Computer help please!

[IzzyInWonderland]

I'm computer savvy when it comes to some things, but completely clueless when it comes to others. OK here's the deal. I decided to Google "my computer is so slow" and see what it came up with because for awhile now my computer moves at a snails pace. Several tech threads later and I had done many things to the computer to try and speed things along like defragment, delete files, registry checks, etc. Somewhere along the way my add/remove programs got reconfigured and now it only lists about half my programs, a bunch of hidden files and no option to change/remove. I tried to do a system restore but wasn't able to complete it for whatever reason. Also tried to download some well know registry cleaners only to find out that they will check your computer, but then you have to pay to fix the problems! I'm frustrated and no closer to making my computer faster or to getting my add/remove programs back to normal. I'm running Windows XP on a Dell desktop computer, please respond only if you think you may have a solution. Thanks!

[Rocker]

From what I have read, I think you should try and pay for the registry. However, when it comes to this, do you have DSL? It's pretty fast.

[Sambo]

RegClean - the original from Microsoft and it is free. Although MS no longer supports it - it is still available and still free. Don't be confused by that other "free" version that is new and has a website with the same name. You will ultimately have to pay for a slightly updated version of what you can get for free. Just get the original FREE MS Version 4.1a build 7364.1. Get it HERE or HERE.

[IzzyInWonderland]

Thanks Sambo! I'd already tried Regclean but perhaps it wasn't from a supported site. I'll try again though.

[Sambo]

If you had to pay to fix anything - it is the new Version 5 that is from a commercial company...

<- This is NOT the version I was recommending.

[IzzyInWonderland]

Ok so the Regclean didn't work, I mean maybe it did, but I like a scan where I can see what it's scanning and a list of the problems it's finding. Computer is still slower than molasses. :/

[mycroft16]

It might be possible that you also have a lot of garbage spyware cluttering your computer. Many times when I go over to fix friend's or family's computers, they have a mountain of spyware.

Spybot Search & Destroy is my personal favorite when it comes to getting the spyware. It's totally free. Install it, and when it loads, click on the update tab and grab all of the software updates. Then have it perform a scan. It goes through nearly 300,000 known types of spyware (and the list grown weekly). Once it is done you can remove them. If it needs to reboot to remove them, let it. Once you have gotten them off, you can use the "immunize" tab which places some "watchers" on your internet connection to keep a lot of spyware from even getting installed.

[gdwnphx]

How old is the computer? I once had one that started running really slow just before the hard drive failed. Also, how much memory and unused hard drive space is there? If you don't have enough memory for the operating system and the program(s) in use Windows "creates" more memory by using part of the hard drive as a swap file (aka page file). If the system is low on memory and there isn't a lot of free space on the drive, it can really slow things down.

[IzzyInWonderland]

It might be possible that you also have a lot of garbage spyware cluttering your computer. Many times when I go over to fix friend's or family's computers, they have a mountain of spyware.

Spybot Search & Destroy is my personal favorite when it comes to getting the spyware. It's totally free. Install it, and when it loads, click on the update tab and grab all of the software updates. Then have it perform a scan. It goes through nearly 300,000 known types of spyware (and the list grown weekly). Once it is done you can remove them. If it needs to reboot to remove them, let it. Once you have gotten them off, you can use the "immunize" tab which places some "watchers" on your internet connection to keep a lot of spyware from even getting installed.

I already have Spybot and just updated it. I also have AVG which is great. I ran both scans in safe mode and normal mode and they came out okay, got rid of the things it found which wasn't much. But thank you.

How old is the computer? I once had one that started running really slow just before the hard drive failed. Also, how much memory and unused hard drive space is there? If you don't have enough memory for the operating system and the program(s) in use Windows "creates" more memory by using part of the hard drive as a swap file (aka page file). If the system is low on memory and there isn't a lot of free space on the drive, it can really slow things down.

The computer is only about 7 years old. I'm constantly getting messages that say "low disk space". And then when I get rid of unused icons or programs, it doesn't even help or free up any more space. How do i get more free space?? Even after defragmenting it doesn't matter, it tells me I don't have enough space to defrag anyway. I'm worried I'm going to lose everything on this computer and God knows I have way too much to even try and backup.

