Windows Sp3 | Technical Tidbits™

Why is My PC So Slow Part 3

October 21st, 2008 | Author: Debbie Mahler

If you missed part 1 or part 2, click the links to view those.

Well, here is the long awaited final of my series for Why is my PC so slow!

No video this time. Just plain talk – or should I say read – and an outstanding give-away! Just read on.

Thus far I’ve shown you how to tweak your start-up menu so that you don’t have a ton of junk loading when you boot, and I’ve shown you a nifty way of keeping crap off your desktop, yet keeping it within a mouse click away.

So, let’s say you did all that and you still are running slower than molasses? What then?

Well, we need to drill down into some of the basic, first glance reasons this could happen.

Are you running Windows XP with Service Pack 3? If so, that could be the culprit. I had to uninstall it because it was dragging my dual core into the mach speed of a 486! Consider uninstalling SP 3 and sticking with SP2 for several more months at least.

Are you running Spybot S&D and using the immunize feature while also running a major software providers Internet Security suite? By that I mean, McAfee, Symantec, Norton, TrendMicro, Webroot, Comodo, ZoneAlarm, and so forth. I’m speaking about the “pay for” type of Internet suites that include Antivirus software and a firewall.

If so, UNDO your immunization in Spybot. When Spybot immunizes, it takes control of the files that could become corrupt in the event of a spyware infection. Unfortunately, so does the Internet security suites! So what you in essence have happening, is two programs fighting over control over who’s going to protect your system files and the loser is you and your computer speed and performance!

What if you’re on Vista? Well, make sure that what you have running as far as software is compatible with Vista. Also, you may need to tweak some additional settings that I’ll cover in an up-coming post but for now, you may want to see if there’s some services you can shut down or off.

And this is true for XP also!

If you downloaded iTunes recently – like within the last year – you will have something called the Mobile Device Manager running in the background. Unfortunately, this wasn’t stated as an included part of your installation but is an additional component inside iTunes to help you synch your iPod. But if you don’t have an iPod, then it’s rather a moot point.

To shut off the Mobile Device Manager, right click over your MY COMPUTER icon either from your desktop or your Start button.

Choose Manage.

You will receive a pop-up window called Computer Management Console or plainly Computer Management in the title bar.

Click the plus [ + ] sign next to Services and Applications to expand the list.

Select Services.

On the right side of the window, change the tab from Extended to Standard - it makes it easier to read.

All services are located in here – whether running or not – and they are in alphabetical order. Find the Apple Mobile Device listing and click on it to select it.

Then, right click and choose Properties or double click to open the properties. Either one will work.

If the service status in the lower section says that it’s running or started, click the stop button.

Then in the drop down box above that, labeled: Startup Type, change that to Manual.

Click Apply to accept the settings and close the window.

Without you realizing it, the Apple Mobile Device manager will go out searching your network for an attached mobile phone or iPod every so many minutes. Changing this to Manual, will not disable your ability to use your iPod or iPhone if you have one. It just requires it to start when you want it to start!

If you are really hard pressed for resources, go through all your software and disable the automatic update features in each one. Most of them can be found in the Tools or Options section of the software. You will be amazed at how many software installations you have running that will just randomly go out to the web and look for updates!

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT disable your Internet Security or Antivirus software from auto-updating!

Now, what happens when you’ve done everything I’ve taught you to do and you still are running slow? Tune in tomorrow! JUST JOKING! I wouldn’t do that to you! (Well, maybe I would but not today!)

Well, if you’ve stopped all the junk and you’re still slow, it’s time to do some maintenance! Don’t groan! Oh, that wasn’t a groan? What’s that you say? You don’t know how to do maintenance? You keep hearing about it but you don’t know how? Really?

Well, have I got a treat for you!

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Tell a friend to come here and sign up to get their free eBook to this specific blog; or,
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