Computer Help

[return to the red]

So my computer has been starting up super slow for the last month or so and it's really driving me nuts!

I've installed Avast and ran various other spyware programs and cleaned everything up but it's still starts up super slow. Defragmented as well and removed a lot of programs and files that I don't use anymore. I've also checked what programs are starting up as well and there are just the basics. What could be causing this and how do I fix it?

Thanks
RTTR

[Rathji]

Try running CCleaner from www.piriform.com

Otherwise, depending on your current system specs, your best chance for improved performance, in order of cost are: OS re-install, RAM upgrade, OS Upgrade, CPU/Motherboard Upgrade and, Computer Upgrade

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Try running CCleaner from www.piriform.com

Otherwise, depending on your current system specs, your best chance for improved performance, in order of cost are: OS re-install, RAM upgrade, OS Upgrade, CPU/Motherboard Upgrade and, Computer Upgrade

I've run that along with spybot and as mentioned Avast

[Rathji]

If you have reason to suspect it is some sort of virus/malware/spyware/adware, try MalwareBytes from www.malwarebytes.org and Hitman Pro 3.5 from http://www.surfright.nl/en. Malware Bytes is free for personal use and Hitman Pro has a 30 day trial.

Otherwise your options are probably as I listed them in my previous post. If you would like to give some specs on your system, as well as what you use your computer for, someone might be able to point you in the right direction.

[FlamingStuffedTiger]

How does your computer perform after startup? If it is just startup that is a problem, usually the solution is the delay or remove some of the less critical applications, especially those ones that take a long time to start. This can usually be accomplished by installing some kind of Startup Manager.

Also, just in case, are you running Windows Vista by chance?

[BloodFetish]

Defragging is good, but defragging AND optimizing the files is better! Check out MyDefrag, or Auslogics Disk Defrag (both freeware) which on your system drive will move all startup files and commonly used program files to the fastest part of the hard drive.

I would also definately recommend defragging your page file, which requires a special program called PageDefrag.

[Traditional_Ale]

Just Killdisk the HD and do a fresh install of Windows.

Unless its Vista. Then you're just screwed.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by FlamingStuffedTiger

How does your computer perform after startup? If it is just startup that is a problem, usually the solution is the delay or remove some of the less critical applications, especially those ones that take a long time to start. This can usually be accomplished by installing some kind of Startup Manager.

Also, just in case, are you running Windows Vista by chance?

Thanks for the reply's everyone. It's actually our computer at work and performs well after startup but it's just at startup that takes probably 10 or so minutes to get everything going.

I've got our tech guy looking at it via logmein now so i'm sure he will figure something or take care of it but I like to try and solve this stuff so that I know for myself.

Thanks again everyone

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Try running CCleaner from www.piriform.com

Otherwise, depending on your current system specs, your best chance for improved performance, in order of cost are: OS re-install, RAM upgrade, OS Upgrade, CPU/Motherboard Upgrade and, Computer Upgrade

CCleaner is a joke. Removing old/unused registry entries will not have any effect on your machine's performance, other than to potentially mess things up. The registry is a binary tree structure represented via a memory-mapped file; it doesn't take any longer to get to any registry entry dependent on size. It's actually quite efficient.

Defragmenting is often a waste of time too. Check out a sample of what using these tools does for you here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/2-effec...mance-windows/

A whopping 4% increase.

Defragging your pagefile is another great myth. How do you know that performance isn't better with a fragmented pagefile, which would statistically increase the odds of a pagefile request being nearer wherever the head is currently located?

Ultimately, you should be asking yourself why you are restarting your computer so often in the first place. Use hibernation or sleep. Windows is plenty stable enough these days to go days/weeks/months without a reboot. You could probably get by rebooting only every patch Tuesday.

If you can't go that long between reboots, something else is wrong besides slow startup, and that's what you need to focus your attention on.

[Hack&Lube]

goto start -> run

then type

msconfig

Goto the Startup Tab

Tell us what is listed there.

[LockedOut]

Does defrag check for bad sectors? I've had problems with a slow starting laptop before cause of bad sectors on a hard drive. It was an older laptop with XP and FAT32 file system so I don't know if it's an issue with newer systems NTFS. Had to do a chkdsk to get it fixed.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by LockedOut

Does defrag check for bad sectors? I've had problems with a slow starting laptop before cause of bad sectors on a hard drive. It was an older laptop with XP and FAT32 file system so I don't know if it's an issue with newer systems NTFS. Had to do a chkdsk to get it fixed.

No defrag does not check for bad sectors but sometimes will not run if there are errors so you should always run chkdsk /r first.

You should convert that XP to NTFS.