General PC Questions

[Turbo Lag]

I have a few questions regarding my PC's performance, its getting all laggy and it takes ages to open programs. But i have a few other questions as well.

1) My PC is very laggy. It takes 30~ secs just to open a new window of FireFox. Programs like PhotoShop, take around 1 min or so. It used to open much faster. How can i get it faster again?

2) Defragmenting; will it help? I just defragged my C-drive, what does it exactly do? Ive heard it makes my computer slightly faster. What differences should it make?

3) I get many day to day error messages, how can i stop them? I get many error messages when i start my computer up. I get around 5 or so, just before i start and then a few more after I open FireFox, PS etc.

4) My icons became all pixelated, how can I make them clear again? All my icons, even on the quick select etc became kind of pixelated in a way, hard to explain but im quite sure someone can help me here.

5) Is there any way to achieve higher download speeds without getting different ISP's or changing DSL? My usual maximum dl speed is around 26kb, can i get to around about 30 in any way?

6) I havent got much HD space, is there a way of compressing files without zipping them or similar? Im desperate for space, I download alot. And i dont want to delete anything either.

7) As most know, i have a not-so-good SE w300i. The phone/USB to computer dosent work sometimes why is this?
Well i have a few more, cant remember them now.
Thanks heaps in advance 👍

 

[standard235]

I don't know how technologically inclined you are, but could you please list some specs. I'm assuming you bought from a manufacturer like HP, Gateway, etc. Sounds like unless you have a friend who is quite good with computers, you may want to use the restore CD's and start fresh. You'd be better off burning important data to CD's/DVD's and reformatting.

Speeding up your internet? Doubt it. If you're running Windows XP, get SpeedXP. Free and it works. Boosted my cable internet from 6mb to 12mb.

You can compress the HDD, but HDD's are ridiculous cheap these days.

$70 for a 250GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10. IDE version. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Subcategory=14&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

SATA version there. That would help in all kinds of ways.

Icons I have never heard of anything like that.

Defragmenting is the opposite of fragmenting. A fragment is a section of a whole thing. If your drive is fragmented, then you have bits and pieces of files stored all over your HDD. This makes the heads have to look in more than 1 place for file pieces causing a slowdown. Defragmenting basically organizes all of your files to make everything work seamlessly.


Again, a few specs like:
Processor
Amount of RAM
Video card and sound card if any.

Press Windows Key+Pause|Break for those.

 

[DQuaN]

I have a few questions regarding my PC's performance, its getting all laggy and it takes ages to open programs. But i have a few other questions as well.

1) My PC is very laggy. It takes 30~ secs just to open a new window of FireFox. Programs like PhotoShop, take around 1 min or so. It used to open much faster. How can i get it faster again?

Make sure your system is clean but running up to date av and spybot search & destroy.

Try not to have too many processes running. See what starts up with windows by clicking start>run and typing msconfig. The startup tab will have loads of stuff you probably don't need.

2) Defragmenting; will it help? I just defragged my C-drive, what does it exactly do? Ive heard it makes my computer slightly faster. What differences should it make?

Only a minimal difference. Read write speeds are increased by removing fragmentation in files.

3) I get many day to day error messages, how can i stop them? I get many error messages when i start my computer up. I get around 5 or so, just before i start and then a few more after I open FireFox, PS etc.

Again remove startup programs and check your computer is clean.

4) My icons became all pixelated, how can I make them clear again? All my icons, even on the quick select etc became kind of pixelated in a way, hard to explain but im quite sure someone can help me here.

Not sure what you're getting at but try making sure all your graphics drivers are up to date.

5) Is there any way to achieve higher download speeds without getting different ISP's or changing DSL? My usual maximum dl speed is around 26kb, can i get to around about 30 in any way?

Not that I know of. 26k/b is very low though. What speed does your ISP provide?

6) I havent got much HD space, is there a way of compressing files without zipping them or similar? Im desperate for space, I download alot. And i dont want to delete anything either.

Run disk cleanup from All programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup.

Part of this will compress old files. Windows can compress normal files but I wouldn't as it could slow your computer down even more.

An external USB hard drive might be a good idea.

7) As most know, i have a not-so-good SE w300i. The phone/USB to computer dosent work sometimes why is this?
Well i have a few more, cant remember them now.
Thanks heaps in advance 👍

usually a dodgy cable in my experience! lol

Hope that helps.

(I assume you are using XP)

 

[G.T]

As standard mentioned, listing some specs would be handy.

1) I come across many people who complain about slow computers, and every time I get them to go through this tutorial. It should answer most of your questions. If you're running an older or newer version of Windows most of the programs should still work. This should help speed up your computer significantly, as it sounds as if it might be full of spyware/viruses, unecessary programs and temporary files.

3) Going through the guide above could get rid of some of these. But could you provide us with some of the examples of errors that pop up? It could be Windows or just program-related.

4) Never heard of this issue, but might possibly be a virus tweaking the options of the icon's quality.

5) With your internet, it could be something that cannot be helped. I suggest calling up your ISP to see what they say. It more than likely be where you live - being in a remote place in Australia will be a bad thing.

6) After running something like CCleaner while you go through the guide, you may find a lot of HDD space will come available. If not, buy a new one or an external one if you don't fancy installing a new one.

7) Downloaded the official driver for it from Sony Erricson's website? Just plugging my phone into my computer without installing a driver makes it become all weird - installing the driver for it sorts the problem. Or it could just be a dodgy cable.

 

[Muzaffar]

Well i did run into a similar problem to turbo lag, i did however did manage to solve all this and my pc now just runs back to normal (albeit slightly under par.....) I think everyone here has already given good advices, so i'll just try and see what i can come up with.

1. Try to remove any unused programs or files on your computer. Also try to scan for viruses using spybot (or any anti virus program) and do another scan with AdAware.
2. Defrag does help your computer run a little bit faster and recover some space. I usually defrag a lot to keep my computer running clean and smooth. I can't believe how many fragmented files I get everytime I scan!!!!
3. Not sure about this one. It might be a virus, or maybe some program that you recently install. I remember i installed styleXP to make my desktop look cooler, but had problems deleting, moving, copying files as well as emptying my recycling bin. I removed the program and my pc now runs back as normal. Try and check what programs/ application that causes this errors.
4. Same thing as above, just find what programs/application that causes the problem
5. Well, other than clearing your pc, you could try and download those speed patches that improves your internet speed (although I doubt it will work) The next thing you could do is always try to close some application while downloading, makes it run much faster. Or if you want to do it like me, just leave your computer on while you sleep, the next day, your file should have finished download. 👍
6. If afraid you have to. Either that or burn some of your files onto a cd and delete them of your HD. I did burn a lot of my files and remove them of my HD, and the performance severely improved!!! Another way is to buy a external HD and transfer your file into the external HD If all else fails, just delete your Top Gear episodes will you....
7. Same thing happened to me with my card reader. Probably your usb port doesn't connect properly or your wire is defective. Either get a usb hub and connect to that, buy a new usb port or if your like me, just live with it!

Well I hope that solves some of your problems

 

[G.T]

Defrag does help your computer run a little bit faster and recover some space.

Defragging does not increase the space on the hard drive. It merely moves them around so certain related files are together so things load a little quicker.

 

[Jondot]

7) As most know, i have a not-so-good SE w300i. The phone/USB to computer dosent work sometimes why is this?
Well i have a few more, cant remember them now.
Thanks heaps in advance 👍

Make sure you've installed the SE software, and then when you plug the phone in, make sure you select phone mode on the phone its self. File transfer mode won't work. Ever. You then need to go into the SE software and browse the phone's contents like that. No idea why, but there you go.

 

[Muzaffar]

Defragging does not increase the space on the hard drive. It merely moves them around so certain related files are together so things load a little quicker.

