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Windows Vista Computer is super slow..

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by Arin, 2011/08/12.

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  1. 2011/08/12
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hello, :D

    The computer I am using has always had excellent performance in every aspect. But recently I have been realizing that its slowing down more and more plus recently the fans have been making weird noises. I can't seem to figure out what the issue is. However, back awhile ago I messed something up with the hard drives and it wasn't booting so I messed with the settings and it worked. I have a feeling the hard drives that are setup for Raid, are not running in Raid because of the settings I messed up and somehow got the computer too boot. However, I also believe there could be some other issues such as registry infections, due to me being an idiot:( and running a registry fix program which I believe is the reason why my computer wasn't booting, since than I have removed that program. However, I have gone through a lot of the program files, program data files, and app files deleting junk and infectious files. Unfortunately, all that did was free up more space . I would like to fix this slowness issue and also change the hard drives from mirroring(raid) to 2 separate hard drives so that I have more space. Looking forward to some reply. All replies and help received I thank you in advance.
     
    Arin,
    #1
  2. 2011/08/12
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Hi Arin, Welcome to Windowsbbs! :)

    In your post you stated that you were running a registry fix program and that you found infectious files. Your computer could very well be infected with some nasties which could explain the major slow down with your system.

    I would recommend that you make sure your computer is clean of any malware infections before we dive deeper into why your computer has slowed down.

    Please read this and post a new thread in the Malware and Virus Removal Forum.

    Once your computer is declared clean then post back in this thread and we will go from there.

    Also please enter your System Details. It helps us in answering your questions.

    Note: A common error is to forget to show your System Details in your profile:

    Make sure to do the above when entering your System Details, thanks.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #2


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  4. 2011/08/13
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    Will do. Thanks Terminator :D
     
    Arin,
    #3
  5. 2011/08/14
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Your Welcome. :)
     
    Evan Omo,
    #4
  6. 2011/08/15
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Arin, please note the break-up of Evan's replies to your original post.

    Reading a long unbroken paragraph is much harder to read than putting your thoughts into a group of small sentences.

    Try to break up your paragraphs into groups of connected sentences (thoughts). It will make it easier for us to read.

    Matt
    PS I think two sentences make up a paragraph, but I'm happy with one. :D :D
     
    mattman,
    #5
  7. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    Haha I took took note of Evans format and with the help of broni I was able to clean my computer, so I am back.

    Now that my computer is clean I would like to remove some programs from my startup list, what would be the best way?

    My computer is currently in Raid mode, so I have 2 hard drives but they are mirroring each other. I wish to change that, so that both hard drives are usable. I am running out of space very quickly. Is it possible to unraid without having to reformat?

    Lastly, I would like to optimize my processor and graphics card setting to allow the best performance, if you could help me with that as well.

    Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and effort. <3

    Arin
     
    Arin,
    #6
  8. 2011/08/18
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Good work.

    My recommendation would be WinPatrol.

    It depends. If its a BIOS RAID then you can't do anything. If its software RAID through Windows, you can unRAID it but it would keep complaining of the missing hard disk. So I guess you are back to square one. My recommendation - create image of partitions,break the RAID, restore image.
     
    rsinfo,
    #7
  9. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    How will I find out if its a BIOS RAID or software RAID. So that I can decide which step needs to be taken.

    Also any thoughts on the last part of my post about the processor and graphics card?
     
    Arin,
    #8
  10. 2011/08/18
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    If you wish to find out if have a RAID setup through the BIOS then I would enter the computers BIOS and search for any option that resembles a RAID option. If no option exists in the BIOS then chances are the RAID mode can be undone through Windows.

    Regarding the last bit of your post, I have compiled a long list of steps that you can perform to speed up your system.

    Try following these steps to help make the computer run faster and more efficiently:

    1. Click Start< Control Panel< Uninstall a Progam and uninstall any programs that you don't use.
    2. In Control Panel under Programs and Features click the link that says Turn Windows Features On or Off and uncheck all the checkboxes except for Games, Internet Explorer 9, Media Features, Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1, Windows Gadget Platform, Windows Search, XPS Services and XPS Viewer. Click Ok when you are done. (If you use a Windows Feature that is listed then don't uncheck its checkbox)
    3. Download and run ATF Cleaner. Save the program to your desktop. Right click it and select Run as Administrator. When it opens select all the checkboxes in the program then hit the empty selected button. Download it from here, ATF Cleaner.
    4. Run Disk Cleanup. Click Start< All Programs< Accessories< System Tools< Right click Disk Cleanup and select Run as Administrator. Once Disk Cleanup finishes calculating how much space it can free up make sure that all the checkboxes are selected. Once all of those checkboxes are selected click the More Options tab and under System Restore and Shadow Copies click the Cleanup button. Click Clean up to delete all of the old System Restore points. Once thats done click the Ok button to perform the requested actions and click Yes when prompted to allow Disk Cleanup to remove unnecessary files on the computer.
    5. Disable any Windows Services that you don't use by following Black Vipers Services Guide.
    6. Download and run Auslogics Disk Defrag. Make sure to uncheck any toolbars in the installtion wizard as they are not needed. After the installation finishes right click on the program and select Run as Administrator. When you open the program click on Settings< Defrag Priority and select High Priority. Then click on Settings< Program Settings< Algorithms Tab. Select the Delete temporary files before defragmenting checkbox and select the Move system files to the beginning on the disk checkbox. When done click Ok to close the Settings window. When you are ready to start the defragmentation process select the small down arrow next to the word Defrag and select Defrag and Optimize. The process could take a long time so please be patient. Download it from here, Auslogics Disk Defrag.
    7. Download and run Quicksys RegDefrag. After you download the zipped folder on your desktop, right click the zipped folder and click Extract All. After the folder has been extracted open the regular folder. Run the QRegDefrag.exe program by right clicking on it and selecting Run as Administrator. When the program opens click the Defrag Registry button and then click the Analyze button. When the process finishes analyzing click the Defrag button followed by clicking the Restart button to finish the registry defrag process. Download it from here, QuickSys RegDefrag.
    8. Download and run Autoruns. After you download the zipped folder on your desktop, right click the zipped folder and click Extract All. After the folder has been extracted open the regular folder. Run the autoruns.exe program by right clicking on it and selecting Run as Administrator. When you open the program click the Logon Tab and then highlight and remove any programs that you don't need to startup with your computer. Download it from here, Autoruns.
    9. Could you let me know what security programs you have installed and if you have have Windows Vista Service Pack 2 installed?
    10. How many processes are running in Task Manager?

