Computer Help

[bobcat]

There are some amazingly smart and helpful people on this forum, so hopefully someone can give me some ideas.

I have an HP running Windows 7 and I'm having problems. The music On ITunes plays like it's dragging, think of an old cassette that's being dragged across the heads with occasional what sounds like static.My scrolling is slow and jerky, and lots of times I have to re click my mouse to re establish a connection to continue to scroll. Typing this thread is like it's delayed, and semi freezes occasionally. I'm far from a computer expert and I've run every diagnostic I can think of, am I on the quick descent to the blue screen of death? It's not my internet, it's working fine on my Ipad and my Iphone. I swear, this is the last Microsoft machine for me, but I'm not ready to take the plunge on a new machine yet.

So based on my poor description, anybody have any general ideas I can try? Thanks for all your help...

 

[star1]

could be a virus, spyware, adware or just a failed update (among other things) make sure your antivirus is up to date , run a manual scan. download AdAware and run it. There are many good software tools to clean your PC , most are free. Try rolling back your PC to an earlier point in time, Accessories, System Tools , system restore

There are times we just reformat and re-install the OS
Norm

 

[cmort666]

1. Right click on Computer => Manage => Device Manager. See if there are yellow question marks or other indications of missing or bad drivers for hardware. Go to the manufacturer's website and make sure you have the latest drivers.
2. Right click on Computer => Properties. Make sure that the amount of memory show is the amount you think you have installed.
3. Download and run something like MalwareBytes or SuperAntiSpyware.
4. Start => CMD => Enter => msconfig => Enter. Look in Startup and see what's running. There may be things that aren't necessarily malware, but are unneeded and consuming resources.
5. Check your USB devices. Problems with failed USB devices can cause resource issues. Try unplugging all USB devices other than the mouse and keyboard. If that fixes the problem, start plugging things in one at a time until the problem returns (it might not).

 

[M&P Freak]

1. Right click on Computer => Manage => Device Manager. See if there are yellow question marks or other indications of missing or bad drivers for hardware. Go to the manufacturer's website and make sure you have the latest drivers.
2. Right click on Computer => Properties. Make sure that the amount of memory show is the amount you think you have installed.
3. Download and run something like MalwareBytes or SuperAntiSpyware.
4. Start => CMD => Enter => msconfig => Enter. Look in Startup and see what's running. There may be things that aren't necessarily malware, but are unneeded and consuming resources.
5. Check your USB devices. Problems with failed USB devices can cause resource issues. Try unplugging all USB devices other than the mouse and keyboard. If that fixes the problem, start plugging things in one at a time until the problem returns (it might not).

Agree with all the above, with one addition: Load and run the free version of CCleaner

Run it daily to keep things tidy.

 

[Gamecock]

Get into task manager:

ctrl alt delete

Select "task manager"

Click on "show process from all users" at bottom.

Click on every process that has the letters "g-o-o-g-l-e" and end it.

 

[shouldazagged]

My nephew the Übergeek recently reformatted mine, installed a clean copy of the operating system, and loaded new versions of a couple of things. Pretty much a complete overhaul that took him a whole afternoon.

That and my switching from Internet Exploder to Firefox have made a huge difference. I still like Windows 7 and have no plans to upgrade.

 

[Wyatt p. Tato]

Instead of buying a new gun, yes, I know that is hard. Go treat yourself to a new Apple computer, you will save money and agrivation for years.

I have almost forgotten about cleaning and reinstalling operating systems.

 

[DWalt]

Agree with all the above, with one addition: Load and run the free version of CCleaner

Run it daily to keep things tidy.

For reasons unknown to me, my wife's laptop computer apparently fills up with electronic sludge and becomes frustratingly slow to use. A run of CCleaner usually brings everything back to life as it wipes out a lot of unnecessary "stuff." For years, I have used the free version of Avast anti-spyware, and it seems to do a good job of keeping malware at bay. My Lenovo Thinkpad apparently has some very effective built-in software that prevents the electronic sludge, as I have had the laptop for nearly 4 years and absolutely nothing has ever gone wrong with it, still works like new. If I ever need another, it will be a Lenovo.

 

[Gamecock]

Avast is best free protection out there.

avast.com

 

[armorer951]

Malwarebytes.org also has some excellent free malware removal software.

 

[DWalt]

Somewhere, there must be software available which diagnoses any and all computer problems and repairs them automatically. I just don't know what it is. I hear the computer professionals use something like that, but I don't know any of those people.

 

[labworm]

My nephew the Übergeek recently reformatted mine, installed a clean copy of the operating system, and loaded new versions of a couple of things. Pretty much a complete overhaul that took him a whole afternoon.

That and my switching from Internet Exploder to Firefox have made a huge difference. I still like Windows 7 and have no plans to upgrade.

What did he say when he ran across all those photos?

 

[DWalt]

A clean install of the OS will work every time, but it also wipes out everything else on the drive. So you need to reinstall all applications software and save all files you need.

I assume everyone is aware that Microsift will be providing free upgrades to the new Windows 10 within the next several months for those now having Windows 7 and Windows 8. I will be very interested in the reports on how well it works out. I have understood that there may well be issues involving software which works with W7 and W8, but won't work with W10, and also new drivers may be needed for printers, external drives, etc. That bothers me.

 

[Salty RI]

I know a guy who repairs computers, he loves it when they come up with new upgrades.

 

[TX-Dennis]

I've never run into a problem I couldn't solve myself with a bit of research. I will second the advice to use CCleaner and Malwarebytes. You might also want to try Super Anti Spyware - kind of a dumb name, but I've found it useful. Make sure you're running a good (and up to date) antivirus. I use AVG Free, but there are others that are good too.

Reinstalling the OS is absolutely the last resort, but I have had to do it a few times over the years. If you do be sure and backup everything you don't want to lose first. I use an external hard drive for that purpose.

I agree with the poster who said it could be a memory issue. Sometimes memory modules go bad. You could have less memory than you think. It could also be that you really need to add some to handle all the background processes that you have installed over the years.

Your most likely cause, though, is some type of malware that just needs to be cleaned up.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

You may have a malware problems like mentioned above.
You most likely have too many things running. That will slow your computer every time without exception.

 

[Ogandydancer]

Avast is best free protection out there.

avast.com

How does it compare with MS, which is built into Win.8, better, worse about the same?

 

[bobcat]

I installed and ran CCCleaner and super antispyware and it cleaned a lot of the sludge out apparently because it's running better. I run Zone Alarm extreme and thought it was doing pretty good about keeping viruses out. I also reinstalled ITunes, no improvement, so maybe my sound card? A while ago I found how to stop some of the programs at start up and that sped up the start up.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help gentlemen, another reason I appreciate the knowledge base on this forum.

 

[shouldazagged]

What did he say when he ran across all those photos?

He just smirked.

 

[DWalt]

How does it compare with MS, which is built into Win.8, better, worse about the same?

I doubt that anyone here could answer that. The computer magazines and websites probably have reports on tests which indicate pros and cons of each antivirus software. I do find that Avast appears to work very well. Avast also has versions you must pay an annual fee to use, and have additional features, but I'm too cheap to try them when the free version seems to work OK. For awhile I used AVG, but it let in a few bad things some years ago, so I went to Avast. One thing you do not want is to have more than one antivirus program running. They seem to fight each other, with unpredictable results.