Computer Speed Question

  • Thread starter CMvan46
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2,547
Canada
Vancouver, BC
First off I know a little about computers but not a ton so I've tried the basics

As for my question.... I've been working on my girlfriend's desktop computer to try and get the internet faster. I ran speedtest and it's got 28 mb/s download speed. All the other programs run very fast but internet pages (even google) load extremely slow. Looking for some ideas as to what that could be.
 
What is she getting for upload speed?
If its more than 5mb/s then there has to be an issue with the browser, or perhaps some sort of virus. That's what I would check.
 
It could be that something is hogging the processor or the ram, go into the task manager and see whats going on.
 
Try clearing the cookies using Ccleaner then try using Mozilla firefox. Either that or it's you're ISP having problems or area.
 
If she is using Internet Explorer i would say it is running fine.

Fast internet does not mean all pages download fast.

If the server is under load or has a bandwidth limter on it will download things slower(but google should open fast).

Check the Modem/routers DHCP log and see if anyone is leeching your internet.

Run a malware scan with the following Spybot S&D and Malware bytes.
 
Legendary
What browser is on it?

Explorer

bergauk
What is she getting for upload speed?
If its more than 5mb/s then there has to be an issue with the browser, or perhaps some sort of virus. That's what I would check.

Virus scan came back with one minor but it's still slow. That was a couple weeks ago. Upload speed is .96 mb/s

Robin.
It could be that something is hogging the processor or the ram, go into the task manager and see whats going on.

Nothing unusual that I could see.

CARCRASH
Try clearing the cookies using Ccleaner then try using Mozilla firefox. Either that or it's you're ISP having problems or area.

I've tried clearing all caches, cookies, history as well as run the defragmenter

Grayfox
If she is using Internet Explorer i would say it is running fine.

Fast internet does not mean all pages download fast.

If the server is under load or has a bandwidth limter on it will download things slower(but google should open fast).

Check the Modem/routers DHCP log and see if anyone is leeching your internet.

Run a malware scan with the following Spybot S&D and Malware bytes.

Not running fine by any means. I didn't see anybody stealing the internet.

I can sit with my laptop literally right next to the desktop and run internet explorer which brings up web pages instantly. My laptop is faster than the desktop but not to the point of bringing things up instantly compared to nearly a minute for some sites.

The desktop runs all other programs fine, the ps3 my girlfriend has plays games online with no lag, and my laptop runs very quick when I'm there.




I will have to try Firefox when I'm there next and see if that helps our changes anything. The computer isn't old (only a couple years) and had decent enough hardware for it to load google quicker than 45 secs. Also living where we do with our isp there isn't really a bandwidth cap nor do we have download limits.

Thanks for the suggestions though. Will try Firefox when I get the chance.
 
bergauk
Sounds like a severe infection. Try running ComboFix. If your computer pulls up pages faster than hers.. then its not a connection problem with the router. It has now become a bigger problem.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/combofix

That's why I asked here because it didn't make sense to me how mine can run fine but hers not even with google. I don't see anything immediately obvious wrong with viruses or other programs running and stealing ram. Will try that out though. Thanks.
 
Combofix is a last ditch effort to cleaning a computer. Something has to be SEVERELY wrong in order for you to have to use it, and from what I can tell it seems like it needs it.
 
bergauk
Combofix is a last ditch effort to cleaning a computer. Something has to be SEVERELY wrong in order for you to have to use it, and from what I can tell it seems like it needs it.

Oh no it's not there yet. Plus it's not my computer. It runs literally every other program on the computer fine other than Explorer. I'm not sure about Firefox as I have to try that yet.
 
Try resetting IE settings by going to Start>Control Panel>Internet Options>Advanced>Restore Advanced Settings.

As to the comment about combofix, i use it on a daily basis and it has only screwed less than 5 machines or less than 0.1% of machines and that was due to a virus attching itself to all system files needed for booting.

Combofix is an anti malware program that can remove even the worst of infections it is it is freeware, but it has some risks to it when using it.
 
Internet explorer and firefox aren't working whatsoever now. They come up not responding nearly instantly.

I did just get malawarebytes on there and that is running overnight. Will have to see what happens with that.
 
Reinstalling would be best, but becareful so you don't back up the infected files.

But run combofix as a last resort.
 
While it's never a bad idea to scan for Malware, I think reinstalling Windows is slightly extreme. I mean, most malicious infections slow down the entire machine, not just web page loading. It may not even have anything to do with the PC, for example, perhaps for some reason Port 80 is being throttled on that machine? It's also possible that a proxy server was configured, there is some over enthusiastic anti-virus, or the network link has dropped down to a lower speed.

For a start I'd check the Local Area Connection Status when the machine is network idle and see if when opening Google a disproportionate amount of traffic is coming through (Google homepage is hardly anything), then you can start going though processes and booting non-essentials one by one. But it's a problem that's next to impossible to diagnose definitively without actually being able to physically sit at the machine.
 
I do wish I knew more than I do about computers. I am competent but by no means an expert. My uncle is a programmer so I've asked him too and all those suggestions haven't panned out. It's also hard because I'm not at that computer everyday. I'm off work in about and hour and I'll be going there so I'll check what malwarebytes has or hasn't found and see where we go from there.
 
While it's never a bad idea to scan for Malware, I think reinstalling Windows is slightly extreme. I mean, most malicious infections slow down the entire machine, not just web page loading. It may not even have anything to do with the PC, for example, perhaps for some reason Port 80 is being throttled on that machine? It's also possible that a proxy server was configured, there is some over enthusiastic anti-virus, or the network link has dropped down to a lower speed.

For a start I'd check the Local Area Connection Status when the machine is network idle and see if when opening Google a disproportionate amount of traffic is coming through (Google homepage is hardly anything), then you can start going though processes and booting non-essentials one by one. But it's a problem that's next to impossible to diagnose definitively without actually being able to physically sit at the machine.

He said Firefox and IE lock up instantly and become unresponsive, I don't think it's a network issue. But yeah I would expect other issues to arise if it was a virus of some sort.
 
Owen.C93
He said Firefox and IE lock up instantly and become unresponsive, I don't think it's a network issue. But yeah I would expect other issues to arise if it was a virus of some sort.

Definitely not a network issue. Firefox and IE still locking up. Tried running malware bytes but that is locking up and unresponsive too. Word, excel, powerpoint, and all other programs running fine though. I'm assuming it's a virus or malware locking up everything that could get rid of it....
 
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