for some days my computer has been diabolical. When I try anything it frequently freezes and needs a reload. I have tried to back up my present system then go to the original one, hopefully I would be able to return to its present setup. However if it is backing up it is doing so painfully slow, and the time left increases steadily with time. I have tried to scan to for nasties but that never finished. Any suggestions please? If I get replies I can only hope that I can log in, which I have not been able to do for a couple of days.
To be honest, with the amount of problems you seem to be having with that machine lately, I'm wondering if a clean Windows install is your best option. Do you have previous backups of all your essential data?
Not completely, the trouble is I cannot look properly to see. I guess I will have to go back to a clean install. Would it be advisable to format the C disc before hand? The clean install is on D drive?
Well. Windows is usually installed on the C drive. Are you saying yours is on D drive?
Quote from: Simon on Aug 25, 2013, 14:38:23
Well. Windows is usually installed on the C drive. Are you saying yours is on D drive?
No i is on the C drive, but the clean back-up provided with the machine is on the D drive.
A little more information. Though my email seems to be basically OK I am getting no updates on replies to my post here. Also I thought I would try deleting all the programs that are not essential. However on going into Control Panel and attempting to delete it does not complete. If I ask it to delete another program it says that it is busy!
It sounds like perhaps something is hogging all your resources. If click Ctrl+Alt+Del to bring up the Task Manager, does that show anything running above 50% in the Processes list?
No tried that, the biggest user was Skype, which I have now deleted. Also Control Pan;e was running, so I deleted that, but it still tells me it is busy when I try to delete a program.
I don't use Windows much anymore so I'm out of touch, however it sounds like some process is hogging all the resources, it is possible that some software has become corrupt. If you've got backups of all you data and applications it may well save time in the long run just starting from scratch with a fresh install. Does Windows boot into safe mode enabling you to do some housework.
How much space have you got left on the Drives? If you dont have much left that can make any OS run like a dog as it wont have room to defragment.
Loads
Clean install then :) Start from scratch all nice and fresh.
Quote from: Simon on Aug 25, 2013, 12:59:36
To be honest, with the amount of problems you seem to be having with that machine lately, I'm wondering if a clean Windows install is your best option. Do you have previous backups of all your essential data?
Also if possible check to see if the HDD is on it's way out. HDScan is free and if you press "smart" it will tell you if there are any warnings on the drive. Just make sure not to run any read/write tests as these will write over (erase) your data and are only for testing new/blank drives.
Depends on the age of the machine, but if it's not software, an old or broken HDD is the second place I'd look. That is as long as "dust in the fans" has already been ruled out. ;)
Quote from: Technical Ben on Aug 25, 2013, 23:18:38
Also if possible check to see if the HDD is on it's way out. HDScan is free and if you press "smart" it will tell you if there are any warnings on the drive. Just make sure not to run any read/write tests as these will write over (erase) your data and are only for testing new/blank drives.
Depends on the age of the machine, but if it's not software, an old or broken HDD is the second place I'd look. That is as long as "dust in the fans" has already been ruled out. ;)
Would running chkdsk not show errors? That's a bit time consuming but worth it. Cleaning out cooling fans and heatsinks does help, the mess inside can be alarming.
Chkdsk will show file system errors. But if the disk is slow (due to temporary read errors) or has a few bad sectors Chkdsk won't show this. Most modern drives will skip over a bad sector, and give you a new one (they keep a couple spare at the end of the drive for this). But, if you've had a load, it might indicate problems. To see if the drive has done this, you can view it's S.M.A.R.T. record. This sometimes shows at boot, but most pcs skip all that for quicker boot times. So a program like HDScan will just show you it in Windows Desktop for you. :)
Also some drives show the temps etc, which can also help if the OS is new/clean and it's still struggling. But as said, a new OS is the easiest route, just most time consuming (*Hugs his week/month backups for "rollbacks" when he messes up*). :P
Never really found anything wrong, however it has started to behave itself, I am confused! However now it is working OK which is the easiest/best way to create an exact copy on another fixed disc, including boot, so that if necessary I can boot from that.
Not really that straightforward to do to be honest as you would need to set up a separate partition and adjust a file to include the copy in a boot menu.
I had some lockups recently but tracked this down to a buggy display driver, I downgraded this and all ok.
Have you added any new hardware recently.
Did you have a virus or malware attack recently? Cant remember if you posted about it.
A chap at work (though not in the same business thankfully ;) ) has had a slow PC that I'd probably put down to either a buggy Safari plugin or a virus. :P
If your clean backup on the D drive is an image of the c drive then just restore that and see what happens, if it is not an image of c but just a backup then a complet rebuild of Windows would be best. This is where Windows 8 scores wher you can do a complete restore of the OS without losing your documents.
Thanks C, that finally makes up my mind, I will get a replacement PC as soon as, which has Windows 8 on!
Windows 8 is very different to what you have used before.
Someone has to buy it >:D
Quote from: Steve on Sep 01, 2013, 18:47:23
Someone has to buy it >:D
They seem to be trying not to ;)
Funny thing is I might like W8.
Join the W8 club Steve, come on you know you want to. ;D
I'll wait for Windows 9 or it could be Windows Lehman if MS is on the ropes.
Have you tried W8 for any length of time? I had to use a computer with Windows XP the other day and I must say I hated it, so slow. ;D
Yes Den, I've had to get used to using it as a proportion of the customer base I support uses it, I've been on Win 7 since last August when I took delivery of my new system when the old Pentium D which was a monster of a system when I bought it just couldn't cut it anymore.
I've been using Windows 7 for three weeks, and find it quite temperamental compared to XP. Things just seemed to work on XP and the OS seemed perfectly robust. With Windows 7, I've had trouble with unreadable fonts, black boxes over icons, compatibility issues, and now, the latest version of Flash Player keeps crashing. The UAC is a pain in the arse, but one feels 'guilty' for turning it off. Given the choice, I'd revert to XP tomorrow.
Yep have had a few niggles but not so bad although my work desktop seems to blue screen sometimes which I think is down to a buggy driver.
Quote from: pctech on Sep 01, 2013, 18:28:07
Windows 8 is very different to what you have used before.
If you download a small free programme called classic start menu then you wouldn't notice the difference form windows 7 setup, except that it would be faster and more reliable. I have been using windows 8 since it first came ontom the market and never had a problem. I really like the speed and reliability also switching to the other windows screen you can get free apps that can download utube vids and music plus lots of other free stuff.
I believe that once trying it for a few days you will soon get used to it, especially using classic start menu, and will not want to go back to windows 7 or xp.
Give it a whirl. I got the pro version for £24 when it came out and have bitlocker and lots of other useful stuff.
Prob just better going for Win 7.
Well I for one would not go back to any earlier system have having used W8 from the day it was released. I'm looking forward to October to see how Windows 8.1 shapes up. I have Classic start on my spare computer and it's very good indeed but so far I have resisted putting it on my main computer and will wait and see how I feel after October.
I worked at a computer business about 12 months ago were the guy there refused to work on anything other than XP. He is now out of work as you have to move on and keep up other wise you get left behind.
I'd def not go back to XP (had to use it again recently at work as one system I have to now use won't run under 7 but is due to the replaced shortly anyway) and am not averse to change as if I were I'd not have been in IT very long.
I think it works so much better on a touch screen than with a mouse.
Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. I now have a new PC running Windows 8, not a bad as I feared. I was up and limping in an hour, walking by the end of the day. Now 24 hours later I am almost running,just a few programs to add.
:thumb: