My Computer - A mess. - Page 2

Weemanply109 · 16-07-12, 02:32

Ok, so I followed TRfan23's post and did what he asked me to do. Should I expect my PC to run better now?

fallenangle · 16-07-12, 02:54

Obviously first establish that nothing major is wrong with the diagnostic help you're getting here. I'd check the RAM is functioning OK and also do a full malware and AV scan.

If it's not any of that then the most simple cause of these sorts of things is fragmentation. Don't know what OS you're using but there's a damned good chance if you've only 3GB of free space left that your HDD has it peppered all over the place and every time you install, update, move, add, change something the fragmentation just gets worse slowing the computer down even more.

Try using CCleaner in conjunction with Piriform's free defragmenter: Defraggler that could help. Your system files might also be defragmented but unfortunately Defraggler can't deal with those but there are others which can. I'm currently using Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro on a 6 months free trial (thanks to a well known UK PC magazine's latest cover disc) and it does almost everything you could want a defragmenter to do.

I have low remaining space on my laptop's HDD too and that has definitely been affecting the general speed. Using this defragmenter's option to consolidate free space into one block once a week and its 'simple' defrag more frequently I've noticed a consistent and longer lasting speed up since I started using it.

A good way I've found for freeing up some space is to look at your Restore Points using CCleaner (Tools > System Restore ). If you have more than a dozen I'd delete some and then go to the Control Panel and adjust the percentage of space allocated to restore points to under 10%. Doing that gives me roughly a dozen restore points to choose from on my laptop but you should adjust it for your own machine. When I originally did that myself I found it had been set to the max % and after I adjusted it freed up 1.5GB of space. A significant % for a 40GB HDD.

Edit: Just read Sgt.Bombulous's post below and that reminded me I was going to mention the dangerously low free space issue myself but particularly in relation to defragmentation.

It is important you free up as much space as possible before defragmentation or it won't be effective. The 'pro' defragmenter I mentioned itself warns you of this if the free space on the HDD drops below 10%. For a 500GB HDD that means removing 45+GB of stuff.

I think the solution is obvious: more storage space is required.

Sgt BOMBULOUS · 16-07-12, 03:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weemanply109

Ok, so I followed TRfan23's post and did what he asked me to do. Should I expect my PC to run better now?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sgt BOMBULOUS

Please run diagnose.exe and post the report.

^Might want to listen to him. Seriously though, I can't tell you to add more RAM if I have no idea how much you already have. Also, when you said:

Quote:

I only have like, 3GB left on my HDD, but I've had like 100mb left on my PC before and never had sluggish performance this bad.

This sends up warning signs... Your Hard drive should NEVER exceed 90% full. Ever. Doing so is jut asking for trouble. As such, running an OS (Operating System) drive with only 100MB free is ludicrous, I'm surprised it even started. So anyway, if it's a 500 (which is really only 459GB) MG drive, clear out 46GB etc... The exception to this is when you're using an HDD for data storage only and not running the OS off of it. In that case you can fill it to about 98% without issue, but I doubt you're set up like that.

Weemanply109 · 17-07-12, 20:36

Ok, so forget the performance problems atm, as more issues have arisen since I acted upon TRfan23's advice, I might have made a mistake whilst doing the process but I know for definite that the fact that I was told to delete the comodo stuff is the reason that my anti-virus now fails to work because apparently the "helper agent" wasn't opening.

Anyway, now my internet refuses to connect to any networks nor does it actually detect any. I've reinstalled drivers to ensure that they weren't the problem and it still persists.

This is what appears on my taskbar:

When I click it:

When I click troubleshoot:

"Problem with wireless network adapter, blah blah".

This is my internet adapter model incase that helps:

fallenangle · 17-07-12, 22:07

The thing that bothers me about giving advice to delete programs or specific files that may or not be the cause of a problem is that it often comes without the reminder to create a restore point (and whilst you're at it a registry backup) before proceeding.

If I had a purpose designed backup or cloning program and the external storage space required I'd use that too. Put those safety nets in place and you can fiddle around without unrecoverable consequences.

