Speeding up my computer

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Speeding up my computer

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19 December 2014 at 07:21 #54432
Bob Wilson
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@bobwilson59101
My computer is quite old now, and has been getting slower and slower. Last week, it had declined to the point where it was almost unusable at times.

I asked a friend if he knew anything about speeding it up, and he suggested "C Cleaner" a free online download.

Off I went to the Internet and downloaded it (it took abot 30 seconds).

Before starting it, I checked my hard drive and found that there was 22Gb of free space left. The "Clean up" took 3 days, during which time I couldn't use the computer whilst it was doing the cleaing. It could, however, be stopped if I wanted to use it, and then started again after I had finished. After each cleaning session, the hard drive space increased. When it finally finished, on the third day, the free space had gone up to 65Gb, but it still didn't seem any faster.

I then ran a standard defragmenting that took about 30 hours (It normally takes only one or two).

The free space on completion had gone up to 87Gb, and the computer is now working like "greased lightning!"

It is reborn, and I don't need to purchase a new one!

Just thought I would share this info with you.

Bob
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19 December 2014 at 07:21 #8047
Bob Wilson
Participant
@bobwilson59101
19 December 2014 at 07:57 #54434
Bob Abell 2
Participant
@bobabell2
Hello Bob

Very interesting post and very relevant, regarding my PC

My machine is very slow at times……..Especially when dealing with this website for some reason?

I finally succumbed to taking a clean up package on the net…..At £30 per year

Can't say the machine is any faster though, but at least, all the warning ads have ceased

The deal company now say, my drivers are out of date and for another £30 per year, they will sort that out too

That's £60 per year!……I haven't taken up the offer at the moment

More moaning to follow

Bob
19 December 2014 at 08:15 #54435
Bob Wilson
Participant
@bobwilson59101
Bob,

With me, I had really reached the "kill or cure stage," so I didn't really care if I messed up the computer. Before I started, I backed up everything onto an external hard drive. I even had a look at new computers, but didn't like the idea of touch screen etc.

I was really astonished how my hard drive space went up from 22Gb to 87Gb. And it didn't cost a penny! At times, I thought it would never end, but each time I paused it, more hard drive space had been recovered, so I knew it was working.

When I ran the programme on my much newer laptop, it only took about 15 minutes to clean and restored 4Gb of space.

Bob
19 December 2014 at 08:58 #54440
Dave Milbourn
Participant
@davemilbourn48782
Don't forget to use the Settings on CCleaner to clean up every time you switch the computer on.
Watch out for the CC updates which want you to download Google Chrome and a free copy of McAfee – guaranteed to slow down a computer to snail's pace! If you do have McAfee then I would advise uninstalling it and using a free security download like Microsoft Security Essentials. I also run Malwarebytes now and again.
You can search for updated hardware drivers via Control Panel>System>Device Manager for nowt.
There's a free download called Secunia PSI which will scan your system and tell you which programs need updating.
Finally AdBlock Plus is a freebie which stops pop-ups dead, although you can disable it on selected websites if you want to see the adverts etc.
Who says you don't get owt for nowt?
DM
19 December 2014 at 09:42 #54441
Bob Abell 2
Participant
@bobabell2
Dave

I use the paid for version of AVG 2014 for PC security……But McAffee has got in from somewhere?

There are quite a few invaders which can't be erased

Bob
19 December 2014 at 09:57 #54442
Bob Wilson
Participant
@bobwilson59101
I have used Norton & McAffee in the past, but found that they did slow the computer down. I got rid of them some time ago. At first, I had difficulty uninstalling them, but someone told me how, but I can't remember the method used! For several years I have used the free version of Avast, and it is fine for me.

Bob
19 December 2014 at 10:00 #54443
Colin Bishop
Moderator
@colinbishop34627
Bob A, As Dave says, you don't need to pay for computer 'cleaners, just make sure that you untick the boxes that try to load other software such as Chrome of McAfee when downloading. And also make sure you are downloading from the actual supplier site and not a third party one.

No need to pay for driver updates either, that is just a scam.

As far as this website is concerned, it isn't your computer at fault, the website IS slow. Something to do with how it is hosted on the servers (and maybe too many adverts!). The IT people are trying to resolve this.

Adblock doesn't seem to work on my Windows 8.1 machine. Actually I prefer Windows 7 but my current PC came with 8 on it which had to be immediately upgraded to 8.1 to make it useable as a desktop instead of a touch screen tablet. I gather that the next version of Windows will make it easier to set the machine up purely as a desktop.

I still use IE as a browser on the basis of 'better the devil you know' but I read yesterday that Chrome now has 50% of the market, probably because it is the browser of choice on handheld devices.

As an Internet user, the best thing that has happened to me is when BT Fibre arrived at the end of our road. Granted the last bit is still copper wire, but my internet connection speeded up at least fivefold if not more.

For backups I now mainly use Touro drives **LINK** They run directly off your USB port with no need for an adapter and support USB 3 which is a much faster data rate if your PC also supports it.

Colin
19 December 2014 at 15:01 #54451
mike farrell
Participant
@mikefarrell21522
Hi Bobwell thanks for a prompt which was needed. Made the download and run it only saved 1gb but seems to be running faster.Thanks Michael
19 December 2014 at 15:29 #54452
Bob Wilson
Participant
@bobwilson59101
Michael,

Did you defragment after the cleanup? That got me an extra 22Gb! But that had all accumulated over years.

On my laptop, I forgot to defrag after the cleanup, but started it this morning. It is still defragging, but since I started it this AM, it has recovered a further 4Gb.

Bob
19 December 2014 at 16:23 #54454
Paul T
Participant
@pault84577
Dear All

Be aware of a particularly nasty piece of malware called My Best Offers Today.

The MyBestOffersToday popup virus is a very annoying and harmful browser application which is used for hijacking mozilla firefox, chrome, internet explorer and safari.

It can silently get into a computer and compromise system resources. Once you have got the MyBestOffersToday malware in your machine, you will be seeing annoying ads popping up all over screen. Mostly when you surf the web and especially when you go through an online store such as ebay.

Ads by MyBestOffersToday would popup on screen. They can even appear inside web browser window. Remember, the MyBestOffersToday virus will show you attractive advertisements that would offer discount or savings but you should not trust this virus or any of its promotional ads. Actually it brings paid commercials (SPAM) which leads users to unsafe domains and fake products.

It is highly reocmmended to uninstall MyBestOffersToday virus as soon as possible to stay safe.
19 December 2014 at 19:34 #54457
mike farrell
Participant
@mikefarrell21522
Hi Bob I will defrag later but it is done on a regular basis ,grand daughter had it set up for me so thanks again Michael
19 December 2014 at 21:15 #54458
Bob Wilson
Participant
@bobwilson59101
Even if done regularly, cleaning it with C Cleaner scatters everything to such an extent that it needs to be done again, and it takes a considerable amount of time, but even on my laptop defragging after cleaning got me a further 4Gb of space back!

Bob
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