Computer Running Slow?

[ChrisPointon 0]

I think those distributors who sell PC's are perhaps more likely to install the OEM version.

 

Not sure how software copyright works, but I guess the OEM version comes without the bells and whistles packaging and can be sold with the PC. Where-as the retail version comes boxed and has the manuals and colourful POS Packaging?.

[Millennium Sounds 0]

True, but you could still install retail on a normal machine - I do it all the time as OEM may only be installed as part of a New system build, or as an upgrade (but only if the hardware is upgraded at the same time).

 

If a consumer wishes to upgrade their OS, but does not upgrade their system hardware at the same time, then a Retail version must be used.

 

The licence agreement is much more detailed than this, obviously, but this is basically it in a nutshell.

[speedy 0]

Pc came with xp home ed pre installed. When new i had to type in the licence key that's on the sticker on the back of the pc.

 

 

I'll tell you what happened to my pc to give a clearer picture.....

 

All my troubles started in december when my HD started making noises and finally decided not to boot up. So i had a brand new HD fitted and used ghost to transfer all the settings over.

 

All went well for 2 weeks then it started to freeze up when it was left on for more than 4 hours. It got to a point where it would only stay working for about an hour so i stuck the recovery disc in to re-format. After that, i kept getting the 'lsa shell encountered...' & lsass.exe crashes. After running every known virus removal tool in the book & not getting anywhere i decided to wipe the os off the planet and here i am using windows 98 on a pc older than my youngest son (whos nearly 6!) with a 7gb HD http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/fear.gif I want my 80gigs back http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/014.gif

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

micro$oft windows XP Retail boxes dont have a sticker....... its a yellow label on the cd foldout.

 

 

 

[speedy 0]

Cd has just arrived through my mailbox. I'll be back in 5 minutes, i'll plug in the tower and let it rip!

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

speedy pm me if you need help and ill let you have my contact details

[speedy 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html/emoticons/cool.gif

 

Err....it's spotted 500mb of a fat32 file system???? It's currently formatting back to ntfs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

i hope you removed that fat 32 partion not just reformated

[Mad_Lensman 0]

Hey guys,

 

Just a note that may help remove the XP doo-hickey..... try the following commands AFTER doing the fdisk job:

 

at the A\: prompt type:

 

Fdisk /mbr

 

This REMOVES the master boot record and also clears the last vestiges of XP off of the drive allowing full 98 installation - Works EVERYTIME!

 

Hope this helps!

[MadGutts 0]

QUOTE

but I guess the OEM version comes without the bells and whistles packaging and can be sold with the PC. Where-as the retail version comes boxed and has the manuals and colourful POS Packaging

Chris, Got it in one !!! Retail is exactly that. A reseller like PCWorld will buy in a pretty box with manuals, cd, code, registration card etc...

where as a company like mine, we buy an OEM version of the software - just a CD and a sheet of licence stickers then we can load the same CD onto all the pc's we build, we then stick on a sticker, create a restore CD and sell the pc AS-IS...

 

OEM just doesn't look as pretty as you only get what you need.

 

That is the difference. I don't know why an OEM cd and Retail CD cant use the same code though... thats just silly ! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/stupid.gif

[DjDennis 0]

Chris - read more info on spyware etc here

 

 

www.spywarewarrior.com

 

I search there when I need to remove something and it finds what I am looking for to remove

 

anyway have a nice day

[Andy Westcott 0]

Quite a few posts back, DJ Marky Marc asked "why go back to Windows 98?" or something like that...

 

The way I see it, why 'upgrade' just because the people at Redmond say you should? They have an alterior motive for saying that!

 

XP is wide open to viruses and intrusions unless steps have been taken to disable Universal Plug & Play along with a few other so-called features the average user will never use. XP is also the fattest, most bloated offering ever devised by Microsoft. USB devices work fine on '98, you simply have to load the drivers as they often weren't available on the install disk back then.

 

What else?

 

Oh yes; Put '98 on modern hardware and ensure you have updated to the latest drivers for MB and so-on, and the computer will be (should be....) stable and simply fly.

 

For low-bloat systems such as a DJ might want, I would recommend '98 any day.

 

OK, I'm now prepared for the inevitable barrage of abuse! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/tongue.gif

 

[dj007 0]

QUOTE (Chris_Pointon @ Jan 7 2005, 03:21 PM)

For all of you who are having trouble with the speed of your PC may find that it is due to the amount of crap which is cluttering up your browser cache or temporay files. CC Cleaner (Crap Cleaner :) ) is a handy little freeware program which frees up all of this free space and can restore browsing speed. Download Crap Cleaner Here If you have problems with spyware hijacking your internet browser and changing your favourite home page, then you have probably got spyware infecting your system. First Download and scan your system with Adaware Next, download and install hijack This to view / edit / remove the programs which load when Windows Boots, and prevent any future spyware hijacks. Running these three programs, along with Zonealarm and your favourite Virus Scanner should make your Browsing experience a little safer and faster. Paranoid Xp users can also download XP Anti-Spy which allows any XP user concerned about his / her privacy to gain complete control over which areas and how much personal information XP divulges to Microsoft when it calls home to 'Update'. *All of the Software linked to from this post can be downloaded legally and used for FREE.

thanks andy for bringing this topic back to life.

