If you have a slow computer, there are some things you can do to clean it up even without much computer knowledge. I thought I'd write up a how-to for anyone who wants to know. It's time consuming, but you can always quilt while these are running. And you can do one step, then stop and use the computer, then do the next step the next day or whenever.

0. If there is visible dust on the outside of the computer, get it off, especially off the vents. You can do this to start or while the anti-virus or some other program is running.

1. Make sure your anti-virus program has all the latest updates. Usually double-clicking on the icon will bring up a button you can click to check. Otherwise, visit the anti-virus company's website and search on "update" to get them. Download and install them.

2. Clean out your browser cookies and cache. In Internet Explorer, open your Tools menu, go into Internet Options and click on Delete. Then delete the temporary files and cookies. (You can leave the cookies, but your anti-virus program will probably flag them as a possible threat, so don't panic if you see that.)

3. Run a full virus scan. This can take a few hours. If it comes back showing viruses, I'd write them down and search on the anti-virus websites for a free removal tool. If you just quarantine them, they still take up space on your hard drive.

4. If you don't already have it, download and install the free MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, which is like an anti-virus program for adware and spyware. Even if you don't mind ads, they (and spyware) can really slow down your computer. http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

5. Run a full scan with this, too. Again, it can take a few hours. Wipe out any spyware or adware it finds. (I have Norton, and this finds things my Norton doesn't.)

6. Go into your Control Panel to get to Add & Remove Programs. (Start menu for XP users.) Let it load, then scroll through to see if there are any programs you don't want. DON'T delete with wild abandon! If you're not sure what a program is or does, leave it there. You can always research it later to find out if you need it. But if you are sure you don't need or want something, get rid of it.

7. Restart your computer again to get all that work out of memory.

8. Now it's time to defragment your drive. Stay with me, even if those words made your eyes roll back into your head! In Windows XP, click on your Start menu, then All Programs, them Accessories, then System Tools, then Disk Defragmenter. Select your hard drive. Then click on Defragment. Again, if your drive is very large or very fragmented, this can take hours.

9. I would restart again, just to be careful. Then see if things don't load faster and your baby doesn't work more smoothly.

It's also a good idea to open it up and clean inside, but here you have to be careful not to touch the electronic stuff. Unplug it first!!! Use compressed air to blow the dust away. Better to leave it if you're not comfortable with this, as you can damage your computer by mishandling its innards.

very helpful, thank-you very much.

After doing all this and still having a lot of problems, I changed to foxfire for my browser. Now I have fast internet for the first time in a long time!

Ditter

thanks so much.

Google Chrome is the fastest browser I've used. It's simple and not a lot of toolbars.

Yep, your thread is what inspired this one. It won't solve everyone's problems, especially if it's been months or years since they've done the things I listed. And if they do my steps and take your Firefox recommend, it could make their computer better than they've ever seen it.

I'm planning to download Firefox myself to try out. :-D

You can also use canned air to clean the inside of your computer out, to get rid of the dust bunnies hiding inside. I use an air compressor and stand about 2 feet away, then let it air out just in case any moisture was in the air tank. We use a program to clean up the bad folders, files, spy ware. It also cleans the registry and finds empty and duplicate folders/ files to delete. The program is called Glary Utilities PRO, we got it free through giveaway of the day.

WOW!! I'm glad I clicked on this one I AM having a hard time with mine I will try this and hope that it will work. I sure do appreciate it very much you putting all this info in. Mine won't bring up alot of sites and also it is soooooooo slooooooowwwww to bring up a page and I have to keep refreshing or whatever and then if it doesn't come up I feel like I could just throw the darn thing. I got it last year and it's a Dell I'll never own another one or have vista either. But I am going to try this.Thank you so much.

I am surrpised to hear you aren't happy w/ your Dell as several people I know love thier Dells-I have heard awful things about Vista, maybe I would start w/ the Vista issues...good luck.

