[graycompsmg]

I've transferred from the Malware forum (post "required steps"). I am having quite a time with my Toshiba laptop (Windows XP). Crustyoldbloke helped take care of the malware issues but the machine is still PAINFULLY slow with all requests.

Booting currently takes 6 minutes (yesterday it was 25 minutes). Boots are unpredictable - sometimes it freezes on the welcome screen. Safe mode is also unpredictable.

I cannot open links within a website.

Plus, I have a lot of trash installed by Toshiba I'd like to get rid of.

I'd appreciate help.

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Hi

Are you normally running the laptop off the battery or off the mains? If you normally use it on the battery only, does plugging the mains power in make any difference to the speed?
Also, have you checked your power management settings for both battery & mains powered configurations? Normally Toshiba laptops give you the option to adjust the CPU & system performance in both of these modes, as well as the timeout limits.

Have tried defragging the hard drive and how much free space do you have on the C drive?
Also, what are the system specs - in particular, CPU speed & amount of ram?

[Samm]

Hi

Are you normally running the laptop off the battery or off the mains? If you normally use it on the battery only, does plugging the mains power in make any difference to the speed?
Also, have you checked your power management settings for both battery & mains powered configurations? Normally Toshiba laptops give you the option to adjust the CPU & system performance in both of these modes, as well as the timeout limits.

Have tried defragging the hard drive and how much free space do you have on the C drive?
Also, what are the system specs - in particular, CPU speed & amount of ram?

[graycompsmg]

Samm, thanks for answering my ping, but, due to your schedule, should I go back into the mix for another staffer? I have spent about 12 hours already trying to get a handle on this - but that was spread over 3 days. I cannot focus on this issue for a full day and I cannot afford to let this drag out if my response does not fall on your day. I am not ungrateful, just mindful of how we can best work together, What do you suggest?

Re: the laptop, I will answer as best as possible. I am not computer literate.

The laptop's function is not associated with the battery. Usually, I run off the power cord. FYI, a few weeks ago, I had a power-down issue - computer would not turn on. Toshiba help desk had me disconnect the battery and power cord and hold the power button down. Then, after putting it all back together, the machine turned on. I have experienced this twice again.

Re: power management, I investigated this recently (after reading about it in a forum) but I have never adjusted it. Under Advanced Performance Options, "Let Windows choose what is best for my computer" is checked as are all the options below that. I do know, however, that defaults such as "hibernate when the top is closed" are not functioning - computer continues to run.

I have defragmented the hard drive last week; it is indicating it is not necessary to do again - capacity is 55.89 GB and free space is 45.44 GB. The computer has an Intel Celeron CPU 2.80GHz with 192 MB of RAM.

[Samm]

Samm, thanks for answering my ping, but, due to your schedule, should I go back into the mix for another staffer?  I have spent about 12 hours already trying to get a handle on this - but that was spread over 3 days.  I cannot focus on this issue for a full day and I cannot afford to let this drag out if my response does not fall on your day.  I am not ungrateful, just mindful of how we can best work together,  What do you suggest?

Thats just my English sense of humour, don't worry about it

From what you've just told me and given that you have had malware issues just prior to this, its starting to sound like the system may just need a fresh install of windows.

I could be wrong, it could be a hardware issue, but unless you are also experiencing other errors, such as read/write errors to the hard drive, blue screen errors, or other windows error messages, it seems unlikely to be the hardware.

Out of interest however, do you have any way of checking the system & CPU temperatures? Normally this can either be done in the bios or using a windows based utility. Let me know if you need more help with this.

Is a fresh install of windows an option for you? ie. do you a system restore CD or an XP CD? And do you have any way of backing up any files that you may wish to keep?

[graycompsmg]

Sorry I missed that, Samm. I saw you were helping quite a few others but...ya never know.

Anyway, I have constant hanging hour glasses - for instance, in waiting on you, I tried to open a Toshiba Diagnostic tool that is installed on the laptop. It will not launch. This seems to be a common thread...some launch, some don't. I get a blank explorer window and hanging hourglass.

Re: temp, I read on a forum a way to tell, but I cannot recall how. Though the machine may run hot sometimes, I haven't noticed it a problem. I have noticed where the fan seems to turn on/off.

Reinstall of Windows is an option (though the reinstall of software, network, printers, etc. is as much a headache) and I'd prefer the best option. Also, perhaps this will allow me to NOT install all the garbage Toshiba put on this machine!

[Samm]

OK, I have to go to bed in a minute (its extremely late here in England!) but in the meantime, download everest from here:
http://majorgeeks.co...tion_d4181.html

run it (it doesn't require installing) and check the system/cpu temps with it.

I'll be back on tomorrow to help you out.

[graycompsmg]

Will do, Samm. However, since I cannot open links, I have to bring this over on a flash. I will and talk to you in the AM.

[graycompsmg]

CPU temp 61 C (142 F)
FUJITSU MHT2060AT 39 C (102 F)

[graycompsmg]

Samm,

UNCLE! I have lost the war. I spent hours again today just trying to get some last critical files off the PC. This is too time consuming! So, I have performed a complete reconfig of the PC - back to factory settings (can't be any worse than it was!!). Can you help me with my last segment of issues - getting rid of all the trash Toshiba put on the machine?

[Samm]

Hi there
When you say 'a complete reconfig', do you mean you've wiped the system & reinstalled everything from scratch using the Toshiba restore CD?

Re. your CPU temp, was that reading taken just after powering the laptop on from cold or had you been using it for a while beforehand?

Can you also tell me what model of Toshiba you have please?