dell p4 comp takes minutes to completely boot
- Thread starter daves66nova
- Start date
- Status
C:\Program Files\Common Files\New Boundary\PrismXL\PRISMXL.SYS
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\CounterSpy\SBCSSvc.exe
I didn't like those two. What are those? A lot of "spyware removal" stuff out there are spyware themselves.
Stick with Spybot S&D.
Also, update your printer drivers. I noticed you have a Lexmark. I had some cruddy Lexmark drivers once.
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\CounterSpy\SBCSSvc.exe
I didn't like those two. What are those? A lot of "spyware removal" stuff out there are spyware themselves.
Stick with Spybot S&D.
Also, update your printer drivers. I noticed you have a Lexmark. I had some cruddy Lexmark drivers once.
On top of that do you really need iTunes helper, AOL toolbar, and Lexmark toolbar?
Run pagedefrag
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/PageDefrag.mspx
Go into BIOS and disable any features you don't need or use like serial ports, floppy disk drives (if you don't have one), I/O ports, etc...
Go use spybot or what have you and run Trend Micro's free browser virus scan
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
I bet the pagefile is pretty big since it only has 384mb's of ram. See if it changes if you change the pagefile to 600mb's (max and min)
Run pagedefrag
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/PageDefrag.mspx
Go into BIOS and disable any features you don't need or use like serial ports, floppy disk drives (if you don't have one), I/O ports, etc...
Go use spybot or what have you and run Trend Micro's free browser virus scan
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
I bet the pagefile is pretty big since it only has 384mb's of ram. See if it changes if you change the pagefile to 600mb's (max and min)
Counterspy is one of the, if not the best antispyware program out there and the new version is very fast. I'd keep that!
Go do some bad surfing with an old version of Explorer and see what Spybot will do to fix the damage. I'll give you a hint, it will do NOTHING to fix the really bad malware. Counterspy will beta sbybot like a readheaded stepchild.
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Go do some bad surfing with an old version of Explorer and see what Spybot will do to fix the damage. I'll give you a hint, it will do NOTHING to fix the really bad malware. Counterspy will beta sbybot like a readheaded stepchild.
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Last edited:
I am also using Counter Spy. Does not seem to slow the computer much and is effective. Also like Trend Micro's House Call. I have a Dell P4 2.66 ghz with 1G of Ram. Was booting pretty slow. Installed a new hard drive and XP Pro. Booting much faster. However, every program I install slows things down a little. I installed a Lexmark driver and booting since then has been noticeably slower. I tend to use CCleaner a lot to fix registry errors and have been using Advanced Windows Care Pro. There is a free version. The experts here can say if it is a good program. My experience it tends to keep the computer sailing happily along.
Originally Posted By: JustinH
get rid of the zone alarm firewall and the spyware thing you have running.
You don't need either if you have a hardware firewall, and they suck cpu cycles, especially on a slower machine.
Dump the software firewall, but KEEP an ASW resident. That is more important than AV nowadays.
This system looks to need a cyber enema. A little too much poop is running resident on it at startup for its age. I agree that the old HDD is probably sucking wind at this point having to boot up that large a load. On top of everything else, some may be asking for scans or checking themselves for updates.
Slash the start up apps to the bare minimum. And a defrag and registry defrag never hurts. Some apps are obnoxious and the only way to completely shut them off is to uninstall them.
Like people, as computers age, you have to be willing to ask a little less of them. Especially Dells.
get rid of the zone alarm firewall and the spyware thing you have running.
You don't need either if you have a hardware firewall, and they suck cpu cycles, especially on a slower machine.
Dump the software firewall, but KEEP an ASW resident. That is more important than AV nowadays.
This system looks to need a cyber enema. A little too much poop is running resident on it at startup for its age. I agree that the old HDD is probably sucking wind at this point having to boot up that large a load. On top of everything else, some may be asking for scans or checking themselves for updates.
Slash the start up apps to the bare minimum. And a defrag and registry defrag never hurts. Some apps are obnoxious and the only way to completely shut them off is to uninstall them.
Like people, as computers age, you have to be willing to ask a little less of them. Especially Dells.
Last edited:
I didn't say you had to get rid of the ZoneAlarm and spyware forever, but at least uninstall them to see if that is problem. You can always put them back on.
Another to try is to make sure that your hard drive is running in DMA mode. I have seen some revert back to PIO mode and they are slower than sin that way. Look in the Device Manager and check the IDE Channels to make sure that they are set to DMA.
Another to try is to make sure that your hard drive is running in DMA mode. I have seen some revert back to PIO mode and they are slower than sin that way. Look in the Device Manager and check the IDE Channels to make sure that they are set to DMA.
Quote:
...Especially Dells.
