Computer help: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes?
- 6/20/08 2:00 PM
Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 6/20/08 2:00 PM
What is the first thing you do when your computer's performance starts to deteriorate?
-- Run an antivirus application (Why?)
-- Run antispyware/adware applications (Why?)
-- Run a disk defragmenter utility (Why?)
-- Run a disk clean up utility (Why?)
-- Remove any unnecessary programs (Why?)
-- Run a registry cleaner (Why?)
-- Download and install the latest OS and driver updates (Why?)
-- Call for help (Who do you call?)
-- Other (What it is?)
Shut down and restart
by Steven Haninger - 6/20/08 3:07 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Go to bed and try again the next day. Find something else to do that's more fun...stuff like that.
Good Question
by Grimbles - 6/20/08 3:27 PM In reply to: Shut down and restart by Steven HaningerHey Lee - Good question mate. I perform most of those options fairly regularly...especially the cleaning and maintenance. I guess I am a tad obsessive when it comes to maintaining a lean machine...so if a problem arises, I run all my security software scans first.
I think it is great that you are bringing this subject to the fore, too many people wait until the symptoms appear before performing any cleaning and maintenance, which of course, makes the chore that much more complicated and long winded.
Raising awareness that a regular maintenance regime and safe surfing ethic will help PREVENT many issues down the track can only be a good thing and possibly drastically reduce the number of cries for help on forums such as this.
cheers....JIM
Cheers Grimble!
by desirawson - 6/20/08 8:45 PM In reply to: Good Question by GrimblesIt's a Godsend to see someone else point out the obvious. You spend a fortune on this stuff (computers, scanners, printers, cameras, ETC.) why wouldn't you take good care of it????
Wheel of time my friends...
by Kutusov - 6/20/08 7:27 PM In reply to: Shut down and restart by Steven HaningerAhahah, nice answer!
PC's are a pain. Even if you don't load your computer with new programs, the constant OS and plug-ins update will turn your machine obsolete in 3 or 4 years. Less then that if you start with anything below state-of-the-art. It's the wheel of time taking it's toll.
Drop of performance means that the machine is not coping so well with whatever it is it must run. Now this can mean that you have something new and more resource demanding then before, so it makes sense to start by an anti-virus and spyware check.
Reg cleaners... I avoid them like the plague. I used them before and they completely messed up my reg tree. I now have to uninstall programs through a 3rd party application because Add/Remove is Kapute. If what is slowing down your PC are bits and residues of uninstalled programs, then a clean install is the best thing you can do.
If all of the above fails, you need to upgrade. New processor, more memory, it really depends but you might end up having to buy a lot of new things. For example, I really need a new processor, but that means changing my mobo also and, because of that, my old and trusty AGP graphics card.
about registry cleaner
by sanjayrajure - 6/20/08 11:00 PM In reply to: Wheel of time my friends... by KutusovYou mentioned in your answer about the bad experience you have with registry cleaner. I beg to differ, I have been using the freeware CCleaner since several years now, and not experienced a single instance of malfunctioning because of the registry cleaner. Here is a video from youtube about ccleaner
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiKmxSNFv0Q
Hi
by Kutusov - 6/24/08 5:38 PM In reply to: about registry cleaner by sanjayrajureHi, thanks for the video. I do have CCleaner but I also used others that I wished I didn't. I uninstalled them long ago so I don't recall the names but one I think it was RegCleaner.
Part of the problem they caused gave me part of the solution. I have to uninstall everything through a 3rd party software and I'm using Revo uninstaler to do that. What's great about this program is that it will also clear every bit left behind by the uninstallation shell, registries included.
I know people who spend more time
by Steven Haninger - 6/21/08 10:38 AM In reply to: Wheel of time my friends... by Kutusovloading utilities, scanning, de-fragmenting and worrying about their computers and doing much useful with them. I have the basic scanning programs and make regular full backups that restore in minutes if needed. I don't put a stopwatch on processes and compare these week after week to see what's going downhill. Keep in mind that what comes home with you on the bottom of your shoes depends on whose yard you went walking in. I don't walk where I shouldn't. My self-build rig is nearing 5 years old and rarely hiccups. Someday it will just go belly up. "C'est la vie", I say. That makes room for a new PC. Some day I'm going to go belly up too. That makes room for a new computer user. 
