Computer operating slowly

[Speicher]

My mother's computer is apparently running very slowly. Last time I visited her, I looked at how much memory capacity was left - 90%. It is only three years old, and has a 2mb memory, IIRC.

Would "defragging" help to speed things up. With so little on it, I had assumed it would not make a huge difference.

She has got two printers with it, one "three in one" and one with a scanner for slides etc, she also runs one of the phones on the computer, and a web cam. Do all these peripherals have an effect on speed?

I have set up the computer so that it has the Accessibility Options on it, large icons, mouse trail, long interval on double click etc.

I am beginning to think she thinks it runs slowly, because other people who have used her computer have told her so. I can see that the Accessibility Options might slow it down, I may even have slowed the mouse speed down. I should add that she is 89 years old, and partially sighted. She enjoys using the computer to write short stories, and to send e-mails. I do not think she surfs the net.

I do not want her spending her money on a new computer, if with a few hours of fettling, I can speed it up. I would like to be able to explain to her what can be done, if anything, to speed it up. Even if she just replaces the CPU, is that going to be almost the same cost as a complete computer.

I would be grateful for advice from the people on here, so that I can more confidently explain to her what can be done. Thank you

 

[Steve Austin]

Its worth checking how many different virus programmes are running. Norton is a resource hungry fiend, and ties itself it up in checking itself checking itself.

 

[on the road]

How much space is left on the hard drive?

 

[marinyork]

What Operating System? With no answers to the above questions I'm thinking virus and a very heavy anti virus programme.

 

[Speicher]

Thank you for your replies. Sorry for the delay getting back, but my computer decided not to talk to the Internet this morning.

Virus Checker is Norton - if she is not on line very often, does that affect how the virus checker works.

Not sure how much space left on hard drive. Cannot find out until I next visit.

Operating system - not sure - bear in mind I am not a technical person

From your questions it sounds like it needs looking at by someone who knows what they are doing, and that these sort of problems would occur on any computer after three years.

Until recently, computer capabilities increased at a phenonemal rate, has that slowed down? Perhaps she thinks a new one will be faster. But I think that without maintenance it too will eventually slow down. I have little confidence with the people she asks to look at her computer, one of them managed to put the inkjet cartridges in the wrong way round. She thought she needed a new printer, until I visited and puzzled that out.

 

[marinyork]

If the computer is genuinely three years old and not second hand from further back or cobbled together bits of ancient components, the age should not be a problem. Even if some of that were true it should still work reasonably.

What does the computer say when it boots up? Windows XP? Vista? Something else?

 

[Speicher]

Windows XP

I always get muddled with the names of applications and the names of the OS.

The computer was all new in 2006, not cobbled together and the peripherals are all new as well. I am wondering what effect the phone gizmo has. Call me old-fashioned, but I have a land-line, and a mobile and know nothing about the phones in computers.

She is on Broadband.

 

[marinyork]

Sounds like virus and/or virus software. 2Gb ram on XP should run pretty zippy like.

There are things that could slow it down or make it malfunction. I doubt it has been given a lot of hammer so can't imagine it being a dying power supply or hard drive. A phone shouldn't have any big effect.

Defragging it can't do it any harm. Might waste a couple of hours of your time though...

 

[Speicher]

If she has only used 10% of its memory in three years, no it has not been heavily used. Which is why I think it would be a waste of money for her to buy a new one.

Plus if she buys a new computer now, will she need to have Vista on it?
At nearly 90, it takes time to get used to a new program. But when elderly people get an idea in their head, sometimes it can be difficult to change that idea.

Thanks for your help. Perhaps it is the slow double click that is perplexing some people, and she cannot explain/does not realise why I have slowed it down for her elderly hands. If she buys a new one, someone will put all the peripherals together, but guess who will be setting it up again for her, with large icons etc.

 

[marinyork]

I don't think there's any evidence to suggest buying a new computer would be anything but a complete and utter waste of time. I think you should have a tinker with the accessibility options and see what your mother thinks. University computers and a neighbour's one run a bit slow with them on. The university ones were hopelessly old, not well maintained and had very old accessibility software on. Perhaps you could look into that to see there's the latest version of the software on or whether there are any associated issues.

 

[Speicher]

Thank you. I was thinking perhaps the Accessibility options are part of the problem. She needs them, and I do not think it runs too slow for her.

It is very annoying, (an understatement) when she says other people say it is slow. If they are not used to the mouse etc, they should not say such critical things.

Thanks to your input, I will be more sure of my facts when I speak to her about it.

 

[gbb]

I'd start with deleting cookies..
Top of this page, open Tools, then select Internet Options, then select Delete Cookies. These tend to build up every time you open an internet page.

Then i'd do a Defrag. If the hard drive has little on it, it won't take long. Mine has perhaps 40 or 60gb on it, but a defrag only takes 1/2 hour.
The value of a defrag is it tidies everything up....so the PC's not looking here there and everywhere for information...which of course slows it down.

Shut down, then restart.

How much RAM is on the PC....thats not the hard drive size, its the memory it uses while operating.
My PC with XP was brought with 1gb RAM. With XP, its only just enough. I brought 2gb RAM off ebay, inserted it withing 10 minutes and it makes a huge difference. Cost about £30 max IIRC.

Norton ?...it does use a lot of memory, but i've been happily using it for years. It doesnt seem to slow mine down appreciably.

IMO, its not worth looking at a new PC yet, do a little housework first, see if that improves it.

None of the above will help with your connection problems (i assume), thats perhaps another issue, but tidying up will help the PC anyway.

 

[marinyork]

1Gb ram on XP is fine. It's just that both ram has stayed cheap and the total amount you can stick in a machine has carried on going up.

 

[JamesAC]

Just how slow is "slow"

Does your mum complain about the performance of the whole pc, or just aspects of it?
Does she think it's slowed down over the past few months? Do you think it has?

Do some basic things on it (start up from cold, open the email client, open the browser, close them down and shut down, for example), and tell us how long these things take. On my XP machine (3 years old) it takes about 90 seconds from a cold start to gaining control of my desktop. (in linux it takes about 30 seconds, but that's another story!)

I don't think defragging will make any difference at all, unless the hard drive is almost full.

 

[Speicher]

I will try all the above suggestions. I have not used her computer for a while. It makes sense about the cookies, because when family visit, they use the web to find details of things she would like to purchase on-line.

Not sure how long it takes from cold start to gaining control of the desktop, not long IIRC.

Thank you to everyone, especially for explaining it in a way I can understand. I will print this thread off and take it with me. I am hoping to visit next week, and will do some housekeeping on her computer, while she cooks the lunch.