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Archive through March 17, 2008

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Jan. 2008 ~ Mar. 2008: All Things Technical: The Help Desk: Computer Problems? Ask Here: Archive through March 17, 2008 users admin

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Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:16 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
I'd appreciate that if you want to?!

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:25 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Shutting down . . . .

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Bob, are you there?

IMMEDIATE START UP !!!!!!!!!!!!


Heyltslori
Moderator

09-15-2001

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Heyltslori a private message Print Post    
Woohoo! Bob rocks!

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
He does BIG TIME !

Now what? Didn't get that Intel box again.

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 1:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
Yowser!!! Way to go Bob and Colordeagua!

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 4:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maris a private message Print Post    
Thanks so much Bob, I have been suffering with this for so long and just figured I would ask the question. That worked!!!!!!!!!11

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 4:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
But most importantly, I bowled a 540 series and my team is in first place!

Maris: Glad that worked. You can do that for any file that does not open with your preferred application.

Colordeagua: That's great. I was afraid we might lose you forever based on my suggestions.

So, bring us up to date on the details.

Does it start quickly from being powered off?
Did you uncheck almost everything?
What is currently checked in the startup tool?

If you find that some feature is no longer working, just post what is missing and we can probably figure out what needs to be checked again.

After several weeks you could actually delete the unchecked items from the startup tool, since you probably were not using them if you don't miss them for that long.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 4:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
YES, it's immediate start up. Desk top comes on extremely fast. I only tried the one time. I'm sure I'd get same results again. Only things that are still checked are the two that you said absolutely leave alone --

ccApp
osCheck

Left as is, will something(s) run slower (or not at all?) in the future? Or will I not even necessarily notice any difference?

Question: A techie (e.g., you?) doing this could do it very quickly. With my slow start-up, is that something you would check pretty much first to solve the problem? The consultant worked on it (remote) for 30 minutes doing I don't know what -- with no improvement in start up time.

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 5:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Given your description of the slow startup, the first place a tech should look is what is starting when you boot the computer. Most people do not know how to check what is auto starting and usually don't know what can be safely turned on and off. A Tech should have been able to produce the list you got (from the startup tool) in just a few minutes and should have been concerned to see so many things running.

Did you uncheck MozyHome from the other tab?

You may want to reenable that if you are using it for online backups. After checking anything, reboot to make sure it starts and to see if it cause a slowdown in boot time.

There may be some things that take a little longer to launch, but many of those apps that say they speed one thing up end up slowing down other things (like booting up!).

I would run with just the 2 Norton apps and MozyHome for the next week or two and see if you can tell a difference. With fewer programs using up less memory, you may actually find most things are running more quickly.


Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 6:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
OK. Checked the MozyHome again. Will shut down now . . . . I'll be back as soon as it's up again.

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 6:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Hola! Immediate on again!

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 7:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Wow, Bob, I am so in awe! I printed out everything because I think all that info was extremely helpful. And I may need it someday.

Got a new one for you, Bob (or any other geek around here!), if you're game.

Problem
A slow computer, when it comes to loading an application and switching between the two sign-ons Ed and I use. And we continually get messages that 'Memory is Low.'

My Computer
• A Dell Dimension 4550 we bought back in 2002. Loaded with Microsoft Windows XP-Home Edition (version 5.1.2600), Version 2002, Service Pack 2.
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.53 GHz and 2.52 GJz (Speed: 2524 MHz).
• Memory: 256 MB of RAM.
• The Virtual memory is set up this way: Total paging file (virtual memory) size for all drives: 507 MB.
• Total Capacity: Sum of Hard Disk (C): Used: 8.36 GB; Free: 47.47 GB.


Network Connections
I use Mozilla Firefox via a Comcast high-speed connection (laugh, laugh).

Hardware

• HP Photosmart 2610 printer/scanner/fax (fax not installed)
• Speakers
• Touchstone Telephony Modem (installed by Comcast)
• A (portable flash drive) Geek Squad USB-U3 smart drive and have downloaded all image files to it, hoping that would free up memory and speed things up.) I don't plug it in unless I need to download a picture or graphic. (Just installed recently.)


Startup Programs

Should I drop any of the following from my startup menu?

1. Ad-Watch 2007 (I set it to run every day at midnight)
2. AVG 7.5 (I set it to run every day at 2 a.m.)
3. 'Safely Remove Hardware',
4. 'Dell Support Alerts',
5. 'HP Digital Imaging Monitor',
6. Comcast Desktop Doctor,
7. Windows Messenger (never sign in on it, though)
8. Quicktime


How we typically use the computer
Ed and I switch back and forth under our user names. Ed does a lot of job-searching on various sites. He uses WORD a lot. I have 5 or 6 of sites I visit each day, and I download images all the time. But we each conduct a cleanup at least once, sometimes, twice a day: first for each of us.

