Computer help - Calgary
 

Just wondering if there is anyone that is good with PC's that could lend a hand. I have a Sony desktop intel P4, 2.4ghz that needs a good cleanup/tuneup. It is quite slow and glitchy, and I give up trying to fix it. I am not a computer buff, but I am guessing there are some virus's that I cant get out, and maybe a reload of windows?

Willing to pay or could even trade for some frags :biggrin:. I know you can go to Future shop etc etc but thought I would start here first.

Thanks,

Jason

Is there anything on it you need to keep? Reinstalling Windows will lose all of it, just something to keep in mind. If it's just a reinstall you'd like, I can help you with the reinstall, but I'm not too sure when we could hook up seeing as we're on opposite ends of the city :p

windows NEEDS to be re-installed after awhile. Google it.
Other than that grab oodefrag run it (it has a trial) find a program called ccleaner (crap cleaner) run it. delete fonts you don't use, and uninstall programs you don't use. google speedup windows....there is a lot of help on it and most is worth something. If you are uncofortable with computers though don't use any of the registry hacks unless you really know what they do.
easy peasy
oh run a program called S&d Spybot, install a good anti-virus, then a good firewall....mostly to check what is trying to connect FROM your computer as opposed to TO your computer. Download and install Nod antivirus run it when i scans your whole computer delete it and install avast home edition, its free an very good...nod is better but costs money. The install comodo firewall, its free as well. Install these after you have checked for spyware and virii...grab a program called hijack this, run it and post the results to their forum, if there is a problem in its output...trust me someone will let you know.

if you have any more questions just ask....

Thank-you Tony, I may take you up on that (I would make the trek to the far far south:wink:)

Olnobodaddy...thank you very much for your input, I will try tonight what you have suggested (these types of things I can handle). I currently do have spybot and use AVG antivirus as well, and have run them lots. I thought by having an external hard drive (to store pics, music, etc) this would help speed things up, but doesnt seem to have. As well, I do have a router which I was told would help against virus's...same thing there, didnt notice much help.

Anyways thanks again guys, I appreciate it.

Jason

Just a note, sometimes it is the Anti Virus application that throttles your computer and slows it down.... it takes time to scan incoming/outgoing traffic. Most AV programs have options as to the level of security to apply and the higher the security, the slower the machine...

*cough*buy a mac*cough*

Haha, seen that coming.. :biggrin:

I looked at buying a new computer, but I will first try my best to get this one fixed. I am not a huge gamer or anything, so my needs are not huge. Just lots of canreef surfing :mrgreen:

If you suspect you have virus and can't clean it confidently. Save your documents, bookmarks and wipe the machine.

Oh and upgrade the RAM if you have $100.00 you want to put into the machine. Minimum 1GB but 2GB would be better.

linux?
 

Just a though from a linux geek:

Get a copy of kubuntu on cd, save everything important to the external drive, and install it instead. You can get the install CD free by downloading it, or having it shipped to your house for free as well (ubuntu.com)

The install is easy enough that my wife did her own laptop, just put the cd in the drive and boot the machine. You have to answer about 6 questions (your name, timezone, password, etc..) and it does the standard install with firefox, openoffice and a bunch of other stuff.

If you are planning on wiping the machine, there is not much to lose by trying. And linux doesn't require A/V software or anything like that (much like a mac). It is much quicker, and doesn't require the usual maintenance that windows does at all (spybot/AV/defrag/cleaners). Just use and enjoy.



Disclaimer: I'm a linux sysadmin, running 4,500 linux machines in a public school system. I think if a 6 year old can run it just fine, most people should be OK ;)

Interesting, so you can still run all of the same programs with Linux? Word, Excel, etc? Sounds like I could handle the install, so worth a try. Thank-you, I will do some research but definately sounds appealing. What are the drawbacks?

I have definately heard that wiping the machine is a worthwhile try, so maybe I will give it a shot. One thing I dont understand, I thought if your PC had a virus, even reloading windows will not necessarily get rid of it?

+1

You ask about Word and Excel though. While there are ways of getting it to work, Openoffice.org should work just fine (and it's included with the install of Ubuntu)

openoffice is available for free for mac as well.

If you're not planning to buy a new computer I'd definately just format and start from scratch. When I ran windows I'd do that every six months or so.

+1 :mrgreen:

I'm getting a mac as soon as I can afford one.

Just a question though for PC Antivirus. I am using Shaw's Home Secure or whatever (hey, it was free..) I am wondering if anyone notices if it makes your PC run slower? I have a year and a half old Toshiba Satellite (du core, 2.4ghz yada yada yada) and I swear it runs like a piece of crap these days. Extremely slow loads on everything, slow to bootup and load, just all around slooowwww. I use my laptop for internet and MSN mainly, no gaming, not much downloading. I can't recall if my PC started going slower after the install, so I just thought I'd ask if anyone else notices this. Sorry to hijack.

The Free Telus AV is terrible so I would not suspect Shaw is much better. Yes AV uses a lot or RAM, thus my suggestion to upgrade RAM.

Different person/question, but note taken!

Shaw slowed mine to a crawl, big time. Uninstalled it and machine sped back up.

I have Shaw Secure as well and I'm pretty sure it's to blame for some of the performance loss. The cost of protection I guess. Shaw Secure is essentially F-Secure which they buy from the parent company under license and provide a limited number of installs for their customers. No idea which is the 'best' AV application, but I've heard of troubles with the Norton product as well, especially on Vista. I'm still running XP. I've been tempted to wipe the HD and start over, but then it's a hassle setting up the network again, all the applications, hardware, drivers.... aarrghh.

Av
 

Any modern AV will have an overhead, some worse than others. Norton has been historically the worst but they say their newest version 2009 is much improved but I will never recommend Norton AV to anyone.

Grisoft.com has a free version AVG that is very good but it is buried in their website. Search their website keyword "free" or goto download.com and search for AVG there. Excellent FREE AV for home use.

I manage our corporate AV of about 150 seats. Sophos.com, excellent product. I would recommend it for any company with more than 10 computers.

Keith

Linux
 

Well, It's not Word and Excel, it's OpenOffice. But it does run the same way and can read/save all your existing stuff without a problem.

As for the viruses, linux (mac's as well) can't get viruses. And I mean CAN'T. So there is a noticable speed up from not having to have AV software running all the time.

The only downsides that I have come across, are if you need a very specific program that runs on windows. Some do run just fine, but most do not. There is always a comparable bit of software, IE : no photoshop, but there is "GIMP" that is very similar. And linux software is free and easy to install. There is about 170,000 software packages available for free.

It never ceases to amaze me how much windows users limit the email they read, or what web sites they go to for fear of viruses and the like. Mac users can agree with me on this one, do whatever you want and never worry..... Once you have it running it stays that way without the usual windows re-install.

Though rare, still can have problems on a Linux platform with viruses, thinking the recent Samba Server problem. Little funny though considering Samba is to emulate a Windows file server.

Which recent problem was this?
 

Strange, considering the 65 samba servers I run, I've never heard of this. And I do keep up on the security notices a lot. I have heard of windows machines passing virus around by a samba share, but never the actual linux machine being affected.

Issue we had was with Sality.ao. Guess technically Linex itself wasn't vulnerable but could host infected files.

Willing to help for frags
 

Hello,
I own a local computer repair shop, and am interested in trading service for frags if you still need help with your computer. e mail me if you are interested. amelia@vistanetworks.ca