computer suddenly slow, what to do

Hi. About a week and a half ago my computer suddenly got very slow. I have done everything I know to do, but it continues slower than molasses. Previously it had done well for a dial -up. Also have an accelerator thru the IP, but has never seemed to make a difference. I have always frequently cleared my history, use 'c cleaner' each time I disconnect from internet, defrag frequently, both generally and registry; run frequent 'malwarebytes' anti-malware scans, eliminate all but most recent restore points. The only different website I was on at the time was this one, which I hadn't visited in good while, and I know I didn't get anything bad here, so what else can I do to get my trusty computer back to where it was? I am using Mozilla Firefox, running windows xp, serpack 2. Please bear in mind that I am barely computer literate when giving input, and thanks for the input. My computer is to the point where it is getting unusable. :eek

 

The first thing I check on XP machines that are reported to be running very slowly is the DMA/PIO status of the drives in Device Manager. There's a very good page here on the subject.

EDIT: How much free space (%) do you have on the C: drive?

 

If satrow's link doesn't solve the issue (and your drive is <75% full), I would start looking at the hard drive.

I've had several issues where "S.M.A.R.T." and "chkdsk" proved clueless on detecting HDD issues. My advice is to go into CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM>DEVICE MANAGER and click on "Disk Drive" to see what brand is installed (it's usually abbreviated, such as "WD" for Western Digital).

Go to the drive mfr.'s website and download their free testing utility (Seagate SeaTools, WD Data Lifeguard, etc). Be sure your data and files are backed up before running the tests.

Run a long/deep test. It may take a few hours - it's best to disable power saving features (sleep/hibernate) and start the scan before bed or heading off to work.

If the long test finds issues (even if the program repairs them) and things are still slow, some Windows files may have been corrupted to the point you may want to do a complete reinstall. If this is the case, I'd do so after buying and installing a new drive. Once an old hard drive starts acting up it usually isn't long for this world.

 

hello Satrow.
I do not know what DMA/PIO means. Here are the vitals so far as I know on my computer: I think a second memory stick was put in at a shop, but the computer doesn't seem to be recognising it when it gives its information; could this be possible? Anyway, the memory the computer says it has , and all I have is a C drive; is 512 mb. 72% used. L2 cache is 256 kb. Total physical memory is 1051 mb.
Used is 708 mb.

My machine is running windows xp professional 5.1.2600, service pack 2. It is layered on other earlier versions of windows, such as 98. The processor is an intell pentium 3 of 933 mhz. I know I need a bigger processor. But to date everything has been satisfactory as is.
Thank you for any help.
Sheena :confused

 

To check your DMA/PIO settings:-

To check your hard drive capacity and used/free space:- Open My Computer > right-click the C: drive and choose Properties, there will be a pie chart popup showing the used/free %. The magic figure is 75% used, any more and there will be a distinct slowdown (though not as slow as having PIO mode active, until the drive is almost 100% full).



And please do as TimW suggests, he's looking at your problem from a different perspective

 

You and Tim are way over my head. If you mean how much memory do I have, I posted that at 72% used. Its ok, guys. The computer seems better, so thanks to you and Tim for your input.
Sheena

 

I should have mentioned that the computer works fine when not on the internet.

Sheena

 

I agree that DMA/PIO revert can be the likely cause of a sudden lag of the machine,I've never even knew about it until satrow mentioned on a past post,upon reading the article and checking the setting to find that the settings did indeed change to PIO status,causing the whole system to behave sluggish even after repeated scans and cleanings,it's a little known and somewhat complicated phenomenon that i wasn't aware of,the program VBS script download i ran completely fixed the problem,it would not hurt to give it a try,it might fix the problem,i have it here in a small zip if you would like to give it a run,just follow the prompts,you'll most likely have to restart after you you run it ,but i would read the article first, just to understand what the probable causes are, and if you might have experienced any of them ...
my thanks again to satrow for bringing and shedding light, as well as a resolution to this little known issue to these forums

 

If using a Cable ISP, speed can also be affected by what other users are doing in your area. If several of the neighbors are watching NetFlix or going crazy with P2P downloads, it can (and often does) create a cyber traffic jam that can greatly reduce your browser and download speed - sometimes to the point of bad AOL 56K flashbacks. :zzz

If you want to test this theory, go to http://www.speedtest.net/ and run the test at different times during the day (esp. when your online speeds are sluggish). I've seen a noticeable difference on Comcast when comparing early evenings (NetFlix time) to late night or early mornings.

 

gman,
I found this to be a very educational and helpful post. Thanks alot.
Sheena

 

I have two points:

If you're on dial-up, as Sheena is, your tranfer rate shouldn't be affected by what other users are doing: you should have an 8kHz bw line solely to yourself. However I do not know about the effect of other users who are using the same ISP and therefore the same servers ?

Secondly my PC is also running slowly, but in common with Sheena only when I connect to the internet. I am running on 2Mb/s broadband, through a modem (Thomson 330). It isn't the transfer rate, I downloaded about 375,000,000 byte in 1hr this morning, and speedtest always has given about the speed I expect from my connection. I spend a lot of time "Waiting for site http..." at the bottom of my screen...
any suggestions ?

Dumb_Question
27.September.2011

Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (2.7GHz Celeron) - MSI MS-6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3