To expect anything out of Dell is asking a LOT. And this comes from someone who performs warranty work on Dells.
My best advice is to go into msconfig, disable everything except your anti-virus. Zone Alarm is a good program, but it does hog resources and it can prevent program/internet access easily if you're not sure of what you're doing (I'm not saying you are, just stating what I think about Zone Alarm).
If things improve, turn on Zone Alarm and see if things suddenly slow down. If so, you've found the culprit. If things do not improve, update AVG, reboot into safe mode and run a virus scan.
If nothing is found, run a check disk by right clicking on your C: (or whichever letter) drive -> Properties -> Tools tab -> Error/disk checking -> check both boxes and reboot and allow the check disk to finish.
After it's done with that, run the disk defragmenter.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
...Especially Dells.
To expect anything out of Dell is asking a LOT. And this comes from someone who performs warranty work on Dells.
My best advice is to go into msconfig, disable everything except your anti-virus. Zone Alarm is a good program, but it does hog resources and it can prevent program/internet access easily if you're not sure of what you're doing (I'm not saying you are, just stating what I think about Zone Alarm).
If things improve, turn on Zone Alarm and see if things suddenly slow down. If so, you've found the culprit. If things do not improve, update AVG, reboot into safe mode and run a virus scan.
If nothing is found, run a check disk by right clicking on your C: (or whichever letter) drive -> Properties -> Tools tab -> Error/disk checking -> check both boxes and reboot and allow the check disk to finish.
After it's done with that, run the disk defragmenter.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Because they like it? Because they don't think it's a POS? Because it does work?
Also, I must have the world's only Dell that runs strong even after almost 4 years... Albeit, I've upgraded the graphics, memory, and cooling....
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Because they like it? Because they don't think it's a POS? Because it does work?
Also, I must have the world's only Dell that runs strong even after almost 4 years... Albeit, I've upgraded the graphics, memory, and cooling....
Last edited:
I just looked up Counter Spy. Looks like a solid product, has lots of recommendations, except IT'S NOT FREE! How can you diss a free product over the virtues of a paid product? I'll still recommend Spybot S&D cuz it's free. The same way I'll take "AVG Free" over "Norton Expensive as Heck", any day.
I use Firefox with the NoScript extension and "ask me every time" cookies on. Spyware doesn't come up on my threat list very often.
I use Firefox with the NoScript extension and "ask me every time" cookies on. Spyware doesn't come up on my threat list very often.
Last edited:
I paid for Counter Spy because other things were not working. It found things that others did not. That being said, I am much wiser now. It has not found any spyware, not even a cookie for the past 6-months using some of the above mentioned things. My Dell is working very well. New hard drive and fresh install XP has taken away years of age. Working better then new (but I did not install those extra programs that come loaded on a new computers) and have installed programs I have found to work without using too many resources.
Originally Posted By: Jethro
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Because they like it? Because they don't think it's a POS? Because it does work?
Also, I must have the world's only Dell that runs strong even after almost 4 years... Albeit, I've upgraded the graphics, memory, and cooling....
Yea, it works for toolbars. YAY. Get something truely malacious on your machine and your defensless with Spybot. Research it. It's old, antiquated and is useless against modern threats. It has no protection at all against new trojan type malware
There's other free software out there that are so far above and beyond Spybot. AVG, A2, Superantispyware, Spyware terminator, BoClean (recommended), Prevx, Threatfire.
One thing to remember (and no, Spybots p.o.s. teatimer IS NOT true real time protection): the free products except Boclean, spyware terminator, prevx, and threatfire, have no real time protection. So by the time you find out your compromised, it's too late. That's why people pay.
Spybot and Adware are useless wastes of space in the modern malware arena.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Why do people still even mention that pos of a program...
Because they like it? Because they don't think it's a POS? Because it does work?
Also, I must have the world's only Dell that runs strong even after almost 4 years... Albeit, I've upgraded the graphics, memory, and cooling....
Yea, it works for toolbars. YAY. Get something truely malacious on your machine and your defensless with Spybot. Research it. It's old, antiquated and is useless against modern threats. It has no protection at all against new trojan type malware
There's other free software out there that are so far above and beyond Spybot. AVG, A2, Superantispyware, Spyware terminator, BoClean (recommended), Prevx, Threatfire.
One thing to remember (and no, Spybots p.o.s. teatimer IS NOT true real time protection): the free products except Boclean, spyware terminator, prevx, and threatfire, have no real time protection. So by the time you find out your compromised, it's too late. That's why people pay.
Spybot and Adware are useless wastes of space in the modern malware arena.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Yea, it works for toolbars. YAY. Get something truely malacious on your machine and your defensless with Spybot. Research it. It's old, antiquated and is useless against modern threats. It has no protection at all against new trojan type malware
There's other free software out there that are so far above and beyond Spybot. AVG, A2, Superantispyware, Spyware terminator, BoClean (recommended), Prevx, Threatfire.
