My computer crashed and I had to buy a new one. I just hooked it up last night, but it isn't working right! I have high speed, and this is a new computer, so it should be working fast but it isn't. It is extremely slow, pages are freezing up, and I did control Alt Delete to end a page that was freezing up on me, and I noticed my CP usage was at 100%. It should never be that high! What in the world is going on? I can't navigate around, have more than one window open, etc. and it is working slower than my old computer. There's got to be something wrong!
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Anyone know anything about computers? I need help
- Thread starter back2eight
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When you go into Task Manager, what is eating up most of your CPU usage?
I have had no problems with Vista on my laptop. Even with 1GB of RAM total. I got it for really cheap and haven't bothered upgrading the RAM like I said I would.
Have you...
1. Gone to Windows Update and downloaded all the latest updates.
2. Insured Anti-Virus and Firewall are installed and configured. They typically are out of the box, but just checking.
I have had no problems with Vista on my laptop. Even with 1GB of RAM total. I got it for really cheap and haven't bothered upgrading the RAM like I said I would.
Have you...
1. Gone to Windows Update and downloaded all the latest updates.
2. Insured Anti-Virus and Firewall are installed and configured. They typically are out of the box, but just checking.
Tough to diagnose computer issues remotely but send some additional info.
Start w/ a few things:
How old is the box
What OS are you running
How much memory
HD size and how much of the drive is free
Any firewall and/or anti virus software loaded
Go to your task manager and under the 'Processes' tab, sort the 'Memory' column to see what is consuming your memory.
Start w/ a few things:
How old is the box
What OS are you running
How much memory
HD size and how much of the drive is free
Any firewall and/or anti virus software loaded
Go to your task manager and under the 'Processes' tab, sort the 'Memory' column to see what is consuming your memory.
Internet Explorer is eating up the usage.
When my old computer crashed I took it in to where I get my computer worked on and they said the motherboard was fried and I needed a new computer. So I went and bought this one and took it to them. They were going to try to get my info from my old computer and put it on here for me but they were unable to. I use AVG and I asked them while they had this computer to install it and make sure it was working for me. It's protected. I didn't want to use the one that came with it, I like AVG better
When my old computer crashed I took it in to where I get my computer worked on and they said the motherboard was fried and I needed a new computer. So I went and bought this one and took it to them. They were going to try to get my info from my old computer and put it on here for me but they were unable to. I use AVG and I asked them while they had this computer to install it and make sure it was working for me. It's protected. I didn't want to use the one that came with it, I like AVG better
I've got a Vista laptop which I'm on now as I'm remodelling and have the desktop stored. It took a long time for it to get over that hump of using a ton of CPU power. It's now only using between 3 & 8%. I deleted everything in the programs file except for necessary applications and things I myself installed. It's also definitely running better since windows update auto installed Vista Service Pack 1 and then SP2 this past weekend and now I'm ok with my laptop. I used to hate the thing as even websites were slow. check with the microsoft site to get the SP updates they seem to help a lot.
Is there a reason you don't use Firefox for web surfing? I find it a way faster browser than Explorer even on my quad core XP desktop firefox smokes explorer. if you need it here's the link: www.mozilla.com it's free and seems more secure than explorer as well.
Is there a reason you don't use Firefox for web surfing? I find it a way faster browser than Explorer even on my quad core XP desktop firefox smokes explorer. if you need it here's the link: www.mozilla.com it's free and seems more secure than explorer as well.
I downloaded firefox and tried it - same thing. CPU usage jumped up to 100% and memory is at 42%. It is happening when I try Yahoo Games (I play Spades there) but on other websites it jumps up really high too. Some will let me navigate, although slowly, but others freeze up (like yahoo) and I can't do anything. Customer support said internet issues arent covered and they want to charge me 60 bucks to try to get to the problem.
I wouldnt try to uninstall IE!
I dont think its actually possible anyway..its too intertwined with windows..
besides, there is no need to uninstall it....
just download Firefox, then simply *dont use* IE..
it can sit on your computer forever, but if you simply dont use it, it wont cause any problems..
because itr wont be running..it would be just like any other program you never run..it would just be "dormant"..yeah it takes up space, but I dont think it can be actually unistalled..
IMO, I wouldn't even try...not worth the potential problems an uninstall might cause.
Back2eight,
you still havent given us any stats on your new computer!
just the processor speed, and memory, will tell a lot about how "fast" it should be..
and just because its "new" doesnt mean its good..or fast..
computers, like everything else, have really cheap and junky low-end models that really arent very good..
IMO buying from Walmart was your first problem..and if you paid under $300 or $400, you might not have bought a particularly "fast" machine to begin with..
I agree it shouldnt be locking up!
no computer should..so it sounds like it has legit problems..
im only saying you might be expecting more performance that you bought..
your machine's stats will tell us a lot more about its supposed to behave..
(or just give us the brand name and model number, and we can google everything else)
Scot
I don't know what stats or how to find them
It was a chepa computer, 300 bucks, but expecting it to work is not too much.
It's not just happening on the internet, it happens no matter what I open. I open a word document or something and it happens as well. So something is just wrong with the computer
It was a chepa computer, 300 bucks, but expecting it to work is not too much.
