Computer Servicing Center Recommendation

Nick-H · Nov 4th, 2009, 01:17

Jyoti... Do you have a desktop background image?

Remove it. (right click on the desktop, properties -->Desktop --none .

Your screen will now be blank except for the icons.

If it has speeded up much, you probably had a big picture there.

Laptops often do not have much memory (RAM, RAM is memory, not processor) and large disc-size images really slow them down. Seen this a couple of times, and most recent was here, today, so I thought I'd pass on the hint to you.

Whilst there comes a point with Windows where the only thing that speeds it up again is a complete re-install, this will wipe out all the data and programs that you have on the machine. Please be very careful what advice you take, and do not listen to youngsters!

CityMonk... Macs have virus issues; not many, but they are not immune. Macs run a variant of Unix: believe me it needs to be booted and shut down. You may be right about their superiority, but I suggest you do some more research into the reasons.

GoanCanuck · Nov 4th, 2009, 01:39

Jyoti, your computer definitely needs more memory(RAM). The processor is also fairly slow but there is nothing you can do about that.

You can save yourself time and a lot of hassle by going in for a new laptop if you have someone coming down from the US. These days you can buy a laptop much superior to the one you have for just $300.

curtdfw · Nov 4th, 2009, 05:45

as it's probably a few years old common issues are:

1) Slowness due to too many applications running at startup, most of which are not necessary. This can be a significant issue if you have a marginal amount of memory. Go to Start > All Programs > Startup and remove pretty much everything there (except your anti-virus, if it's there). You won't be removing any programs, just preventing them from initializing at startup.

2) The 1GB RAM you have isn't terrible but, as noted earlier, 2GB would be better. If you decide to upgrade, don't go above 2GB -- Windows XP can only use a little over 3GB, and few people need that. You're probably not using it as a gaming machine, right? Two 1GB memory sticks will run about $25 each in the US. They can be installed via one of the little access panels on the underside of the laptop; all that's needed is a screwdriver. Unplug it first, of course.

3) Defragment the disk: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Defragment Disc. If you haven't done this in a while it can make a difference.

4) Be sure that your C drive has at least 20% free space, preferably more like 30%. Offload some data onto CDs or DVDs if necessary, then defragment the disc again.

5) Download and install Ad-Aware to check for spyware. It's trustworthy and, unlike some tools, doesn't add its own spyware. Use the free version: http://www.lavasoft.com/

All except item 2 are free, and should be done first. I'm assuming that your anti-virus and Windows Update patches are current -- if not, do that. Good luck.

*jyoti* · Nov 4th, 2009, 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by cityMONK

Since Jitu bhai has recommended me ,let us see what can be done.

1. If any trouble with dell, I can talk to service manager there.
Mr. Suraj Bhan is right man there.

2. Dell or any other brands covers Hardware only, no software calls covered by them, though dealer through which you have purchased can help here but again Dell sells directly to customers with no dealers involved.

I had it sent to Dell in the US for overheating and they replaced the motherboard & heat sink but said the rest is fine...

Quote:

3. Has your PC gone slow after some time of work on internet and is also misbehaving or you are comparing its speed with some other machine.

Comparing it both to other machines & to how fast it seemed to work before. It takes at least 5-6 minutes to start up, log in, and get programs running ... But it's not suddenly. It's been going slow for a while now.

Quote:

4. If suddenly you are feeling it slow then some trojan horse, virus, malware, spyware e.t.c has infected it. Remedy are A) Formating of Hardrive and reloading of windows, i will strongly recommend to get it done through some experinced technician as dell machines can have Driver issues while reloading the windows operating system, a recovery disk from dell should be ready in hand.

I have a backup drive but would be glad for a good (recommended!) technician to handle the actual reloading everything.

But I don't have a recovery disk. Dell partitioned the hard drive & the original operating system files are there, not on a separate disk. Saved them some money and helped keep it from being pirated, I guess, but darned annoying for me.

I don't have the microsoft office disks, though I have a valid registration number purchased under a group discount -- which is why I don't have disks.

Quote:

5.B) if you cannot do part A) due to some reasons then simply down load AVG 8.5 from their site and run it , it will heal and quarintine the virus and your computer will become fast as before. though AVG will protect your system from further attacks of viruses e.t.c it will make booting time (initial start) a bit longer than normal.

