What slows down a computer?

[adrianlewis]

Thought it might be interesting to find out people's differing views on the major factors that ovber time slow down the average users computers and wether anyone has any special tips or tricks to improve speed and space?

Adrian

[jmatt]

Here is my routine .

1st step , run a virus check from 1 of these & then give it a good clean out .
Online Virus check ( free )
http://housecall.antivirus.com/
http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm
http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php
http://www.pandasoftware.es/activesc...vescan-com.asp

------------------------------

From Windows Explorer , Delete all the files ( except the read only file )
in Windows > Applog . Taskmon will rebuild the Applog file .
http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1

To view Applog , do this .
Windows Explorer > View > Folder Options > View , click on Show all files . Click OK .
http://www.windows-help.net/windows98/start-17.shtml

If you have plenty of memory , disable Taskmon .
Start > Run , type in msconfig & press Enter .
Click on Startup & untick TaskMonitor .

-------------------------------

Run Scandisk Standard ( do not Tick > Automatically fix errors )
Scandisk log records the errors .
http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/scandisk.htm

-----------------------------

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;en-us;q158705
How to Disable the Find Fast Indexer

http://www.remainsecure.com/whitepap...g/mshidden.htm

8. THE TRUTH ABOUT FIND FAST

-----------------------------------------------

http://support.microsoft.com/default...S;q259161&FR=1
Computer Speed and Performance May Decrease
The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 95

-----------------------------

Streamling startups .
http://www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk...g_startups.htm
http://ww2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Uncheck.htm
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm
http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/startup/start4.shtml
http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Running_items.htm
http://www.djbdesigns.com/wtvzone/startup.html

------------------------------

You can protect your comp from Spyfiles by using these 2 programs together .

http://beam.to/spybotsd
What does SpyBot-Search & Destroy?

SpyBot-S&D searches your hard drive for so-called spy- or adbots; little modules that are
responsible for the ads many programs display. But many of these modules also transmit
information about your surfing behaviour and more to the net.
If SpyBot-S&D finds such modules, it can remove them - or replace them with empty dummies in
case their host software won't run with its bot removed. In most cases, the host still runs
fine after removing the bot.
For a list of 'supported' bots see the feature lists below. The Spybot-S&D interface is so
easy, that updates just require replacing a file of about 80k in size. Those updates are
distributed by my software mailinglist, over this page and are also available from inside the
programs update section.

Another feature of Spybot S&D is the removal of usage tracks, which makes it more complicated
for unknown spybots to transmit useful data. The list of last visited websites, opened files,
started programs, cookies, all that and more can be cleaned. Supported are the three major
browsers Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator and Opera.

Last but not least Spybot-S&D contains some routines to find and correct invalid entries into
the registry.

Red entries indicate spyware problems that should be fixed to avoid security and/or privacy
problems. This is the only kind of problem that is preselected to be fixed.

Black entries are system internals. If you do not know what they mean, I would suggest to either
keep your fingers from it or visit the support forum.

Green entries indicate usage tracks. It can do no harm to remove these.

I personally only remove the Red entries as the Green entries remove items I use .

Make sure you use the SpyBot > Online > Update button regularly .

-----------------------------

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

SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.

How? By setting a "kill bit" for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the
installation of any of them from a webpage. You can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled,
but you will never even get a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X
control (Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X controls or
plug-ins will work fine.

The SpywareBlaster database contains information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make
sure you run the Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make sure
you check the new items to protect your system against them!)

As a side benefit, setting this "kill bit" will also prevent the spyware Active-X from running,
in many cases, if it is already installed on your system.*

--------------------------------

http://shellcity.net/cgi-bin/DB_Sear...=yes&alpha=0-9
http://www.1cleanup.com/
http://www.1cleanup.com/download.cfm
1CLEANUP..........Clears your computer of Unneeded Files: These may possess any attributes left
to be specified by the user. In addition, all zero length files and folders are included
automatically. Recent Documents: Recently accessed files which are displayed in Start Menu->
Documents and stored in Windows' Recent folder. Favorites and Bookmarks: All favorites and
bookmarks created and stored over time by the user. IE Cache: This includes cookies, history
and Temporary Internet Files created by the Internet Explorer. Dead Shortcuts: Shortcuts to
files that have been moved to another location or deleted from the computer after the shortcut
was created.....(free).....GO THERE!

And / Or ,

http://www.fsm.nl/ward/
Spider finds hidden Url's that other mean's don't .
Cleans >
1 . Hidden Url's .
2 . Temporary Internet Files .
3 . History Files .
4 . Cookies .
Click on Spider , not Spider Bite .

------------------------------

And / Or

Index.dat
Delindex works in Win98 and WinME .
http://www.burzurq.com/forum/delindex.html
The primary purpose of Delindex is to delete Index.dat files which are never resized, and only
get bigger. These files contain all your web surfing history since they were (re)created, and
large index.dat files can cause performance issues with browsing. Index.dat files cannot be
deleted if Explorer is running. The secondary purpose is to delete junk files for reasons of
space, privacy, and performance. Delindex is "stand-alone" program and requires no installation
and no other files to run. All notes are within the program, so there are no separate ReadMe or
Help files.

[adrianlewis]

Thanks for the advice. A lot more info than I expected. I will give them all a go and let you know the result.

Thanks again

Adrian

[Cricket]

If you're using WinXP, go to this webpage to find out which Windows Services you can disable.

Keep your Windows Temp folder clean.

Try to resist downloading and installing every software you come across. Installing and uninstalling programs will eventually clog up the Registry and a bloated Registry will bog down your system.

Make sure you have enough RAM in your system for the type of work it does.

Defrag on a regular basis.

Cricket

[Nuclear Krusader]

I checked a PC yesterday that was slow as molasses. It took over 5 minutes to print a single sheet. And the owner told me that if the document was over 10 sheets it would take half an hour to print.

Web browsing was slooooooww and so was the starting of programs and Windows in general.

An online virus scan came up with no infections and after disabling some things starting up with Windows and removing some programs the machine was still slow.

The problem was it was bloated with spyware. A single run of Spybot came up with lots of it. It removed them and all was fine again.

Impressive what the spyware can do to systems, ain't it?

[adrianlewis]

Originally posted by Cricket Try to resist downloading and installing every software you come across. Installing and uninstalling programs will eventually clog up the Registry and a bloated Registry will bog down your system.

Anyone know of any good software that will safetly clean up a "bloated" registry without the user needing to really know what is being removed etc?

Adrian

[Cricket]

Originally posted by adrianlewis Anyone know of any good software that will safetly clean up a "bloated" registry without the user needing to really know what is being removed etc?

jv16 Power Tools

Chris