Everything is running slow

Can anyone help. my laptop (aspire 1400) is running so slow its in danger of stopping. so the virus checker takes forever to do as does the antispy ware. when i'm typing in word, it cannot keep up with me its that slow. applications take a long time to start.

I've got NAT profesional with is upto date.
adaware and spybot both up to date and used
cclearner (done daily)

these are the main results from a belarc advisor:

I've got windows xp with SP2 (but it has been getting slower and slower for months now).

Processor a
1.70 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

256 ram
Drives
19.99 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
5.64 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

I don't know if it is a related problem, but i am also having problems cuting/copying and pasting. on many occasions, its like i've pressed print screen that gets pasted.

I did a search and someone else was having similar problems with xp home. but i couldnt tell it if was the same as me and also, wasnt sure about the advice. it suggested downloanding several programs such as Ccleaner but the first one i went to suggested i backed up my disc. wasnt sure what that meant.

has anyone any suggestions what i can do to speed it up (oh, i've just noticed, when i'm typing this, the speed is fine and it keeps up with me but doesnt when in word)

regards

John (mcrbloke).

ps, i know little about computers so it might just be a case of it being old and tired

 

You did'nt mention if adaware or spybot found anything or not. Also what antivirus software are you using?

 

Couple of items to check

1. Check your task manager and see what process are running in the backgroud
2. Defrag? Has this been done lately?

As far as the suggestion to back up the disc, it was aimed making sure that all of your data on the HD was backed up, copied somewhere else, 2nd hd, CDR, DVD, Tape, etc, before making any drastic changes so that you wouldn't lose any data.

 

Try checking your msconfig. If your task manager has alot of programs runningt it. Msconfig will help you see howing many programs are running in the background and lets shutdown what you don't want to start. I've seen something like this before on a bunch of different machines with all types of Windows OSs. Usely the colpurit is too many programs running in the background.

 

right, ta, i'll defrag again, but its up to date on that (analysed last week and it said it was ok). to answer a couple of questions,

adaware and spybot do periodically find stuff, but nothing major and it gets rid. the virus software is Norton prof 2004.

you mentioned msconfig. sorry about this, but i don't understand that. i can have a look at the taske manage but nothing is running that shouldnt be (that is, if i'm in word, its word and maybe playing music at the same time).

but this happens for opening up programs too. it can take a good minute for it to do anything for example, when i go to open IE, or word, or my computer.

i'll make a back up of my work and then have a look at the other type of Cclearner and reort back. Thanks everyone btw

John

 

When you open task manager don't just look at the applications tab, be sure and click over on the "process" tab. You may be a bit suprised to see how much stuff is actually running, and how much memory the various programs use. With only 256 MB of ram, xp will be using your pagefile extensively.

I used norton applications in the past, but found them to be resource hogs (read slowed the comp waaaaaaay down).

Once you check out what process are running i'm sure that you will have some questions about what they are. Blackviper has a really good list of windows process and what they do. www.blackviper.com You can also type the process name into google and usually get back an answer to what a particular process is. And always the folks here can do a great job of helping you out.

 

god. there's 40 different things running. where did all these things come from? i'll have a look at what they are. but what can i do to stop them running, and are there some that i can safely close down (oh, and i guess i'll need to stop them running in the first place.

once again, thanks

john

 

Hi all, thanks for the advice so far. just a couple of things i need to clear up in my head.
firstly, I've had a look at the number of programsn running and did a google search on them. the ones i didnt think where important (something to do with by blue tooth USB toggle) i closed, but the rest i didnt as i got the impression i didnt know what i was doing. can anyone advice me on which to close down and how to close them down long term. the other thing is, why would it be that when i type on this thing, it does not seem slow at all. everything works fine yet many applications take forever to load, etc.

thanks for you help again

JOHN

 

Try WinTasks. http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/
It's a program that shows you what programs you have running in the background, and gives you a description of each one and what it does.

