Some Websites ALWAYS slow

I know I have written about my internet browsing speed being slow before, but this something new.

Some sites are quick (www.gmail.com) and some are unbeleivably slow (hotmail, tiscali , tiscali (TalkTalk is so slow I frequently get the message "Program not responding" in TaskManager when logging into my account, but once there it runs at its normal (slow !) speed)). I used to use Hotmail because it was quick ! This is a comparatively recent development -- started about a month ago ? maybe 2 months. I usually use IE7. Hotmail is marginally quicker if I run it in Firefox, but I still have time to go away and do other stuff while the little blue circle spins,and the message 'Waiting for ...site...to respond' is at the bottom of the window).

Dumb_Question
8.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

Thanks Nick. I'll try that one soon.

Meanwhile I can tell you that I use BroadbandSpeedChecker and Speedtest.net, I don't know what you think of these programs.. They usually give download speeds of ~1.3MBits/s and upload speeds of 0.3 MB/s. This fine because where I live I can't get more than 2MB/s so that's what I pay for. I usually do a download of ~300Mbytes every four days or so, and this usually takes about 1hr.

At the present time BroadbandSpeedChecker gives 1.16MB/s down and 0.344MB/s up.
Speedtest.nert gives 1.18MB/s and 0.39MB/s repectively, choosing a server with ping of 100ms. This time is about what I get (never been better than 33ms) if I ping my DNS server (my ISP's)

I don't know if these measure the speed just while data is being transmitted, or whether it includes any 'dead' periods (ie averages over the whole time as my 300Mbyte download does)

However these numbers look OK to my inexperienced eye.

Dumb_Question
10.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

Update - the TalkTalk webmail login screen now carries the message

"Sorry, we are currently experiencing intermittent performance issues with webmail, we are working to restore normal service as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. "

I do not how long this has been there, but not as long as I've been having problems !

Dumb_Question
11.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

I run delete option in IE Tools > Internet Options frequently, I assume that gets rid of the 'junk' you refer to. I also run Disk Cleanup in the Windows Explorer window occasionally.

I've entered CCleaner, and found about 150,000 KB of files in the DNS cache, 118,000 KB, the biggest amount, in AVG AntiVirus 10.0 - Utilities. Should I click the 'Run Cleaner' button ? (I get same results if I tick the memory Dumps optionand analyze that)

Dumb_Question
11.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

161 MB removed from DNS cache by CCleaner.
Also cleaned using CCleaner Temp Internet Files, cookies, index.dat files (don't know what they are), saved passwords (I shouldn't have any), Other exlorer MRUs (don't know what they are), old prefetch data, the others I didn't bother with, they looked as if they'd be small - this removed 590 MB.

I downloaded and ran TCP Optimiser, to the extent that I selected 'optimal' at bottom left of window and clicked 'Apply changes' button: it came up with a list of parameters so I chose to go ahead. That, apparently, was it.

I don't want to reboot as I might never get started again (issue raised elsewhere).

Dumb_Question
11.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

-> NICK ADSL UK

Click on link you gave, sclick in the third down orange box at top left of screen > speed test. It took 1min 40s to load, including the time the java circle was active. During this time CPU=100%. It was quicker on subsequent occasions.
After the speed tester page loads, it says click start button to start test, but the this whole screen seems dead, clicking on start apparently does nothing, clicking in the Port 80 box doesn't either, clicking reload page or back on IE tool bar do nothing, even if I haven't yet clicked on 'start' ! I found afterwards that if I click to another window/task on my taskbar, that window doesn't open, but the thinkbroadband window seems to be active again (the hand symbol appears again when I hover over a link) but the broadband speed test still doesn't work and if I click on that area of the screen, it locks again.

Dumb_Question
11.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

First thank you for your suggestions.

-> Major Altitude: I haven't rebooted my system, for reasons that I have described elsewhere in the forums. I know I should, but I can't. Thank you for your suggestions. A slow browsing experience is the lesser of two evils compared to not getting my PC to even boot (and hance no browsing at all). I appreciate that Ia reboot is necessary to inplement your hel, but I am not in control of my PC !

