Need some Computer help, I'm a fish out of water

gm280

gm280

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Okay, I tried my best to fix this computer all by myself, but while I do understand electronics very well and can do wrench turning equally well, and even wood working pretty good too, Computers are my Achilles Heal. I own two identical Dell INSPIRON laptops and have been fighting a problem on it for literally months now without any success. I know I have some questionable process running in the background that early in the morning makes this computer so slow that it effectively doesn't respond to most any keystroke for up to twenty minutes. And I get sluggish responses after that for another hour or so. Then it seems to settle down and works fairly okay. I know there are some very good virus programs out and I even have a couple installed. I run a virus scan on it quite often and it states after a good 20 minute scan, that no viruses found every time. but I know there is a script running in the back ground that is slowing things up. But I can't find out what process it is. Even after watch tool manger and all the processes running. They change around so fast. Any good ideas or SAFE download to fix my computer(s). I say SAFE because if I do try to download a computer fix type program, it scans my computer then wants $39.95 to fix it. So I know those are not what I'm wanting. And each of those tries are now on my computer and pop up telling me the new problems and buy to fix solutions. Can I get a download to fix this thing without buying some suspect phony program? I know just enough to make me dangerous. Is there a boot up INSPIRON program that I can rebuild this computer with? I didn't receive any disks when I was given these two laptops for Christmas a couple years ago for my wife's and my presents. Help!
 
alldodge

alldodge

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Don't download any fixes from the companies stating they can fix your PC.

You have a Dell inspiron, what system and version are you running (windows what)?
How much memory is installed and what is your processor speed (control panel, system& security, system)
What software do you have loaded?
 
MTboatguy

MTboatguy

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First I would run a program called House Call by Trend Micro, they are pretty good at catching things that others don't, it does not cost anything and it is an online program that simply installs a small app on your computer, I run it a couple of times a week and it catches viruses as well as malware.

It is located at:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Also, what operating system are you running? Microsoft also has a program called windows defender that will run in the back ground and catch quite a few things, that is if you keep it up to date.

If you didn't get discs, then you have a restore program on your hard disk, and Dell should have a program that will allow you to run that restore if needed. Another program I recommend is called Process explorer, it is also a free program, that I run on my machines all of the time, it will tell you what is running and what resources it is taking up.

The Link is:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx


This is a program that Microsoft is behind and fully endorses and it is great for finding little things that run in the background that are very hard to find in Task Manager.

Hope that helps.
 
GA_Boater

GA_Boater

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First things first, gm. Are they Windows machines? If yes, when they start up, Hit Control, ALT and Delete at the same time. Since it's really slow, it might take some time but you will get a box and one of the choices will be Task Manager. Click it and then click the Processes tab. See if there are any high numbers under the CPU column.
 
W

WrenchHead

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Sounds like you got some processes running in the background that are hogging your resources. Here's what I do -- click on Start - then type in the search box "msconfig" (without the quotes). You will see the computer find msconfig.exe. Click on that and a window will open named System Configeration. It could take a half a minute for this window to display. Now click on the Startup tab. This will show you all the programs that began running in the background when your PC starts. The ones running have a check mark in the box. You need to uncheck most of these items that you don't want to run. Obviousely you need Windows running, your monitor running, your mouse running, your virus protection running, etc. But you don't need programs such as Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Word, iCloud, iToons, Quick Time, etc. After you uncheck the programs that are not necessary click Apply - OK - and then reboot your PC.
PS -- Most tech info suggests you only have one virus protection program on your PC.
 
gm280

gm280

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Okay let me take these in order here;
AllDodge, I have;

Windows 7 home Premium version 2009 with Service Pack 1,
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 370 @ 2.40GHz 2.39GHz
Installed memory 2.00GB (1.87GB usage)
System Type 64-bit Operating System
Hard Drive is 230GB
I am using Internet Explorer I think version 8 but not sure...

MTBoatGuy, you can see some more info I listed above if that helps out.

GA_Boater, I've actually watch Task Manager from different call capabilities while running 'til I'm blue in the face and I haven't been able to make heads or tails from which process is consuming CPU time. It actually looks like the CPU usage is pretty much low for every process but the memory seems towards the higher end and then settles out. I thought I could see the background program doing that but It hasn't work yet. Of course not knowing what each and every process is supposed to do, I can't tell if they are needed or not or cleverly labeled as something I just don't need or recognize. See, I told you I was computer illiterate... I'd love to know what processes were actually needed and which ones not, and then make a CD for future booting issues or to rebuild and reload the software again.
 
