Vista - Odd occurances

Discussion in 'Software' started by abarthle, Aug 13, 2007.

  1. abarthle

    abarthle Private E-2

    hey everyone, im using a dell laptop, dual core processor, 2 gigs of ram, with windows vista. Everything has been peachy and running great till a few days ago. Suddenly it's taking forever for windows to do a simple task, i try to open internet sharing and security, the computer freezes...explorer...everything, i can't even open task manager. Little things like that have been happening alot, i open control panel, the computer takes so long and has trouble just doing that. Then my "connect to a wireless network" windows tray icon suddenly decides to disappear and i don't know if there's an option to hide/unhide or what. I've deep scanned my computer with Pctools spyware, counterspy, avg, spybot, spycop, and even trend micro online virus scan and i've found a few minor things but nothing too threatening, and i removed them but so far, my system still seems slugish. I'm at a loss, could it need to be defragmented? is there a tool in vista or for vista that could do that?

    Help would be appreciated.
    Thank you
     
    abarthle, Aug 13, 2007
    #1
  2. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    Im not sure defragging is the issue, but yes, there is one.

    Start, programs, accessories, system tools.

    Does this happen in Safe Mode, too?
     
    Adrynalyne, Aug 13, 2007
    #2
  3. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    Do you have a Dell recovery DVD or Do you need to make one NOW?
     
    studiot, Aug 13, 2007
    #3
  4. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    What security software have you installed, including Antivirus, Firewall etc please list all as a sluggish PC is likely to possibly be too many live scanning resident applications installed at once.

    for the Wireless Icon in sys tray, check that its not had its preference changed to hide, Right Click the Start globe and choose Properties > Notifications Area tab and under make sure Network is checked if using the built in Vista networking center, but also click under Icons, Customize, and look for a WLAN listing if your PC is using a 3rd party WLAN application over the built in Vista one, and make sure its Behavour is set to Show.
     
    DavidGP, Aug 13, 2007
    #4
  5. abarthle

    abarthle Private E-2

    thanks, i got network icon to work, i feel dumb after seeing that. Yeah having too many programs makes sense. I'm currently running, AVG, PeerGuardian2, PC Tools firewall and spyware doctor (active protection) along with CounterSpy (active protection), i should probably stop using one of the active protection programs, that could certainly be slowing down my system i think.
     
    abarthle, Aug 14, 2007
    #5
  6. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    You still need to make sure you have an offline recovery strategy in place.

    Just finished advising in a thread where the originator has not - to his cost.
     
    studiot, Aug 14, 2007
    #6
  7. abarthle

    abarthle Private E-2

    what do u mean by offline recovery strategy?
    I have the system restore online, and it makes a restore point just about everyday, what else should i do?
     
    abarthle, Aug 14, 2007
    #7
  8. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    System Restore and Dell's own restore are fine so long as your hard drive is still working when failure occurs, since they are both on the hard drive.

    But you know who's law says that if your pc fails when you don't have a recovery DVD (Vista comes on a DVD not CD) it will be by hard drive failure.
     
    studiot, Aug 14, 2007
    #8
  9. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi


    Yes I would remove one of the active applications as its likely to not be helping the speed of your PC due to each app scanning the same files, especially as you will also have Windows Defender also scanning the same files! so that would make 3 antispyware apps and a AV all scanning.

    PeerGuardian 2 also is not fully Vista compatible so while may work could cause some issue ( I know there is an RC1 version of PG2 but like all betas they will work for some and not others until fully tested and as many bugs are ironed out as possible ) with your internet potentially as Vista uses TCP/IPv4 and TCP/IPv6.

    and definatly as StudioT mentions, do make the recovery CD/DVDs if not already supplied and also backup to DVD/CD any of your important documents and files, as you never know when a PC will crash or you may have to re-install the OS from scratch, I dont think you have malware but I never say never!
     
    DavidGP, Aug 14, 2007
    #9
  10. abarthle

    abarthle Private E-2

    alright thanks! will do!
    thanks alot guys
     
    abarthle, Aug 15, 2007
    #10

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