-> NICK ADSL UK: I am in UK. I have tried the new link you gave me and it worked nd gave 0.61Mbits/s download and 0.37Mbits/s upload (14:19). BroadbandSpeedChecker agrees with these numbers at the present time (14:22). These a bit slower than usual (but it's Sunday afternoon). Thank you.

A thing I have noticed is that my CPU mostly runs at 100%. My page file usage seems high as well, always >1GB and more often 1.3 -1.5GB. IE seems to be the culprit unless I am running a scan. (using Windows TaskManager). I have read a thread 'Ie cpu 100%' by TapperIsTicked in which his problem was solved by switching from IE to Chrome as browser. Is there a problem with IE ? Firefox (which I have) is a little better but not much. Is this information relevant ??

Dumb_Question
12.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - 1.5GB RAM - XP/SP3

 

I have scanned my PC with AVG2011 and Windows Defender with no malware showing. I have been thinking about using malwarebytes, but I shall also consider SAS now.

However, I suspect the boot problem is a hardwware issue, which if I'm lucky will be the CMOS battery, if I unlucky it will be the fan (there is a definite correlation between fan behaviour and boot problem, but it seems to the wrong way round !), as augiedoggie has suggested, or it might one (or more) of the chips has become defective and the problem is terminal.

-> NICK ADSL UK My download rate is usually 1.1Mbits/s.

- please give me an idea where you think the speed rises above 'slow' - you have already given the impression that 0.6 Mbits/s is slow, but my house can only get 2 Mbits/s because of the distance from the exchange.

Dumb_Question
16.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - 1.5GB RAM - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

Thanks for your response Nick.

I started this thread not because my internet connection was slow - it doesn't seem to changed for a long time - but because hotmail became slow (and occasionally gave a 'a script is running slowly on this program, do you wanrt to aort it ?' message), and my connection to Tiscali's webmail program was slower and kept giving 'non-responsive' in Task Manager. Some other sites were slow, others the same. I noticed that my CPU was more often (nearly all the time when browsing or running a browser) at 100%, and I could not run as many copies of IE as previously. (i experience certain different problems with Firefox also)

i.e. the issue ws that things had changed from being satisfactory to unsatisfactory virtually overnight (I don't know exactly when this change happened because I tried a few things and waited before openig this thread)

My HD has never been reformatted ! (in 11 years !) I don't have any OS disks because XP came preloaded - does rformatting involve doing a Sytem Restore ? Can I do it more than once ? I have back up My Documents folders about once a month to two separate external HDDs, but I imagine that refomatting will lose a lot of programs I have un-systematically stored in Programs, not to mention downloading and installing them all ! Sigh...
I've yet to defragment my HD (also never been done).

My hearing is not good so computer is really most of the time ! I can sometimes hear the fan with panel off, it sounds a little rough but spins fast, and seems to turn easily enough when the PC is off. CPU temp is either 33 or 40 at present (MBM5).

I think you and Major Altitude have helped enough for the moment, thank you. I'll report whenever I'm forced to restart/reboot my PC.

Dumb_Question
16.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz) - 1.5GB RAM - MSI MS6577 v2.1 - XP/SP3

 

A related question (I'm afraid I haven't rebooted my system yet) is:

At the bottom left of IE screen, just above the 'Start' button, I often get the message 'Waiting for www.[rest of webpage address]', especially with those websites I am used to being slow (MajorGeeks is not one of them, the slowest part of MG is the the bit where I 'waiting for 'www.facebook....'). What exactly I am I waiting for ? I mean, where in the system from website server to my screen is the holdup [likely to be] ?

Dumb_Question
29.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz 1.5GB RAM) - MSI MS6577 v2.1- XP/SP3

 

Thank you for reading my latest post, Major Altitude. But I don't understand how your answer is relevant (I guess it's in the 'etc').
The "facebook share buttons" don't take that long on MG.

Dumb_Question
29.May.2012
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A (Celeron 2.7 GHz 1.5GB RAM) - MSI MS6577 v2.1- XP/SP3