MTboatguy

MTboatguy

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I have NO virus programs running on any of our computers, if I have suspected a virus or malware, I have used House Call, and I have been using it for close to 14 years now, one of the biggest offenders for resource hogs is actually virus programs, when they are doing their scans, they take everything they can. Normally an installed virus program runs on start up which can make a system real slow to start.
 
gm280

gm280

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I appreciate all the responses and there are all pretty good ones I have to say. I think what I will do is tomorrow morning, I 'll get on my desk top computer and open this forum and read as I try the solutions and hope they work. Thank you all for such good ideas and quick responses too. I serious do appreciate each and every one... You all have a great evening... I'll post my results tomorrow as well... :thumb::thumb:
 
alldodge

alldodge

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minimum system requirements is 1GHz or faster processor, 2GB of RAM for 64 bit. 20GB of hard drive space and a DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher.

So you have the minimum requirements. Now need to figure what else your running and what is using up all your memory.
 
MTboatguy

MTboatguy

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Process explorer will not only tell you CPU usage and the process that is using it, it also tells you how much memory each process is using, another big resource hog is svchost.exe, it triggers all kinds of other processes to kick in and check for updates and what not.
 
tpenfield

tpenfield

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Boot up in 'safe' mode (F8 key during startup) . . . Malwarebytes is a good program, but also download and run SpyBot.

Running several different programs (malware & Spybot) a number of times will probably be needed to purge the computer of spyware, etc. that is running.
 
Teamster

Teamster

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I'd get a bigger hammer,.................................
 
MH Hawker

MH Hawker

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MTboatguy said:
First I would run a program called House Call by Trend Micro, they are pretty good at catching things that others don't, it does not cost anything and it is an online program that simply installs a small app on your computer, I run it a couple of times a week and it catches viruses as well as malware.

It is located at:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Also, what operating system are you running? Microsoft also has a program called windows defender that will run in the back ground and catch quite a few things, that is if you keep it up to date.

If you didn't get discs, then you have a restore program on your hard disk, and Dell should have a program that will allow you to run that restore if needed. Another program I recommend is called Process explorer, it is also a free program, that I run on my machines all of the time, it will tell you what is running and what resources it is taking up.

The Link is:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx


This is a program that Microsoft is behind and fully endorses and it is great for finding little things that run in the background that are very hard to find in Task Manager.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

House call is one of the very few programs that works
 
gm280

gm280

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A little update on what I've found thus far. I did use House Call and after it did its thing, it displayed zero problems with no viruses found or detected. Basically the same my malware protection programs did. I also took a real long look at the CPU usage using Task Manager, and it really isn't very high at all. In fact around 5% most of the time. But what is high is the memory usage. That was around 80% or even higher some times. And looking to see what was the culprit(s) was interesting. Seems the highest was internet explorer.exe and internet explorer*32.exe. However those two have to run to use the internet. MTboatguy made reference to "svchost.exe" file as well. And yes I do have lots of them running. BUT, if I try to stop anyone of them, it disappears but then a new one starts up again in its place again. I can't delete them fast enough without new one starting in their place. There doesn't seem to be any way to stop them and there is probably ten running or more. I did eliminate a few unwanted programs and that seemed to help, but I still get a sluggish internet early in the morning. Now it is possible it could be my Internet Provider because my neighbors also have some problems connecting and staying connected. I seem to have those issues as well in the morning. I even bought a new wireless router modem and installed it to see if my old one was flaking out. The old one was an old Linksys Modem with a separate Wireless Router connected. The new one is a Motorola SURFboard SBG6580 DOCSIS 3.0. It seem to work without issue, but with all those things, my morning sluggishness still persist. Any other suggestions I could try and see if things improve? I am learning more and more with this thing now though... :)
 
tpenfield

tpenfield

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svchost.exe are operating system stuff, not the source of your issues.

Safe mode, spybot and malwarebytes would be the things to do
 
thumpar

thumpar

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If there is nothing you care about on it you could just do a restore on it. It will take it back to the factory settings. Press F12 at the Dell screen and you should have an option to do a restore. If that is not an option listed reboot and just after the dell screen start tapping F8. There should be an option there to do a restore. Just keep in mind this will bring it back to factory settings and will wipe out your data so you need to back up before you do this if there is anything you want to save.
 
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