 

ive just got a quick question about the cc crap cleaner our masterfull leader chris p. posted back in january.

 

ive just downloaded it and done a scan. in the to get rid of box it has got lots of crap but i also notice every single song,music clip and video clip i have got on my hard drive is there waiting to be deleted.

now if i press proceed will this delete all the songs or just a registry or something like that. also if it does and i set xp to a earlier date will it re install them.

 

im not very good with computers but a couple of years ago i installed ad aware and after the clean up my computer didnt do much at all. i found out ad aware had deleted all my dll drivers and /32 files and nearly everything you really needed for a computer to work so im a bit aprehensive this time.

cheers

jim

[otronics 0]

For me, this is what I do (from a personal document I have recently created):

 

ESSENTIAL SOFTWARE:

 

Microsoft Office

MSN Messenger

Google Talk

ICQ

Skype

Adobe Acrobat Reader

JAVA

Windows Media Player (New + 6)

Quicktime + iTunes

RealPlayer

Winamp

Google Earth

Lavasoft Adaware SE Personal

Spybot - Search & Destroy

Microsoft AntiSpyware

xp-AntiSpy

Windows ? Powertoys

AVG Free

CCleaner

HijackThis

LSPFix

 

FROM www.grc.com:

 

Mousetrap

Shootthemessenger

Socketlock

Unpnp

Xpdite

 

OTHER NON-ESSENTIAL BUT USEFUL SOFTWARE:

 

TightVNC

No-IP DUC

NetTime

Buzzsaw CD Ripper

RegCleaner

SSC Service Utility

Gens

ENCO DADpro32 Demo

All Recorder

CCTools

Chips Challenge + LP2

FILconvert

REL Link Checker Lite

NEC Handset Manager

K-Lite Codec Pack

Flash Renamer

exPressIT

Loop Recorder

Lavalys EVEREST

REL Link Checker Lite

NCH Tone Generator

SyncBack

Wg backup

WebJockey

Power Tab Software

TPlayer

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UPDATING/MAINTENANCE (IN ORDER):

 

Check Windows Firewall + Remove Unwanted Entries

Run Windows Update (Custom option)

Update Google Earth

Update Microsoft Office

Update + Run AVG Free

Update Adobe Acrobat Reader

Update JAVA

Update Quicktime + iTunes

Update RealPlayer

Update Winamp

Update Windows Media Player

Update Skype

Update ICQ

Update + Run Full System Scan Lavasoft Adaware SE Personal

Update + Run Spybot - Search & Destroy

Update + Run Microsoft AntiSpyware

Update + Run xp-AntiSpy

Check HijackThis

Check LSPFix

Check Mousetrap

Check Shootthemessenger

Check Socketlock

Check Unpnp

Check Xpdite

Manual Cleanup

Update + Run CCleaner

Run Disk Cleanup

Run RegCleaner

Check Disk For Errors

Run SyncBack or Wg backup

Defragment Disk

Set a System Restore Point

Run pcpitstop.com

Run A Bandwidth Tester (ie/ www.internetfrog.com)

Run http://housecall.trendmicro.com

 

An extensive list for you - don't always do it all http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/tongue.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

"why go back to Windows 98?" or something like that

 

Why not go back to Win98?.......here's the reasons for sticking with old faithfull

 

It's old, most of the known exploits have been patched and its so outdated that nobody bothers to try and find new ones!. Most 14 year old hackers probably don't even remember it http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

Legal downloads play without any problems and media player 6.4 doesn't suffer from false triggering of DRM restrictions. I found that some Tracks downloaded from a certain supermarket download site refused to play / convert on a pc running Xp, yet they were fine on one running 98SE installed with the same converting software - go figure!.

 

It's more user friendly than XP, and doesn't come bloated with lots of useless crap. I have a DVD for playing DVD's and Sky+ negates the need for a media center- thanks Mr Gates, I don't need my pc and its hard drive to time shift tv programs!.

 

Win98 doesn't need gigabytes of memory and hard drive space, and runs happily on any pc, whether its 133mhz P1 or a 3.2ghz P4

 

Win98 doesn't constantly phone home looking for upgrades and new SP packs, then tie up your internet connection downloading and installing 150mb of service pack

 

Win98 has an easier layout, and IMO is more user friendly navigating around folders and areas such as "My Computer", even though Xp has the classic facility.