I thought AVG didn't update anymore. That you had to buy it to get updates? I used to have it but took it off when they did that & am trying something else ... I'd prefer to go back to AVG though.

Quote:

I personally now feel PCs are obsolete and Dumb things now.Next machine i will buy is Macintosh, these have no virus or booting issues, like a TV they can be switched on or off.

Sent you feedback.

Hmm... Macs are expensive, though. But I'll never do Dell again when this one dies!

*jyoti* · Nov 4th, 2009, 13:09

Quote:

Jyoti, your computer definitely needs more memory(RAM). The processor is also fairly slow but there is nothing you can do about that. ... These days you can buy a laptop much superior to the one you have for just $300.

I'll put more RAM, but I'm a bit incredulous of the "much superior ... for just $300." Maybe a smaller computer w/ less hard disk space, but I haven't found any "much superior" for nearly that cheap.

Quote:

as it's probably a few years old common issues are:

1) Slowness due to too many applications running at startup...

I've done that several times. Very little unnecessary is running ...

Quote:

2) The 1GB RAM you have isn't terrible but, as noted earlier, 2GB would be better. If you decide to upgrade, don't go above 2GB -- Windows XP can only use a little over 3GB, and few people need that. You're probably not using it as a gaming machine, right?

Ok. Will upgrade. I plays Sims occasionally. Does that count?

No, no a gaming machine.

Quote:

3) Defragment the disk: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Defragment Disc. If you haven't done this in a while it can make a difference.

Tried this. Didn't help. There are several red spots that don't move, though. Is that indicative of a hard drive going bad?

Quote:

4) Be sure that your C drive has at least 20% free space, preferably more like 30%. Offload some data onto CDs or DVDs if necessary, then defragment the disc again.

Sigh. I will have to do this, then. It's got about 10%, I think.

Quote:

5) Download and install Ad-Aware to check for spyware. It's trustworthy and, unlike some tools, doesn't add its own spyware. Use the free version: http://www.lavasoft.com/

Ok. I'll try this, too.

Quote:

All except item 2 are free, and should be done first. I'm assuming that your anti-virus and Windows Update patches are current -- if not, do that. Good luck.

[/quote]Updates are current. Was trying a recommended Anti-Virus (Clamwin) but don't like it. I may pay for full AVG, if it would be helpful.[quote]

cityMONK · Nov 4th, 2009, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jyoti*

Updates are current. Was trying a recommended Anti-Virus (Clamwin) but don't like it. I may pay for full AVG, if it would be helpful.

Do not pay them online, only use there free version, if it does not solve the problem then buy some thing which is available in india and support is provided by company, Around Rs 350/- you get good internet security.
Yes Free Avg removes all spywares but Install its own ,prompting to buy full version.So why not to buy some other reputed brand.

shashank.aggarwal · Nov 4th, 2009, 13:27

Jyoti, I have not gone through entire spectrum of advice here, but here is my 2 cents.

No Need to upgrade the RAM, 1GB is enough for normal use, unless you want to use your system for photo processing or gaming. My system has 1 GB of RAM (which I upgraded from 512MB only a few months ago).

Its not the fault of any Hardware vendor, Windows is structured in such a way that with normal usage it goes slow. Unless you are a power user and are aware what to do to keep it healthy, you might experience a slow machine every couple of months.

You will be surprised by the result that a simple reformat for primary partition will gibe, just format the C: and install windows again. You should be using Windows XP on this machine, and rest all normal usage software would have to be installed again.

And if you are willing to visit Nehru place, I can recommend my vendor, we have been using his services for last 10 years. He is primarily a hardware guy, but he has assistants who formats and installs software for him. Its not rocket science, anyone who can read and write can do it.

So the conclusion is, just get a formatted after proper backup and you would be good, get it done anywhere it is convenient for you, however if you want a recommendation, I will gladly give th details.

