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General discussion

laptop has hangup/freeze issues

by jlmm40 Sep 9, 2010 12:01AM PDT

My computer has started having several different issues at one time. The computer seems slower starting at the start up menu, it seems to take several minutes for everything to load before I am able to open any programs(internet or word doc etc. Once I have a program open I am constantly receiving a not responding message(at the bar at the top of the page). It also seems to refresh itself, the desktop will just reload itself without a command to. I installed avg 9 but that seemed to make the problem worse. I have defraged, disk cleanup, emptied cookies, scanned computer etc. several times but it does not seem to help the problem. When i am on the internet it is so slow, i have tried google chrome instead of firefox but both are having the issue of not resonding. I have windows xp my laptop is an older toshiba satellite A85. Would like to somehow speed up all of the processes without having to reinstall everything. Any help is appreciated

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3 Posts
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additional information
by jlmm40 Sep 9, 2010 12:05AM PDT

I should also say that i have disable the avg for now and have the avast antivirus.

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A Slightly Different Method Of Cleanup
by Grif Thomas Forum moderator Sep 9, 2010 12:44AM PDT

First, uninstall AVG or Avast, one of the other, as having two on the computer can cause issues, including slow downs.. It's best to have only ONE antivirus and one antispyware running in the background at one time.

Next, use the instructions below to toggle the DMA switch on your IDE controller in Device manager. (make sure to toggle DMA off, then back on again, even if already checked):

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx

Next, click on the link below and follow ALL of the steps to clean out the junk files and eliminate unnecessary startup programs and services. Some of the steps you may have already performed, but try them in the order I've listed them again.

Cleanup Steps

Of course, because of the computer's age, there could be hardware issues on the computer but please try the steps above first.. In addition, make sure to perform the yearly duties of using compressed air to blow out all the vents and keep the computer cool. And if you don't have at least 1 GB of RAM, make it so.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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have not completed clean up
by jlmm40 Sep 10, 2010 1:03PM PDT

I am working on all the steps listed above but have not had the time to complete all steps will give another update when complete. Thanks for helping

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