It's not just happening on the internet, it happens no matter what I open. I open a word document or something and it happens as well. So something is just wrong with the computer
go to start menu
click on "control panel"
click "go to classic view"
click on the icon called "system"
This will tell you the make, model of your computer, for instance my best buy Craptop is:
Windows Vista Home Edition Service Pack 2
Toshiba Satellite A205
Intel Celeron 540 1.86 Ghz
2 GB ram
I really urge you to find out what this system page says and if it's not Service Pack 2 go download it, it's free. You may need to download SP1 and then SP2, it makes life on Vista easier for sure. As I said mine was doing that and now it isn't. I can even paint in Photoshop with my pen tablet now and could not before the SP2 updates.
If you have a retail computer it's loaded with useless crap you'll need to delete a bunch of junk they stick on them. If you ever reboot to factory specs you'll have to delete them all again. Software offers, games, etc delete it all from the add/remove programs on the control panel page. The icon for this is now called "Programs and Features" in Vista. You get to it the same way you get to the system page. Best Buy will "clean up" a new/rebooted computer this way for like $50 but you can do it all yourself.
Just close IE and forget about it, don't let Java install the Yahoo toolbar when Java and Firefox update themselves. Theres a checkbox that asks if you want it always uncheck it so it won't install, the less on your system the better.
click on "control panel"
click "go to classic view"
click on the icon called "system"
This will tell you the make, model of your computer, for instance my best buy Craptop is:
Windows Vista Home Edition Service Pack 2
Toshiba Satellite A205
Intel Celeron 540 1.86 Ghz
2 GB ram
I really urge you to find out what this system page says and if it's not Service Pack 2 go download it, it's free. You may need to download SP1 and then SP2, it makes life on Vista easier for sure. As I said mine was doing that and now it isn't. I can even paint in Photoshop with my pen tablet now and could not before the SP2 updates.
If you have a retail computer it's loaded with useless crap you'll need to delete a bunch of junk they stick on them. If you ever reboot to factory specs you'll have to delete them all again. Software offers, games, etc delete it all from the add/remove programs on the control panel page. The icon for this is now called "Programs and Features" in Vista. You get to it the same way you get to the system page. Best Buy will "clean up" a new/rebooted computer this way for like $50 but you can do it all yourself.
Just close IE and forget about it, don't let Java install the Yahoo toolbar when Java and Firefox update themselves. Theres a checkbox that asks if you want it always uncheck it so it won't install, the less on your system the better.
Thank you all for the help. This has been a most frustrating experience and you have been very patient in answering my questions.
I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow. It is running worse than my 10 year old computer did when I was still on diap up. It is a 2 GB cheap computer, but so was the last one and it was way better than this. Something is wrong. So I'm going to take it back and get a slightly better one.
This has the one that came after Vista, is it windows 7? It's not vista, so the problems that people have with it shouldn't be an issue with this one. I did the reinstall factory settings thing twice now, and it's not just an internet problem. It jumps up to 100% usage and does the same thing (freezes up and/or takes an awful long time to open a page) when I do something simple like try to open a word document. So the computer is crap, and back it goes.
Thanks for the info on the crap they come installed with. I think I might pay them the extra money to get all that junk off of there and go ahead and get updates for me and everything so that all I have to do is hook it up and go. Right now I don't want any more stress!!!
I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow. It is running worse than my 10 year old computer did when I was still on diap up. It is a 2 GB cheap computer, but so was the last one and it was way better than this. Something is wrong. So I'm going to take it back and get a slightly better one.
This has the one that came after Vista, is it windows 7? It's not vista, so the problems that people have with it shouldn't be an issue with this one. I did the reinstall factory settings thing twice now, and it's not just an internet problem. It jumps up to 100% usage and does the same thing (freezes up and/or takes an awful long time to open a page) when I do something simple like try to open a word document. So the computer is crap, and back it goes.
Thanks for the info on the crap they come installed with. I think I might pay them the extra money to get all that junk off of there and go ahead and get updates for me and everything so that all I have to do is hook it up and go. Right now I don't want any more stress!!!
No prob, retail computers kinda suck and I feel your pain! LOL
If you've got the time look into getting a custom build! The best PC I've ever had is my quadcore desktop, it was a custom build and came with nothing on it except the operating system and the drivers for the hardware not one bit of junkware. I bought a barebones unit from an established ebay builder and he had a customized checkout where you pick and choose what components you want, you get the total price while browsing his listing and if you're ready to buy just pay as a "buy it now". It took about a week or two to arrive and was well worth it compared to battling with a retail PC. I want to upgrade to the new octacore processor (dual quad core) with a 24 GB RAM motherboard 5 internal 500 GB drives for my orchestral software and recording program and I will definitely have the new one custom built again. I will probably be sticking with XP 64 though since it's the most stable with the music software/hardware I have.
If you've got the time look into getting a custom build! The best PC I've ever had is my quadcore desktop, it was a custom build and came with nothing on it except the operating system and the drivers for the hardware not one bit of junkware. I bought a barebones unit from an established ebay builder and he had a customized checkout where you pick and choose what components you want, you get the total price while browsing his listing and if you're ready to buy just pay as a "buy it now". It took about a week or two to arrive and was well worth it compared to battling with a retail PC. I want to upgrade to the new octacore processor (dual quad core) with a 24 GB RAM motherboard 5 internal 500 GB drives for my orchestral software and recording program and I will definitely have the new one custom built again. I will probably be sticking with XP 64 though since it's the most stable with the music software/hardware I have.
