Old computer

[dav4463]

I have an old computer. Sometimes it takes five minutes to load a page when I click on it. I know I don't have enough memory, but just when I am ready to chunk it into the dumpster.....it starts running fast again!

How do you explain this and what makes it so slow one time and then fast the next time or even fast a few minutes later?

I can't figure it out!

[DJofSD]

You don't say what brand or vintage or OS.

Try running a chkdsk and see what turns up: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx?mfr=true

[serp]

Unfortunately, there are many things that could be causing this...

Is this computer a laptop or connecting via wireless? It is possible that your erratic loading times are due to network issues instead of not enough power. I know some older wireless cards have issues with the latest wifi networks due to changes in the protocols. This often causes slow downs and speed ups like you are seeing.

[HUSKER55]

That computer is probably still trying to mess with you. Ya know...the last hurrah! :D

[dav4463]

It is just a regular PC. It is about six or seven years old. Funny thing is, if I turn it on leave it for about half an hour and come back to it, it usually runs fast!

[Red Knave]

Are you running any anti-virus/anti-malware software, like an older version of Norton? Some of them were really bad for causing slow downs.

[DJofSD]

Dave, at the risk of offending you, you are not giving us much information.

You say it takes a long time to load a page in your browser. What is a long time? What makes you think it is not down loading the page? Can you post a URL of a page that we can try ourselves to see if perhaps the server on the other end is slow and/or inconsistent?

Does the same page being loaded go slowly the first time but then every other time it loads quickly? If so, you could be loading it from a local cache hence it seems faster.

Just to get grounded even before trying to help diagnose where the slow down happens:

What is your operating system?

How much central memory, RAMM, does your system have?

What browser are you using?

What is your connection to the internet? Dial up? DSL? Cable MODEM?

Have you done any kind of testing of your download and upload speed?

If you don't know the answers or even what is being asked, that's OK. There's enough expertise on the board to choke a horse. We'll help you get the answers.

[Robert Goren]

It is just a regular PC. It is about six or seven years old. Funny thing is, if I turn it on leave it for about half an hour and come back to it, it usually runs fast! At the risk of stating the obvious, why do you shut it off? I only turn mine off when I am require to when updating/downloading software. Just wonder how many people turn their computers off during down time.

[Marshall Bennett]

I rarely ever shut mine off and have never had problems that I could relate to leaving it on , with any of my computers I've had .

[dav4463]

I don't know enough about my computer to give an intelligent response! I did notice if I just leave it on; it continues to work faster. I'll do that for a while. I just always got in the habit of shutting it down when I quit. I don't have antivirus on it anymore. I took it off and it did run faster. I do run a Winmemory optimizer that speeds it up when it gets slow and I use Advanced Sytem Care which I run ever once in a while to clean things up.....also a disk cleaner.

[JustRalph]

it's probably running some automated tasks on boot up........if you wait long enough, they finish and then it runs faster, because those tasks are complete.

if it is 6 yrs old..........copy the files you need from it and find the nearest body of water.........and dunk it permanently

[trying2win]

if it is 6 yrs old..........copy the files you need from it and find the nearest body of water.........and dunk it permanently

I disagree. In my opinion, a responsible person who cares about the environment, will take an old computer that is no longer functional to a recycle depot.

T2W