    Let me know if the computer is any faster after performing the above steps. :)
     
    Last edited: 2011/08/18
    Evan Omo,
    #9
  11. 2011/08/18
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    WinPatrol is free. You only pay if you want additional security features.

    Right click My Computer->Manage->Disk Magament. Here you can view all the disks present in your computer. If its shows 2 hard disks with something like RAID 1, then its through Windows. If its shows only one single hard disk then its through BIOS.

    Regarding the processor, you can only overclock it or add more & faster RAM.

    Update your graphic card driver to latest version & then overclock it.
     
    rsinfo,
    #10
  12. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have spent a lot of time cleaning out folders and uninstalling programs and such things.

    I am currently doing all the steps you have suggested.

    I currently run Norton Anti-Virus and Firewall. Window defender is off. Thats really about it. Yes I have Service Pack 2

    74 processes running

    I was thinking more of like processor and video card settings, because they are all default so I was thinking maybe you knew how to unlock its potential or point me in the direction to figure out how too.

    I will check about the raid mode in the BIOS after I complete these steps.

    Arin
     
    Last edited: 2011/08/18
    Arin,
    #11
  13. 2011/08/18
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    As far as hardware goes I would update your RAM to 4 GB if possible. That will give you the best speed improvement. If you are unsure about the type of RAM that you have then download the memory system scanner from Crucial.com. The scanner will tell you all the information that you will need for your RAM.

    As far as tweaking the graphics settings goes take a look here, NVIDIA Tweak Guide.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #12
  14. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    Also I do have service pack 2 installed and I currently have 74 processes running.

    I will most likely upgrade to 4gb sometime soon.

    I will look into that guide once I finish these steps.

    Run the defrag while i sleep :D
     
    Arin,
    #13
  15. 2011/08/18
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Ok great. One other thing I forgot to mention is that you can also disable the Windows Aero Interface if you don't care about all of the glass effects and clear borders for a speed improvement. Disable Aero on Windows 7 or Vista.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #14
  16. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    Just checked the BIOS Setup, didn't see any visable RAID options.

    The computer is moving quite quick now. Since the the cleanup its really improved and is almost as good as when I first upgraded all the hardware.
     
    Arin,
    #15
  17. 2011/08/18
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Very nice. I am heading off to bed now so I will help you out more later in the day. Gotta get some sleep. :D
     
    Evan Omo,
    #16
  18. 2011/08/18
    Arin

    Arin Inactive Thread Starter

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    How do you overclock a graphics card. Also the driver was updated very recently.

    Whats the best way to overclock the processor. I have tried doing it with some of the AMD and other programs. But I couldn't notice the difference so I reverted back to default.

    Also I have run several stress tests to make sure its in good condition and its was perfectly fine. :D

    Also I went into computer Management it shows Disk 0 size 150g - unallocated, Disk 1 150g, Disk 2, 500g - External Hard Drive. So I am not sure?

    Screenshot
    [​IMG] (sorry about the quality) :(
     
    Last edited: 2011/08/18
    Arin,
    #17
  19. 2011/08/18
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    As per the screenshot, you don't have any RAID whatsoever. The second 150 gb hard disk is free & you can format it & use it.

    If you follow Evan Omo's excellent advise, I doubt it if you would need to overclock your CPU.
     
    rsinfo,
    #18
  20. 2011/08/18
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    From the screenshot I think I can see that you have (now have) 21% freespace left. After a clean-up that is still not very much. You won't have much room for the future.

    I consider 20% freespace minimum on the C: (Windows) drive. So now that you have found it is working better, how can you maintain that?. Evan has identified an "unallocated drive ". Do you need to move programs off your C: drive? Usually, you can just go to Programs and Features, uninstall the program, then when you reinstall it, use the Custom Installation (advanced) and change the drive (C: ) to your new drive (D:, E: or F:, etc).

    If you have done as much clean-up as you can, remember it will regrow with normal usage. Everything goes onto your C: (Windows) drive, unless you redirect it.

    Matt
     
    mattman,
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  21. 2011/08/18
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    mattman, I disagree with you regarding installing the programs in drive other than C:. Though rare some programs may get confused, some may even refuse to install.

    Its better to leave only Windows & Programs in C: & move rest of the stuff on drives other than C: That leaves everybody happy & if something happens to Windows, your data is safe.
     
    rsinfo,
    #20
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