Nick-H · Nov 4th, 2009, 13:49

My desktop machine takes more than five minutes to boot. It's ridiculous, but hey, it takes five minutes to make a cup of tea, and booting the machine is something that, power cuts permitting, I only do once or twice a day. Against that, reloading windows, finding and re-installing all of the software (not all of which is 100% kosher) and then, over an extended period of time, remembering and applying the tweaks that make it my machine, looking the way I like it, and working the way I like it is just too much --- until some hardware failure, or, one day, a new machine, forces it on me or makes it worthwhile. Swings and balances... Roundabouts and... errr... something!

shashank.aggarwal · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:03

Nick, you seem to be a power user, lemme give you a simple solution, just reformat your machine once, install whatever you want, tweak as much you want and once the machine is set as per your expectation, take a image backup (I used Norton Ghost for it, there must be other options). Keep the image backup on other partition or drive, and whenever you thing that your machine is slow, then simply reload the image on your primary drive. few minutes work, machine as good as new.

GoanCanuck · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jyoti*

I'll put more RAM, but I'm a bit incredulous of the "much superior ... for just $300." Maybe a smaller computer w/ less hard disk space, but I haven't found any "much superior" for nearly that cheap.

Jyoti, you can these days buy a laptop for $348 in the US with the following specifications
15.6" LED backlit widescreen display
250GB hard drive
4GB of RAM
AMD athlon 64 X2 dual core processor
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit edition

I paid slightly less because I had a coupon.

delhiwala · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:16

Thanks Shashank !

This seems good. I'll try myself......

james1980 · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.aggarwal

Keep the image backup on other partition or drive, and whenever you thing that your machine is slow, then simply reload the image on your primary drive. few minutes work, machine as good as new.

Is formating required while reloading the Mirror image.

shashank.aggarwal · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by james1980

Is formating required while reloading the Mirror image.

No, software that loads the image, would automatically format it.

But I would recommend a slow format for the partition once in a while, it does take some time, but sets it back to optimum level.

Nick-H · Nov 4th, 2009, 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.aggarwal

Nick, you seem to be a power user, lemme give you a simple solution, just reformat your machine once, install whatever you want, tweak as much you want and once the machine is set as per your expectation, take a image backup (I used Norton Ghost for it, there must be other options). Keep the image backup on other partition or drive, and whenever you thing that your machine is slow, then simply reload the image on your primary drive. few minutes work, machine as good as new.

Well, not really a power user, as 95% of the time I am just using firefox, but, like having a room full of bits and pieces that might come in useful one day, I keep adding bits of software and stuff --- and I make regular image backups of the system drive to avoid that dreaded re-install.

Of course, that means that my system images are very far from taking me back to those first days of clean windows!

Next time --- I'll try to be more disciplined with it.

curtdfw · Nov 4th, 2009, 19:31

I'd vote for making some space on the hard drive my first priority for getting some performance benefit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by *jyoti*

I may pay for full AVG, if it would be helpful.

The June '09 issue of Consumer Reports did a piece on security software. They came up with a combo under the heading 'Our Free Suite' that they judged an effective combo:

Avira AntiVirus Personal - www.free-av.com
Windows Defender - www.microsoft.com/defender
Spamfighter - www.Spamfighter.com

I don't bother with a full security 'suite' with my machines (XP & Vista). I use ZoneAlarm (about $30 last round) plus the Windows Firewall & Defender. No issues.

Nov 4th, 2009, 05:45	#18
curtdfw PIO Club Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: dallas, tx Posts: 463	as it's probably a few years old common issues are: 1) Slowness due to too many applications running at startup, most of which are not necessary. This can be a significant issue if you have a marginal amount of memory. Go to Start > All Programs > Startup and remove pretty much everything there (except your anti-virus, if it's there). You won't be removing any programs, just preventing them from initializing at startup. 2) The 1GB RAM you have isn't terrible but, as noted earlier, 2GB would be better. If you decide to upgrade, don't go above 2GB -- Windows XP can only use a little over 3GB, and few people need that. You're probably not using it as a gaming machine, right? Two 1GB memory sticks will run about $25 each in the US. They can be installed via one of the little access panels on the underside of the laptop; all that's needed is a screwdriver. Unplug it first, of course. 3) Defragment the disk: Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Defragment Disc. If you haven't done this in a while it can make a difference. 4) Be sure that your C drive has at least 20% free space, preferably more like 30%. Offload some data onto CDs or DVDs if necessary, then defragment the disc again. 5) Download and install Ad-Aware to check for spyware. It's trustworthy and, unlike some tools, doesn't add its own spyware. Use the free version: http://www.lavasoft.com/ All except item 2 are free, and should be done first. I'm assuming that your anti-virus and Windows Update patches are current -- if not, do that. Good luck. __________________ "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" Oscar Wilde

