No idea where to start. Help!

I am the furthest thing from a computer geek and I need help with my computer. It is running soooo slow. Word takes forever to save and load, videos are slow, things are freezing. Where do I start? Thanks

 

First, read this thread and follow ALL the steps listed. In the section about defragmenting your hard drive, Auslogics Defrag was not mentioned and it's one of my personal favorite defrag programs. After installing it, run the program, make sure that drive C: is the only drive selected, and click the little downward pointing arrow in the "Defrag" box and select "Defrag & Optimize". Start it before going to bed at night 'cuz it might take a couple of hours. Be sure to turn off your "standby" and/or "hibernation" power settings; you can keep a screen saver on, or just turn off your monitor. The other defrag tools listed in the maintenance thread are excellent also, with Puran Defrag being my favorite of those listed. Be sure to run the defrag after all the other steps, but before running a malware scan (IMHO the problem is not likely malware related). If you have Norton or McAfee or AVG antivirus installed, there's a good chance that they're at least partially responsible for the PC slowness. The amount of memory in your PC is also VERY important; if you have less than 768mb with WinXP, or less than 1.5gb with Vista/Win7, you don't have enough memory (RAM), and these numbers are BARE MINIMUMS; you really want about twice the amount I listed: 1.5gb for WinXP, 3gb or more for Win7/Vista. You can check the amount of memory/RAM installed by clicking your "Start" button, right-clicking on "My Computer" (or "Computer" in Win7/Vista), and selecting properties.

.... and Welcome to Major Geeks! :wave :major

 

Hey, I sure appreciate the help! I defragged it last night and it seems to be running better. I think tonight I will try some malware stuff.

 

Windows and other programs, store a HUGE amount of temporary files, backup files and logs on your hard drive. Most of those will continue to build up till there is no more room on your hard drive at all.
There are several programs that I personally know to be safe, when finding and removing those files. The one that comes with every version of windows is a good place to start.
It's called "Disk Cleanup", in case you've never used it.
There is a way you can run it in an Extended mode, that will remove a lot more junk.
Copy the below line into a desktop shortcut.

%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

The First Time you run the program, it will show you a list of all the things it can delete.
Just check everything but Setup Logs, then click OK to run the program.
Then run the program often, for a much cleaner PC.

There is a lot more, to really get any PC up and running at peak performance. This is what I do for a living, in my computer business.

But stop unnecessary programs from running and clean out the junk and your computer will thank you for it.

Good Luck,:cool

 

When I try to send an email from my Outlook it sits there and spins for several seconds before sending. Is this normal?