Here's the routine:

1. Open Mozilla/Tools and choose Clear Private Data.

2. Click on START menu and choose RUN. Comes up with %temp% and we click on that. We delete any possible icons there.

3. Empty Recyle Bin.

4. Click on both Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to see if either is recommended. Run as necessary.

5. Restart.


What other things I have done: Reinstalled all Applications/Software

When we became desperate last summer due to the slow speed, and KNEW we had no viruses, I got the bright idea to reinstall all applications, thinking something was wonky with a program. Course everything that we had saved on our computer (documents, pictures, etc) was deleted when I made that choice. (No, I stupidly didn't save anything anywhere--then. I do now.)

So, although we did that and have a cable connection thru Comcast--which recently had some kind of 'boost' (that was supposed to speed up connection speed for everyone) --the speed for loading applications and for switching back and forth between our two log-on names is still irritatingly SLOW and drives us both crazy.

What I just did
I went to the Dell Help Files. Typed in memory. Read a bunch. Looked as if I should up the RAM memory allocated for the paging minimum. So I changed it from 382 to 556. I guess I need to restart, too. Is that right? Before I restart, want to hear if that was appropriate.

If the above was NOT right, does the above help you guess what might be wrong so I can test probable reasons why this computer is as pokey as it is?

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 8:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Hp, I am in awe too. Bob and all TVCHers are the best!

Blue Ribbon

Bob2112
Member

06-12-2002

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 8:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bob2112 a private message Print Post    
Herckleperckle: What you did is fine, but the real answer is that you need to add additional RAM. 256 MB is closer to the minimum.

Here's a good test.

Start up a few applications that you normally use. Word, a browser, etc...
Right click on the task bar at the bottom of the screen and select Task Manager.
Click on the Performance Tab. You should see something like this:

perf

I circled the 421 MB for my computer. Post what your says.

Next, you can use the following web site to scan your computer for the RAM you are currently using.

http://www.crucial.com/

Select SCAN MY SYSTEM
Check the box and click Start My SCAN
You will need to click Download for the Active X control. It is safe and small.
You will have to click Run on 2 popups asking if you want to run the program. They are safe.
(Some of the clicks may be different for you, but everything there is safe so just click Run, Install or OK when needed)
After it runs, you will see a screen like this:

memory

If you could capture that screen and post it (you can crop it to what I displayed) then it will be easier to tell what memory you need to add.

Your model will have 2 memory slots, but we don't know if one or both are used. If only one is used, then you can add another 256 MB or 512 MB for fairly cheap and keep the existing memory.
If both slots are used, then you would need to replace one or both memory modules with large ones.


Landileigh
Member

07-29-2002

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 8:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landileigh a private message Print Post    
hp, i run both my laptop and my desktop on 2 gigs of RAM, you'd be having trouble just running windows on 256MB of RAM!

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 8:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
That is a neat little program Bob. I used it to get rid of some stuff I didn't need running. Thanks!

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Thanks, Bob! I am going to print this out, follow the directions, and then get back to you. I'm slow and have to do things in baby steps!

Thanks, too, landi! Gulp, No wonder we are so grumbly!

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Sunday, March 16, 2008 - 11:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Okay, I'm back. Never even knew where the Task Manager was! Finally found it.

I kept TVCH open, opend Word and opened Solitaire. I also have Paint open and the Windows Help Screen open.

Here's the image of my Windows Task Manager. Looks like I have lots of memory! Is that right?

task manager-dale


Going to do the Scan My System thingee you recommended now. Be back shortly.

Gosh, didn't realize it was so late! If you need to hit the hay, go ahead. I'll look for your responses when you have time.

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 12:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Ok, did the 'Scan My System' thing and here is the image:

scan my system-dale

I have no clue what this actually means. Doesn't sound promising, though.

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 12:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
I kept all my paperwork from when I ordered this thing. I SWEAR I ordered more memory to be installed when I ordered it. Doesn't look as though that was done. I'm going to go look for that paperwork now!

Found it and looks like I didn't know what I was talking about. Here's what was on the order (I have no idea what some of these abbreviations mean):

CDSK; SW; DELL-APPS, BKUP25; DIM

KIT, SW,OVPK, WXPHSP2,ENG

KIT; DOC/DSK; SW; PDVD; 5.5 TLOB

Memory upgrade for faster processing. (That could be just the processor, right? And not extra memory.)

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 5:48 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
Good morning, Bob and all. Oooooh nooooo. Not fixed. My minute turn off / turn ons yesterday were like a REboot to "la machine". After being off overnight, it was 41 minutes this morning from hitting the on button until desk top.

Need help again!

Seattlemom
Member

05-10-2005

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 6:35 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seattlemom a private message Print Post    
maybe someone can tell me why when I turned my desktop on it said Battery Low? A desktop has a battery? I thought only Lap Tops had Battery's? (Duh ME) Is it replaceable? Is my Computer going to crash? Thanks Linda

Landileigh
Member

07-29-2002

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 6:47 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landileigh a private message Print Post    
hp, i'd buy 2 512MB DDR as you have 2 slots and it can handle this according to all of your specs and you should see a HUGE improvement

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Monday, March 17, 2008 - 8:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
Thanks so much, landi! Now is that something a professional should do? I have no idea how to do that.