Laptop running slow

H

horusd

Registered User
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1,830
Okay so I bought a new toshiba laptop with i5 processor and expected it to be faster. But, particularly with the internet (IE9), it occasionally runs slow or freezes. I ran a speedtest. and got 7mb download, .67 upload and a ping of 34. I;m with vodafone.

I suspect it's a problem with either the IE9 or some settings on the laptop. Any suggestions?

PS:
I've done scans for viruses and I've run Adaware just in case it's a problem, and I've done a registery scan using CCleaner. I've also disabled a lot of the useless stuff like Itunes from the start-up.
 
"Format C and install Linux."

(cough!)

Ahem.

My experience with windows is that a lot of the sofware "phones home" to check for updates and "download them in the background". Stop them doing this.

Java causes a lot of write errors my machines and requires a manual turn off on the older one. You can get programs that manage what starts up and what doesn't or you can rename proggies you don't use so they are not called up by the Mother program.

My experience with windows security systems is that they can conflict with each other and slow the system down, particularly anti-virus and firewalls. Norton is famous for this, churning away in the background on everything.

I've found AVG and Comodo Firewall to be a reasonable balance on one system and they don't conflict under WinXP. Although the new Vista firewall is supposedly better than WinXP the latter sucks and so I wouldn't trust the former until its proven itself.

My experience is that scans for Virii, Adware, and Malware won't show up a system that's simply shooting itself in the foot.

Also if you're running new software or newer versions of older software in the 64-bit platform, many of these are relatively untried "in the wild" so expect "bugs".

Finally change to Mozilla Firefox and Open Office 3 products for a while and see if you notice any improvement.

FWIW

ONQ.
 
Thanks onq. I don't understand enough about operating systems to risk trying linux. I've disabled all the stuff at start-up that I know I can. Adaware just found a damn trojan on my system. Tho how this got there I have no idea. I'm very careful. I've removed it, and am running Malwarebytes to be sure. Should I change passwords etc?
 
Microsoft security essentials all the way.

If you find the Internet is disconnecting while on battery the laptop is probably set to put your WLAN card into sleep mode. You can change this under power settings.
 
The simplest thing is not to use IE9. I use it all day for work. But in my opinion its slower and less stable than Chrome or Firefox. Which I mainly use for everything else.
 
horusd said:
Thanks onq. I don't understand enough about operating systems to risk trying linux.
Click to expand...
*heh*

Its the standard nerd response to someone with Windoze problems.

I wouldn't recommend formatting C - I'd recommend a dual boot system, which most Linux distros can handle for you. Ubuntu is free.

I've disabled all the stuff at start-up that I know I can. Adaware just found a damn trojan on my system. Tho how this got there I have no idea. I'm very careful. I've removed it, and am running Malwarebytes to be sure. Should I change passwords etc?
Click to expand...
Adaware and Malwarebytes are fine.

You probably need a better AV solution and Firewall, or you may not have updated it recently, or you may have run across a new variant, which is why the heuristic scanner is a must.
Do your Windows Update and download the free Microsoft malware scanner and run it and consider Spybot Search and Destroy as a double check - also free.

Also download TDS Killer from Kaspersky and tun it - very important these days as its a known issue "in the wild".

Finally don't surf as Administrator - create a new user profile with no permission to install programs.
Use that to surf then any malicious code should be similarly restricted - hopefully :rolleyes:

Hope this helps.

ONQ.
 
Hi,

When you say you expected it to be "faster"... faster at what? Web access is mainly dictated by the speed of access of your connection ... you will also hit "traffic" at times when out in web land... regardless of what spec machine you have...

IE can be slow.. tries to do too much I think.. so I would recommend FireFox or Chrome...

If your machine is slow in booting up, then try removing programs from "starting up" using "start -> run, then type "msconfig".. go to the startup tab. If you aren't too sure what to change, then don't change too much at once...

Also, check your usage of "My Documents" folder... ideally that should be kept to a minimum (size wise) - option to link / shortcut it to other disk drives is there also... Your main hard drive should be kept to a minimum in what you store in there (pics / mps / vids etc - put them out onto other disk drives if you can...)
 
onq said:
*heh*

Its the standard nerd response to someone with Windoze problems.

