dell inspiron 8100;Win XP; cursor freezes on control panel

Have and Inspiron 8100 laptop from Dell. P3 1.2Ghz 512Mb ram running XP.

When I go to the start button, and then move to programs and click, it seems to take an inodinantly long time to bring up the program list; then the cursor will frequently freeze up or disappear entirely; after anywhere from 15 to 20 seconds, things will then begin to unwind.

Seems like this is a new problem, but maybe I'm just comparing things to the P4 desktop.

I'm using Norton AV; Adaware 6 pro, Spybot, Zone Alarm.

I've gone into the system properties (for me, this is a GULP!) and have everthing set to maximize performance on visual effects; best performance of programs on processor scheduling and memory usage.

Any ideas

 

rudymill,

Although apparent differences in speed exist among computers, I wouldn't say that's an explanation for something new. That should have been apparent from the start if the laptop isn't brand new.

It sounds like you're well protected, but adaware and spybot should be upgraded before each use. If this doesn't help, I suggest you post a HijackThis log here for the experts to look at. Check here if you need instructions.

EDIT: Isn't this the same question you asked here? I think you're on the right track.

 

Getting myself confused

Well, I'd been doing a lot of searching about using Adaware, Spybot, Hijack this, Startup Cop Pro, etc., as well as thinking about switching form Norton + Zone Alarm to the EZ Trust Combo.

Anway, have been picking up bits and pieces, and got sidetracked with the laptop question about the control panel; the above questions really pertained to both my desktop and my laptop.

It's been said before, but if we all had cars that needed as much constant tweaking as computers, we'd all still be riding horses and Gates would be sweeping out the stalls.

 

update on progress

Finally. The cursor on the laptop now no longer freezes. After spending hours, and lookin at various links (including DA software, TomCoyote.com, Mike Lin's homepage, Pacman's portal, Black Viper, Windows Startup Online, Task List Programs) and using various programs (including Hijackthis, Startup Cop Pro, Task Power, and briefly Start Up Control Panel), I finally bit the bullet :

Even though SBC DSL says use their connection manager to "optimize service ", I dumped the d*** thing , and with it Broadjump. Instantly the cursor problems with the laptop (P3 1.2Ghz, 512MB) went away; the change was not nearly so noticeable on the desktop (P4 2.5Ghz, 1 GB).

Ok, so I'm worn out. I'm still tweaking the settings with Task Power . If I've figured this out OK, Task List has some overlap with StartUp Cop Pro as well as with Hijack. Since the first two both come from PC Magazine, there's a certain similarity of function.

Still seems like once I get these two going, I need to rerun Hijack, just in case; I'll submit it here.

If I've got it right, Task Power does much of? pretty much of? the same stuff that is addressed by Black Viper's site (and the related program Service Controller XP). If not, let me know.

Anyway, I'm so sick of diddling I've got to leave it alone for a couple of days .

_____________

OK, so I've gotten or am going to get:

Norton plus Zone Alarm (or replace both with EZ Trust)

Pop-up Stopper

Adaware 6 Pro plus Spybot

Start UP Cop Pro plus Task Power

Hijack This


Anything else?


Sheesh. I'm reasonably intelligent, and with intelligence in those areas that lend themselves to understanding computers, and I'm halfway interested in them, and I'm horribly type A, and I have the time to tinker, and I have the need for my job to make the computer function well, and I have kids who keep using AIM and the like and keep getting all sorts of **** loaded on the machines, and yet with all of that, I've found it pretty difficult and horribly time consuming to find my way throught his maze.

What the hell about the person who just wants/needs to have the thing run smoothly ?

 

three computers?

I suggest you pop for a $499 computer for the kids and have pwd on yours and on your scr-saver.

 

Well done rudymill! Congrats

 

I could be wrong but I'd be willing to bet that there was a control panel applet for the connection manager rudymill spoke of. It's been my experience that when a problem of this sort occurs with the control panel it's usually caused by one of the applets being corrupted or, for some reason or another, just not wanting to play nicely. If this is what's happening, you can troubleshoot the problem by using TweakUI to remove the applets or just rename them in windows explorer until you find the one that's causing the problem.

 

Hmmmm?? Bring back sbc connection manager: Not yet

After I'm through getting everything squared away, and I feel emotionally back to baseline D) , I'll give a shot at restoring the connection manager under the conditions you describe. The one thing I do like about the SBC program is that if the connection comes undone, I get a big sound and then an error message on the screen, which I find helpful when I'm working.

Went ahead and got the Google toolbar; will try it out later today. Once I read the FAQ, I remembered that I didn't get it because I use Netscape 4.7 as a preference, but with the increasing numbers of sites that don't like 4.7 (such as the by now infamous SBC when accessing their site across the net), I end up having to surf in IE anyway. But at home, I still use Netscape exclusively for email and newsgroups. So, particularly since PopUP Stopper is another one of those things that loads at startup and just adds more time, I plan on uninstalling it and switching to Google. Use them as a home page anyway.

Thanks for the help.

 

Best replacement.

rudymill,

Try Mozilla 1.7 as the best replacement. It's lots tastier than the other spread.