Slowwww

[gravefinder2003]

Hi, I have been lurking for quite some time. I have a problem with my boyfriends laptop. It is so slow that you could take a shower and come back and it still won't have the radar up. He has a toshiba satillite and all the spy wear and anti-virus. It wasn't always like this. He has been messing around with his wireless card and that might be the cause. We have dial up out here in the country and when we go to town he can't figure out how to set up the wireless card. So I guess I have 2 problems. What can I do. I don't know how to send a log. Please be patient with me...

[dunedin]

Hello gravefinder2003 and welcome to Virtual Dr

1 First we need to find out if it is the wireless card that is causing the slow system.
Go to "Network Connections"
Right click on the wireless connection and select "Disable".
Then reboot and see if the machine is running any better.

2. Look if there are unneccessary entries in msconfig. The site below will tell you what everything is and whether to disable it or not. It will also tell you if there are any nasties running at start up.

Start/Run and type in
msconfig
OK

Startup Tab
Keep the page open then go to link below.

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html

Read the Key at foot of page, then click on "Here" at top. Use the Search box to check all your entries.

Please post back with your results from both of these.

Elaine

[gravefinder2003]

Thanks for the info. Sorry it has taken this long to respond. I was afraid to do anything to his computer so I did it to mine and then his. I couldn't find anything at start up. The wireless card is disabled. I went to the page you sent me to about things that could be in start up after I went to msconfig and I don't know where to find some of the other stuff they had listed there. Can you still help me. Sheila

[gravefinder2003]

Ok. This is the deal. I don't know how to use the Backup utility in the start menu. I am trying to back up restore points I guess. Does that mean that everything on this computer will be there no matter what I do? This is my boyfriends laptop and it has alot of information on it. Help. Sheila

[dunedin]

Sheila,

System Restore is not a guarantee that you can get every file back. Sometimes it can undo changes, but it is not a proper backup program.

What is the other stuff listed in msconfig that you can`t find? Unchecking items here does not delete then from the computer. It just stops them from automatically running at startup.

Elaine

[gravefinder2003]

Elaine,

I have now got everything backed up from his computer and he said go for it. I will start at the beginning by going to the sites you reccommened. Sheila

[dunedin]

That`s good. Let`s run some malware checks too and make sure the system is clean.

Do not reboot after unchecking items in msconfig. Run the scans below first.
Online scans. Let them fix all they find and take a note of any malware found.
Housecall http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Trojan Scan http://www.windowsecurity.com/trojanscan/

a-squared Web Malware Scanner
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/

That`ll keep you busy for a while but you must make sure the machine is not infected.

Let us know what is happening after that.

If it can`t run the scans I`ll give you some programs to run instead

Elaine