PC start-up problems

[SteveH]

Well I say problem more like annoying. My comp takes a long time to start up into windows, I know theres a software problem somewhere just not how to fix it. I've seen all these PC booster software packages you can buy that say you have 6 thousand things that need fixing if yoy pay us £24.99 first!!! Con I know :smt093
Has anyone got anygood tips on how to make my comp boot up quicker and maybe stop the the things that are making it slow
If you need any more details just ask because all I know is how to turn it on and start up world of warcraft :roll: :roll:

[fizzwheel]

Yep, download, install and run this

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php

If I've given you the right link, that software will clean up any spyware on your machine, which is the worst thing for making it run slow.

Adaware personal is free to use at home so no cost either.

[SteveH]

Yep I already have that one and it helped alot, but what I'am talking about is when you first go into windows it takes far longer now then when I first bought it, I know I have a few programs that start on start-up which I think is slowing it down and I have know idea how to stop them.
Hope this makes sense to you ppl in the know

[fizzwheel]

Righto, that could be lots of things...

How old is your PC, what operating system does it have on it ?

[Filipe M.]

Righto, that could be lots of things...

How old is your PC, what operating system does it have on it ?

Takes ages to startup? I'd say it's brand new and it's got Vista on it, then.

[fizzwheel]

Takes ages to startup? I'd say it's brand new and it's got Vista on it, then.

:D

[kwak zzr]

go "run" msconfig, startup, and disable any startup items you dont use, reboot and your machine will start up quicker, hope this helps.

[SteveH]

Year old windows xp media

[kwak zzr]

thanks for the lavasoft link fizz.

[fizzwheel]

Probably the easiest way to solve your problem is to just format the thing and start again...

Failing that, defrag that hard disk, uninstall anything that you dont use, as Kwak says disable any services that you dont need.

BUT and heres a big but, if you dont know what you're doing chances are you'll mess it up... think carefully about what you are doing.

If you dont know, then take it somewhere that does.

[MeridiaNx]

Already some of the stuff on here that I would recommend, but the list of programs I use to keep the PC clean and running smooth as a baby's bottom is as follows:

Spybot - Search & Destroy
Adaware

(Use both to catch what the other might not)

AVG Anti-Virus Free
ZoneAlarm Firewall Free

(These do the job a treat and cost nowt :D)

Diskeeper......this one is awesome, even if you DeFrag the drives using the windows tool until it thinks they're perfect, this will show you that they're still awful and then fix them for you. Think there might be a free version, you can also buy it. I just got hold of mine mysteriously ;)

Registry Mechanic.....to tidy all those loose ends up from installs, uninstalls, temp files etc etc. It can delete what isn't needed as well as 'optimising' the registry. Some people don't like these sort of programs because they mess with registry stuff which could lead to problems, and they think they are too indiscriminate in the way they attack things. I use mine fine with no probs but this one is up to you.

In all, 6 programs, 2 of which run all the time and the other 4 get run every few days. Add this to the msconfig tip and things should improve.

For all sorts of other things to pick and choose from, visit this link. I find it invaluable, though some stuff you won't want to do depending on your knowledge of PCs. I just went through from 1 to 101, and wrote down each number that I did in case it needed rolling back.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1494

Hope some of this comes in useful.

[Viney]

Mine was pig slow. Last night i re-loaded windows, now its all sprightly again.

Diskeeper is a top bit of kit.