My pc was fast as a cheetha, now its slow as a turtle

[Computerbustinguy]

Hi, i bought my pc 2 years ago, it was very very fast(movies playing smooth, quckily opening files etc..) then it got slow, Even tho i reformated it, its still slow, my question is i want it to make it become as fast as when i got it. How do i do that?
now all my movies are playing very very slow(getting stuck etc..) my games are also slow , all my files are opening very slowly.??? and a now there is some sort of a fan sound comin inside of it that never use to come before? My hardrive is not even filled(about 1/100 used only)i did all the basic stuff. Somebody said something about spyware being in my pc?i didnt get that, hwo do i get rid of spyware ? ne gud softwares?

i wud reaaly appreciate some advice
thx

 

[PVTCaboose1337]

Reinstalling windows can help greatly! Do that, you will notice a performance boost.

 

[newmodder]

spyware?harddrive

your hd may be going, that might be the loud sound you hear, as for spyware i would use spybot search and destroy.just google spybot and youll find it. you may also want to check your hd for errors.By the way what are your sys specs?

 

[strick94u]

My wifes pc is 2 years old when I built it for her I put in 512 ram so I cleaned it defragged it and added 512 more its back up to where it was. but I also agree that reloading windows helps next time hers slows down that will be the thing and maybe a faster processore.
errr the loud sound is it a clicking ?? or groaning? have you cleaned the dust out of it? is it a dell?

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

it sounds to me like your hdd might be going, which is never good news. a couple years back, every 2 years was time for a new hdd, because of simply demagnetization (this was true of the cheaper drives, the ones i have all my experience with ) i would back up everything while it still spins, just in case, and then do error checking, defrag, everything before a format to see if it has some bad sectors. unfortunately, even if you have little space used, those sectors can go bad.

if error check and defrag don't find any problems, then maybe try repartitioning your drive, split it down the middle, especially if you don't use alot of space anyways. just make sure to reinstall windows on the new partition, the back half of your drive (if that makes sense). This is a good go around to getting a whole new hdd, and it's made some hdd's last 2-3 times as long as the first crash time frame (keep repartitioning!).

if none of these solve your problem, then its either your entire hdd is funked, or something i have no idea about!

keep us posted

 

[Ketxxx]

is it a dell?

 

[zekrahminator]

Go check your various fans for dust. And yes, the hard drive is a very likely cause. Replacing it with a good Western Digital drive will probably solve your problems. And good virus/spyware software is Mcafee Virusscan and Ad-Aware SE.

 

[{JNT}Raptor]

I'm gonna take a stab and say your CPU's running Hot.....have you taken the Heatsink off the CPU and cleaned It out yet?.....2yrs and no cleaning would make your CPU run much hotter than when you got It and that would bog you down all around as well.

Just a thought.

 

[Computerbustinguy]

umm acctually i tried the best way,reformating, but still its still slow??

 

[Computerbustinguy]

I'm gonna take a stab and say your CPU's running Hot.....have you taken the Heatsink off the CPU and cleaned It out yet?.....2yrs and no cleaning would make your CPU run much hotter than when you got It and that would bog you down all around as well.

Just a thought.

I think u mite be right, its probably the heat sink. This also gives us a clue for the sound, The problem is that i acctually"dont know" how to clean the heat sink....
is there a specific procedure??

 

[wazzledoozle]

I think u mite be right, its probably the heat sink. This also gives us a clue for the sound, The problem is that i acctually"dont know" how to clean the heat sink....
is there a specific procedure??

Take a vacuum with a brushless hose extension, and with the pc turned off, put the nozzle against the heatsink/fan and suck the dust out. You can also used canned air, available at any office supplies store or places like best buy.

Also clean up any other clumps of dust, clean off any other fans in the computer, and also put the nozzle against the back of the power supply (cubish brick that plugs into the wall).

 

[Frogger]

as for the hdd acting up do a google for an app called 'hard drive inspector' the free trial will show if it has probs. the zip file is to big to upload here pm me your e-mail and i'll send it to you

 

[Computerbustinguy]

i downloaded the hd inspecter software, it says that the hd is is fine
the temp of the hd is 42-46c
i got a maxtor 6YO8OLO
the work mode is ultra dma mode 6 (133 mb/s)

 

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

i bet the problem is your hdd is running in PIO mode. windows automatically reverts the hdd to PIO mode after a few failed boots. in PIO mode you normally get very very low hdd perfomance causing everything to load slowly.

if your using the default windows ide drivers go into control panel, and then system and then device manager, then to the corresponding ide channel, find your hard drives and make sure that "dma if available" mode is selected.

if your using nvidia sw ide drivers, do pretty much the same thing except select the highest supported dma mode. refer to your hard drive specs to decide what is supported.

this is most often the cause of the symptoms you speak of.


EDIT: many programs report the maximum mode SUPPORTED, not the mode that is CURRENTLY enabled.

to test if this is the problem download a program called hdtune. and run it on your drives. you should be seeing at least 40mb/s. if the PIO mode is the problem you will be seeing 10mb/s or less.

 

[i_am_mustang_man]

i bet the problem is your hdd is running in PIO mode. windows automatically reverts the hdd to PIO mode after a few failed boots. in PIO mode you normally get very very low hdd perfomance causing everything to load slowly.

if your using the default windows ide drivers go into control panel, and then system and then device manager, then to the corresponding ide channel, find your hard drives and make sure that "dma if available" mode is selected.

if your using nvidia sw ide drivers, do pretty much the same thing except select the highest supported dma mode. refer to your hard drive specs to decide what is supported.

this is most often the cause of the symptoms you speak of.


