My Dell Laptop is SLOW!

[druryj]

I dunno what the heck is going on with the thing (not this one; the other one, in the other room, that is running so sloooow). Anyway, my Dell Studio 15 has been a good little machine until lately and all of a sudden, it's running really slow, takes forever to open a program, and sometimes, just hangs up for way too long. I have that McAfee stuff that comes with Cox Internet and don't hang out in nasty, dirty, filthy websites...well, not counting some anyway...I'm no compooter whiz and that's for sure. It's about 4 or 5 years old. Alos, it seems like I don't have much memory or whatever as I am constantly having to get rid of stuff so it will keep on chuggin' along. Sure has me frustrated and I mean frustrated to no end!

 

[Gunrunner45]

druryj,

Big misconception that only "bad" sites have malware. Any site can be infected. Its generally a web sites AD servers that are infected. Yahoo has had their AD servers infected a couple of times. The sad fact is Porn sites are safer than most relgious sites. Porn sites are big money, they can afford security experts and the infrastructure to protect them. Your local Church unless hosted on a big name site is probably more vulnerable. An article on "Gizmo's" recently said according to their research that about 90% of all "Freeware" regardless of the download site contains some form of "tag along" software. That could be anything from an annoying toolbar to full blown spyware. Its very easy for any PC to get infected these days even if it has "Security Software" installed.

With that said, it sounds like you have an infected computer or one that needs a good tuneup anyway. I'm not famliar witht the Yukon area so I cant recommend a Tech but it sounds like it needs a trip to the doctor.

 

[montesa]

I'm not very computer savvy either. The only way I've ever fixed that problem completely is by backing up everything on disc and then reloading windows. Like new afterwards.

 

[druryj]

I don't know how to back it all up...I am old and this is like a second language to me. Guess I'll call one of the kids to come over. I'm getting real pissed off at it, I know that.

 

[DeeJay]

First thing I would do is defragment the hard drive.
Also, check to see how full the hard drive is.

 

[hoo-t]

I agree, but get rid of unwanted stuff on the hard drive BEFORE defragmenting.

Also, run a malware detection program before defragmenting. I suggest Malwarebytes (free download). A thorough virus scan isn't a bad idea either, even though you said you're running McAfee. You can do a thorough scan with McAfee. I like Avast! virus software which is free.

 

[Repent]

Try doing a system restore before anything else, it might just fix it, mail ware can come from any download. Hope this helps!

 

[druryj]

Gave it to my much younger but not as handsome son in law who said he would back my pictures up, save my favorites, etc. and then clear all the stuff off the damn thing so I could safely donate it or whatever. Problem solved.

 

[Apogee]

See if you can determine when Windows downloads and attempts to install updates. Often it automatically tries to do this as soon as you turn on the machine, and everything is slow as molasses until it finishes.

 

[DeeJay]

Gave it to my much younger but not as handsome son in law who said he would back my pictures up, save my favorites, etc. and then clear all the stuff off the damn thing so I could safely donate it or whatever. Problem solved.

My favorite solution!
(Then I get a new one!)