Commander 598 Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 My PC has bee running incredibly slow the past two days. I have know clue why. I just got through deleting nearly 2GBs of crap and that doesn't help. Help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 Most drastic slowdowns are a result of running out of Windows resources due to too many programs fighting for space in the physical memory (RAM) and not a hard-drive issue. My first step is always to CTRL-ALT-DEL to see what's running at the same time and figure out what needs to open and running in the background and what doesn't. If there's more than 6 to 8 things listed there it's time to shut some down. All those icons in the tray by the clock indicate processes that are open and running too. Ultimately you can get away with nothing but "Systray" and "Explorer" running and be fine. You should leave anything associated with a firewall or anti-virus software though. Shut off what you can from within the programs. Next: Type "msconfig" into the "Run" box, then click the startup tab to see what's starting with Windows everytime. Chances are about half those things can get clicked-off and you'll never notice. If you don't know what's safe to clear out check at these sites: http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm I also see what's listed in the the "Start Up" box in the "Programs" section of the 'Start Menu' for good measure. There's usually a few things in there that don't need to be. Scan for viruses and trojans. If you have a Spyware checker like AdAware (it's a free download if you don't) it can help get rid of a lot of resource hogging ad-, spy-, and junk-ware and speed things up a bit. If you have a "Registry Cleaner" utility it can help speed things up a bit to clean out all the orphans and re-optimize the whole thing. At this point I would run Scandisk a few times for good measure, and then do a full Defrag. Reboot, and see if things are any better. Sometimes, unfortunately, a system gets so far gone that the only thing that really helps is a full reformat and restore though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander 598 Posted June 23, 2002 Author Share Posted June 23, 2002 Well, I did the msconfig and I now only have about four things running. I try not to defragment because it takes 48 hrs. I always do Scandisk and i'm DLing a RegClean(One of the many). Also would you know this: Awhile ago I DLed and installed new DetonaterXP Drivers for my Video Card. Afterwards when running a game that required Direct3D or something like that it would always cut off my connection to the internet. That doesn't happen when I play HL, or any old DOS game. I suspect it being corrupt files but I downloaded them twice with the same effect. Any help there would be greatly appreciated. Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milkshake Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 Thanks Edlib Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 Which Detonator drivers are you using? There was a batch a while back that were dicey but were out a few days before nVidia pulled them. The newest ones, the 29.40s, seem stable and are Windows Quality Lab certified. You may want to give them a try. PS- Just be careful with the reg-cleaning. There shouldn't be a problem, but if there's ever any doubt over an entry, leave it alone. And it's wise to make a back-up of the registry settings before you start. The program will most likely tell you all this anyway. In WinME just create a restore point. 95/ 98 follow these directions: http://www.pccomputernotes.com/registry/restoreregistry.htm Good luck, and I'll see if I can find out anything about the vid drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander 598 Posted June 24, 2002 Author Share Posted June 24, 2002 I think thats the problem. According to my DirectX Diagnostic Tool the drivers are version 4.13.01.2311 And they are not certified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander 598 Posted June 24, 2002 Author Share Posted June 24, 2002 I think its a virus... Unfortunately I unistalled Norton Anti-Virus because it was saying a DLL wasn't there... I found and put in the DLL but when I ran Norton it dissapiered... I tried reinstalling it but the setup just quits before its done... By quit I mean exit. No warning just exit. No popup with yes and no opttions... Now Notepad has dissapiered off my system as well. HELP ME! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jem Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 DEFRAGMENTATION !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander 598 Posted June 24, 2002 Author Share Posted June 24, 2002 Well to late. I reformatted and reinstalled windows. My crappy CD Driver didn't help. Whatever the problem was, its gone. Now instead of having only 2 free GBs I now have 11! Of course I also lost my Flashpoint addons... ALL of my saved games which go to many things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jem Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 OFP doesn't take much time to finish...so you shouldn't worry about restarting. I got my Fallout 2 game messed up with a bug and I have start all over, now that's annoying (even more annoying when you consider it's going to be the seventh time I restart...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted June 24, 2002 Share Posted June 24, 2002 Well that's a bummer. Sorry. But sometimes it has to be done. I'm planning a reformat "party" before the end of the summer to give this thing a serious 'high-colonic' of sorts to clean out 2 years of detrius that has built up and that's in the way, yet would be a world-class hassle to try to remove. I love the feeling of a fresh, clean system. I hope you do to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander 598 Posted June 24, 2002 Author Share Posted June 24, 2002 Jem, I meant all of the addons for ofp I had downloaded-Nearly 300mbs. And lets not forget one of which I made myself(It was just a config.cpp and a changed texture for a Soviet T55) edlib, my system is now running better than it has in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zargon Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 Around the end of summer I get to rebuild my lower end machine too, its damn 98/XP dual boot has always been super screwed up, but I never had to time to fix it. With my new machine up I can do full backups and get it moving again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted June 25, 2002 Share Posted June 25, 2002 It interesting you say it might have been a virus. To me it sounds like you may have got hit with a variation of the Klez.32 worm. It's main purpose is to get your anti-virus program totally F.U.B.A.R. I'm not sure that's what slowed your system down, but it wouldn't surprise me. Folks aren't making a big deal over this virus, because it doesn't seem too harmful, other than being a bit of a nusiance and screwing up the AV. But I was reading an article yeaterday by someone who thinks that this virus is being developed as part of a 2-pronged attack; use it to disable someone's AV, THEN hit them with the real payload. I got this little baby in an e-mail yesterday,.. but Norton seems to have caught it. That's why I began to suspect that it might be the culprit in your case. Keep those virus definitions current folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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