One thing to remember (and no, Spybots p.o.s. teatimer IS NOT true real time protection): the free products except Boclean, spyware terminator, prevx, and threatfire, have no real time protection. So by the time you find out your compromised, it's too late. That's why people pay.
I use AVG. I use ZoneAlarm. I have a physical firewall. I run Spybot S&D maybe once a month. It usually finds the tracking cookies that updates and installations have placed in IE for some reason (I don't browse with IE, btw) I don't use TeaTimer because it has never worked right anyway. I practice safe browsing habits as I have already described before (Firefox, NoScript, selective cookies). I run Trend Micro HouseCall every now and then to see if I'm doing allright. It never finds anything. I have no system problems whatsoever and I know what each and every one of my system processes in task manager belongs to. I (or most anyone else) don't need to pay $20 a year for spyware protection. That's all I'm sayin' man.
I used to pay for Trend Micro PC-Cillin every year. It had anti-virus and anti-spyware. It never found anymore than AVG and Spybot do, which has always been a negligible amount anyway seeing as I have preventative security in place anyway.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Spybot and Adware are useless wastes of space in the modern malware arena.
They're free... They do plenty, considering no one wants money from you to use their software.
Yea, it works for toolbars. YAY. Get something truely malacious on your machine and your defensless with Spybot. Research it. It's old, antiquated and is useless against modern threats. It has no protection at all against new trojan type malware
There's other free software out there that are so far above and beyond Spybot. AVG, A2, Superantispyware, Spyware terminator, BoClean (recommended), Prevx, Threatfire.
One thing to remember (and no, Spybots p.o.s. teatimer IS NOT true real time protection): the free products except Boclean, spyware terminator, prevx, and threatfire, have no real time protection. So by the time you find out your compromised, it's too late. That's why people pay.
I use AVG. I use ZoneAlarm. I have a physical firewall. I run Spybot S&D maybe once a month. It usually finds the tracking cookies that updates and installations have placed in IE for some reason (I don't browse with IE, btw) I don't use TeaTimer because it has never worked right anyway. I practice safe browsing habits as I have already described before (Firefox, NoScript, selective cookies). I run Trend Micro HouseCall every now and then to see if I'm doing allright. It never finds anything. I have no system problems whatsoever and I know what each and every one of my system processes in task manager belongs to. I (or most anyone else) don't need to pay $20 a year for spyware protection. That's all I'm sayin' man.
I used to pay for Trend Micro PC-Cillin every year. It had anti-virus and anti-spyware. It never found anymore than AVG and Spybot do, which has always been a negligible amount anyway seeing as I have preventative security in place anyway.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Spybot and Adware are useless wastes of space in the modern malware arena.
They're free... They do plenty, considering no one wants money from you to use their software.
I'll give you some malware samples or some websites and you can test it yourself and see that it does nothing.
Trojans/malacious keyloggers - the stuff that will actually compromise your identity - Spybot is worthless against.
Again, I gave a list of good products that will detect the truly nasty stuff for free.
Trojans/malacious keyloggers - the stuff that will actually compromise your identity - Spybot is worthless against.
Again, I gave a list of good products that will detect the truly nasty stuff for free.
Okay Drew, I'll give some of those a try. If I like one of them better, I'll use it. I'll still never pay, though.
Wouldn't a keylogger be caught by ZoneAlarm anyway? Suspicious outgoing traffic?
Wouldn't a keylogger be caught by ZoneAlarm anyway? Suspicious outgoing traffic?
Last edited:
Did you ever give them a try Jethro?
COMODO BOClean is neat. I'm running it currently. It sits in the background and monitors in real-time. Of course, it hasn't found anything. There's nothing to find.
The other products didn't appeal to me.
The other products didn't appeal to me.
Get rid of those toolbars!!!!! And MSCONFIG and uncheck those ITUNES items. NO reason to have those running at startup. And after you disconnect your ipod, Ctl-alt-del and go to 'processes' and stop the ipod services manually or they wont shut off, and will continue to use resources.
Originally Posted By: Tim H.
Get rid of those toolbars!!!!! And MSCONFIG and uncheck those ITUNES items. NO reason to have those running at startup. And after you disconnect your ipod, Ctl-alt-del and go to 'processes' and stop the ipod services manually or they wont shut off, and will continue to use resources.
who,me?
Get rid of those toolbars!!!!! And MSCONFIG and uncheck those ITUNES items. NO reason to have those running at startup. And after you disconnect your ipod, Ctl-alt-del and go to 'processes' and stop the ipod services manually or they wont shut off, and will continue to use resources.
who,me?
- Status