 

XP seems to cheerfully make a habit of finding conflictions between every PCI card you have installed, yet the same cards install perfectly fine on Win98 platforms, albeit needing the driver cd's, it's still quicker in the long run!.

 

Provided you have a fully updated firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus software and many useful free programs like CC Cleaner and registry cleaner, installed (common sense for any regular pc user which also applies to Win XP) then Win 98 should run fine and give you many years of reatively trouble free surfing. Of course, like any software, you'll need to ensure that all the patches and updates released through the years, are installed and also install IE6 and its patches (especially when installing Win98 from scratch). But once its done - its done for keeps, non of this constant updating which Xp seems to thrive on.

[RichardP 0]

Generally I agree, like with most things, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it (don't get me started about the analogue TV switch-off !!) Though having said that, for PC users wanting power use, I'd advocate Win2000 or XP for overall system stability.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that Micro$oft will discontinue support for Windows 98 & Windows ME as of 11 July 2006. Mind you, it's doubtful that becomes an issue for 98 users.

[vibemobilediscos 0]

i used to use xp but just got annoyed with virus's. i run mac osx now and it is so much easyer and user friendly to use, also it has never crashed or any sign of a virus in my life!!!! i think Mac all the way... its going to be the future of computers..!!!

Edited May 12, 2006 by Gary

[brianmole 0]

QUOTE (vibemobilediscos @ May 12 2006, 04:37 PM)

i used to use xp but just got annoyed with virus's. i run mac osx now and it is so much easyer and user friendly to use, also it has never crashed or any sign of a virus in my life!!!! i think Mac all the way... its going to be the future of computers..!!!

here here, what extra you pay in hardware/software is rewarded in the lack of hassle and admin tasks.

 

It's quiet, and pretty too http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/laugh.gif

[D.X 0]

QUOTE (vibemobilediscos @ May 12 2006, 03:37 PM)

i think Mac all the way... its going to be the future of computers..!!!

You'd better hope it isnt the future of computers. Macs are only spyware and virus free because well over 90% of computers run windows so virus writers can target more people with their virus if they write a windows virus. Mac virii are almost unheard of. If everyone switches to Mac that will change very quickly and you'll be back to square one.

 

Spyware and virii aside, you're right in saying Macs are better. Mac OSX walks all over windows http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

[pdentertainment 0]

well i just downloaded it and its worked for me , nice one !

[nigelwright7557 0]

For all of you who are having trouble with the speed of your PC may find that it is due to the amount of crap which is cluttering up your browser cache or temporay files.

 

CC Cleaner (Crap Cleaner :) ) is a handy little freeware program which frees up all of this free space and can restore browsing speed.

 

Download Crap Cleaner Here

 

 

Its worthwhile reinstalling XP every few months just to get rid of rubbish according to many computer mags.

I have done this a couple of times and it made a big difference.

 

I just reinstalled Vista after 6 months and that was a nightmare.

Blue screens of death and a "operating system missing" message half way through !

 

Having a hard disc that is working well within its capacity is advised.

Having plenty of memory too. I use 2GB with Vista and it is much faster than 1GB

 

 

 

 

[vokf 0]

I can also recommend CC Cleaner.

I can't see the OP, (bad me!), so not sure what else is running. However, my general tips would be:

 

Very ideally, it should be a separate PC. Its much easier to control whats installed (in an ideal world, the DJ software and Windows.)

However, create a different log-in for the "DJ" user. 512MB should be ok for XP, but more is preferred. As previously mentioned 2GB+ is recommended for Vista.

 

Most slow PC's are only slow on boot-up.. Lots of drivers/icons/widgets to load. If you can't take them out, at least give it a few min to completely settle down before launching your DJ software. The HDD can only read one thing at a time, and seek times (ie Track-to-track) are fairly slow.

If boot-up is asking for one thing, and you're asking for another, it will take much longer.

 

To increase boot-up time, take all the :cense: OFF the desktop (ie just the icons you actually need!), and you should see a marked increase. A defrag may help, but only if you've been running out of space...

Fix the size of the pagefile to about 2.5 x your Ram (min and max), it will stop it resizing.

 

If you can also take off any stuff you don't use, or at least stop it from starting up. I'm thinking;

-MSN

-Yahoo

-Google Desktop

-Any other chat/tools that are not 100% required

-etc

 

This will also help a great deal, as I say -the HDD can only read one thing at a time, and these things take ram and some processing time (normally not much though)

 

Jason

 

 

 

[fester 0]

One thing I think a lot of people neglect when cleaning their pc is the registry. On a windows pc the registry is sort of like an index page in a book. Every time you download/copy/rip a new track, install a new program, create a new document, in short anything that changes the contents of your hard drive then a new registry value is written. Unfortunately these values are not deleted when you delete/rename a track etc. Over time this leads to a massive registry that will slow your pc no end, especially when booting up as the full registry is read by windows on start-up.