Problem in this case is that creating a restore point could have added even more to the low space/fragmentation that may be the cause or part of the cause of your original problem. Therefore the absolute priority should have been to free up that 10+% of space Sgt.Bombulous recommended by transferring whatever you can to alternative storage.

If it were me in the situation you're in now after doing that I'd use a restore point before the current one and hope it put the AV and network connections back into working order.

Is it likely to be coincidence that you have these new troubles after deleting stuff? In any case it makes little difference whether you made a mistake or not. I'd say get the machine back to square one and start again rather than try to deal with these new problems.

If the restore point doesn't fix things you've lost nothing. Just undo the restore and hope that somebody else here can help you sort the additional problems you have.

Weemanply109 · 18-07-12, 03:54

Thanks for the reply. I did have a system restore point that I intended to use after the problems were noticed but as I uninstalled my anti virus, it deleted my desired restore point in place for a new one created as I uninstalled the program to save space on my pc as I only allocated 7gb for system restore. So I can't fix my new problems right now. I have no restore points to refer back to now. I'm using ny mobile right now to type this. :/

I think I might have to resort to a full windows reinstall, but I have no copies of windows 7 nor do I have any backups. This is totally unexpected.

fallenangle · 18-07-12, 09:49

I feel your pain but wait for the real experts here to reply before doing anything drastic. There could still be other options without resorting to a full reinstall.

Weemanply109 · 18-07-12, 15:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallenangle

I feel your pain but wait for the real experts here to reply before doing anything drastic. There could still be other options without resorting to a full reinstall.

Yea, I'm awaintg Esconder's arrival.

dox online · 18-07-12, 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weemanply109

Ok, so forget the performance problems atm, as more issues have arisen since I acted upon TRfan23's advice, I might have made a mistake whilst doing the process but I know for definite that the fact that I was told to delete the comodo stuff is the reason that my anti-virus now fails to work because apparently the "helper agent" wasn't opening.

That's just the front end to CIS. It'll automatically deny anything if the helper service is closed. This'll have caused quite a few issues.
I'd recommend booting up a Linux live CD so that you can clean things up from there. I'd recommend using DSL for this, since it's small enough to fit into pretty much anything and doesn't take too long to download.
You need to free up around 46 GB, as Sgt BOMBULOUS said.
This is going to take a while.
You should backup any personal data you have, by the way.

fallenangle · 18-07-12, 21:24

I suspect there could be a bit of a problem with that solution. If I've understood Weemanply109 correctly he can't connect to the internet except by his mobile (cell). Maybe he has access to another computer, hope so because it seems to be an almost essential requirement to have a backup PC to be able to fix many of these more serious problems.

16-07-12, 02:54	#12
fallenangle Archaeologist Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NW London Posts: 1,180	Obviously first establish that nothing major is wrong with the diagnostic help you're getting here. I'd check the RAM is functioning OK and also do a full malware and AV scan. If it's not any of that then the most simple cause of these sorts of things is fragmentation. Don't know what OS you're using but there's a damned good chance if you've only 3GB of free space left that your HDD has it peppered all over the place and every time you install, update, move, add, change something the fragmentation just gets worse slowing the computer down even more. Try using CCleaner in conjunction with Piriform's free defragmenter: Defraggler that could help. Your system files might also be defragmented but unfortunately Defraggler can't deal with those but there are others which can. I'm currently using Auslogics Disk Defrag Pro on a 6 months free trial (thanks to a well known UK PC magazine's latest cover disc) and it does almost everything you could want a defragmenter to do. I have low remaining space on my laptop's HDD too and that has definitely been affecting the general speed. Using this defragmenter's option to consolidate free space into one block once a week and its 'simple' defrag more frequently I've noticed a consistent and longer lasting speed up since I started using it. A good way I've found for freeing up some space is to look at your Restore Points using CCleaner (Tools > System Restore ). If you have more than a dozen I'd delete some and then go to the Control Panel and adjust the percentage of space allocated to restore points to under 10%. Doing that gives me roughly a dozen restore points to choose from on my laptop but you should adjust it for your own machine. When I originally did that myself I found it had been set to the max % and after I adjusted it freed up 1.5GB of space. A significant % for a 40GB HDD. Edit: Just read Sgt.Bombulous's post below and that reminded me I was going to mention the dangerously low free space issue myself but particularly in relation to defragmentation. It is important you free up as much space as possible before defragmentation or it won't be effective. The 'pro' defragmenter I mentioned itself warns you of this if the free space on the HDD drops below 10%. For a 500GB HDD that means removing 45+GB of stuff. I think the solution is obvious: more storage space is required. Last edited by fallenangle; 16-07-12 at 10:48.

