Question for you computer geeks, please.

What is running slow? Is it just the internet? Is it running slow at startup? Are other programs (anything not using the internet) running slow, too?

If it is just the internet slow, have you tried it on a different connection to see if it is any better?

Brandon

Hi guys, and thanks.
It's just the internet. Actually faster at start-up, and seems to get slower and slower. When I pull up this website, for instance, it comes right up, but as I am reading the posts, it's very slow, if it even comes up at all. If I click the renew button, sometimes it works, but not always. It just sits there saying "opening......." or "done......" and a blank screen. If I log off and start over, it's quicker to pull up the site and then the same thing. Not just this site, by the way, but all internet.

I will have to see about hooking up to someone else's service tomorrow and try that.

Thanks so much for all ideas and suggestions.
Juanita

Juanita - if it's not a bandwidth issue, you might try the following:

Go to start. Click run. Type msconfig. It will launch a program. Go to the services tab. Leave the Microsoft services running but start unchecking the other manufacturer's services. Google the service name if you aren't sure. By unchecking the service, it will keep that program from loading on boot but the process is reversible. The idea is to identify the service causing the issue. *disclaimer* I am not an IT professional and disabling some services will result in a loss of functionality.

Hi Juanita,

Here are a few other ideas:
- like others have already said, if MS Office and other apps are running fine, then it might only be internet related. If you refresh other web sites, do they slow down also?
- it might be your internet hardware connection (internet circuit in your computer, cable or cable modem). To test this you can try the bandwidth checking websites to see if things slow down over time with the tests also. Or, try downloading some file and see if it slows during the download (you might need a file of a few MBs in size to see the slowdown).
- it might also be your web browser.... it might not gracefully handle situations that it doesn't understand (errors). If you're comfortable downloading and installing a different web browser (like Netscape Navigator or Firefox) you might find a different experience.

Thanks, again.
I will read through your suggestions and "digest" them (since it's all Greek to me), and see what I can do in the morning. It seems to be faster in the mornings. That's why I thought it might be Choice, maybe they have slower service due to sun spots. Is that old school thinking?

When it starts running slow...Press ctrl+alt+del ....windows task manager will come up....click on the performance tab....is the "Commit charge (k) total" number larger than the "physical Memory (k)" number?

Hey Juanita.... before you do anything drastic, please post some details.

I am a computer software developer/support guy, so maybe I can help...but need details.

How much RAM you got on that thing?
What's your operating system?
What internet browser are you using?
What level of security do you have your browser set to?
for example, if you're using Internet Explorer and have all it's bells and whistles turned on (anti phishing etc) it can slow you down.

What anti-virus or security software do you have running?
Does it happen on certain websites but not others? (Some sites are slow.)
Does it happen certain times of day? Fact: the internet slows down when school lets out.
Are you connected to your router via wireless or by a cable?

Hi Juanita, I feel for you! I started having problems at exactly the same time. I am quite clueless when it comes to computers, so it was very frustrating. I bothered a few friends over the phone and they gave me suggestions of different things to try. Finally it seems to be working ok. I'm using Mozilla Firefox now and reset some things (sorry, I'm not sure exactly what!) Anyway, what I learned from that experience is that it is possible to hand over the control of your computer to someone in a different location, and they can work on it for you. A friend of mine who works for a computer company in Ft Lauderdale, fixes his parents' computer back in Romania by some kind of remote access. Maybe the people at Dell could do that for you.

Juanita...Sabrina is right, Dell can remote to your computer...you won't have to mail it to them unless it's a hardware issue. My hubby is Dell, Sun, Gateway and SGI certified among others. If you're still having the problems around June 11th, he'll help you out when we get there. 🙂

Hi Neil,
I have 2GB RAM, Windows XP Media Center, Internet Explorer. Security is set at medium high, but it was a medium low before I started having problems. I moved it up just a couple of days ago.

I currently have PC-cillin, which came pre-programed for the first 15 months, which will expire on June 15. (Now, tell me I'm paranoid, but could that have something to do with this? Would a co. like PC-cillin mess with me to get me to hurry up and renew? I asked Dell, via email, and they just kind of skimmed over the questions, but they did say no.)

I do start out faster in the early morning, and actually last night around midnight or so, it was zipping along. Again, that makes me think it's local. But, the quickness doesn't last long, even in the morning or late at night.

It's all websites. I am hooked up via cable.

I tried to turn the system over to Dell remote, and loading it was so slow, they walked me through it, rather than just sit and wait. One of the things we did was the misconfig.

Sabrina, don't you find it strange that we started having problems at the same time?

Yearasta, I am at 652m/3939m. That's another thing Dell did, was to clean up all unused old stuff.

EngRMP, I don't know enough to start changing things. Maybe I will try again to hand it over to Dell Remote and see what they can do.

