VERY slow computer...

Hello to all!

I am writing in hopes to find some suggestions on what I can do to help "speed up" my (elderly) friends computer? It is so PAINFULLY slow (and I thought mine was slow! )

As I know very little about computers myself, I'm not even sure where to start or what to look for? I had asked her if she had ever "scanned or defraged" her computer and she replied that she had never heard of doing that and didn't know what it was or how to do it. (She's had the computer for maybe 2 years???)

I have no idea what type of computer it is, but do know that it has Windows 95 and that she uses IE 5.0.

I believe she inherited this computer from her son(?) as he had purchased a new one, but he lives quite a distance away from her and isn't able to help her when she has a question.

She basically uses the computer to write e-mails and occasionally will visit a web site link that someone has sent her (like a picture/video or joke) or to play solitare. But everything takes so long to load up, that she gets frustrated and upset. I feel sorry for her and told her I would do what I could to try and find out if there was anything I could do to help her.

So, if anyone has any ideas on where I should start or what I should be looking for in order to help her, it would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Vicki

 

Start with a full scandisk and defrag.
Go get Startup Cop from: http://www.pchelp911.com/files/startcop.zip
Install it, and use it to shutdown EVERYTHING that's starting, except Explorer, and systray.
Get Shopvac for the reg from http://members.cnx.net/reboot/shopvac.htm
Get the undo.bat too, just in case.
That's about all you can do for software.
If it's in the budget, get some more RAM in the system.

 

In the two years she has had this, I am betting that Temp Internet Files were never cleaned out, nor was the Temp folder, and no telling how many cookies has been accumulated, and then there is the History folder. Then there is the joke emails with links loaded with drive by spyware/adware.
First run Scandisk.
Download and install Ad-Aware, let it run with it's defaults and remove what it finds.
Download and install Regcleaner, Then run it, when it opens go to the Toolbar at Tools\Registry Cleaner\Do Them All. Remove what it finds. Both these programs make backups by default.
Reboot.

Now when windows loads up,Shutdown and select Restart in Dos Mode, and type in these commands, pressing Enter at the end of each line.

smartdrv
deltree c:\windows\cookies
deltree c:\windows\history
deltree c:\windows\temp
deltree c:\windows\tempor~1

Press the Y when prompted if you want to delete this directory, make sure it is spelled right. The tempor~1 may say Temporary Internet Files on the screen instead, this is okay.
This will delete all of those files, nothing left. Just be sure you do not end up with deleting C:\Windows or C:\ , a typo may be fatal to the system, the reason for the Y prompt.
Those folders will be recreated when windows boots up, but will be empty.
The smartdrv command may appear to do nothing, it will speed things up.
Reboot and now run Defrag.
It should be running better after all this.

 

Taking notes...

Thanks for the helpful suggestions you have all offered....Whew! This is alot of information! Been busy taking notes and printing out information as needed so that I will be armed and ready when I arrive to help her with her computer.

I do have several other questions before I attempt this great feat of helping her (sort of the blind leading the blind when it comes to computers!) and I just hope I don't end up making matters worse for her! So here's what I am in need of help understanding thus far:

1) scandisk and defrag--should this be done in "safe mode "? And is there the "tool" on Win95 for doing this (I use Win98 so am very unfamiliar with what is actually on her system).

2) suggestion to download and install "ad-aware & regcleaner" and "startup cop "-- but her computer is soooooo slow I'm not even sure that this can be done in one day! (Or if she even has enough room left on her computer to do that?)

3)deleting--that word alone scares the heck out of me! But you have explained it very well as how to do it and what to type. By deleting those things that you have listed, what exactly is it that is being cleaned up? (Just in case she asks what it is that I am doing and why, although I am a little curious myself! )

Thanks again for all the input given thus far and I hope I'm able to understand and apply all of this so that I can help her.


Vicki

 

1.) It's better if you can do it in safe mode.
Both tools are in the start menu, programs, system tools.
If they are not, just go to start > Run > and type in "scandisk ", and run it, and then "defrag ".

2.)Empty the c:\windows\temp folder. It's safe to delete everything. Empty the c:\windows\temporary internet (tempor~1) folder. It's also safe to delete everything, including cookies.
Remove the c:\program files\online services folder, it's definitely not needed.
Get StartupCop, and turn everything off, then use the additional speed to get the rest of the stuff, it's worth it.