17-07-12, 20:36	#14
Weemanply109 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scotland TBH! Gender: Male Posts: 15,452	Ok, so forget the performance problems atm, as more issues have arisen since I acted upon TRfan23's advice, I might have made a mistake whilst doing the process but I know for definite that the fact that I was told to delete the comodo stuff is the reason that my anti-virus now fails to work because apparently the "helper agent" wasn't opening. Anyway, now my internet refuses to connect to any networks nor does it actually detect any. I've reinstalled drivers to ensure that they weren't the problem and it still persists. This is what appears on my taskbar: When I click it: When I click troubleshoot: "Problem with wireless network adapter, blah blah". This is my internet adapter model incase that helps: Last edited by Weemanply109; 17-07-12 at 20:39.

17-07-12, 22:07	#15
fallenangle Archaeologist Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NW London Posts: 1,180	The thing that bothers me about giving advice to delete programs or specific files that may or not be the cause of a problem is that it often comes without the reminder to create a restore point (and whilst you're at it a registry backup) before proceeding. If I had a purpose designed backup or cloning program and the external storage space required I'd use that too. Put those safety nets in place and you can fiddle around without unrecoverable consequences. Problem in this case is that creating a restore point could have added even more to the low space/fragmentation that may be the cause or part of the cause of your original problem. Therefore the absolute priority should have been to free up that 10+% of space Sgt.Bombulous recommended by transferring whatever you can to alternative storage. If it were me in the situation you're in now after doing that I'd use a restore point before the current one and hope it put the AV and network connections back into working order. Is it likely to be coincidence that you have these new troubles after deleting stuff? In any case it makes little difference whether you made a mistake or not. I'd say get the machine back to square one and start again rather than try to deal with these new problems. If the restore point doesn't fix things you've lost nothing. Just undo the restore and hope that somebody else here can help you sort the additional problems you have. Last edited by fallenangle; 17-07-12 at 22:15.

18-07-12, 03:54	#16
Weemanply109 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scotland TBH! Gender: Male Posts: 15,452	Thanks for the reply. I did have a system restore point that I intended to use after the problems were noticed but as I uninstalled my anti virus, it deleted my desired restore point in place for a new one created as I uninstalled the program to save space on my pc as I only allocated 7gb for system restore. So I can't fix my new problems right now. I have no restore points to refer back to now. I'm using ny mobile right now to type this. :/ I think I might have to resort to a full windows reinstall, but I have no copies of windows 7 nor do I have any backups. This is totally unexpected. Last edited by Weemanply109; 18-07-12 at 03:55.

16-07-12, 02:32	#11
Weemanply109 Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scotland TBH! Gender: Male Posts: 15,452	Ok, so I followed TRfan23's post and did what he asked me to do. Should I expect my PC to run better now?

18-07-12, 09:49	#17
fallenangle Archaeologist Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NW London Posts: 1,180	I feel your pain but wait for the real experts here to reply before doing anything drastic. There could still be other options without resorting to a full reinstall.

18-07-12, 21:24	#20
fallenangle Archaeologist Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NW London Posts: 1,180	I suspect there could be a bit of a problem with that solution. If I've understood Weemanply109 correctly he can't connect to the internet except by his mobile (cell). Maybe he has access to another computer, hope so because it seems to be an almost essential requirement to have a backup PC to be able to fix many of these more serious problems.