Mr Rhode Island Red Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I have recently become rather disappointed with my computer's performance, in terms of speed when preforming tasks. It's an Acer hardrive that is running Windows Vista home premium, and I bought it brand new from a local computer shop about 3 or 4 years ago. I am mainly disappointed with the internet, which would be this computer's main use. I am running Google Chrome for my internet browser. Just opening it up is annoying, as the computer takes a few minutes to realise that, yes, I have right-clicked on the icon on the desktop and, yes, I want to use the internet The computer is rather slow to start up and then open the internet, which in total takes about 10 minutes Now I do have quite a lot of pictures and music on the computer as well, which may be contributing to the slowness. Any ideas as to how I could improve the computer's performance, with out having to do anything too drastic. Thanks millions, Mr Rhode Island Red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 There is a section within the control panel which you can run to generally tidy stuff up and delete unnecessary things - I tend to defragment regularly and also delete the (generally temporary) files it suggests. It may also be worth looking at your program manager in case you have accidentally installed programs you don't want (think carefully before uninstalling these though in case you lose something useful). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Another thought, if it's really t'internet that is the problem, it may be your connection, router or provider. Believe it or not, unplugging a router, waiting a few minutes and plugging it in again can make a huge difference. There are also websites that measure your actual internet speed and if this is loads slower than your provider says you should be getting, it may be worth giving them a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 If you haven't done so already, try doing a de fragmentation and a disc clean up. Also what do you have as virus protection. McAfee can make life painfully slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 3/4 years is old for a laptop anyway, but you may have a virus that is slowing it down. If you have more than one anti-virus protection programme, that will really make it slow (or if you have McAfee, like Chucky said). We've had problems with TalkTalk and Aol being slow, so we're switching to BT soon. As Yvonne said, disk defraging, disk cleanup and uninstalling programmes is the best thing you can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 If it is mainly the Internet where you see the worst performance, there are a few areas you could check. Firstly, extra toolbars and browser addins can be a serious resource bottleneck. Google toolbar, for instance, can tangibly slow down Internet browsing. Remove all the extras unless you really need them, and you should see things run a bit quicker. Secondly, many antivirus products offer the ability to check each web page you open, and do so by acting as a proxy server. Effectively, instead of accessing a web site, your browser will talk to the antivirus app, and the antivirus app will retrieve the web page, comparing it whilst it's doing so against a database. This checking takes time, so even a blisteringly quick Internet connection can appear sluggish, and at that point it's a simple matter of choosing which compromises you're happy to live with - extra malware checking but slow access or quicker access and less malware checking. Thirdly, as has been pointed out, antivirus products don't live well with one another. Having more than one installed is not a great situation, so uninstall all that you're not using. Moreover, not all antivirus products are created equal, and the likes of Symantec and Norton are notorious bloatware. The free antivirus apps (AVG, Avast and Avira) are all currently pretty streamlined, although both they and their commercial cousins are at the mercy of each update, and all manufacturers' products periodically go through phases of better or worse performance. Fourthly, general system housekeeping is, as has already been mentioned, a good idea. Regular defrags of the hard disc (unless you've got a solid state drive) and clearing out of files you don't need any longer will pay you back with better performance in the long run, and periodic full system scans for viruses and the like are just plain good sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 We run Ccleaner which cleans up all the rubbish from your computer (along with saved passwords, but I think there is a tick to be put in a box somewhere). That can hugely increase the speed of your machine. I echo the other suggestions about defragging and the turning the router off for 5 minutes and then turning it back on again. Also, having faulty filters on your internet cable can slow things down too. But try the clean up of your machine then if there is no difference then you know its more to do with the internet. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I regularly used all the types of programmes above but my laptop got so slow in the end (it's a lot older than yours!) I got an IT guy to wipe it and reinstall Windows. It's like a new laptop now . Only cost me £25 which I was happy to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowberry Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 Do you have a wireless router? Mine ran fine when it was upstairs but I moved it into the kitchen the other day & the computer was really slow after that. Then I was told that having a fridge between the router & computer really slows it down. I've now moved it & everything is up to speed again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 We run Ccleaner which cleans up all the rubbish from your computer (along with saved passwords, but I think there is a tick to be put in a box somewhere). That can hugely increase the speed of your machine...... I've just given this a try and can see an immediate difference. Thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I use that too, it's very good . The IT guy who sorted my laptop said that their Defraggler is much better than the Windows inbuilt one. It's also free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I use defraggler too. It is managed to defrag a laptop of mine when the windows version couldn't because of lack of disc space.It was very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I sometimes do a system restore & re set it to a time I know it was working well. Bear in mind though that you will lose any recent windows updates. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rhode Island Red Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Thanks for the tips and tricks, It's time to see if they will make any difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 (edited) Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I use that too, it's very good . The IT guy who sorted my laptop said that their Defraggler is much better than the Windows inbuilt one. It's also free! Wow, just did that and it somehow cleared 10gb!! Thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rhode Island Red Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 Tutti Frutti: The computer has a 1 GB RAM with an Intel Pentium D CPU 2.80 GHz processor (that was a mouthful, wasn't it) And about this defraggler thingy, will it end up deleting important things, like photos and music, documents etc. that I would be using at the moment? Thanks, Mr RIR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 And about this defraggler thingy, will it end up deleting important things, like photos and music, documents etc. that I would be using at the moment? no it wont delete anything, My computers are set to defrag once a week automatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rhode Island Red Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 In that case, what does it actually do that saves space and improves performance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 In that case, what does it actually do that saves space and improves performance? As you use your puter, the inforation gets stored all over the place. Imagine having a book, and having a page in the kitchen, then the next one in the bathroom, then the next one in the bedroom, then one in the attic, then another one in the kitchen on the floor etc etc...it would take you ages to walk round and find them in the right order. That's kinda what happens with your pc files. Defragging means that the puter goes and gets the pages and puts them in the right order, and tries to put them all in one place. It means that it has less work to do every time you call a file. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Great explanation WH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Rhode Island Red Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 Great explanation WH I'll have to give it a try some time Thanks for the advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutti Frutti Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 (edited) Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickric Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 IF you decide that you need more memory, never a bad thing, the I would suggest Crucial, it will do a scan of your computer and tell you what you have and what you can fit in your system and they are quite reasonably priced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Be careful if removing/adding RAM, make sure you rid yourself of any static electricity, or you could kill your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