3.) Delete. No worries. If we say delete it, it's safe to delete, or we wouldn't give that advice.
The lines that markp62 gave you will remove all:
cookies (previously visited websites)
history (previously viewed websites)
temp (temporary installation files for old programs, no longer needed, but Windows doesn't clean them up very well on it's own).
tempor~1 (Temporary internet files. This can amount to a HUGE amount of junk, and is definitely garbage material. See #2.

Additionally, the shopvac.bat I posted above is almost identical to the "scanreg" option in Win98. It will scan the registry, and compact unused keys, and probably reduce the registry size by about 30% or more. Beware, it works, and it works very well, but it CAN take hours and hours on a slow machine, with years of accumulated buildup in the registry. If it hangs, or quits abruptly, no fear, the undo.bat will return the computer to it's previous (slow) state with nothing lost.

 

Ad/spyware programs could be what is slowing it down, taking up bandwidth of her internet connection, preventing her stuff from coming through so good. The Ad-Aware will remove them.
A bloated registry can slow down the system, uninstalled programs do leave stuff behind.
Deleting all those files as I suggested will free up much more hard drive space than you realize. I am guessing she may have a hard drive less that 2 gb, with a FAT16 file system, but to make it simple let's say it is a 2 gb drive. A 2gb drive has file clusters of 32kb each, each cluster can only contain part of a large file or the entire file. Two files cannot share a cluster. In this example, a 1kb file is actually using up 32kb of hard drive space. If the file is 33kb, it is occupying 2 clusters, leaving the other 31kb of the second cluster going to waste.
You may have noticed from poking around the Temp IE files, and most of them are 1 to 10 kb in size, if you have ten of them, they are using 320kb to 3.2 mb. It is easy to see how this can add up.

You can delete those files through windows, but there is a file named index.dat that you cannot delete through windows. It exists in the cookies and Temp IE file folders. It does nothing but grow in size over time. indexing those cookie and Temp IE files. If the files aren't there, why have them indexed? That is why my suggestion was to do it through dos.

 

Continuing research....

Thanks again for all who are offering their assistance. I am still continuing in my reading, studying and researching to help me feel more comfortable in what I need to do to help my friend.

So I am back to ask a few more questions. I am not very comfortable/familiar with doing "download and install" programs. I do not know what type of anti virus protection she has, but should that be inactivated during a download? And will the download automatically be put into whatever file/folder it needs to be and will it install automatically?

Also wondering how I can check to be sure that the "C:" is where those files that I am to delete are kept. Like earlier mentioned, this computer was given to her by her son, and I'm not sure what all is on it, or if anything has been changed/altered from what it should be? I just don't want to get there and have something come up that I don't understand.

Also after reviewing the suggestions in the posts, I'm not sure what steps to use when starting this whole "I'm going to help her" procedure (I realize everyone has their own opinions and I'm not disputing any of them) I'm just getting very confused

a) Scan and defrag first??
b) Scan and delete temp folders, then defrag?
c) Scan, download & install "Start up cop" then defrag?
d) Scan, download/install/ run "Ad-aware, RegCleaner ", delete temp files/folders, then defrag?
e) None of the above....(need a new list)

I thank you all again for taking the time to help me with this and with the explanations you have been giving it certainly helps to make things a little clearer for me!

Regards,
Vicki

 

Those two programs are certified virus free, but if she's already got a virus/trojan, then they won't help.
First things first.
Scan the system with an updated anti-virus program. If you don't have one handy, do the online scan at http://housecall.trendmicro.com it's free, and worth the time it may take. I can't stress enough how important it is to have an updated anti-virus program. A 3 month old A-V is next to useless.
THEN download the programs. You will be prompted for where you want to save them. It's probably easiest if you save them wherever Windows decides, and take note of where that is exactly so you can find them.
Each one requires an install procedure. Usually just double clicking on the file will start the install. A few clicks later and it will be installed. Don't worry about not understanding any of the questions you may be prompted with, just keep clicking OK, and you will be fine.
Restart if prompted, do not wait until later.
Run each program, one at a time, except StartupCop. The default settings for each program are good, leave them, follow all onscreen instructions, without changing any options, and you'll be fine.
Once all programs have been run, and done their work, NOW it is time for removing stuff, and then a full scan and defrag.
Now install StartupCop. Run it, and disable EVERYTHING from starting up, except "systray ", and "Explorer ".
Restart.
Delete all the temp stuff and what we've mentioned above.
Restart in Safe Mode, and run Scandisk. Let it do a full surface scan if prompted. This could take quite a while, let it run.
Once it's finished, run defrag. Again, no need to change any options, just let it do it's thing. This may also take quite awhile.
Patience with this process, it's quite lengthy, and easier to do than it is to explain. If you get ANY error messages, write them down, exactly what they say, what program is running, and when it occurs (what portion of said program).