 

You should check the Admin Tool area here at MG http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?id=2&sort=7

Taking a quick look I found two freeware apps that should help

Service Controller XP 2.2.61
http://majorgeeks.com/download4313.html

Startup Inspector for Windows 2.10
http://majorgeeks.com/download4075.html

I found out a lot of the info on services and start-up programs the hard way so I am not familiar with these tools. If i had to do it over again i would start by using these tools. If you're still unsure about processes or start-up programs just post it and we can help you figure it out.

 

And don't forget to go to www.blackviper.com. That's the best site for all the process, etc.

 

I see that I got a 2nd for my previous suggestion

That is were i got a lot of my 'hard way' info

 

Hi again,

i had a look at the number of programs running, around 40 so downloaded wintask (thanks for telling me about that) and it only found around 4 programs that i could turn off. so i did this.

now i've rebooted, they've started up again. so with talk of the 'hard way', would it be ok if i posted the start up processes MechGeek and could you guide me through it as i don't think you realise how little i know about these things (nothing springs to mind lol).

thanks everyone for helping. it will be really nice to get it running at an adiquate speed, i might even treat myself to some new ram when i find out if i can upgrade.

all the best

JOHN

 

You can probably turn off more processes than that. Go to this page right now, and go through each process. He will tell you everything you need to know. Yuu can probably cut the number of processes down to 25, or even less. But, you have to do it yourself, because we can't be in front of your computer to see what you have on. If you go to Black Viper, you will be able to look at each one yourself, with a really good decription of what you need, what you don't need, what his suggestion is, etc.
This will be easier than having one of us help you, and he has it all listed right there, with simple steps. Give it a shot, and then come back with questions.

Once again, here's the link. Click on it right now, and read from top to bottom. You will be glad you did.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

This is for Service pack 2 XP.

 

ta, it looks confusing, but he explains it well so i'm going to give it a go (holds breath).

thanks

JOHN

 

Way to go!! You can always ask for help along the way, but in the long run, you'll do fine if you start with what he has.

Go John, Go!!

 

LOL.

Very good, I did all that BlackViper said. It was totally alien to me but I followed the instructions, read all the warnings, pros and cons and disclaimers until my eyes were never falling out of the sockets. Then came the time for rebooting the computer after disabling so many different things. As the system started to reboot, the Carpenters ‘Calling Occupants’ came on the radio (download it if you don’t know it) with the lines ‘we are your friends’. my mind quickly went to where I'd heard that before – Mars attacks ‘yak yak yak’ (sorry, only a rough translation).

Anyway, it really made me laugh. But once the computer came back to life and was able to keep up with my typing, let me tell you. I was really really happy. Thanks to everyone who as given me advice. It all contributed to things working so much faster (maybe this message will explain why my computer needs to be able to keep up with me, as I have been known to go on a bit)

Just a few points to clear up. There are a few things still appearing on the list as running which I don’t know about. I turn them off with the wintask but they start next time at reboot. Any ideas how to turn them off (perhaps temporary at first) to see if all runs well without them?

Ctfmon.exe (wintask not in the list to turn off)
Mmtask.exe (wintask says I can get rid but not in list
Msmsgs.exe (wintask says I can get rid, but not on list)
Sm1bg.exe
Wmiprvse.exe


The other thing I cannot find out if I need is this:
Symantec Core LC (couldn’t find much about it)

Again. Any suggestions

Ok, once again, ta for your help.

Regards
JOHN

 

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407
READ ME FIRST: Basic Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal

 

ctfmom is related to MS Offices alternative input options, nothing harmful here, it can be removed but from experience it was a pain.

msmgs.exe is Windows Messenger, if you use messenger than this is fine, if you don't chat or chat using another client (yahoo, aol, gaim, etc) you may want to look at downloading one of the many utilities here on MG that disables/uninstalls windows messenger

sm1bg.exe is related to USB see this link, if you aren't using something listed here you may want to explore further. http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/SM1BG/

I remembered mmtask as being a windows process, but when i did a search it showed as being part of a trojan http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=TROJ_YAB.A&VSect=T

wmiprvse.exe is a windows reporting process, shouldn't be anything to worry about

I would suggest following the
READ ME FIRST: Basic Spyware, Trojan And Virus Removal