EDIT: many programs report the maximum mode SUPPORTED, not the mode that is CURRENTLY enabled.

to test if this is the problem download a program called hdtune. and run it on your drives. you should be seeing at least 40mb/s. if the PIO mode is the problem you will be seeing 10mb/s or less.

wow! i didn't know this stuff! good info!

 

[«BladE|==|]

i bet the problem is your hdd is running in PIO mode. windows automatically reverts the hdd to PIO mode after a few failed boots. in PIO mode you normally get very very low hdd perfomance causing everything to load slowly.

if your using the default windows ide drivers go into control panel, and then system and then device manager, then to the corresponding ide channel, find your hard drives and make sure that "dma if available" mode is selected.

if your using nvidia sw ide drivers, do pretty much the same thing except select the highest supported dma mode. refer to your hard drive specs to decide what is supported.

this is most often the cause of the symptoms you speak of.


EDIT: many programs report the maximum mode SUPPORTED, not the mode that is CURRENTLY enabled.

to test if this is the problem download a program called hdtune. and run it on your drives. you should be seeing at least 40mb/s. if the PIO mode is the problem you will be seeing 10mb/s or less.

doesn't...reformatting reset it back to dma? :S

and also, did you do a full format or quick?

Do a full! lol...or better yet, low level your drive, mhmm.

Is it a Dell?

Owned.

Edit: Also, Idle temps above like, 41 = bad. Mostly caused by bad ventalation and dust build up on top of the drive, try to get someone expirenced to clean it or somethin.

 

[Computerbustinguy]

Yes i did a full restore
And no way its not a dell mine is Asus

 

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Yes i did a full restore
And no way its not a dell mine is Asus

a restore is NOT the same as reformatting. restores do pretty much jack sh**.

 

[W2hCYK]

I have a hard drive, and it says its running on PIO.. :-( all the other channels are going on DMA, how can I fix this?

 

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

I have a hard drive, and it says its running on PIO.. :-( all the other channels are going on DMA, how can I fix this?

set it to "DMA mode if available"

 

[Jimmy 2004]

set it to "DMA mode if available"

Lol... I think he's asking how to do that.

If it's the only drive not in DMA maybe it doesn't support it? Could be a dodgy cable.

 

[invadar]

If it were a laptop I would say its almost certain to be an overheated cpu as the heatsinks in most laptops have restricted entry for the air passage through the vanes. However the cleaning would be the same for standalone or laptops , just remove the heatsink from the top of the cpu and blow it through with compressed air. from aerosol can or a compressor if you have one else atooth brush and some meths would do it.

When replacing the heatsink, if it sits directly onto the top of the CPU be sure to use some
heat transfer compound available from Maplins or Radio shack or other electrical supplier.

I hope this helps

regards Invadar

 

[Rodster]

I think u mite be right, its probably the heat sink. This also gives us a clue for the sound, The problem is that i acctually"dont know" how to clean the heat sink....
is there a specific procedure??

Hope this helps as it applies to most if not all CPU's and Heatsinks.

http://www.articsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

"Never use any oil or petroleum based cleaners (WD-40, citrus oil based cleaners and many automotive degreasers) on the base of a heatsink. The oil, which is engineered to not evaporate, will fill in the microscopic valleys in the metal and significantly reduce the effectiveness of any subsequently applied thermal compound.

If your heatsink has a thermal 'pad' mounted on it, this pad must be removed before using Ceramique. Thermal pads are made with paraffin wax that melts once it gets hot. When it melts, it will fill in the microscopic valleys in the heatsink with wax. To minimize the permanent contamination of the mounting surface with wax, the thermal pad should be removed before it is used and melted. Never use heat or hot water to remove the pad, the heat will melt the wax into the heatsink."

"Clean the mating surfaces completely with a low residual solvent (High-purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone will work) and a LINT FREE cloth. (i.e. lens cleaning cloth or a coffee filter) If another thermal compound has previously been applied to the heatsink, the mounting surface should be thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned with a xylene based cleaner, (Goof Off and some carburetor cleaners) acetone, mineral spirits, or 99% pure isopropyl alcohol. It is important to keep the surfaces free of foreign materials and NOT to touch the surfaces (a hair, piece of lint, and even dead skin cells can significantly affect the thermal interfaces performance, especially on modern small core CPUs as the surface area is already severely limited). In addition, oils from your fingers can adversely affect the performance by preventing the compound from directly contacting the metal surface. (Fingerprints can be as thick as 0.005")"

 

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Lol... I think he's asking how to do that.

If it's the only drive not in DMA maybe it doesn't support it? Could be a dodgy cable.

ive already outline clearly how to do it in my original post.

people shouldnt be afraid to try things out for themselves. thats how we learn.

 

[«BladE|==|]

Yes i did a full restore
And no way its not a dell mine is Asus

mkay, restore...as in system restore? Ugh, that's not a format dude. Grab your windows disc, stick it in the drive...go into BIOS, make sure it's set to boot off the cd before your HDD, go through the setup, say you want to do fresh install, get ready to lose everything on your pc...and then do a "FULL FORMAT". Reinstall windows, activate, install drivers and software and boom, your pc is fast. lol. That's the EASY way out. There are others...