WINDOWS XP SLOWWWWWWWWWW INTERNET DOWNLOADS ARE "KILLING" ME!!! (UPLOADS STILL FAST)

Shameless Vanity | 3/07/09 | Self

[George Smiley]

If your service provider is a cable company, they can and do put bandwith [speed, actually] filters on the line; and then try to sell you upgraded service.

[Chi-townChief]

That’s what it seems like - how would I find that particular patch though??

[retrogo]

Those internet speeds sound pretty good to me. Are you using an older computer?

If your computer is several years old you might be having problems with flash advertisements hogging your CPU. You can check the CPU useage with Windows Task Manager. If that is the problem, you can use a Firefox add-on called Flashblock.

[Chi-townChief]

I’ll have to try it - I used Optimizer XP but that didn’t do much.

[TomGuy]

I was using spyboy, zonealarm, and AVG and all seemed to work well until this happened. My cable provider gives McAfee free of charge so I’m trying that now. I try the anti-malware and see what happens.

[Hadn't read that far down in the posts when I posted my previous comment.]

I dumped Zonealarm a long time ago, due to conflicts and glut. I went with Comodo firewall. Trouble is, the most recent Comodo firewall is part of a suite. I use an older version, and it makes my connection invisible, per Gibson Research Leak Tests.

AVG. I dumped it a few weeks ago. Glut and conflicts with other programs. I went with Avast Home. It uses fewer resources and runs smoother.

McAfee AV. I used it several years ago. It, too become glut. I tried their firewall and dropped it. For months afterward, I would get pop-ups asking me to try it again -- even after I uninstalled it and their AV program. I tried editing the registry and systems searches to get rid of any McAfee entries. Still the pop-ups continued. I finally did a reformat. That got rid of the ba*tard. I will never have anything McAfee on my computer again -- and my cable gives it away free to us subscribers.

My current is: Avast Home AV and Comodo Firewall ver 2.1.0.1

[Chi-townChief]

About 3 years old - I did have a crash on New Year’s Day due to a power failure and it acted weird for a week or two after but seemed to fix itself and was fine until now. The funny thing is that my old computer did the same thing after a Windows 98 update and it neevr would run 98 again. XP would work fine though.

[Candor7]

You can write to Norton Symantec and tell them your problem. Norton 360 appeared to fix my problem, so it only lasted a couple of days, and a Norton update took care of it.<p.

You also may have a faulty registry.Egistry Fix software can fix that, which is in the Norton 360 software package.

Drop their tech dept a line and maybe thay will help.

[stylin19a]

Sounds like you have comcast.(FYI I live in a western burb of Chicago) I'd bet the problem is on the outside.

I had the same problem.

Comcast kept telling me it's on my end.
They must have a 5 ft high stack of complaints from me by now.

however, a sharp Comcast inside tech identified the problem as being in the outside wires.

He made an appointment for a comcast outside tech and lo and behold, they found 2 things wrong.

1. a squirrel had partially chewed through the wire.
2. a connection\coupling was encased. The encasement had filled with water. ( Makes Sense that the service was spotty, when you consider the continuous freeze & thaw)

They replaced the chewed wiring, sealed the encasement and my speed is now screaming.

You have to keep hammering ‘em to get a decent outside guy out there. preferably a comcast guy not a sub contractor

Good luck

[Chi-townChief]

Yeah - I’m in the 95th and Cicero area and I have Comcast - I’ll have to try them again and see what happens.

[JRios1968]

Macbots in 3...2...1...

[TomGuy]

Another thought:

I was having problems a year ago. Four different crews came out and checked stuff.

Finally, one guy said it might be my cable modem. [I had purchased it from the cable co 5 years earlier, when I first got cable internet.]

He said the problem was that the modem was too old to handle the increased speeds the cable internet had periodically upgraded. [When I first got it, the high speed was about 1 MB. Last year, it was 7 MB and it is up to 9 MB now.]

I bought a new cable modem. It did help. Of course, they had problems in their lines, too, that they finally got resolved.

[Tunehead54]

Tell the cable company you'd like them to drop by with a laptop that can demonstrate at your cable drop that you're getting your rated D/L speed at the test site of your choice - also suggest they bring a new in box cable modem just in case - you're out the time but it would've been faster than reformatting an re-installing all your software ...

I trust cnet: http://reviews.cnet.com/internet-speed-test/

or take your pick here: http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?more=1

[bubbacluck]

And occasionally they'll tweak the download bandwidth themselves if they think you're running a server or something. It'd be easy enough to eliminate the possibility by asking.

This has happened to me a few times. For some reason, a setting was inadvertently changed to less than half the download speed it was supposed to be set at.

[Isabel C.]

It is sick, sick fast.

Huh? I thought "sick" was a negative term. If you refer to something as being "sick fast", are you implying that it's good, or are you implying that it's bad?

[Semper911]

I thought "sick" was a negative term.

Nope, sick means good now. Actually it means very, very good.

[mad_as_he$$]

Are you logged in?

[Big_Monkey]

"I thought "sick" was a negative term"

Assuming you arent' being sarcastic, I will explain. "Sick", when used in the parlance of many home computer builders is a postive reference to the technical achievement and performance of their home built computers, also known as rigs. You might also see or hear such adjectives as wicked, nasty, thumping, jacked or my personal favorite, PHAT.

This can be confusing. As an example, one might describe their new computer build with the phrase, "This new gear is completely insane." Translated: "My new computer stretches the scope of my understanding of what cutting edge performance in new computer technology is possible". - It can be very puzlling and I appreciate the somewhat bewildered response to my orignial post. My apologees.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...reformating and reloading my hard drive

That would have fixed it if done properly.

What did you "reload" onto your hard drive after formatting it? An image? A clone copy or just your personal data?

If it was one of the former two, you've brought over whatever virus (virii?) or spywarez that were the problem in the first place.

"Nasty little Spywaeses. Always trying to get to The Precious."

[Chi-townChief]

I still have my original disk that I reloaded. Then my Docs and Settings.

[Chi-townChief]

I still have my original disk that I reloaded. Then my Docs and Settings.