Yeah, maybe thats it. But I don't really know. I think they did mentioned removing some fragmented data, but its too little to notice. But then again, I think you got it spot on! 👍

 

[Turbo Lag]

Wow thanks everyone for the replies, definately all +rep worthy.

Anyway to the specs. Im not sure about them, since my dad and I built it. Im running Win2000 with SP4 (Yes i really need a Win update) I have got CPU-Z so here are my shots from each tab.

 

[G.T]

Again, a few specs like:
Processor
Amount of RAM
Video card and sound card if any.

Press Windows Key+Pause|Break for those.

...will help a lot as well.

 

[Danoff]

1) My PC is very laggy.

3) I get many day to day error messages, how can i stop them?

6) I havent got much HD space, is there a way of compressing files without zipping them or similar?

These may be related.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Well i just got my dad to ask some computer guy at his work, he says our C-drive shouldnt be this full. Ive got round' 10 or so gigs of media and about another 10 for programs. But, the HD is 56gigs full. Why is that?

 

[Jondot]

Well, for a start, are you the only user account on the PC?

 

[opendriver]

Are there any game installed? I know CS and CS:S take up a ton of room

Do you have an external drive you could move some things over to?

Have you tried online storage?

 

[G.T]

Well i just got my dad to ask some computer guy at his work, he says our C-drive shouldnt be this full. Ive got round' 10 or so gigs of media and about another 10 for programs. But, the HD is 56gigs full. Why is that?

Some of it might be internet temporary files. On my cousin's 80GB hard drive CCleaner deleted a total of 11GB of internet temporary files - over 1/8th of the whole drive. I suggest using that.

And again, doesn't Windows key + Pause/Break key work to show specs?

 

[Turbo Lag]

Well, for a start, are you the only user account on the PC?

Yes.

Are there any game installed? I know CS and CS:S take up a ton of room

Do you have an external drive you could move some things over to?

Have you tried online storage?

I have a few games, GTA:III, only about 700mb and Trackmania 250mb. And theres a few games which take round 10mb. What is online storage? Ill try google it now. I have another HD, full of movies and stuff but has round 20gigs left to use

Some of it might be internet temporary files. On my cousin's 80GB hard drive CCleaner deleted a total of 11GB of internet temporary files - over 1/8th of the whole drive. I suggest using that.

And again, doesn't Windows key + Pause/Break key work to show specs?

Ill check the temp files now.



Just did a net speed test.

Should i be downloading things at 200kb/s?

 

[Revolution.]

No no, speedtest tells you your download rate in kiloBITs per second. Judging from your speedtest, you have 256k ADSL. There are 8 kilobits in a kilobyte, so take the number speedtest gives you and divide it by 8 to get the download speed in kilobytes per second. It is less than 256 due to the distance between you and the server/exchange, and the number of people online and how busy the server is etc.

For speeding up your PC, I'd follow the suggestions of most of the posts in here, although I find the best way to speed up an older PC is to just back everything up, reformat the hard disk and reinstall Windows, start fresh. You'd be surprised how much more quickly everything will run.
If that isn't an option, then cleaning temp files, running CCleaner, cleaning registry, scanning for spyware and all that should speed it up a fair bit. 👍

 

[Turbo Lag]

I just ran CrapCleaner, got rid of 2gigs of space So that means im downloading at the correct speed then 👍

 

[Turbo Lag]

Well now i have another problem. When im starting my computer, one of the fans give a loud buzzing noise. As the programs start up one by one, it goes off. I tried cleaning one of the fans, but it didnt solve it.

 

[SolidSnake15]

I have a few questions regarding my PC's performance, its getting all laggy and it takes ages to open programs. But i have a few other questions as well.

1) My PC is very laggy. It takes 30~ secs just to open a new window of FireFox. Programs like PhotoShop, take around 1 min or so. It used to open much faster. How can i get it faster again?

2) Defragmenting; will it help? I just defragged my C-drive, what does it exactly do? Ive heard it makes my computer slightly faster. What differences should it make?