This is a great topic. We just had to buy a new computer and again purchased a Dell (3rd one for us), and both our new computer and our laptop (also Dell) have Vista. I really like it and have had no difficulty with it. Wasn't going to get Vista on the new desktop, but DH's laptop has it, and since he is pretty much a computer neanderthol, I figured better to have the same programs on the big unit so he doesn't get confused/scared.

Sometimes, it's the operator that causes the problems, right? (*giggles*)

Anyway, love the suggestions here. I am planning to print them for DH to try himself ... he always whines that he "never gets to do it myself, so I never learn how" ... now this is something he can read along and do so that he understands.

Ahhhhh, men .......... can't live with 'em, can't legally shoot 'em. (*giggles again*)

Odessa

d/l foxfire and having issues, says javascript is disabled, which it's not, OR that i need the new adobe flash player which i d/l and installed...still having probs

Before going inside the computer be sure to touch the chassis somewhere before you reach into the workings. If you do not then the static electricity on your person will fry the processor.

CCleaner by Piroform is free and will clean your cache and all other unnecessary garbage that finds its way on your computer. It will also repair the registry if you chose to use that option.

Billy

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in to say I gave up on a PC and got a Mac. What a difference! Hubby is a PC programmer and knows all the ins and outs and he is very impressed with ease of setup and everything else. He ended up getting a Macbook Pro and really does enjoy it. I can't think of any disadvantages yet, but if anyone has a heads up for me I would appreciate it.

Cheryl, please post back and let us all know if the "tuneup" significantly improves your computer's performance.

Dell is a very good brand of computer, and whatever Vista's annoyances, people do use it without problems. So if you still have problems, we can work on them.

Craftiladi makes a good point about the Vista. I would say after you've done the virus and spyware/adware downloads and scans (and before defragmenting), check for Windows updates to get any patches for Vista that you don't yet have. It may be that your computer is set to check for them and get them automatically, but it's worth checking anyway.

Lostn51, VERY important point! Though I thought you ground yourself to keep from getting a killer shock, not to protect the computer.

Stitchnripper, everyone I've ever known who's owned a Mac has been totally smug and superior about it. They never complain, never!

Yeah, especially in my case!

Glad you like my post and do let us know how DH fares with the list.

You can post your problem on the Firefox message board or chat live online to get help: http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Ask+a+question

I'd be interested in knowing what the solution is when you find out.

Thank you so much for these tips ! Big thanks for the anti-malware program link . It's running now and finding stuff that my McAfee didn't ! I'lllet you know how it turns out . Hugs :thumbup: Annie

Ok , scan is done . Man did it ever find a lot ! My computer is running faster now . Thank you very much ! Pages are loading much faster and not having to sit and wait on them :D Please if you have anymore tips would you pass them along , pretty please . Huge thanks from Annie

Thanks! This is exactly what I needed at exactly the right time! I'm almost ready to go buy a new one....I've done a lot of your list, but not all...I'll try the ones I haven't....THANKS!

I am so glad the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware helped you so much. Run it every so often to get rid of the new stuff that puts itself on your computer. I believe the free version will only scan and remove. I think you have to pay to get it to block the stuff from getting in in the first place.

I don't have their paid version. Someone recommended Ad Muncher to me, and I use that instead. Not sure which is better, though Ad Muncher seems to only be for the adware, not the spyware. So you'd think the Anti-Malware would be better, but Ad Muncher seems more popular, not sure why unless it's the cute cow that sits at the bottom of your screen and munches whenever it's blocking an ad. You can get a free trial here: http://www.admuncher.com/download.shtml

I'm not recommending it, though I love Ad Muncher. I'm just putting the info out there.

Some of the things others on this thread have recommended may be worth trying. I'm wary of automated registry cleaners, because one wrong move with the registry can leave a computer unusable. But that's just me. I'm not saying the products are bad or not to try them.

Let us know if it helps!

If the things on the list aren't helping enough, post your system info (year you bought it, brand, operating system, processor, amount of memory, whatever else seems useful) and what your problems are.

