[James 3528]

My desk PC has slowed down to about reverse. My C drive is pretty scattered. Disk space left is 30%. I did system restore a couple of times getting rid of a bug. Also a few weeks back it started displaying just a blue screen with no icons on start up and I would have to re-start it to get it fired up. I was thinking about loading the windows disk again. It is probably about to die.

 

[square2round]

I had like 2% of disk space left. I ran Windows ME until last year. Defragged a couple times. Never did anything. Finally had someone install XP and other programs he thought were better. I knew my computer was f-'ed up. Kinda start from scratch thing. He also installed more memory. I had a lot of crap on my comp.

The change made a huge difference. Prior to the fix, it felt like I ran on dial up.

 

[joey791]

James, computer gaming guys tweak out their computers the most and stay on top of them to get the most out of their computer, but it is recommended that even as a casual user you should do a fresh clean install every year. You probably would be better off reloading everything to get back to peak performance(this of course depends on how many different things you have running on your computer though too).

Square posted at the same time as me but brings up a good point, post your specs please including OS.

 

[Guest]

I have issues with refrigerators and computers...when they break I throw them away and buy new...the frustration is less and with computers there outdated after about 3 hours of ownership anyway.

 

[hvac3901]

the disk space is the disk space ditch the porn though, you likely have a ton of spy-ware and ad-ware. I heard through the grape vine you frequent those places.

get into you root directory and ditch that crap. use a program to remove it.

I run ad searches and spy-ware scans at least once a week and pulls up tons of stuff.

but its likely a republican computer registered to the party and it just naturally fails to perfrom after awhile.

 

[James 3528]

never fails

 

[l•k]

"System Restore uses gigabytes and reduces system performance. . . . turn this feature off. "

 

[hvac3901]

never fails

glad your skins getting thicker. seriuosly if you are not runnig at least spy-ware, and ad-aware then you should have been, i mean they are free.

then an anti-virus program too. but its less liekly than the other legal stuff the others weed out and prevent.

Thje defragmentation is impoertant but so is the system too, as the internet develops and the other computers develop so should yours. you can't race a 2006 corvette with a gremlin, i mean come on!!!

 

[mayguy]

I got a Mac. no problems there!

 

[James 3528]

I think at this point anti virus and spyware is like having shoes and a microwave.

 

[The Penguin]

defrag frequently it will take less time when done frequently - once per month should do it you should be ok and also just clean out crap you no longer use - if you want to keep it burn a cdrw or dvd of your old stuff
Also remove programs you don't use
every bit helps

 

[hvac3901]

I think at this point anti virus and spyware is like having shoes and a microwave.

hehe so true. Sorry for stating the obvious and you tactfully informed me as well. 5 points to you.

 

[Jultzya]

I was always told to run adware and spyware once a week.

Run anti virus with auto updates (system scans daily).

Run defrag once every two weeks.

Other small items... clear your cookies and temporary internet files often.

 

[jhthornt]

How often you need to defrag depends on how often you delete files. The more you delete and save, the more often you need to defrag. If your running XP then the defrag utility will tell you how much your drive is fragmented.

I find alot of people with speed complaints are ate up with ad-ware and spy-ware. I recomend two free programs, Ad-Aware SE Personal and ewido security suite. Both are free, but they appreceate donations.

I have five kids playing on this computer, and these two programs, along with an anti-virus program keep my machine rumming fine. I only have to reload from scratch maybe every three years or so. Make sure you keep the signature files updated!

 

[MadeinUSA]

If you buy a big enough computer with a fast chip, large hard drive/s and lots of memory, good firewall and virus protection, you do not have to worry about going slow.

 

[budweiserlizzard]

I got a Mac. no problems there!

I got one too! I had forgotten that owning a computer was supposed to save you time, make life easier and be fun. I now spend my computer time reading post here, not defraging, installing virus protection, removing spy ware and re installing XP for the 10th time

 

[gruntly]

I use ad-aware once a week only along with defrag once a month... Ad-aware might come up with 1 or 2 things once in a while but no more than that...She's two years old and on XP and I have no slowdown problems at all...

My kids use MSN alot... they get real trouble and bog thier computer and Ad-aware down with 3-4 hundred items at a time. I don't use MSN at all, ever.

 

[l•k]

How often you need to defrag depends on

your Anal Retentivity Index.

 

[James 3528]

If you buy a big enough computer with a fast chip, large hard drive/s and lots of memory, good firewall and virus protection, you do not have to worry about going slow.

The guy that bought the second computer in the world said that to the guy that bought the first one. It just isn't the case.

 

[rob10]

This $hit is very good

Run scan once a day.

http://www.trendmicro.com/en/products/desktop/as/evaluate/overview.htm