View this thread: http://winvistaclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26097
>
>