I've seen CCleaner mentioned, it's good but not great at cleaning your registry. Personally I would recommend Tune Up Utilities 2009 which contains many different utilities for cleaning, maintaining and speeding up your system. Some of the utilities included that I use often -

 

Defragger - many people neglect to defrag their hard drives. Files get split into pieces and stored and scattered all over your drive. Over time this slows the responsiveness of your drive as it has to look at different platters and sectors of your drive to find the bits it needs to play the mp3 you're after. A good defrag will put all the pieces back together and condense your drive so it has blocks of data rather than a shower of data splattered everywhere.

 

Free up disk space - windows continuously makes backups, logs and unnecessary files that can be safely deleted. It will also check for unused windows applications that are taking up space you could be using such as MSN messenger etc and give you the choice of removing them.

 

Startup Manager - gives you full control of things that start when you boot up your pc that can really slow down startup. Things like Adobe updater, java scheduler etc. All stuff that slows your system that you can start yourself if you need to and don't need to run automatically and also probably didn't know was being run at all.

 

Speed Optimizer - will take a look and ask a few questions about how you use your pc. Gives you options such as turning off some visual effects (eg aero interface in vista) and free up memory and cpu speed. Especially useful if you are running an older machine that you needs a bit of a boost.

 

Registry Cleaner - especially thorough. I use my main desktop pc for all my downloading and copy stuff across to my laptop which I keep totally clean except for dj software and tracks. After a few months of downloading, renaming and deleting tracks you'd be amazed at how much junk is leftover in the registry. My last clean removed over 400 entries from stuff that was deleted weeks/months ago.

 

One-click maintenance - can be scheduled to run at set intervals (daily, weekly, monthly etc) and configured to perform any of the tasks above (and more) automatically so you don't even have to remember to have a clean up. Just don't schedule a defrag for 8.30pm on Saturday night when you're in the middle of a gig

 

This isn't some kind of sales pitch and you can find stand alone freeware utilities that will do many of these jobs but I find the package has everything in one place to keep my systems fast, clean and running smoothly.

[macca_dj 0]

Hello

 

Tune up 2009 is in fact a very good bit of software and can help alot , But there are more Variables to Maintaining a healhty PC,

 

My recommendation are have two HDD's in your PC

HDD 1 MASTER DRIVE

HDD 2 STORAGE

 

HDD 1 use a small HDD 80 GIG will DO

For the second HDD use Any Size you like, !!

HDD 1 will Be Soley for the operating system install Xp / VISTA or Windows 7 on it do all the updates,

And then install some Cleaning and Maintanance software

 

ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SOFTWARE THAT YOU DOWNLOAD YOU DO SO AT YOU OWN RISK I WILL NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE IF YOU MISS USE IT AND CAUSE DAMAGE TO YOUR SOFTWARE.

 

Keeping your PC Clean is Important Because if you do Get a Virus or Hacked you will never Know what they are hunting for so keeping it Clean is For your OWN safety.

Cleaners

Tune up 2009

Ashampoo WinOptimizer

Advanced Uninstaller

CCleaner

 

Taking Care of your Registry will Help Keep it Clean from clutter and keep things ticking a long nicely,

I would Recommend REGVAC it does a Very Good JOB, it Cleans things That even CCleaner does not touch Plus it Has a Registry Pack Function that works Better than Tune up 2009's version.

 

Defragmentation is an Essential Part of Maintanance for a hard drives file System it keeps things in Order and easier to Access Plus your Hard Drives reading and writing head will not have to move so much to Access the DATA.

If you look at the HDD PLATTER as a 12" vinyl it would be like trying to play a song on a Record with the Tracks (GROOVES) in Different Places on the 12" Platter so your Record players tone arm would have to move from the outside to the inside and Zipping (moving) all over the 12" record to find the next part of the song,

So if you look at a HDD as a 12" vinyl the tighter and more organized the Data, The Quicker the Access time will be.

Defraggers

O&O Defrag

Perfect Disk

Ultimate Defrag Highly Recommend

 

Backing up all the work you have just put in to the Optimization and software installation is Essential again Because if you Do suffer the Sting Of a Virus or Problems further down the line then you have a safety net to fall back on to, keeping a complete Operating System mirror image of the whole HDD and software on the Secondary Drive will save you Hours of REINSTALLING it all again,

HDD Back up Utilities

Paragon Back up

Norton Ghost

Clone Max

HDclone

 

Any Question Please PM ME

 

MACCA_DJ

[fester 0]

Totally agree about running two hard drives. When I have my system set up with all my software installed I always ghost it.

For anyone who doesn't have two drives, I would create 2 partitions. One for the OS, one for storage.