Thanks again, everybody. You are all awesome!

What cable company here is supplying internet via Cable?? I am on STT

Sounds like net problems not your computer, but it's very hard to diagnose from the armchair...also just a suggestion When your PC-cillin runs out...look into AVG for free http://free.grisoft.com/ it's one of the best out there...free..updates daily...and we have not had a problem in 3 years.

Our company has Choice and I have been on the phone with the techs from the company. They say a bandwidth slowdown has been happening due to just plain growing pains. They say the public schools are tied to them and when they get out we could get faster. They also are waiting for a piece of equipment that will give our area a 48meg of bandwidth strength. They have been waiting for weeks and expect this equipment any day.

Juanita, I don't think our problems can be connected because I'm in S.Florida, and using AT&T as my internet provider. Everything seems to be ok for me now.(Bye the way, I think mine started after I accepted a "free scan" for viruses. It told me I had 63 - I wasn't having any problems before that!)

Sounds like Marlene is on to the real problem: the provider.
I'm on roadrunner up here and there are some days when the band isn't very broad.

That laptop likely has a wireless card in it. What I'd do next is to take that laptop to a "free wireless hotspot" (somewhere where the service is NOT provided by Choice). Then go to a friend's broadband connection (again, not Choice) and plug in your computer test the speed of the connection and your computer at those two places to get a real world comparison.

Good morning All!
When I said "cable", I simply meant "wire", not wireless. Bad choice of word.
Dell also suggested AVG, so I will definitely go with that.
Sabrina, It is my understand you should NEVER accept one of those free scans. that IS the virus. Twice last week, I had offers, and when I X'd it, it was like something from outer space, just FLYING at me. I had to log off very quickly to get it to stop. I was thinking it was all connected to my problems, but using my PC-cillin, shows I don't have any viruses.

I bet Marlene has the problem pegged. Choice did tell me everything was fine, no problems. Doesn't mean I believe them!
Marlene, Is your service just slow or is it REALLY SLOW, like just not happening?

Thanks everyone. I guess I hope it is Choice's problem. I'll try my laptop at a hotspot and let you know.

Crap Cleaner is a free download that quickly removes all the tracking stuff on your computer. I run it every time I log off.

Juanita, it is REALLY slow and I will be asking for a discount for the loss of revenue. Our STT stores need the internet to see our server here in STX. The time they take to plug in a sale is keying every 2 -2seconds and wait. All our STX office staff is getting the hourglass all the time as they do their work so they sit waiting for the internet to get things ordered. (work related)

We are a major customer and have been for a long time. Some of the guys tell me the same thing....nothings wrong.....but I go to the guy I trust and he gives me a straight answer. We are waiting for equipment.

marlene,
That's a real bummer that it's causing revenue loss for your company. For me, it's more of a major pain in the ---! I do need to keep my website updated, but most of my business related work is done off line. I am relieved that is seems to NOT be my fairly new and fairly expensive laptop. I'm not sure I buy the part about it getting better when school is out. I had trouble all weekend and Monday, which was a holiday. I hope the new equipment they are expecting gets here fast.

A few years back, I had a Sprint wireless card, plus two Sprint cell phones. Nothing was working right for a month or more. Whenever I called Sprint, they said all was fine. Everyone I knew with Sprint was having problems. I went into the Sprint store at Havensight and asked the customer service rep, who said, " Oh yes, we are very aware there is a problem." She suggested I ask Sprint for a refund, that they couldn't do anything there, in the store. When I did that, Sprint continued to deny all knowledge of a problem, and according to them, the supervisor at the Sprint store denied any problem as well. Well, I kept calling and calling and finally got a rep on the phone who seemed to be human. He confirmed there had been a tower problem and gave me a sizable credit. But, it wasn't easy!

Sabrina as Juanita said once you accepted that "virus scan" you invited them in...get AVG for free...but I would suggest starting in safe mode and running CWS Shredder http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder.html. Most of those "virus scans" have a variant of CWS.

I haven't had any problems with a Sprint wireless card on the island. Latency is good. However, it does choke on downloading large files. I was planning to supplement this with a broadband provider on STX.

Thanks Yearasta!

Oh, this sounds quite familiar. I don't have XP anymore and I may not have the same browser version so I can't tell you the exact commands to check but there is a place in Internet Explorer (it was more obvious to me prior to version 7) where you set and control browser cache size. It sounds like your cache may be either full already and you have to over write content as you go which would make things slow or your cache may be set to dump when you unload the browser but it's too small and filling up as it seems your speed starts off fine and gets slower as you go.

See if you can find your browser cache setting and let us know what it says.

Hi guys, and thanks.
It's just the internet. Actually faster at start-up, and seems to get slower and slower. When I pull up this website, for instance, it comes right up, but as I am reading the posts, it's very slow, if it even comes up at all. ...