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Vista computer not working well lately

D

dee_can

Contributor
Joined
Aug 19, 2012
Posts
159
Location
Canada
Hi, I’m not overly happy with my computer’s performance lately. I’d say the last 4 – 6 months it’s been slower than usual when it comes to internet performance. It’s a Toshiba laptop with Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2; Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB. I’ve kept it updated, I run Malwarebytes and Superantispyware regularly, Spywareblaster, and MSE. I also ran defrag a couple of times in the last month.

First my computer started to not open very quickly when I launch Internet Explorer. It stalls on my homepage (which is the homepage for my service provider), and sometimes it doesn’t open at all or hangs for long periods of time. I’ll get the error message, “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”. I'd say this happens over 50% of the time. This doesn’t happen on my desktop (XP) when I open up the same homepage, btw.

I’ve also noticed when I go to usual pages that I browse, for instance an online ordering website that I typically use, it will hang when I try to advance to the next page on the order form. Then I get the message that (insert website name).com is not responding, along with the option to ‘recover the webpage’. When I do recover the webpage, I obviously lose all the previous information that I had typed into the online order form, so I have to start all over again. And strangely, I don't have problems with all websites... I don't think.

Any idea what the problem could be? Could it be that my Vista computer just isn't compatible with some websites anymore? If you need any more information than I’ve given, let me know. Thank you.
 
Thank you BlueRobot. I think I have the results : P - should I post them here or start a new thread as per the instructions for BSOD?
 
I don't know if you need this too? I should mention that my computer is acting strange here, too, while I'm trying to reply - it's stalling and closed out one time.
 

Attachments

Hey there dee_can,

Please can you upload your event viewer logs:

- open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc)
- expand the Custom Views category (left click on the > next to the words "Custom Views")
- right click on Administrative Events
- select "Save all Events in Custom View as..."
- save the file as Admin.evtx
- zip up the file (right click on it, select "Send to", select "Compressed (zipped) folder")
- upload it with your next post (if it's too big, then upload it to a free file-hosting service and post a link here).

Kind regards,
Stephen
 
I'll reduce the number of programs at startup, you will only need your touchpad driver, AV program and a few other basic drivers enabled at boot.


  1. Start
  2. Type: msconfig
  3. Select the Startup tab
  4. Untick everything apart from the mentioned programs

I would check if you need any of these bloatware programs:

Code: 
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Bluetooth   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\CD&DVD Applications
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\ConfigFree   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Networking   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Speech System   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Utilities    
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA DVD PLAYER

Factory bloatware can often slow down and corrupt your system.

Have you ensured all your on demand malware scanners such as Malwarebytes and MSE are fully updated? I would suggest running full scans with these programs too.

Your Realtek RTL8102E network adapter seems to be disabled too, did you disable it yourself?
 
Tekno Venus said:
Hey there dee_can,

Please can you upload your event viewer logs:

- open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc)
- expand the Custom Views category (left click on the > next to the words "Custom Views")
- right click on Administrative Events
- select "Save all Events in Custom View as..."
- save the file as Admin.evtx
- zip up the file (right click on it, select "Send to", select "Compressed (zipped) folder")
- upload it with your next post (if it's too big, then upload it to a free file-hosting service and post a link here).

Kind regards,
Stephen
Click to expand...

Hi Teckno Venus, Hopefully this is the correct file that you requested.
 

Attachments

x BlueRobot said:
I'll reduce the number of programs at startup, you will only need your touchpad driver, AV program and a few other basic drivers enabled at boot.


  1. Start
  2. Type: msconfig
  3. Select the Startup tab
  4. Untick everything apart from the mentioned programs

I would check if you need any of these bloatware programs:

Code: 
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Bluetooth   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\CD&DVD Applications
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\ConfigFree   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Networking   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Speech System   
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA\Utilities    
Start Menu\Programs\TOSHIBA DVD PLAYER

Factory bloatware can often slow down and corrupt your system.
Click to expand...

I probably don't need any of the above programs that you listed. At least I don't think. I was never really sure what I need to keep on my computer, so I've never really changed anything.

Have you ensured all your on demand malware scanners such as Malwarebytes and MSE are fully updated? I would suggest running full scans with these programs too.
Click to expand...

Yes, I always update the malware scanners prior to scanning. I don't often run the full scans, though, just the quick ones. I'll run the full scans and see if anything comes up.

Your Realtek RTL8102E network adapter seems to be disabled too, did you disable it yourself?
Click to expand...

Yes, I noticed that in one of the reports that I attached. No, I didn't disable it myself. Should I do anything about it? Thanks.
 
Hi, Dianne.

Remember, you have WinPatrol installed on your computer. You can remove those Toshiba items from start-up with WinPatrol. Removing a program from start up will not delete the program from your hard drive. It will remove only the entry for that program in the Start up Programs list, preventing the program from restarting every time your system does.

It is as easy to remove programs from start up as it is to add programs with WinPatrol. If unsure on whether you want the program removed from start up, you can also disable Program Start up and then re-enable it if you change your mind. For programs you do not want starting at Windows launch, it is recommended to remove them from start up.


