slow desktop

Hey guys, long time no post lol. Anyway, my pc is running extremely slow, especially when closing pages. All my browsers also keep crashing (IE, FF and Chrome). I have run a full AVAST scan and a full Malwarebytes scan and they have come up with nothing. I have also defragged but it seems to be getting worse. I have also been getting dozens of spam email everyday for the past couple of months, I have just been deleting them. I have tried getting rid of as many programmes that i dont use (especially any games that my son used to play) but there are a lot of things that I have no idea what they are so am scared to delete or uninstall them incase they are important. Thought I would see if you guys had any extra advice of what I could try, or if you think I should post in the malware removal incase theres something hiding. TIA guys Chrissy

Hi, There can be numerous reasons for slow downs, so rather than guess I suggest going to the Pit and run their scan, you will need to sign up (if your not already, or the results are not saved) and post back the URL (address in browser bar) of the results, and paste that back here, we can then get a better idea of what your working with, also when you post that if you can say if you use any junk file cleaners or the like, then we can go from there.

Thankyou 8210guy. Here is my URL to results http://pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=25226217 ……..looked like a big old mess lol. I dont use any cleaners as I have been told it can be harmful if you dont know what you are doing (which I am tech challenged lol). I know I need to clean out heaps of stuff but I have no idea where to start or what half of the stuff is and am scared Im gunna remove something tahts important. Thanks.

Chrissy

Right the biggest issue you have is space, you have an 80gig drive tops from what I can see, 10gig is the system recovery partition marked D, then the remainder as the C drive of 60gig odd allowing for system reserved space as well, the scan shows you as having only 15% free space, for good performance you need at least double that, some would go as far as saying 40\50% as being ideal, but that said it's way too much for the average user, and most would probably never notice the 10% or so difference at that level, obviously if you could gain an extra 10% on what you have right now, that you would certainly notice.

There are many things that can be done to help your system perk up, but it's how far you want to go, adding another hard drive would be a big help to it, but it's whether you would be happy to go that route, if you do I will happily guide you a step at a time if needed, it will sound impossible and horrendous to see in writing, but honestly just follow a line at a time and it will all fall into place, then after you will wonder what you were worried about lol.

So lets start by clearing some junk, these are all the files that are either in your bin, or in the form of cookies, or temp data, removing all these files will instantly clear space, and it will not remove anything that is needed, as long as you have not put something in the bin and have changed your min d about it, but ALL of your physical files and programs will not be touched or lost doing this, only the files you can't see, so you will lose nothing.

But that said, it should be noted that if you use cookies to stay logged into web sites, such as this one, these will be removed, so make sure you know your login details before running the following if you do use them, and if needed I can tell you how to save just the cookies you want to keep, so you wont need to login every time you run them, anyway I suggest the following:-
1/ Disk Cleaner, Click on download and select the 1st link under "Most recent: Disk Cleaner version 1.8.1795"
Once installed run it, and you will see a load of empty check boxes, the fastest way to deal with this is to right click in the boxed area, and click on Select All, then just run it, should new empty check boxes appear as time goes by, just check those and run, simple as that.

2/ CCleaner, Select the free version
Nothing special here to note, only the first time you run it you will get a small window open saying about deleting files, when they are gone they are gone kind of thing, if you check the box (bottom left corner if I recall), then OK it you wont be bothered again by that, and unless you have put a file in the bin you didn't mean to, you wont lose anything.

3/ ATF-Cleaner, Although it doesn't list working with your OS, I have used it on any system I work on from Vista to Win 7, and have never had a problem.
This is a run program, as opposed to being installed as such, simply launch it, check the box that says Select All, run it, OK the notification of what it just did, then exit, job done.

The reason for using more than one is simple, each gets bits the others miss, so running all 3 prior to shutting down after each days work will keep the system free from junk, that alone will be a big help on a small drive like yours.

Something appears to have slowed down your memory's speed, the safest way I can see to sort this is by going into the BIOS, and selecting the default settings, if you are happy to do this let me know, and I will try and guide you after checking the manual for that system, but again it's as simple as a couple of clicks, so as scary as it may seem, it will be far easier than you may fear, just let me know if you want to do this.

Next I would look through your installed programs, also look at the amount of files you have on the hard drive (basically how much space the files are using), any programs that you no longer use, uninstall them, if you have large files saved try and back them up to external sources, e.g. burn them to a disk, or put them on an external drive, needless to say if you do opt to get another drive then such files can simply be moved over when the new drive is in, again let me know what you would like to do here and I can guide further if you like.

That's enough to get you started, and will hopefully show instant results, clearing the junk should help the speed a lot with luck, we can deal with other bits as your ready, but if you want to see what you can do yourself, go to your test results, and each entry is clickable (for the most part), so start at the beginning, and each "black mark" (for want of a better description) click on in turn, each page it takes you to each time will explain about that issue, and often give guidance on how to rectify that issue, if you want to go through the list and deal with any issues you feel confident enough to.
Then you will start getting a better idea of your system, and how to do certain tasks to help it along, anything that you feel is beyond you, let me know and again I will do my best to walk you through it, but don't look at any of this as a big list, it's too scary when you don't know better, just take it a line at a time, and it will fall into place.

