need help, pc running slow

MY home pc is giving me problems, its about 5 years old 40 gig hard drive, 256mb of ram, can't remember the processor speed of the top of my head as im at college at the moment.

the problem is that my pc is running terribly slow, some programs won't even uninstall and when i try and reformat it with the boot disk it doesn't detect it anymore when i reboot, anyone have any idea of how i can sort this out, i've tried CCleaner, rambooster, spybot search and destroy and adaware all in an attempt to make my pc run like it used to but to no avail

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Have you tried running a virus scanner on it? That may help a little, and there is a good free one you can get at grisoft.com.

I have mcafe which, in my opinion is pretty useless and i can't update the definitions unless i buy it again, i'll take a look at the one you suggested once i get home. thanks

Also, you may want to look into spyware and adware removal programs. Check out Spybot Search & Destroy and Ad-Aware. They're both free (look for "personal" editions) and spy/adware can really slow things down.

Also, try running a disk scan and disk defragmenter (both found in Programs->Accessories->System Tools). Might help out too.

Also try running a scan with EWIDO

I was having the same problems... scanned with every virus/spyware program out there. This picked up a few things the others couldn't

Also a GREAT program is HijackThis

A lot of people don't know about it but it has saved me a few times. Just click on the EXE file, do system scan and produce log file. You will see a txt file pop up. Copy and paste everything in it. Then go to www.hijackthis.de and paste everything into the box. Then select analyze. ONLY REMOVE THE ITEMS WITH THE RED ! NEXT TO THEM. You could severly mess up your PC if you remove anything else.

the option to defrag my computer is gone, the file is missing like its been deleted or corupted

Originally posted by Aziel
the option to defrag my computer is gone, the file is missing like its been deleted or corupted

Did you try the two programs i linked? The hijackthis one will identify the problem

As many problems as you have, you would consume/waste far more time trying to fix everything and adding more repair programs than it would take the time to reformat and re-install the operating system.

Hey regenmacher I think Aziel said in his first post that he could not format his drive because when he reboots, it does not see the boot disk.

Aziel as far as the boot disk have you changed the setting in the BIOS to look for the Floppy drive first?

To do this after reboot the comp will usually ask you to hit the "del" key or F2 key to get into the BIOS, but if not then just keep hitting one of those key's until it lets you in.

Originally posted by noslenwerd

Also a GREAT program is HijackThis

Hijack This is deffinately a great program and very efficient. However very powerful and can be dangerous in the wrong hands. I would not recommend that to just anybody.

Programs like Spybot and Adaware will scan and are not going to do any damage. They almost have safety nets inside them to keep you from doing any damage.

Good luck in fixing your problem!

Originally posted by DustintheWind
Hey regenmacher I think Aziel said in his first post that he could not format his drive because when he reboots, it does not see the boot disk.

I was assuming he didn't need a boot disk and was using 2000 or XP, since you can boot from CD....my bad.

I would check the bios setup and see what the order of the drives are though, so thanks DustintheWind for bringing it up.

As for reformating without a bootdisk you can restart in MS-DOS mode from the shutdown screen, then type in format c:

Here's some info in these regards:
www.helpdesk.umd.edu...

If you want more specific how to's: list your OS, brand, model, bios, HD make, etc.
(ie. Windows XP, Dell Dimension 3000, Phoenix bios, Seagate Barracuda 300 HD)

thanks for all the suggestions guys, i'll ty them when i get home tommorow.
my os is windows XP, the make is Time computers i'll check the rest of the specs once I get home tommorow, and thanks again

Look online for bart p.e. It allows you to make a bootable cd rom and comes full of tools to help get you back on your feet. It's easy to make ( I made one on the first try. I can/have built all my comps untill now, but I know nothing of programming so it must be easy). And as stated above, ad-aware, spybot and hijack this are great

BTW...all Macafee ever did was crash my comps, I personally won't use them or Symantec again!

Looks like if your using the Time reload CD you may run into problems due to copy protection issues.

More info here:

Time Computers Reload CD (A word of warning)
www.itreviews.co.uk...

How do I run a re-load disc?
www.totalcaresupport.com...

Download Time Users Guides
www.totalcaresupport.com...

[edit on 2-2-2006 by Regenmacher]

ok, i think my pc is now pretty much dead, it worked last night, went to turn it on today and now it comes up with the screen saying it may have rebooted during startup, and would you like to use safemode, last known good configuration settings our normal, if i chose anything other then safe mode the computer just reboots and continues the cycle.
on safe mode i can't do alot and im not sure what the problem was, managed to run defrag under computer management but that didn't help.
so i think my pc is done for

Just out of curiosity, what operating system are you using? knnowing that might make this a little easier.

I am currently using windows xp.

I'll take a shot and post the same reply as in another thread. Open the case and make sure everything isn't packed with dust, i.e. cpu fan/heat sink, case fan and power supply. Lack of cooling can mess it up. After that, I guess I might suspect the power supply is trying to go.

ok i'll open it up take a look inside and clean it out, make sure the hard drive etc is all connected correctly to the motherboard.

You could try putting more RAM in as you only have 256MB. I'd recommend at least double that if you're running windows.

But if you've had the PC for 5 years or so why not just buy a new one? It's served well. The amount of useless data that is on your hard-drive is probably what is slowing up your machine. It acumilates over time thus making it harder for the PC to find the relavant files it needs.

Other than that format your hard-drive and reinstall the OS.