Hard question. . .
by Coryphaeus - 6/20/08 3:33 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have six, sometimes seven, laptops and desktops, home built and IBM, all running XP Pro, my main IBM ThinkCentre and others, including my home built server/web server, all running SP3, all running Firefox 3 except the wife's IBM laptop no FF, all patched and running AVG, Spybot S&D, Spyware Blaster, Defender, all behind my D-link DIR-655 Gigabit/wireless N router, never blindly accepting cookies and blocking all third party cookies, uh. . .
My machines don't break.
Wayne (IBM freak - 6)
Click here to see the CNet faces, learn a little about analog and digital data, Internet connections, Spyware removal, and download free software.
My mini-Schnauzer is smarter than your honor student.
Never happens
by Jimmy Greystone - 6/20/08 3:42 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It never happens to me, since it's not that difficult to keep things running smoothly. You just have to be a little selective in the programs you use.
No IE, not Outlook or Outlook Express, no P2P/file sharing... That sort of thing. It's not rocket science, it's just taking some time to find and eliminate problematic programs, then seeking out replacements that aren't so burdened.
System Restore, Then WinPatrol
by Ol Rod - 6/20/08 4:41 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Really, the first thing I do is examine any changes that I have made in last few days. Then I do a Restore. I still like WinPatrol. No I'm not on his payroll, and I don't get any commission. I run WinPatrol to see if anything is running in my computer that I don't want, then use WinPatrol to stop it. I now have SuperAntiSpyware, and if I suspect something I run it. Then after I think I'm as clean as I can get I defrag. If it indicates that files are still scattered, I run Defrag Twice.
does it deteriorate?
by squirtlewa - 6/20/08 4:49 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Do computers really slow down, or do demands just keep increasing while our hardware remains static?
I have a computer from the late 90s with software that won't easily run on a modern system. The computer itself is too slow to even run a web-browser anymore, but the original programs go at their original speed.
It's simply that programs, webpages, and the like have become so much bigger over time. Consider Cnet.com for example, there's so much junk on these pages with ads and scripts, if we were back in the Mosaic/Netscape days, we'd not even get it to load.
I think most of what we see as slowing down is the rest of the world just speeding up.
I know in earlier generations that things would actually slow down, particularly if you didn't defrag often. I think anymore disks are so big you never really get to the fragmented-state. My impression was it was always more noticeable on Mac OS than Windows.
I definitely use a registry cleaner on Windows, but that's when first getting a computer, not later. There's so much junk on store-bought 'puters that it takes a good afternoon just to get it all cleaned out. If you skipped that, there's surely some lost efficiency.
My antivirus/malware scans go automatically. I wouldn't automatically install OS updates -- they're as likely to cause a problem than to solve. I will update drivers and firmware.
A fresh install feels nice and tidy, like new bedsheets.
I do a lot of preventative maintenace
by 4Denise - 6/20/08 6:10 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
so I don't get problems unless there really is a problem. In that case, it is easy to figure out since it will be detected almost immediately. If I've just installed a program, I uninstall it. If I suspect malware I run my scans. If I've just made a lot of changes to the file system (adding and removing files, etc.) then I defrag. So far, I haven't ever had a software problem that I haven't been able to fix myself in an hour or so (at most). I've always been able to diagnose any hardware problem I've had, even if I got help fixing them.
Denise
Remove unneccesary programs - from startup
by flytdeck - 6/20/08 6:48 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Over time, installed programs tend to place many "utilities" into the startup area. These load during bootup (slowing down the process), then run in the background. Some take few resources, others take many.
If performance starts to deteriorate, I usually review my startup (using one of many utilities) and remove those that are unnecessary. This often rectifies the problem.
Performance
by nrowe46 - 6/20/08 7:04 PM In reply to: Poll: What do you do when your PC's performance deteriotes? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I user a Mac so I simply do not get viruii.
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