Please stop that Dave, you're hurting me.
Posted on 06/10/2005 1:09:43 PM PDT by texasflower
I sure could use some help for a couple of problems I'm running into. My dad died a few months ago and I'm trying to make sure my mother's computer stays updated.
What I am finding is that everything new programs install very slowly. Last night she bought a new HP all in one scanner, printer etc.
Last night, I tried to install it and in 12 hours now it has only 31 percent installed. It is still trying to install, but it is just so slow.
I would take it out and start over, but the install screen has no cancel or X button. I've tried to shut down the computer but it won't shut down while this is in progress.
Other minor things seem to install, like virus updates etc., but they also run slowly. Not this slowly of course.
What can I do about this?
I have run all of the virus scan and spyware scans I have available.
Spybot Search and Destroy
Ad-Adware
Norton Anti-virus
AVG anti-virus.
Spyware Doctor
Zonealarm is the firewall.
I'm thinking this must be an installer driver or something like that but I don't know anything substantial about computers.
Also I would love to get rid of a dead program on here called pc-cillin, but the add and remove program thing won't let me do it. Any ideas?
So, if you have an answer or suggestion, you probably should baby talk me through it.
The computer is a SonyViao running Windows XP.
Oops. One more thing, for some reason there is an external zip drive attached to this computer. Shouldn't the computer be able to unzip regular files?
No, everything else seems to be okay.
I'm way behind on the thread. So much great help and I'm a bit slow to find the answers....
"I have a problem with my system (HP Pavilion with Win98). All of my program files have my mail icon on them and when I try to start them my outlook starts up."
This is a virus. Its renaming common program files to open Outlook so it has access to your Personal Address Book. If you'll check your private replies, I'll help you, too.
I deleted whatever temporary files there were just a few minutes ago on someone else's suggestion.
I don't know when a defrag was run last. I'll try to do that now.
So far you're doing fine. The computer looks pretty clean.
Lets try installing the printer again.
Tell us what you are doing step by step.
Install the CD?
A window comes up that asks where to install it?
Details please....
Just write what you do and see.
If you can lets look at the task manager again and see what the CPU use is.
You need to click down on the "leaf" under the "Event viewer" label, that say "Application", "Security", and "System".
You should see a number of lines that lead with "error", "information", "warning", etc.
The one marked "system" is probably the most significant to what you are looking for.
Working on that now.
I haven't put the CD back in, should I do that while I'm still working on stuff like defraging and all that or do the defrag first?
Does defrag take very long?
My guess is it will take about 10 minutes or so.
But it does create a cool screen image as the files get moved ;)
Sadly it won't fix your problem. I assume the printer has an install CD. Look at the shiny side for scratches while you wait for the defrag to finish.
I didn't know you had a choice about where things were installed.
I have always used wherever it said it was putting something.
How do I specify a drive?
With these parameters, you should be able to run the scanner thingy without a problem.
Something else is obviously going on. The other people on this thread have some really good ideas and solving methods which I agree with. Try them and see.
What part of Texas do you live in?
Cedar Park here!
The install CD is very sparkly. :-)
Okay, you have a lot of RAM which is good. Most of the time, the amount of RAM plays a big role in System Latency. That is why I asked. Now, you may want to do the following things -
1. clean up the temporary files, delete all the cookies. You can do this by Clicking Tools->Internet Options->Delete Cookies/Delete Files.
Please delete any Offline content you may have saved.
2. Another possibility is that your System performance may have been effected because of too many back ground programs running on your system. To verify this, please press CTRL+ALT+DEL and verify if there are any unwanted processes.Then press "End Task" to kill any unwanted processes.
3. Lastly, there can be other things as issues with device drivers or other conflicting .dlls effecting the system performance.
Please follow the Steps one and two above and see if that helps.
Please stop that Dave, you're hurting me.
Thanks lormand. I'm following suggestions like crazy!
Freepers are always so great to help someone in a bind and I'm learning lots of stuff.
I live very near Tomball, in the area near the border of Spring.
when the installer gives you an "install at this location" option you can simply change the C to a D. that will put it on the D drive.
But as I've been saying, disk space is not your problem. We can get you lots of space by using the D drive after we fix this problem. It's ridiculously easy to do.
Let one thing happen at a time... defrag first, rebooting after that would be a good idea.
I have a funny feeling that the best way to get this straightened out is to talk one-on-one with someone that knows what to look for or have your friendly neighborhood geek come over and get it going. If you're in Plano you can bring the machine over. :)
Kinda far for me to drive for a House Call. :)
I've deleted any offline content present, the cookies and all that and emptied the recyle bin.
When I did what you said, I only see this firefox thread, something called computer management, performance and maintence (for the defrag) and something called diskeeper lite.
Darn! I'm far from Plano. But you guys are being lots of help.
If nothing else I'm learning plenty of things to try next time before I post a computer vanity!
have you emptied your recycle bin yet? A full recycle bin can bring a healthy computer to it's knees.
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