Nov 4th, 2009, 13:27	#22
shashank.aggarwal The Fortunate One Join Date: May 2007 Location: Road Posts: 6,826	Jyoti, I have not gone through entire spectrum of advice here, but here is my 2 cents. No Need to upgrade the RAM, 1GB is enough for normal use, unless you want to use your system for photo processing or gaming. My system has 1 GB of RAM (which I upgraded from 512MB only a few months ago). Its not the fault of any Hardware vendor, Windows is structured in such a way that with normal usage it goes slow. Unless you are a power user and are aware what to do to keep it healthy, you might experience a slow machine every couple of months. You will be surprised by the result that a simple reformat for primary partition will gibe, just format the C: and install windows again. You should be using Windows XP on this machine, and rest all normal usage software would have to be installed again. And if you are willing to visit Nehru place, I can recommend my vendor, we have been using his services for last 10 years. He is primarily a hardware guy, but he has assistants who formats and installs software for him. Its not rocket science, anyone who can read and write can do it. So the conclusion is, just get a formatted after proper backup and you would be good, get it done anywhere it is convenient for you, however if you want a recommendation, I will gladly give th details. __________________ Spineless Travelogue - Around India

Nov 4th, 2009, 14:16	#26
delhiwala IM what IM Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Indeyah ! Posts: 4,817	Thanks Shashank ! This seems good. I'll try myself...... __________________ Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

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Nov 4th, 2009, 01:17	#16
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 36,231	Jyoti... Do you have a desktop background image? Remove it. (right click on the desktop, properties -->Desktop --none . Your screen will now be blank except for the icons. If it has speeded up much, you probably had a big picture there. Laptops often do not have much memory (RAM, RAM is memory, not processor) and large disc-size images really slow them down. Seen this a couple of times, and most recent was here, today, so I thought I'd pass on the hint to you. Whilst there comes a point with Windows where the only thing that speeds it up again is a complete re-install, this will wipe out all the data and programs that you have on the machine. Please be very careful what advice you take, and do not listen to youngsters! CityMonk... Macs have virus issues; not many, but they are not immune. Macs run a variant of Unix: believe me it needs to be booted and shut down. You may be right about their superiority, but I suggest you do some more research into the reasons.

Nov 4th, 2009, 01:39	#17
GoanCanuck Maha Guru Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Vancouver Posts: 3,398	Jyoti, your computer definitely needs more memory(RAM). The processor is also fairly slow but there is nothing you can do about that. You can save yourself time and a lot of hassle by going in for a new laptop if you have someone coming down from the US. These days you can buy a laptop much superior to the one you have for just $300.

Nov 4th, 2009, 13:49	#23
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 36,231	My desktop machine takes more than five minutes to boot. It's ridiculous, but hey, it takes five minutes to make a cup of tea, and booting the machine is something that, power cuts permitting, I only do once or twice a day. Against that, reloading windows, finding and re-installing all of the software (not all of which is 100% kosher) and then, over an extended period of time, remembering and applying the tweaks that make it my machine, looking the way I like it, and working the way I like it is just too much --- until some hardware failure, or, one day, a new machine, forces it on me or makes it worthwhile. Swings and balances... Roundabouts and... errr... something!

Nov 4th, 2009, 14:03	#24
shashank.aggarwal The Fortunate One Join Date: May 2007 Location: Road Posts: 6,826	Nick, you seem to be a power user, lemme give you a simple solution, just reformat your machine once, install whatever you want, tweak as much you want and once the machine is set as per your expectation, take a image backup (I used Norton Ghost for it, there must be other options). Keep the image backup on other partition or drive, and whenever you thing that your machine is slow, then simply reload the image on your primary drive. few minutes work, machine as good as new.