I wouldn't recommend formatting C - I'd recommend a dual boot system, which most Linux distros can handle for you. Ubuntu is free....
Click to expand...


Well thats certainly going to be a lot simpler than just trying a different browser. ;)
 
onq said:
*heh*

Its the standard nerd response to someone with Windoze problems.

I wouldn't recommend formatting C - I'd recommend a dual boot system, which most Linux distros can handle for you. Ubuntu is free.
ONQ.
Click to expand...

i don't follow - are you suggesting that you're the nerd and are defending your positions regarding windows versus linux or that horusd's lack of experience with linux is a bad thing ?

seems a bit extreme to me to suggest formatting a new windows 7 machine just to use linux in the hope that the system will be quicker.

OP - can you give a few more details and we may be able to help.
 
nai - think that this was "tongue in cheek"... classic response to someone who logs issues with windows performance... just to use linux instead... nothing else suggested / implied...
 
Thanks for all the responses guys. I've run the spybot search and destroy and the TDS killer, nothing found. I've also set up a separate account for surfing. I've disabled lots of stuff from the start-up. Toshiba have lots of apps and I've disabled most of them.

I don't have much in the "My Documents" folders, but should I transfer files etc into a different disc? My main concern with the trojan is that my passwords etc might be compromised. Should I change all these?

As for the browser, I heard that Firefox has security problems, so would Chrome be better?
 
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Re: "My Documents" - depends on what you have in there... Personally, I wouldn't keep any pictures / video / music files in there... documents, would/should be ok... assuming that they don't take up too much space..

Firefox,(AFAIK) doesn't have any security problems... but up to you what you want to use.

Separate account for browsing? is that necessary? Sometimes it's handy to be able to surf while you do a bit of work... so a different a/c that might be overkill (again, just my opinion)

Regarding passwords - I would change them every 90 days... depending on what the trojan that you found originally does.. it might be just gathering info re cookies... if you sure you machine is clean, & you feel something might be compromised, then yes, change your password(s).

Happy surfing ....
 
horusd said:
.... My main concern with the trojan is that my passwords etc might be compromised. Should I change all these?

As for the browser, I heard that Firefox has security problems, so would Chrome be better?
Click to expand...

I think you are obsessing over security issues. Why on earth would you need to do all that stuff.

Just trying a browser to look up a main stream website isn't going to give you security issues. You've for Windows 7 and a firewall. Thats going to stop the vast majority of stuff right there.
 
Are you surfing using WiFi or LAN? If its WiFi try connect directly to the router......there can be a MASSIVE difference.
 
Jazz01 said:
Hi,
Also, check your usage of "My Documents" folder... ideally that should be kept to a minimum (size wise) - option to link / shortcut it to other disk drives is there also... Your main hard drive should be kept to a minimum in what you store in there (pics / mps / vids etc - put them out onto other disk drives if you can...)
Click to expand...

Jazz01 said:
Re: "My Documents" - depends on what you have in there... Personally, I wouldn't keep any pictures / video / music files in there... documents, would/should be ok... assuming that they don't take up too much space..
Click to expand...
What are you getting at here? Is this a disk space issue or what? Most laptops won't have a seperate disk drive, and it's not really practical to suggest that all files should be stored on an external drive.
 
Jazz01 said:
nai - think that this was "tongue in cheek"... classic response to someone who logs issues with windows performance... just to use linux instead... nothing else suggested / implied...
Click to expand...


Correct. :)
 
AlbacoreA said:
I didn't understand the My Documents reference either. Whats the problem with that?
Click to expand...

+1

:confused:

I have heard various figures bandied about for the amount of hard disk space to keep free, ranging from 30% to 70%, to support good performance. Maybe this is what the poster is referring to ?

Also, and maybe this is nothing to do with the OP's issue, we have a TOSHIBA netbook with a partitioned hard disk. The C: drive contains all that you would expect (e.g. Program Files, My Documents, etc), while the other partition (D:) is empty. What's the purpose of arranging your hard disk into two areas ?
 
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