  • Right-click Scotty in the system tray to launch WinPatrol, selecting "Options", accepting any UAC prompt.
  • Click the Start up Programs tab in WinPatrol.
  • Right-click on the software to be removed from start up and select Remove.
    If the program is currently running, the Remove action will also allow you to shut it down.
  • The final prompt will be to click Yes to confirm removing the software from start up.

Should you remove something from start-up, you can easily reverse the process. (Additional information here: Start Up Programs: Remove, Add, Disable)
 
Hi Corrine, Actually... I took WinPatrol off my computer a few months ago. :embarrasment5: I thought maybe it was slowing down my computer, but I think it's other things - especially since my computer remained slow after uninstalling it. Can you point me to the download link for it?

Corrine said:
Removing a program from start up will not delete the program from your hard drive. It will remove only the entry for that program in the Start up Programs list, preventing the program from restarting every time your system does.
Click to expand...

Ah. I was wondering about that - thanks for explaining. And thank you for explaining how to use WinPatrol to disable the programs from startup.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
x BlueRobot said:
Have you ensured all your on demand malware scanners such as Malwarebytes and MSE are fully updated? I would suggest running full scans with these programs too.
Click to expand...

BlueRobot, Just to let you know, I ran full scans last night for Malwarebytes and Superantispyware, and everything turned up clean.

D.
 
Hi, Dianne.

Do you have a 3rd party firewall installed at all, or are you using the Windows Firewall. Reason I ask is that I'm seeing quite a few 0xc0000005 WER Exception codes in the event logs, and they are often caused by a 3rd party firewall.

If you are, please uninstall it and use the Windows Firewall for testing. You can enable the Windows Firewall in Control Panel.

Do you use a Lexmark printer per chance? I'm seeing quite a few errors related to the Lexmark printing software you have installed. Can you uninstall the Lexmark software for testing? You can always reinstall if it doesn't help.

Before I go on with some more steps, I must ask, are you comfortable using the command prompt? I will guide you through it, but before I go ahead, I want to make sure you are comfortable. If not, there are other options.

Stephen
 
Tekno Venus said:
Hi, Dianne.

Do you have a 3rd party firewall installed at all, or are you using the Windows Firewall. Reason I ask is that I'm seeing quite a few 0xc0000005 WER Exception codes in the event logs, and they are often caused by a 3rd party firewall.

If you are, please uninstall it and use the Windows Firewall for testing. You can enable the Windows Firewall in Control Panel.
Click to expand...

Hi Stephen, No, I don't have a 3rd party firewall installed - that I know of, at least none that I've intentionally installed. I've always had Windows Firewall turned on.

Do you use a Lexmark printer per chance? I'm seeing quite a few errors related to the Lexmark printing software you have installed. Can you uninstall the Lexmark software for testing? You can always reinstall if it doesn't help.
Click to expand...

Yes, I use a Lexmark printer. I get a lot of error messages for the printer eventhough the printer is turned off most of the time. The error messages seem to show up when I'm not even printing - something about 'communications have stopped with the printer'. I just close the message and forget about it. ha I'll uninstall the software and see how my computer works without it. The thing is, I do use a printer occasionally from my laptop.

Before I go on with some more steps, I must ask, are you comfortable using the command prompt? I will guide you through it, but before I go ahead, I want to make sure you are comfortable. If not, there are other options.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm comfortable using the command prompt. Thanks for your help.
 
Hi again,

Firewall wise, OK that's fine. I just wanted to check.

Lexmark - that makes sense when compared to Event Viewer, Event Viewer is also reporting events like that.

Let's see if I can work out why Internet Explorer keeps crashing. That's going to be the goal of my next few steps. Basically, I'm going to open Internet Explorer through a program called ProcDump, which is going to monitor IE and if it crashes, is instantly going to save a dump file containing information about the crash. At least, that's the plan! Le'ts get started.

Start by downloading ProcDump.exe from here --> http://live.sysinternals.com/procdump.exe. Download and save this file to

C:\

I.e the C drive on your computer. This is important.

Once you have saved the file, open an Elevated Command Prompt as shown here: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...-prompt-window-windows-windows-vista-7-a.html

In the command prompt type:

C:\procdump -h -ma -n 3 -x C:\TeknoVenus "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"

And press enter. Internet Explorer will launch. Don't close the command prompt window.

Use IE as normal until it hangs and stop responding. When it does, ProcDump will create a dump file in C:\TeknoVenus. It will called iexplore_DATE_AND_TIME_OF_CRASH.dmp. Zip up this file and either upload it here, or if it's too large, upload it to a free file sharing site. Note that ProcDump is configured to create up to 3 dumps before it stops monitoring. So if you have multiple hangs, that's OK, it will create a dump for each one.

Any questions, just ask.

Stephen
 
I installed WinPatrol and here's the programs on startup. I really can't tell which ones I need, which ones are drivers, etc. Also I'll post the list of startup programs in the system configuration. Are all of these the same as in WinPatrol?

WinPatrol:

Capture.JPG


System Configuration:

Capture2.JPGCapture3.JPGCapture4.JPG
 
Stephen, I followed your instructions, and just copied and pasted C:\procdump -h -ma -n 3 -x C:\TeknoVenus "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" at the C prompt, but it says it is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Also, I have to be away from the computer for awhile, so I will continue later today. Thanks.
 

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