Have a go at this lot, have a think about what you want to do, if you do follow some of the Pit's suggestions it may be worth running a new test, and posting that link back here, then we can see how your getting on, any questions feel free to ask, I'll do what I can to get you through the tasks required to improve your system.

Thankyou 8210GUY, I have done the 3 clean-ups and have cleared as much from my pc that i know I dont use, and have sorted out my files. About to do another pitstop test to see how much space it has cleared and if it has improved much. The pc seems to be running slightly better. I am happy to go through the other stuff with you if you think it will help. There are still a lot of programmes on here that i have no idea what they are as they were on the pc when I got it. There are too many to list but it would be nice to know what they are and if I could safely remove them if I think i will never need them. I will post the link to my new pitstop test shortly. Chrissy PS..I would prefer not to have to add another drive if I can help it, but I guess eventually i am going to have to or else update to a new pc with a larger one.

Right at first look it seems to have cleared another 4%, which as your finding helps, but it still needs a lot more to make a real difference, odds are you can uninstall far more than you think you can, but we don't know what you use, so it wont be easy saying what to remove, and I'm not sure if the pit test picks up all installed items in it's scan, so lets nibble away and see what we can find.

Browsers and toolbars, not massive space hogs, but could impact on performance if running, often these get installed as part as another install, you have to look out for check boxes when installing, and adjust any\all boxes appropriately, so you only install what you need, I suggest using Revo to uninstall (free version), it removes junk that can get left behind from a normal uninstall, so install and launch this, it will display your installed programs, double click on any entry you want to remove, and follow onscreen prompts.

Main thing to note about this is it starts by creating a restore point, it then launches the programs own uninstaller (where possible), use that to uninstall first, then if prompted by the programs own uninstaller to reboot to finish the uninstall, deny that, select to reboot later (not all programs do this), then continue with Revo, click Scan, then when it lists files left behind (there are times nothing is left behind so just close) select all, then delete, sometimes you get another screen doing the same when you move on, repeat if needed, then your done, move onto the next one, or close it when done.

So lets start with the toolbars etc. I mentioned above, the biggest offenders I see are Ask, Bing and Yahoo, and Chrome (Google browser) is common as well, but there are many more, so unless you are actually using these they are all safe to remove, just do them 1 at a time, but do NOT remove the Avast add-on, it is a simple traffic light to good and bad on your browser, and when used helps to warn of bad sites.

Now Java, the latest version is Java v7 Update 13, go and update to this, then when done go into Revo, and look for any other Java versions, currently you have 2 I can see (Java 7 Update 11 & Java™ 6 Update 22), it's possible installing the latest it will auto remove those, but if it doesn't, remove them yourself, just keep this latest version.

Burning software, you have 2 that I see, Roxio and Nero, the question is do you do much burning (CD's or DVD's) ?
If so which software do you use, if you use just one of these, then it's safe to remove the other one.

Media, do you use iTunes or QuickTime, and any associated extras they now push on people such as cloud etc. ?
Any or all of these are safe to remove as long as you are not using them.

There is 1 major factor, which I have only just picked up on, and that's your using Vista ?
I was always going to address system restore at a later point, I was working to get you some normality first and wanted to save this incase it was needed to restore to an earlier stage, but now I have picked up it's a Vista system, this needs to be addressed 1st, it is a massive affect on the drive space, as it uses 15% of the drive for it's own use, the recommended is around 2% or 3% of the drive, but small drives just don't have that much space to give, so lets sort that before doing the above, this should hopefully give an instant result.

Main point to note before staring this, it will wipe out all restore points, so the first job after this is to create a fresh restore point.
To see how much you are currently using you need to click Start - Programs - Accessories, now look for Command Prompt, right click on top of it, then select Run as Admin (allow any prompts), this will launch a black DOS window, the safest way to proceed is via copy and paste, it removes the risk of typo's, so copy the following line, then right click in the black window, and select Paste, then hit Enter, this will give a summary of what your currently dealing with, I'm guessing between around 9gig to 24gig.

vssadmin list shadowstorage

Now we need to repeat that with the following line instead, this will instruct what the size allowed is to be, lets say 3gig, if you want a bit more then go to 4gig, just edit the number appropriately.

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=C: /for=C: /maxsize=3GB

You can rerun the first line again after if you wish, it should simply confirm that it is set to the new size, but be aware, doing this reduces the amount of time you can go back to if you have problems, as it removes the oldest points as it needs more space for new points, so to exaggerate the point, you would only be able to restore to the last few days, as opposed to the last few months, it wont be as noticeable as that sounds, but in essence that's what it means doing this so your aware.

Now the hard drive, that's beginning to bother me lol, going by the Pit scan it only seems to be maybe 80gig at best totalling and converting the numbers shown, mind you I could simply be getting that wrong somewhere, but going on the drive make\model it's supposed to be 160gig, so I suggest getting and running TreeSize Free, then take a screenshot of the result, and paste that back here when your done, it will give a breakdown of the drives directory and show where the space is being used.