I did everything on the list and it has helped. The free version of the ad/spy ware thingie (you notice how technical I am with my computer)...said that it cleaned 100 things and left 1316 other things it found. It wouldn't clean those unless I buy the full version. I'm leary of doing that...I don't know if I believe it found all those things. I used to use AdAware....haven't seen it for awhile, although I haven't looked. Should I try the cow muncher link you listed above?

Ok our computer wizard, :-D after I deleted norton & switched to avast for my anti versus , any addresses in my computer that have hotmail get bounced back to me-any clue?
thanks much

Hotmail=viruses and tons of spam.

CCleaner by Piroform is the best at cleaning out all the junk that the other programs would charge you for and all my comps run like I just bought them yesterday. The newest one I own is 4 years old and this laptop is almost 8years old and is lightning fast.

Just go to Cnet.com and get to the download center and punch in CCleaner. Get it update it and run it!! And if you want it to fix you registry issues it will do that also.

Billy

Thanks Billy but i am confused how is that going to help w/ friends that have hotmail addresses?

Almost all Trojans and hackers use Hotmail because it is owned by Microsoft and it will attach itself automatically to the System32 files in the windows program.

You will have to go in and set the perimeters if you still want to let the hotmail to go through the antivirus but if I were you I would go to Aol or Yahoo for another email addy.

Billy

sandpat, I'm glad you noticed an improvement. I'm surprised it won't wipe all the stuff it found. Does it at least give you a list or a file of the other thousand or so things so you can see what they are?

I haven't seen Ad Aware in years, either, don't know what happened to it.

As for Ad Muncher, you can download a free trial, if you don't want ads in your face when you're on the web. If they don't bother you, then there's no reason to try it. It doesn't do scans and removals, it just blocks the ads from getting into your computer. I really hated all the ads, so for me the $25 to buy it has been well worth it.

craftiladi, I don't mean to be a self-styled computer expert - I'm not. But I know a lot of people are having problems with slowness and whatnot, so it seemed a good idea to share some basics.

And, okay, I've done a good deal of troubleshooting on my own computer, and I'm unemployed and rotting away here, so I'm really up for using my brain to help others with their computer issues.

Glad Billy and Chasing Hawk are here contributing, too, because they know about apps I've never heard of.

About the Hotmail program, Billy, she needs to be able to receive and send to friends who do have Hotmail. Counseling her not to have a Hotmail address doesn't solve that problem. What parameters does she need to reset? Where are they?

craftiladi, I don't know the first thing about Avast, but you might find this info helpful (from their support knowledge base):
http://support.avast.com/index.php?_...d=295&nav=0,66 Or post your problem there and I'm sure someone will know the answer.

Thanks! My computer is much faster today...but I think I'll look into the info that Billy provided. Its put out on the same site as the old AdAware. I really liked that program.

Its weird...the program I ran yesterday did NOT give me a list...just said that it found x #...cleaned x#, then I had to buy to get the rest cleaned...made me suspicious. I'm sure I can find something else to check to make sure whether there is still junk on or not. I have McAffee...it blocks "most" junk.

sandpat, I only have the free version, nothing more than what you have. Can you open yours up? You should see tabs marked Quarantine and Logs. You might find the list in one of those tabs.

I wouldn't be too suspicious of the results you got. It's a reputable company. Maybe that's just how they handle it when there are that many different kinds of adware and spyware on a system.

By all means, check out Billy's link. Let the rest of us know how it works for you.

Just remember that McAfee is for viruses and such, so it won't remove your adware/spyware. It has to be an adware/spyware removal tool.

I have a security package from ATT....It includes a spyware/add blocker and a segment of the security package says that it cleans those buggers off my system...but heck...who knows?? :roll:

It's worth giving it a try.

You might want to try Spybot. I've heard of it, haven't used it. Anyway, it's freeware. http://www.softlookup.com/display.asp?ID=57615

Thanks for all of the tips!