Very Slow Laptop

[countrykid]

I recently tried to stream a movie from Amazon Prime to watch on my laptop. This was my first attempt having taken up a 30 day free trial (We don't yet have a Smart TV).
It would appear my Broadband signal is not as good as it needs to be to stream (Live in a rural area) and it took simply ages to get as far as the title, so I gave up. Since then my Laptop has been really slow, taking ages to get online and when I am online, it takes ages to load pages etc. Can this slowness have been caused by trying to stream, and might the process have left some kind of software on my laptop that I could do with removing. I'd like to have a go at resolving it if there is something fairly simple I can do, otherwise I guess I'll have to get a techie to sort it. Thanks

[Old_Geezer]

IMO unlikely. Unless something is running that ought not be, or accessing the Net in the background. If concerned do anti-virus scans and malwarebytes scan.

You have recycled the power since ? A reboot can half solve issues.

It is generally slow or just Internet slow ? How much memory do you have, how much free disk space ?

You could run task manager, see if anything obvious is hogging all the resources.

That'd be a start.

[Old_Geezer]

I have no idea why something stuck the word "half" in that sentence.
Technology is very sinister stuff.

[Buenchico]

Before doing anything else, find out what download speed you're actually getting by running a test here:
http://www.speedtest.net/

NB: If your laptop normally connects to your router wirelessly, use an ethernet cable instead. Then repeat the test with a wireless connection. If the results are roughly the same you'll know that your wireless network is OK. If not you'll need to reset your laptop's TCP/IP stack and/or change your router's channel. (Instructions available upon request if you need them).

However if you always get a really lousy connection speed you might need to hassle your ISP for a better service.

A rough guide to download speeds (using non-cable services, as you're clearly doing):
10 Mbps > Very good, suggesting you've got an ADSL 2 Plus service (and you're close to an exchange).
5 Mbps > Probably around the best that many people would expect to get from a normal ADSL Max service.
2 Mbps > The minimum that the Government expects to be made available across the country.
1 Mbps > Lousy, but not unknown in some rural areas.
0.5 Mbps or below > There's a fault somewhere!!!

So what speed have you actually got?

[countrykid]

Thanks for help so far. Buenchico, I don't have an ethernet cable to hand, but will get one. I have just done a speed test via your link and got a download speed of 13.85 the first time and 12.08 the second - seems high? Upload speed showed 1.08 both times. When I clicked on speedtest it came up offering a scan to fix issues. Called PC Revivor. I clicked to run a scan and later realised to fix anything you had to subscribe. Is it worth doing this? Thanks again

[Buenchico]

They're remarkably good speeds for an ADSL line in a rural area! (I can walk to the phone exchange here in under 2 minutes. My neighbours get around 5Mbps on the standard 'ADSL MAX' service, which is what BT normally provides and also wholesales to other ISPs. I get around 10Mbps because I pay extra for 'ADSL 2+').

ADSL upload speeds are typically around 10% of download seeds, so yours looks OK.

So it seems that there's nothing wrong with your internet connection. Something appears to be hogging nearly all of your laptop's resources. Open the Task Manager (via right-clicking on the toolbar at the foot of your screen). Click on the 'Processes' tab and then, if it's shown as an option, on the 'Show processes from all users' button. (If you're asked for permission to proceed, grant it).

The only high figure in the 'CPU' column should be against 'System Idle Process'. Anything else in double figures should be regarded with suspicion.

Then look down the 'Mem Usage' column. Nothing there should normally be above about 30,000K, except for any major program that you've got running (such as your web browser). Again, anything unusually high should be regarded as suspicious.

If you spot anything odd, and can't work out what it refers to, post the details here.

However some malicious programs can hide away from inclusion in that 'Processes' list. Run a FULL scan with your anti-virus software. Also download, install and run the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/
(NB: When installing it, take care to de-select the pre-ticked option to take a free trial of the Premium version.

Don' bother with programs such as PC Revivor. So-called 'registry cleaners' are generally best avoided. However if you do want to try one, the only one regularly recommended in the technical press is CCleaner:
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/registry-cleaner
(It's a freebie).

[Buenchico]

PS:
Also go to your list of installed programs. Click on the 'Installed on' column header, to put the list in chronological order. Look for anything recently installed that might relate to your problem.

[countrykid]

Thanks Buenchico for tips and advice. I carried out the things you suggested and nothing was amiss, so I ran malwarebytes and also did a full scan using Kaspersky. Things have improved. I have not yet installed the freebie cleaner you suggested, but I will do. With regards how much memory I have free, its lots. When I checked it showed that the hard drive had 848Gb available from 920Gb. My Laptop is certainly slower at times, and faster at others, so maybe my internet connection varies alot. I say this because sometimes my partner finds the same thing happens to her, especially if she on M&S website. Mind you that's no bad thing! she can't spend all the money!
Thanks again to all for helping. I am going to post a separate question about Printers, so you may be able to advise there too

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your post.

Note though that the amount of memory available for storing data on your hard drive (which is what you're referred to) is totally separate to the RAM (random access memory) that your computer uses to actually process data; that's what the 'Mem Usage' figure in Task Manager refers to.

[countrykid]

Thanks again Buenchico
I'm not sure how to find out how much RAM my laptop has but when I bought it I recall it being fairly good spec!! I have just gone onto Task Manager again and Memory column shows 35% usage. Firefox shows 217Mb, Skype 75Mb, Kaspersky 42Mb, something called Rapport is shown twice at 17.3Mb and 22.4%. I guess these are fairly typical??

[Buenchico]

>>>something called Rapport is shown twice at 17.3Mb and 22.4%

Then that's almost certainly what's causing your problems!!!

Trusteer Rapport is security software that your bank probably insists you have on your computer in order to be able to carry out internet banking. It should typically use less than 1% of your computer's processing power, so there's definitely something wrong if it's using over 20% !

Uninstall Trusteer Rapport by following the instructions for your operating system here:
http://www.trusteer.com/support/uninstalling-rapport

Then RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. (That's in capitals because it's IMPORTANT!).

If you don't use internet banking you don't need to do anything else. However (since Rapport was on your laptop in the first place) I'll assume that you do. So go here and follow the instructions to download and re-install Rapport:
https://www.trusteer.com/support/win-install-instructions

[countrykid]

My apologies Buenchico, a typo saw me saying I had 17.3Mb and 22.4%, when it should have said 22.4Mb. Really sorry about that. The actual memory being used by it is negligible at less than 1% on both values.

I think you have helped me as much as anyone could possibly do, and I am really grateful to you.

Thanks again, you are incredibly knowledgeable and helpful too.

[hc4361]

Rapport really slowed my machine down. Thankfully my bank doesn't insist on it.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your post.

If the two listings for Rapport are identical (e.g. both showing 'Rapport.exe' or similar), rather than different (e.g. something like RapportSvc.exe and RapportUI.exe) I still think that there's something wrong; it should only be listed once!

So I'd still advise uninstalling, restarting and reinstalling, as above.

[countrykid]

To answer Methyl, I have just checked Task Manager and clicked on the Performance tab and for Memory it shows 1.9/5.4Gb (35%). Does this indicate anything? Thanks

[jenniesmith]

Also go to your list of installed programs. Click on the 'Installed on' column header, to put the list in chronological order. Look for anything recently installed that might relate to your problem.

[ukbod2015]

There are a great deal of reasons why your machine and broadband could be slow. A little more information would help - ie age of machine, amount of RAM, and how full your hard disk is and what antivirus you use. As far as broadband goes there are several things you could try. Download drivereasy and if it offers you a more up to date driver for your your wifi install it.