To take a screenshot simply press and hold the Alt button (next to space bar, it only copies the main image, not the entire desktop) then hit the Print SCRN button, it's normally found around the Del button, possibly above and slightly right, you will NOT get ANY notice of it having done this, but just open Paint, then click on Paste, that should place the image into that which you will then be able to see, from there select to Save As, then give it any name you want, but most importantly save as a .jpg file, use the drop down box if required to select this extension, otherwise you may not be able to upload it here.

Sorry for so much writing, it's important you know what doing certain things can mean, giving you the choice to raise any concerns you may have before you do each bit, and it will also help highlight things for the future as well, see how this goes, then we can see what to try next.

*edit
Forgot the Revo link lol.

Ok, I have done everything that you asked. I did the Vista thing, it was maximum 4.9gigs so I reduced it to 3gigs. I uninstalled all the toolbars and a few other things (quicktime and roxi) and did all teh other things. I have attached the screenshot I think lol, plus here is the link to my latest pitstop http://pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=25232801 .

My memory is still running slow by the looks of it.

Ok, here are a few things I am unsure about what they are……apple application support, apple mobile device support, apple software update, Bonjour, go to assist, mobile me control panel (apple),
netwaiting, pando media booster, voice over kit (apple).
I have also got MS office 2010, so do I need compatability pack for office 2007 and MS office powerpoint viewer (2007) as well?

Thankyou
Chrissy

The hard drive has enough free space now, but as a thought, are there other user accounts on there ? Just wondering as that's where the biggest score is, if there is then there may be unwanted files in those accounts, but currently I don't see anything to worry about, and logically you should be feeling a much faster response from it now, you have managed to drag it up from the bottom x% to the top 40% now, so good going there. The system restore numbers don't make sense to me, the only thing that I can imagine from the previous size you found is someone had already changed it at some point. The Apple entries are only needed if you use Apple products, and require those services, Ap support is self explanatory, as is mobile support, unless you have Apple devices you prob don't need those, and if you don't have any Apple devices you don't need any of them. Netwaiting is from the days of dial up, so unless you still use dial up you don't need this, but it wont hurt leaving it alone either, pando media booster is to do with downloading games, so unless you need this that can go, voice over kit (apple) simply announces songs on an iPod, so unless needed can go. As you have Office 2010 (full version ?) you don't need powerpoint viewer (2007), but I would leave the compatibility pack for office 2007, if you ever use files created on other versions it will help the new version to deal with it properly. The ram setting is probably in the bios, some makers have additional software that allow you to change such things without going into the bios, but pretty sure yours does have this, but before you go into this we need to set up a safety net, do you have another system that can access the net while working on this system ? With this you can always get help if something didn't go right, if you do as guided you wont need it, BUT, it's peace of mind if you do have a problem, but in this case the biggest problem that "MAY" occur is the boot drive being knocked off the top spot, so the system wont know to look for it to boot, but it is very simple to correct, hence asking if you can still access the net if this system could not. The main thing with the bios is you can look and change anything you like, as long as you do NOT save and exit, as long as you never save any changes you will do no harm, so if when your in there and see something that concerns you, you can come back and get advice before doing anything as long as you don't save anything when exiting the bios. The way to enter your bios is by tapping the F2 key, the manual says to start tapping it straight away when you see the Dell logo, once in the bios you can use the arrow keys to move around, the mouse wont work in here, now rather than trying to second guess any manual adjustments, I suggest using system defaults, there are usually 2 choices there, the basic system default, or there may be an optimised default option, the optimised one is for best performance, or the other one is the basic option where it will just work so to speak. I would go with the optimised option, but that said it's not for everyone, if in doubt use the basic option, and if all is well you could try the optimised one, just make sure you change nothing else while doing this, the default options are usually listed clearly, and you will either use the arrow keys to highlight that option, or it will list an Fx (x = a number) to select that option, the shortcut to save and exit is usually F10, you may be faced with a confirmation prompt, if this happens it should be a simple Y or N (Yes or No, you may need to type Y or N if this comes up) option, if your happy you have not touched anything else then save and exit, and all being well it will boot up fine. This is the stage having further access to the net = peace of mind, if you can't get online, and the system wont boot you wont be able to get more help, this would be a nightmare for you, but the most annoying thing is it would be an easy fix, so if you can confirm if you can still get online if something went wrong then we can proceed, if you can't get online I can guide on what is the only thing that could be the cause, and that's simply the hard drive, the system simply needs to be told to look at that hard drive to boot and all will be fine, I have only encountered this problem on systems using ide as well as Sata drives, can't recall having a problem with just Sata but let me know and we can go from there, hope this helps.

In my point of view, Virus are not only reason which keep PC slow. Here are I am going to mentioning some. 1Not enough hard drive space. 2 Left over programs and bad files. 3 Data Corruption. 4 Missing Windows updates or outdated drivers. 5 Computer is overheating. 6 Corrupt OS.. 7 Bad Hardware.. 8 Unnecessary Startup Programs Running in the Background. 9 Hard Disk Fragmented & in Need of Being Defragmented. 10 Hard Disk Errors May Be Corrected with "Check Disk".