Like I said, it's easier (though lengthier) to do, than explain.

 

Hi Vicki,

I agree that you should have an antivirus program running and that it is up-to-date. AVG is a free one you can download from www.grisoft.com. The online scanners can also help you find out if you are infected.

Also important is a program like SpybotS&D http://security.kolla.de/ or Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com to remove adware and spyware that can be accumulated . I just saw a link for an online spyware scanner at http://www.spywareinfo.com/ that you might want to look into.

Lonny Jones posted in another thread that Spybot S&D (latest version 1.2) can now remove index.dat using the Secure Shredder! I haven't checked that out.

Just wanted to add, if you do decide to use MS-Dos Mode to delete your temporary files(and that's a decision you might want to put off till last!)... on the following:

I'm also running WIN95(B) and IE5.5SP2 and my C:\Windows Temporary Internet Files "ms-dos" name is tempor~2 , not ~1 so you might want to:
Open My Computer, Open C-Drive, Open Windows and,
Look for the Temporary Internet Files folder and Right-click it, then,
Select Properties, then see what is showing for the ms-dos name.

If you show tempor~2 instead if tempor~1 then substitute tempor~2 in the above "deltree" instructions. Also, in case you didn't know, to restart Windows normally after restarting the computer in MS-DOS mode, type EXIT at the command
prompt and then press ENTER. If you entered MS-Dos mode another way, for example, using F8 and selecting Command Prompt Only, you could reboot into Windows by using the Ctrl - Alt - Delete keys .

BEFORE doing any of the above , try doing a cleanup from within Windows first! Here is the drill:

1. Use Internet Options to Delete the Temporary Internet Files ( check the "Offline Content" box also ) and clear the History. You can get there by right-clicking the Internet Explorer desktop icon and selecting Properties, or from within IE, by clicking Tools.

2. Then open My Computer, C_Drive, Windows, Temp folder to delete the Windows\Temp contents. Once the Temp folder is open, Click Edit, Select All, then File, Delete.

3. Now empty the Recycle bin,

4. Finally do a scandisk and

5. defrag last.

Both scandisk and defrag can be run from Safe Mode if they can't finish in Normal Mode.

In Normal Mode, scandisk and defrag will usually work better if you remove the screensaver from Display , and Ctrl/Alt/Delete and "end task" on all programs except Explorer and Systray. I'm not on my Windows machine right now but you can find scandisk and defrag if you open My Computer, then right click C-Drive, select Properties, and look for Tools.

By the way, the windows version of scandisk is "scandskw" not scandisk, the dos version.

To get to safe mode, you must restart the pc, hit F8 when you see "starting Windows 95" and choose #3 Safe mode using the up/down arrows and Enter key.

It might help if you give us some more information about the slow computer.
-How much ram is installed?
-How many programs are running at startup?
What are the systtem resources at startup?

Right-click on My Computer, click Properties, then check the Performance tab (I'm pretty sure that's where it is!) and tell us what are your system resources and installed RAM.

While you are at it, make sure the Performance tab screen says that the system is configured for optimal performance and that it is NOT running in MS-Dos Compatibility Mode!

If your resources are below 85% on a fresh start, or if you have many programs running at startup, you might benefit from Startup Cop or other Startup Manager but before using such a program, go through the program's own options and preferences to keep it starting up when Windows starts. For example, if Real Player loads automatically at startup, open the Real Player program options and look for "Start Center" and UNcheck it. Many programs have such options to start up automatically when Winsdows starts. It's just a matter of opening each program and turning the option off.

Look Here to read up on resources:
http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/win-resources.html
http://www.aumha.org/a/resource.htm

PS I wouldn't worry about registry cleanup for now. I've NEVER compacted or cleaned my Win95 registry in 5 years, except for a little MICROSOFT RegClean 4.1a.

 

Vicki - I won't add anything to confuse the issue but will say I feel your anxiety as a perennial newbie myself but take heart and follow the sage advice of the gurus that have posted and all will be well. If you get into trouble, you will be helped out of that trouble, altho I know that isn't too reassuring. I would advise your elderly friend that this might take some time, as it might, but the outcome will be all to the good. It's hard to imagine the "junk" that may have accumulated over time on this computer. Something like a purgative coming up.