Hello,

 

So, my computer is painfully slow these days. So much so that when I started typing that sentence I'd typed the first four words then had to wait several seconds for them to actually appear.

 

I just wondered if there is any way to perk it up a bit - tips and tricks? It's been plodding on for 7-8 years or so now I think, quad core, 4GB RAM (but can only actually use 3) runs Vista 32 bit (yes, I know) but once upon a time it worked fine, and I'm not asking anything more of it now than I did back then. Bit of word processing, web browsing, some photo editing here and there. No gaming etc. It's frustrating me that simple tasks such as opening a folder, playing a music file, renaming a file or opening a web browser is becoming a chore where I have to sit with my head in my hands and wait! Its ok once it's managed to perform the initial task and open said program (usually) but still, it should be more than capable of this simple stuff I'd have thought.

 

I do probably need a new one I suppose, but then that means buying all the bits, buying windows, buying Office etc, and it all adds up..... not sure what to do!

 

 

Also, does anyone know how I can find out which programs I can kill from my task manager? I never know which are important computer things and which are just garbage I've ended up installing over the years......

 

 

Thanks everyone

 

As for what you can kill from task manager google is your freind.

 

Also if its as origonal after that long you would probably realy benifit from a clean instilation of windows if you have the origonal install disk etc this is fairly easy but if it was a bought PC that might be more difficult.

I think I have the disc, Col G built the PC for me. I could give that a go - does it wipe things? Installed programs etc?

Yep a clean install will nuke everything. All programs all data all pictures. Everything.

I do it one in a while as I love a clean system. Re-installing everything can be a pain though.

Backup anything you want to keep!

A clean install is good, but you would loose everything, so you need to copy off all the data you want to keep. Yes all programs get deleted so have to be re-installed (if you have the original disks. Vista was probably Microsoft's worst operating system.

Oh and that spec should still run fine as you say for day to day tasks.

do a de-fragment first should be in the system tools

Yes thats the idea to completely blank the hard disk and then only install the programs you actually use.

It also has other benifits such as you take out some of the scrap code from windows and fragmentation on the storage device.

While a defrag will help I'd still back up anything important first as windows defrag can corrupt files especially pictures.

That kinda wipes out the possibility of a Windows re-install then as I don't have Word, someone at uni kindly (stupidly) lent me and some others the disc, and I need it as I'm currently doing a(nother) course. 

 

I considered a defrag, but it never seems to claim to need it, and therefore never makes much difference :( 

 

I could just defrag my windows drive, as all my storage is on two other internal hard drives. They were RAID drives til one failed, I got it replaced under warranty but haven't had then set back up again yet.

What processor, what were you using and what was also open.

Chrome is a resource hog especially with lots of tabs open.

Open task manager and sort by memory usage. This will tell you where to start looking.

Vista isn't too bad. I never had half the reported issues on 32bit ultimate

Processor is intel core 2 quad, it happens with everything.  Also, word crashes a lot....

 

I never had any problems with it as such, just all so slow now :(

Back-up and declutter. Swap music, videos, pics over to an external HDD.

Look at your installed programmes; uninstall any you don't use/ need.

Antivirus/ firewall? Dump them and use Microsoft security essentials.

Defrag the HDD and do a clean up. Empty the recycle bin.

 

Oh, and if you're worried about losing Word if you do a clean install, take a look at OpenOffice. openoffice.org

As mentioned, all my storage is on a separate drive to the one which runs windows/programs. I've been through uninstalling rubbish the other week (though admittely there are a few things I'm not sure what they are!). I have AVG, is that going to cause much of a problem do you think?

 

Just been and emptied recycle bin, hadn't done that for a while. Will move on to defragging the windows drive......

Be worth a try getting rid of AVG and getting Microsoft security essentials - it's free and plenty good enough as mentioned above.

Can you post a screen shot of task manager with showing the highest memory uses?

The other possible reason for your issues could be if you have a corrupted memory sector, on the hard disk or the ram though finding out if that is the case is a bit of a PITA.

Task Manager...

 

 

 

Edit... I really must tell Dropbox not to open every time I boot. I only got it recently as I needed to transfer some large files! 

Edited 5 March, 201412 yr by Loz

4 instances of chrome thats a combined 300,000KB of memory thats alot.

Also I'm noticing TeaTimer if thats part of SpyBot its a known launch time killer

That kinda wipes out the possibility of a Windows re-install then as I don't have Word, someone at uni kindly (stupidly) lent me and some others the disc, and I need it as I'm currently doing a(nother) course. 

 

I considered a defrag, but it never seems to claim to need it, and therefore never makes much difference :(

 

I could just defrag my windows drive, as all my storage is on two other internal hard drives. They were RAID drives til one failed, I got it replaced under warranty but haven't had then set back up again yet.

Loz- there's a free download of an office program ,called Open Office. http://freedownloads.us.com/products/openoffice2/suite.php?pk=11153&c=FreeD_OOSuite_CCUK_All&gclid=CIm2tr7B_LwCFQEXwwodYJgAcg

I just randomly got the BSOD and it said there was a problem so windows shut down.

Is open office any good, or is it really basic? I have word starter on my laptop which drives me bonkers.

4 instances of chrome thats a combined 300,000KB of memory thats alot.

Also I'm noticing TeaTimer if thats part of SpyBot its a known launch time killer

 

Why does Chrome open so many times for one window?. ......

Hey Loz, hope you're well.

Chrome resources can be a bit odd sometimes. Especially if you've had multiple tabs open then close some during the same Windows session. Basically it will open up one chrome.exe process per tab. This can be helpful for memory management, and also if one tab becomes unresponsive that can close without affecting others.

More generally, the issue is likely to be the length of time Vista has been installed, and the build up of temp files, updates etc as time passes. No matter how much you clear and maintain, there comes a point when only a reinstall will suffice!

As a test, you could create a new Windows user on the PC. As this will create a fresh profile. Then do some comparisons, open Word, run some Chrome tabs etc.

CCleaner is probably worth a look.

Do you defrag the hard disk? This can be a source of slowness as the files on the hard disk get spread about and make file access slower.

Anything other than a full rebuild is just tinkering round the edges and won't have as much of an effect, and I'm sure someone can help you with Office if you need to reinstall that.

 

One tip to stop too much stuff running automatically on boot is click start - run and then type msconfig.
You'll get a new window where you can see what's due to run on startup and disable everything that isn't essential.