OT sort of:Anyone use a free Antivirus

Have any of you ever used AVG free? I did several years ago and it speeded things up. My pc is dying I think.

AVG free is what I use. It's caught several things over the years and different machines I had it on

I tried Avast free a few years ago and wasn't impressed. Finally switched to Norton paid. Then they got a little too big for their britches so I gave Avast a try again. It's better now.

As for your PC getting too slow, there are many things that could cause this. Here's a few:
1. hard drive too full (not a usual problem, but possible)
2. too much bloatware on the PC (this is the likely cause - find what programs are running, figure out what you don't need and get rid of them)
3. download CCleaner and run that. It will help get rid of a LOT of junk files.
4. Give Malwarebytes a try. The paid version works in real time, but if you don't frequent questionable sites, then running the program once a month should work just fine.
5. Depending on your version of Windows, you may need to run Disk Defrag (look up how for your version of Windows). If this has never been done, then reboot your PC before bed to give it a fresh start, then run Defrag overnight. It may take several hours. It also may be that Defrag might have to re-start several times if things are bad enough.

There are other things that can be done, but that will be a good start. Anything that Avast, CCleaner or Malwarebytes can scan for, whether the free version can fix or not, will at least help you identify other problems that need attention. Don't know how long you've had your PC, but just remember, it didn't get this way overnight. Don't expect an overnight cure. It will take some work.

I used to see websites as well that would offer to "fix" slow computers as well. I have no experience with them, so cannot comment.

Worked OK for me,Since they stopped "supporting" XP,I haven't needed ANY

Change out your electro-mechanical hard disk (HDD)for a solid state drive (SSD). Dropped my startup time from 3+ minutes to 20 seconds.

W10 has built in anti-virus. That is all I have needed since it was released. I do have malwarebytes but it never Finns anything that got past Windows Defender.

Used to use others but found them to slow things down too much

One more thing I thought about after. Is it your PC that's slow, or just your web browser? If the browser, clear your cache.

Been using it for years.

(reply to post at 02:44:18 12/31/19)

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I second the idea of using Ccleaner. Clean it 4 or 5 times in a row, shut it down, pull the plug and battery for 5 minutes, do a restart and run Ccleaner again. That and using Clcleaner "registry tool" to repair reg items will solve a lot of common problems.

I second the idea of using Ccleaner. Clean it 4 or 5 times in a row, shut it down, pull the plug and battery for 5 minutes, do a restart and run Ccleaner again. That and using Clcleaner "registry tool" to repair reg items will solve a lot of common problems.[/quote]
Or introduce a whole slew of trouble. I question the need to remove the battery? Why would you need to do this?

What do one of those things cost ???? Were you able to install it yourself?

This why i do not run windows , the system i run i do not have any problems . It does do automatic updates on it's own though. And sofqar for the last five years this compuuter has been up and running it has munched up everything that has tried to enter it and spit it out . My brother built this one like all the rest we have had . I buy the pieces and parts that he tells me to get and he puts them together and does the set up . We run on the linex (sp) Fire fox , umbutu . when this one was put together she go the one step down from the fastest hard drive and all kinds of neat stuff i have no idea what it all is , I just know it is fast and for me i should never run out of storeage . with the amount of computer stuff that i have here at the house you would think i am a computer GURU , NOT i am the DUMPING grounds for my brother as he is always dropping off his out cast stuff as new stuff comes out . I have a back up for the one i am on now and a back up for the back up , probably have enough hook wires to direct hook up to any of you . If something did happen i can whip my system open the drawer and grab a disk and reinstall everything . Just have to match disc to computer .

(quoted from post at 11:27:24 12/31/19)

I second the idea of using Ccleaner. Clean it 4 or 5 times in a row, shut it down, pull the plug and battery for 5 minutes, do a restart and run Ccleaner again. That and using Clcleaner "registry tool" to repair reg items will solve a lot of common problems.

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Or introduce a whole slew of trouble. I question the need to remove the battery? Why would you need to do this?[/quote]


I don't know the exact reason in technical terms. I do know that whenever our work computers would start messing up, IT would tell us to do that and 99% of the time it would work. It was described to me as a way to get the computer to reset itself to where it was supposed to be. If that didn't work, it was time for IT to "re-ghost" the stupid thing, which was basically reloading the OS without losing everything. All I know is it works most of the time.

(quoted from post at 19:40:29 12/30/19) Have any of you ever used AVG free? I did several years ago and it speeded things up. My pc is dying I think.

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If you're using Windows 10 there is no need for an antivirus, it comes built in and is VERY vocal if anything suspicious shows up on your computer.

If you're using Windows 10 and your computer is slow try the following:
-Press Ctrl + alt + del and click open task manager
-In the bottom of the window that pops up click the "show more details" arrow
-it will show everything running and how much cpu, ram, and memory is being used
-at the top of the task manager there will be three percentages that are constantly changing. If any of them are over 80 or 90, click on the number and it will show you which programs are hogging your computer in order
-If you find a program your don't need that's hogging, right click it from the list and select "Exit" or close.
-You can also use the task manager to control which programs start automatically when the computer turns on through the startup tab. Click that tab, and right click on the programs you don't want starting automatically, then click disable. Can fix a lot of problems. I only let the windows antivirus and my audio drivers start automatically.

Lemme know if any of that needs clarification!

(quoted from post at 08:38:26 12/31/19) What do one of those things cost ???? Were you able to install it yourself?

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SSD drives are fairly reasonable in price now, and prices for the hard drives is falling through the floor! Of the computer models I've seen, it's quite easy to change out drives. Depends mostly on what brand and model of PC you have.

For videos of how to do this, go to Youtube and type this in:
[b:7b4b5f36e8]Removing and Replacing the Internal Hard Drive[/b:7b4b5f36e8]
There are LOTS of videos there showing how to swap drives on various different machines.

I'm adding this other link as well because I don't know if it will come up in the above search, but it's a longer video and talks also about changing over all of your files, programs and info to the new drive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0nKfoA4Ssg

And finally, one more thing you can do is to boot your computer from an external drive. Doing this "can" make your PC boot faster, as setting up a new drive often bypasses much of the fluff-n-stuff that is slowing down your primary system. BUT.....a lot also has to do with what USB ports you have available. Obviously, the higher the number for your USB port (3.0, 2.0, etc...) the faster data can be read by the machine. For some sites that give good info on how do boot from a portable drive and why this might be a good idea, do a web search for these words:
[b:7b4b5f36e8]Benefits of Booting Windows 10 from External Drive[/b:7b4b5f36e8]

I've been considering making such a portable drive, as it is added security that if anything should ever happen to your machine, it gives you the ability to boot from a different source, then go in and troubleshoot the original problem. You might even want to simply clone your system onto a portable drive so that if your PC ever gets infected with malware or a bad worm/virus, you can simply erase everything on the built-in drive and replace with the system on the portable drive. (sorry if this is reading messy now - too early for by one [i:7b4b5f36e8]good[/i:7b4b5f36e8] brain cell right now!)

Lastly, if you have a desktop or SFF (Small Form Factor) machine, it's possible that the most difficult part of this process is simply getting the cover on/off your machine. If you know how they work, then fairly easy to figure out. If you don't know, you can spend a lot of time using lots of 4-letter words! :shock: But it really is fairly simple. Just take your time and do it all in your mind before trying it for real and there shouldn't be any problems.