Computer Gurus Needed!!!

[Surfer]

Couple months ago my computer froze up, so I had to hold the power button to shut it off and restart it, ever since then it's just not as fast or quick as it used to be (HP DV8305). Video plays choppy, sound is choppy, and a lot of times it will pause and resume...like imagine using your mouse in a circle to make the cursor go around and the cursor/computer pauses and resumes like everything 5 seconds so it moves choppy. And if I put it in hibernate mode or shut it down or restart it, it takes forever for those process to be done, and just as long to turn the computer back on. Youtube and other sites use to buffer almost immedietley and play the clips perfectly, now it buffers but the video is choppy (before it would play fine as it buffered, you know how you click on a clip and you can see the line moving showing how far its loaded so far)

Can't figure out what is wrong, ran anti virus etc, got rid of some spyware but no viruses. Figure this forum helped me with my Outloook issue, give this a shot????

[tod071]

Clear your cache, temp files, and internet files.

Then, go to Ad-Aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007-Free/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5) and download Ad-Aware

Then, download Spybot Search & Destroy (http://spybot.com/en/mirrors/index.html)

Run these for adware/spyware. See if that helps.

[dengood1]

Clear your cache, temp files, and internet files.

Then, go to Ad-Aware (www.lavasoftusa.com) (http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007-Free/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5) and download Ad-Aware

Then, download Spybot Search & Destroy (http://spybot.com/en/mirrors/index.html)

Run these for adware/spyware. See if that helps.

I agree with tod071. Then defragment your hard drive(s) and make sure your drivers are up to date. These should help.

PS. We're going to start charging you by the hour:p J/K---glad to help;)

Don't know dukie about the financial biz, but I can fix your computer (in most cases) :-)

[Gary Sword]

It does sound like it could be a virus or a worm even though your virus software did not find it. Is your virus software up to date? Check the hard drive light on you computer. Is the light most of the time? If it is something is running the the background eating up your CPU time and accessing your hard drive constantly. If so you need to find out what it is and get ride of it. Make sure your visus software is up todate or try some different virus protection software. If you can find it you can always format you hard drive and reload all your software. :eek:

[Al-53]

Surfer..there are a few places on line that will scan your computer and remove any trojans..worm and viruses and spyware and malware...

Trend micro..

Mcaffe

PC pitstop

Norton..

and a few others...

some take a few hours to do a full scan..but they do a good job...they found stuff my programs never picked up..and mine update daily...

AL

[bossboy]

what they all said ^

[Mike T]

I agree with the above. Those are the top complaints we get when customers bring there machines in.
Go to AVG Free Advisor: Free anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware tools (http://www.free.grisoft.com) and download AVG free 7.5. Install, update and run a scan. This is one of the best anti- virus and Trojan programs out. Uses very little resources and doesn't bog down the machine. Stay away from Norton and Mcafee.

[joe.p]

surfer good thread..i have had the same problem with my computer ..

it will freeze up when trying to send emails/pms ..

[Mike T]

Well I work for Naples Computers if you guys want to bring your machines over lol.

[wytstang]

What virus program do you have? My trend micro has done a good job but I think I'm going to upgrade in a few days to Kaspersky 6.0. Seems to have more features and not a reall big resource hog either.

[aceshigh73]

Surf...

Its been a while since I've posted, but I will say you have some hard Drive issue....
Everything you are saying is pointing to some caching issue to the hard drive....

Do some maintenance with these free programs.... Just be careful what you delete...

WinDirStat
WinDirStat - Reviews and free downloads at Download.com (http://www.download.com/WinDirStat/3000-2248_4-10614593.html?tag=dl-blog)

CCleaner
CCleaner - Reviews and free downloads at Download.com (http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10315544.html?tag=dl-blog)

Auslogics Disk Defrag
Auslogics Disk Defrag - Reviews and free downloads at Download.com (http://www.download.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html?tag=dl-blog)
(better than windows defrag)

you also might want to take the case off and see if the Hard Drive is making any major clicking and clanking (I know, real high tech terms)..... This would be an indication of a major imminent hardware failure....
Start BACKING up your files regardless if you havent already started....
-There are 2 kinds of people in this world.. those that backup, and those that wish they had!

-Mike

[DanNEBTD]

IMO your best shot is to reinstall windows (All of your files will still be intact) . . or if you have the time and/or desire I would do a complete reformat/reinstall. I do that two or three times a year and It brings my computer back to better than new. . . Reinstalling will correct any issues windows might have with reading its own files. . . Simply insert your windows CD and follow the instructions for reinstall (Do not reformat or you will lose your data) . . . If AV/Spyware programs dont help that would be my next course of action

[aceshigh73]

I agree with Dan above... the reformat/reinstall is simply the best thing to do..... Just make sure EVERYTHING you want to save (pics, important docs, mp3's, videos, mail if its stored locally, bookmarks, etc) are backup up onto a tape or DVD and just FORMAT and INSTALL fresh....
Unfortunatly, its the nature of Windows.....
Or, reformat with and install Ubuntu.... (nah!!)

[Surfer]

What virus program do you have? My trend micro has done a good job but I think I'm going to upgrade in a few days to Kaspersky 6.0. Seems to have more features and not a reall big resource hog either.I have whatever my IT guy installed, its the Norton version for business (not the normal Norton Anti that everyone has).

I've already clear cache, temp etc. I have Ad-Aware, only found a couple things. Still works funny. Turned my laptop on and it took almost 10 minutes to start up and I have plenty of Ram and hard drive space.

For some reason I feel my Video/Sound card is screwed up. I would like to re-install Windows etc if that will have everything working again.....but I have so much stuff on here for my business and programs installed I can't risk losing one thing. I re-installed Windows once on another computer and got rid of the issues I was having but at the same time eveyrthing I had was gone, it was like I bought a new PC.

[Gary Sword]

I have whatever my IT guy installed, its the Norton version for business (not the normal Norton Anti that everyone has).

I've already clear cache, temp etc. I have Ad-Aware, only found a couple things. Still works funny. Turned my laptop on and it took almost 10 minutes to start up and I have plenty of Ram and hard drive space.

For some reason I feel my Video/Sound card is screwed up.

If it takes 10 minutes to boot up your computer you definitely have something running in the background (virus or worm). Surfer, you have probably been surfer the wrong sites and picked something up. :eek: To much surfing for surfer. ;) My wife seems to pick things up that I can't get ride of. I have had to format her hard drive and reinstall all her software numerous times. I have never had to do it on any of my computers. If you do end up having to reformat your hard drive make sure you have all your personal data backed up before you do so.