Computer advice..

15 minutes?? is it a zx spectrum?

A few virus programmes?
Do you mean that or do you mean anti-spyware?

AVG is to PCs as The Weather Girls are to 1.2-litre cars. I'd get rid of that and stop downloading anything altogether, apart from the obvious safe stuff like Adobe reader and Adobe player etc.

anti,sorry :) anti spyware and avg

Defrag it (mydefrag is good), install Firefox if you don't have it already, then download filehippo for updates and ccleaner for cleaning.

Spybot and malwarebites and avira are enough securitywise.

I thought I'd give avg a try last week. It slowed my broadband to dial up speeds. GET RID

thanks all :) sounds like the avg could be the weakest link

best bet is probably to backup all your files and use the recovery disk/partition and start again imo

start
run
type in msconfig
ok
startup

all the ones ticked are what starts when your computer does. Google netsquirrel & see what you don't need

ole...getting rid of avg isn't the way forward...there are many reasons why your pc takes ages to respond...you probably have a plethora of undesirable progs running that are hogging all your resources..if you have Windows Update set to automatic that can also be an issue for an underpowered pc. A fresh start as someone has already suggested will breathe new life into it and will absolutely guarantee that the malware issues go away (albeit temporarily if you don't install some serious internet security prog).

Load CCleaner.

Run the cleaner to clear the rubbish off your machine.
Then run the registry cleaner - it may take several runs before it finds no errors (obviously**the errors after every run)
THEN check the startup optin in CC. You are probably starting enough stuff in the background to run a rocket to Mars. Stop the programsyou don't need (almost all of them - not AVG, etc)

Also, do you have a firewall? If not, use Zone Alarm.

Handy, Lee Ho. Just unticked a few boxes. :)

Getting rid of avg IS the way forward I'm tellin ya. Hadn't got it, supersonic internet. Installed it, almost NO internet. Got rid, SUPERSONIC internet again.

good one dk, just be careful what you click

I have AVG...takes a while to start up internet etc..all these programmes running take time to start running...i go into c drive....then click the file WINDOWS...look for a file called PREFETCH....select all and delete the lot...this has always speeded up mine...also C-Cleaner is good

I doubt its avg as it uses less system resources than similar programs, you might have a trojan. Have you tried search & destroy ?

ahh SHAB in above comment mentions C-CLEANER...good tool

Corky 20 Nov 18:51

Getting rid of avg IS the way forward I'm tellin ya. Hadn't got it, supersonic internet. Installed it, almost NO internet. Got rid, SUPERSONIC internet again.

In your isolated case maybe....EVERY program you install has to have some overhead on a pc and any given prog will affect different machines in different ways...what I was trying to say was that it's unlikely that AVG is the one and only reason for his slow pc. Also, I wouldn't touch AVG with a pole, not even the paid for version.

OpenOffice, SonyEricsson PC Suite, and McAfee protection which came with the laptop but which I've never activated. Only the three. :)

Corky, do you run Zone Alarm by any chance?

If so, there was a bug in AVG a few weeks ago that really messed up the internet speed. They fixed it recently, so download the new one and you will be OK.

OR

If you have ANY OTHER anti-virus, they conflict - they see each other as a virus!!

Remove all other anti-virus software before installing AVG.

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000743.html

''i go into c drive....then click the file WINDOWS...look for a file called PREFETCH....select all and delete the lot...this has always speeded up mine''


Link in post above says don't.

loads of helpful advice,thanks to you all,the good old forum comes up trumps again :)

Good post Duncan Idaho...informative.

Shab 20 Nov 19:02
OR

If you have ANY OTHER anti-virus, they conflict - they see each other as a virus!!

Remove all other anti-virus software before installing AVG

I used avg but removed it now use Avast (forum help again). Find it first class

Duncan it is just an easier way of closing down programmes i dont want running..hence speeding up pc

not saying its the best advice...just works for me

No harm in deleting the contents of your prefetch folder.

It rebuilds itself automatically.

?

Everything's Gone Green 20 Nov 19:13


No harm in deleting the contents of your prefetch folder.

It rebuilds itself automatically.

precisely...you will see when you go back to the folder they all return

Shab 20 Nov 19:01
Corky, do you run Zone Alarm by any chance?

No, I use sunbelt. It used to be called Kerio I think. I use anti vir for virus protection. I only dabbled with avg out of curiosity, but never again .

Old Prefetch Data

It is not recommended to delete files from the Windows Prefetch folder by ticking the box "Old Prefetch data" in the Advanced section. Deleting prefetch files is a myth and actually reduces performance; applications and Windows will load slower if you delete prefetch files unnecessarily. Windows automatically cleans unused prefetch files.[4][5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCleaner

some advise this and some dont...whos to say which is correct..

anybody know if my cpu is just gash or dying a death? its slow as feck when streaming hd video. its a umm...core 2 duo 2.00ghz...is 2ghz fast or slow??

Windows does rebuild the prefetch folder.

The first time you use a program after emptying it it will be slower as it rebuilds.

The advantage of deleting is doubtful though, on a really old pc could make a difference.