[TTechGuy]

The computer is only about 7 years old. I'm constantly getting messages that say "low disk space". And then when I get rid of unused icons or programs, it doesn't even help or free up any more space. How do i get more free space?? Even after defragmenting it doesn't matter, it tells me I don't have enough space to defrag anyway. I'm worried I'm going to lose everything on this computer and God knows I have way too much to even try and backup.

OK, let's start with 7 years old is old for a computer. My guess is that RAM is probably at a low amount. The fact that it says your disk space is low is most likely your problem.

Deleting an icon deletes very little if anything. Deleting unused programs does. If they actually delete everything. First thing would be to look at your main hard drive under "My Computer." Right click on it and choose properties. You should now see numbers for Used space, Free Space, and Capacity. You don't want your Free Space to be anything less than 10% of your total capacity. If it is, that's your slow down problem starting.

Try running "Disk Cleanup." That will help you get rid of some of your temp, etc files. The next thing to look at is pictures. While I'm sure that you don't want to lose them, they take up a LOT of space. Especially if you have a high res camera. 100 5meg photos take up half a gig (give or take). Copy them off to a DVD or CD (make a couple of copies to be safe.). If you don't have a DVD or CD drive, go get one, they're less than $40.

Without knowing more about your system, I can't make many more suggestions. More RAM is always a good thing. More disk space is another good thing.

If I can be of more help, I would be glad to do so.

TTech

[IzzyInWonderland]

OK, let's start with 7 years old is old for a computer. My guess is that RAM is probably at a low amount. The fact that it says your disk space is low is most likely your problem.

Deleting an icon deletes very little if anything. Deleting unused programs does. If they actually delete everything. First thing would be to look at your main hard drive under "My Computer." Right click on it and choose properties. You should now see numbers for Used space, Free Space, and Capacity. You don't want your Free Space to be anything less than 10% of your total capacity. If it is, that's your slow down problem starting.

Try running "Disk Cleanup." That will help you get rid of some of your temp, etc files. The next thing to look at is pictures. While I'm sure that you don't want to lose them, they take up a LOT of space. Especially if you have a high res camera. 100 5meg photos take up half a gig (give or take). Copy them off to a DVD or CD (make a couple of copies to be safe.). If you don't have a DVD or CD drive, go get one, they're less than $40.

Without knowing more about your system, I can't make many more suggestions. More RAM is always a good thing. More disk space is another good thing.

If I can be of more help, I would be glad to do so.

TTech

Thanks so much for your input! I've known for some time that my music and picture files were probably some of my biggest offenders. I've cleaned up and organized my pictures and deleted many of them as well as several music files. But I still haven't solved the problem about how to get my add/remove programs back to its original state so I can get rid of some more programs that for some reason do not show up on my programs list.

[Sambo]

Have you tried a Windows reinstall/repair?

[IzzyInWonderland]

Have you tried a Windows reinstall/repair?

Yes but I'm hesitant about doing this. Will I lose material and will it mess things up? How do I even start because I still have my reinstallation cd's, I just can't bring myself to actually try this yet.

[Sambo]

Yes but I'm hesitant about doing this. Will I lose material and will it mess things up? How do I even start because I still have my reinstallation cd's, I just can't bring myself to actually try this yet.

When the cd is activated - it will automatically detect a current installation of Windows (assuming it is newer than Win95) and Repair Installation will be one of the options. When you choose to repair, it will check all system files and repair or replace damaged ones, reinstall missing ones, and on newer versions - will check service packs and keep important system files from the service packs rather than replace with an older version.

There is little chance with a repair that you will lose existing data as that is overlooked. With a reinstall - there is a slightly greater chance, but still slim. That is unless you opt to reformat before a reinstall, in which case you lose everything. But it warns you this will happen before you proceed. The obvious thing is to back up all your files you wish to keep - photos, music, email (including contacts or address books), artwork, spreadsheets, documents, tax or financial info, well you get the picture...

The best way to do this is with an external hard drive (under $100). However with a 7 year old computer, there is a chance you do not have USB 2.0 - or USB at all for that matter, which would be a problem. However - backing up data is only as important as your data.

[duckiedianne]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago and I called up Geeksquad. I paid about $200 for someone to come to my apt and delete Norton antivirus. A lot of computers slow down because of it...