Computer S L O W - Help Please

Ainsley1

Assuming you do not wish at this stage to change to Linux -it does not suite everyone however good it may be.
Macrium Reflect (free) is also very good for backups and can generate recovery disk for the system as well as data backups so that will be especially useful once you are happy with your speed fixes.
FIRST priority is backup (note macman's comment too!! nEdit and those of Geep who beat me to it!!!) so that if anything else goes wrong you have not lost all. Best backup to external disk or DVDs.
Ensure you have a good virus checker/firewall running and system checked (done you say).

Check memory (size and boot test, look at perfomance with ctl+alt+delete) and disk (checkdisk) in case they have faults or have no disk space left and also a defrag check of disk and then check from 'My computer' hardware to ensure there are no faults with drivers/conflicts etc.

I have an old PC still running XP and it now takes about 1 min to boot. and another to open windows/run checks etc but is not fully up to speed till about 10 minutes in! Firefox (and all the add-ins I have) is also slow to load now (a couple of mins) but once up and running is still reasonably quick.

So older machines might not be lightening quick but still OK for any needs.

Take it from there...........

mercman1969

Is there a simple way of backing up

I have an external drive....
Is it a case of having to run through all my folders and back them up or is there a way of a one button press option to back up all the data to the external drive?

Geep

Where are the data files? If spread throughout your operating system, then I'm not aware of anything that will easily distinguish data from OS - there might be, so anyone else can chip in here.

If not separate, then yes it's a case of going through. Also, some OS programs tend to want to store your data in their program, so if that has been going on for years it will be quite a problem to find all the files IMV.

In those circumstances, it may well be important for you that any backup you do is in such a format that after restoring your system you can easily look at the contents of all files previously backed up, and not all backup systems do that in my experience. That's what I like about Cobian. If you tell it back up everything, it will, just mirroring your existing setup. It may not be easy to find afterwards but at least you won't have lost the data completely.

NiftyDigits

Post #6...?

bsms1147

Install Soluto.

It'll show you - graphically - where all that boot time is going.

mercman1969

Here are the results from the HD scan thing.....Didnt realise it would take nearly 24 hours to complete

[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/<a href=http://s253.photobucket.com/user/mercman1969/media/1_zps4b72ce32.jpg.html target=_blank rel=nofollow>[/img]

Ainsley1

However an answer to Nifty's question really #6 really would be useful and include memory size and and test results from Windows Task Manager Performance tab such as when opening your browser, how much disk space you have left etc. and any device conflicts found when looking at My Computer/Properties/Hardware/Device Manager!

As said before I also like to use Seagate's disk testing software which gives you a good quick overview of function/reliability

You have well over 70GB in Docs and Settings so back those up at the very least.
Regarding backup of data files and subsequent restore;
Macrium reflect (I'm a recent convert after a recommendation on MSE!) can select various types but there is still then the chance that you miss something. Far better to back up entirely and then just restore what you need. From their help files
"
Using Macrium Reflect™ you can backup whole partitions or individual files and folders into a single compressed mountable archive file. This can then be used to create an exact image of partitions on a hard disk for easy hard disk upgrade or system recovery.
Disk Imaging

You can create an accurate and reliable Image of a hard disk or partitions on a disk. Using this image you can restore the entire disk, partition or individual files and folders in the event of a partial or complete system loss."

mercman1969

System Info......

I'm not certain but i thought i had 2GB of RAM
I'm sure there are 2 modules in there....is there a way of checking without physically taking the machine apart

Geep

Use Belarc Advisor, it's an excellent free program, very comprehensive for both hardware and software on your system.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Should be a permanent addition to your programs if you do much in the way of alterations.

macman

I suggest you do the backup before you do anything else to the machine. You never know how long before drive failure occurs.
The method you use is immaterial, the point is to create a backup now.
Start by backing up your Documents folder.