3) I get many day to day error messages, how can i stop them? I get many error messages when i start my computer up. I get around 5 or so, just before i start and then a few more after I open FireFox, PS etc.

4) My icons became all pixelated, how can I make them clear again? All my icons, even on the quick select etc became kind of pixelated in a way, hard to explain but im quite sure someone can help me here.

5) Is there any way to achieve higher download speeds without getting different ISP's or changing DSL? My usual maximum dl speed is around 26kb, can i get to around about 30 in any way?

6) I havent got much HD space, is there a way of compressing files without zipping them or similar? Im desperate for space, I download alot. And i dont want to delete anything either.

7) As most know, i have a not-so-good SE w300i. The phone/USB to computer dosent work sometimes why is this?
Well i have a few more, cant remember them now.
Thanks heaps in advance 👍

The bold letters in the quote could be to graphics card problems. I get some of those problems since I'm running off my on-board graphics.

 

[Turbo Lag]

But for the icons, I used to have them perfect, one day it just became all pixelated. All we changed was put in an Audio/Sound Card.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Well now i have another problem. When im starting my computer, one of the fans give a loud buzzing noise. As the programs start up one by one, it goes off. I tried cleaning one of the fans, but it didnt solve it.

Sorry to double post, but this is becoming worse by the day. Its getting pretty loud now, but same thing happens about every time I turn on the computer now.

Again, thanks in advance.

 

[Muzaffar]

Hmmm..... i'm also having problems with my pc. It will take forever to get to the user log in screen. Probably took 5 minutes to just get into the screen. But I already know what was the problem. It seems 1 of my downloads did slow down my pc a little bit. But thankfully the download is almost finished Another problem is also my external HD just plain sucks. When I transfer my Top Gear episodes onto the HD, it will corrupt my video and I can't watch it properly.....

Turbo Lag, maybe the sound is caused by running too many programs. Have you tried to uninstall any unused programs? Tried defrag and clean your pc often? Check for any viruses? Well if you did all of this, there isn't much help. Either your PC has reached its life or that something in your PC is failing (either you graphics/ sound car or maybe even the fan itself) Also, maybe your pc isn't cooling down enough. Try to clear you PC vents and insides and see what happens.

 

[Turbo Lag]

I ususally clean/dust the computer every month or so, so I dont think thats the main problem here. And maybe all computers these days take a long time to load up.

 

[HACKr]

If you're really having trouble, there's always the Device Manager. I don't quite remember how to get to it, but it can provide information on problem devices. You might want to search that.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Ill Google + Wikipedia it 👍

EDIT: http://www.computerhope.com/win95er.htm#03
What exactly do you do on it?

 

[Jondot]

You check it to see if Windows has flagged any damaged or corrupt components; or if they're just not appearing at all. I think you get to it via control panel, then system, then click one of the tabs. Things like hard drives, ram and USB ports will appear. I don't know how it'd help here, but there you go.

As for the fan noise, cleaning it probably won't help, as it's not the thick layer of dust that's making the noise. I'd assume it's the motor, but you might want to check and see if it's rubbing up against anything when it spins.

 

[Turbo Lag]

You can click the Windows Button + Pause Break and click Device Manager. Honestly I dont think it'd help here.

I can open up the computer tommorow hopefully, ill try to find out what it is.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Well, I think this computers on its last leg, I now cant open many files without having to restart the computer. Takes about 20mins to restart the computer, and in the 4~hours ive been on, ive had to restart the computer about 10 (literally) times, and MSN dosent work properly. I cant open Windows Explorer much either, without having to restart the computer too. Is it time to build a new computer? Or fix this one up for good? Or even buy one off the shelf?

My computer died on me again, I need to restart computer as soon as I finish this post, I need help, urgent.

Getting way more error messages now too, the net takes about 10 times as much time to load pages, when I type, the computer lags a bit too. I cant log into much now and MSN started working a bit. I might not be on anything for a few days, until I fix it or get another computer.

 

[DQuaN]

Reformat and reinstall?