Hope this helps

 

msmgs.exe is Windows Messenger, if you use messenger than this is fine, if you don't chat or chat using another client (yahoo, aol, gaim, etc) you may want to look at downloading one of the many utilities here on MG that disables/uninstalls windows messenger

this is worrying as i thought it might have had something to do with my Musich Match jukebox. but saying that, i do have upto date virus software (NAV pro) and adaware and spybot and they are running fine so not sure what to do for the best. when i do a search for mmtask, it is connected to music match in some instances but does not show the logo.

hum, (pondering)

John

 

Windows XP comes default with messenger installed and "waiting" for use. Even if you do end the process in the task bar and/or task manager, there are many actions within windows that will restart it, opening outlook express is a prime example. Becasue of this it has been exploited in the past as a way to spam or spread viruses/trojans. This being said, if you wish to use it by all means do just make sure that you have the pertinent security updates for it, if not and you want to clear it out and not have it start automatically, the best way in my opion is to uninstall it.

If your anti-virus, spybot, and adaware are up to date and not reporting anything with mmtask then I would not worry about it. If you wish to make it not start at start-up i can help you do that manually.

You have to get rid of ctfom by going through an office uninstall routine and sometimes it tries to re-install itself. (at least that is what happend to me) I would just leave it.

One other note, i don't know if you just purchsed NAV or if it came preinstalled withe the machine, but i would make the suggestion at trying a different anti-virus and firewall combination. I had the suite and it really bogged my machine down. I went to a combination of Zone Alarm and AntiVir. If you do a search on the software forum yo u can find a lot of good info on alternatives. This could be a major performance booster.

 

hi MechGeek, soz for the late responce, i've been on my holiday. regards to the messenger, i'll just leave it as i do sometimes use it. what i've taken to doing is stopping the process manually each time i start up.

now then, as for the NAV. i have just bought it. I used to have the 2002 version but they don't do that any more so got the NAV professional. I'm now wondering if the NAV is anythign to do with the system slowing down as even with all this things i've disabled, i'm still getting instances where when typing in word, things start to grind to a slow hault and the word proc doesnt keep up with me. I've even taken off all my music to see if it improved things, but it hasnt. I might have too much other crap on, but i'm not sure. I've got ccleaner running so have no stuff like that lieing around. I have over seven gig of space left, just under half.

i'm only running on 256 ram with a p4 1.7. i can upgrade it to a 1000 Acer say so was wondering if that might help or would i still be restricted to the speed of the processer?

so any suggestions on this again, are most welcomed.

spk again soon
JOHN

 

just a thought, does fat32 or htfs method of hard drive 'thingy' make any differnce? mine is fat32?

JOHN

 

Your processor has more than enough power to handle word processing, playing music, and browsing the internet at the same time without even breaking a sweat (or making your typing lag). More ram would definitly help, 512 MB seems to be the sweet spot for ram with windows XP. I personally only have 256 MB which is why i spent a little bit of time tweaking XP and the running processes to make it as fast as possible.
NAV is a resource hog, it uses lots of your processor and lots of your ram. If you had 1GB of ram and 3 GHz processor it really wouldn't matter but at your specs it will make a big difference.
I would suggest the following free programs to replace NAV with

AntiVir - Freeware antivirus updated several times a week, and uses very little in the way of system resources.

ZoneAlarm Free - Freeware firewall also uses very little in the way of system resources

These are the two that I use. There are several other good free virus and firewall programs available here on MG; Avast, and AVG are alternate antivirus programs and Sygate Free, and Outpost Free are alternate firewalls.

These are FREE no $$$$$ and they all work great.

Be sure to completely uninstall NAV before installing any of the above. You only want to run one antivirus and one firewall at a time.

To answer your FAT32 vs NTFS. These different format types have more to do with overall effeciency of storing the data then the access speed. This difference would not cause the problem your experiencing.

Hope this helps

 

Hi,I have a link here to tell you what all your startup items are and if there needed or not. Removing the unwanted items does make a big difference.

http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/startup/list.html

Night,

 

many thanks all who assisted me in this, lots to do and think about now. but it has really been helpful.

all the best

JOHN