slow computer

[gardenmad]

Help! My son gave me his newer faster computer when he got a new one and it was ace, now it is very sluggish and he says it is because I've got too much stuff on it. I used a memory stick to transfer emails and stuff from my old computer, can this be slowing it down? I could read that stuff and print what I want then delete it, would that help. I am completetely useless at this, what I leant long ago old age is making me forget (excuse) I have emptied the rubbish bin and I delete lots of stuff and empty the deleted file every day so where am I going wrong?

[rojash]

Having a lot of stuff stuff on your hard disk will not slow down your computer. Having a lot of programs running in background will - especially if some of those programs are spywarel. What AV and anti-spyware are you using?

[gardenmad]

Thank you Rojash, I don't know what AV is(!) oh is it antivirus? but will list what I have - PC tools spyware doctor, Norton security scan, Picasa 2 (what's this?) Mozilla Firefox, Live update notice, Norton 360, Microstaff WINASPI, Interactual, Remote Assistance. I have no idea what these are, mostly, and never use any of them, but sometimes I get an 'alert' telling me I am at risk, telling me to install this or that, and this is the result, Most of them have uninstallers, too. See how useless I am! I only need one good packet, really, don't I? Also can you tell me how to stop uninvited emails - I get a lot from firms offering among other things, Viagra - I am a woman, for God's sake! I always Block Sender, but they send them to me at a slightly different address than I have, and they always get through. Needless to say I never reply.

[rnchugg]

Hi, I Will try and explain this simply (Im not trying to insult you).
1) you should do a system defrag.
2) Install AVG (off the internet)

To easily explain a defrag, imagine you stood in a room with a hugh pile of papers, then you throw them up in the air. The defrag picks them all up and sorts them out into the relavent files and folders (starting with the ones you normally use and dont use)
Once this is done it allows the computer to quickly find the files it needs.
to do this
go to start
all programs
accessories
system tools
Disk Defragmenter

then you might see
(c) : Drive
(d) : Drive

click on one and press the defragment button. This should take between 1 - 3 hours depending on computer spec etc.

Try that and see what happens. Get back to me if you would like any other help. Good Luck

[gardenmad]

Hello Rnchugg, I did as you suggested and after hours and hours I see at the bottom of the screen that my Norton 360 symbol has gone - does this mean I am unprotected? And how do I install AVG? Your simple terms were a great help!! Thank you for your help.

[rnchugg]

The Defrag WILL NOT remove or delete any files all it does is just sort them out.
As regards to AVG log onto www.avg.com and download the latest version. It should not interfere with Norton. As regards to your Norton icon sometimes they do disappear.
You can always log onto Norton and just see how it is running.

[rojash]

Under Absolutely NO circumstances should you install AVG without first removing Norton. Never, ever, ever install more than one Antivirus product unless you want a system that is at ware with itself. As for defragging, you might notice the teeny-tiniest speed improvement when loading large files, but a fragmented drive is unlikely to cause the kind of slowdown that you are reporting.

Incidentally, AVG is available from http://free.grisoft.com/