Computer question...

Is "doubleclick" a good or bad cookie and if it is a bad cookie (which I thought), then why is it that every time I open LSB, Resident Shield tells me that it has recognised "Doubleclick" opening? Has this "dweeb" somehow connected it to my allowing cookies for LSB? I have so much protection on my computer that I need to understand this. Thanks.

My brother who has the most prehistoric computer known to man on Xp rang me this evening and said his computer was playing up. The outcome was something to do with Virtual Memory used up and Windows will fix the problem. It hasn't. I searched this and realised that it transfers overload? to another drive but....

I told him to use CCleaner for starters that I had loaded on his computer (and which he owned up to having forgotten about) and he promised me he had been cleaning out all the emails etc.

My question is ... when you delete stuff, where does it go? Does it really free up RAM or can you just run out of RAM and need a new computer. There is no way this "monster" would want money spent on it to add RAM, if your could, but I guess I should ask the question - given he is such a low user. What would you all advise?

Short answer is CCleaner + Defraggler + Malwarebytes + add some more RAM.

Best answer is buy a new machine!

Tech answer is that if you use Ccleaner 'stuff' will go completely (well from your FAT at least) which'll reduce the number of files that need indexing and free up HDD memory. Defraggler will order it so access time is improved and Malwarebytes will deal to any residual 'cr*p' that is still there (we all know that's what the 'C' in Ccleaner stands for right

P.

Thanks P. I use Malwarebytes as well but don't remember downloading it onto his computer. Will check after a Defrag - which I also didn't think about. Thanks.

What's your opinion of the CCleaner Registry Cleaner? I imagine he will have heaps of left over stuff that I deleted a year or two back but without the confidence to use a Registry Cleaner. Any risks? I have used it myself without any problems.

I'd like to do a more intensive one on my own computer and was looking at Comodo but the warnings about it being very aggressive put me off. PC Cleaner (I think) told me I had 45 things to clean up whereas CCleaner only ever finds about four - or leave it alone as I am having no problems.

DiDi;330410 wrote: What's your opinion of the CCleaner Registry Cleaner? I imagine he will have heaps of left over stuff that I deleted a year or two back but without the confidence to use a Registry Cleaner. Any risks? I have used it myself without any problems.

Others such as Phaedrus, KiwiJon and Optrex may have a different recommendation for you on this subject DiDi, but I can only give you my 2c worth...

I haven't used a registry cleaner on any of my PCs for about the last 8 years (since I ditched Windows 98 and changed to XP) and have not suffered any ill effects because of it.

Having said that, I am not a person who constantly installs and uninstalls software, so maybe that is why I have got away with it.

I am a firm believer in the old adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and I think a lot of the companies trying to convince you of the need to clean your registry are just trying to peddle their wares on an unsuspecting public. However, as always in this game, YMMV

P.S. For peace-of-mind, I do use Malware Bytes to do a full scan on my desktop and laptop PCs every 2 or 3 months, but it has yet to find anything.

GrantK;330416 wrote: I am a firm believer in the old adage of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" and I think a lot of the companies trying to convince you of the need to clean your registry are just trying to peddle their wares on an unsuspecting public. However, as always in this game, YMMV

I too subscribe to this view. FWIW I deliberately turn off automatic updates on all Windows PC's I install (having had one or two automatically break themselves at various times...).

That said I have used the Ccleaner registry cleaner extensively with no problem, it will save a .reg file for later roll-back if needed. I can't say if it makes a big difference since I've never used it solely without doing a variety of other things at the same time. BTW note I said Defraggler (by Piriform, same people who do Ccleaner), not the inbuilt defragmenter.

Sorry I've no experience of the other apps you mention DiDi, I'm fairly conservative with these things (for good reason, much the same as GK I suspect) which is why I prefer minimalist apps that are largley just automating what I'd othewise do manually. Ccleaner fits in this category and it has a large satisfied base of followers, but it's worth noting that I disallow it to 'phone home (firewall rule, since unticking the box doesn't actually seem to work :rolleyes:).

P.

Jealous of all you ones who have XP I was forced into Windows Vista Business when I bought my computer about two years ago. Lately the fan's going all the time and the computer seems to be working hard. It hangs often and then goes "not responding".

It doesn't help if I scream at it either. [}]

DiDi;330397 wrote: My question is ... when you delete stuff, where does it go? Does it really free up RAM or can you just run out of RAM and need a new computer. There is no way this "monster" would want money spent on it to add RAM, if your could, but I guess I should ask the question - given he is such a low user. What would you all advise?

When you delete stuff it simply disappears. It doesn't actually 'go' anywhere. The space it took up on the disk is marked as 'free', so you can put other files there instead. It does not free up RAM.

You can run out of RAM, but generally you won't since before that happens the OS will simulate the presence of more RAM by using space on the hard drive (this is called 'virtual memory'). Since it is appallingly slow to read and write disk memory (compared to RAM) then everything slows right down.

Once you have de-loused the PC it should run fine again. After all, it *was* working fine, so there's no reason to expect it wouldn't work as well again. Trouble is it takes a lot of time and effort to do this. You could also reformat and reinstall Windows XP.

If he is a 'low' user you could install Linux. It will run adequately on a lower-spec. PC and will not suffer from the same virus and malware problems.

A

DiDi;330397 wrote: My brother who has the most prehistoric computer known to man on Xp rang me this evening and said his computer was playing up. The outcome was something to do with Virtual Memory used up and Windows will fix the problem. It hasn't. I searched this and realised that it transfers overload? to another drive but....

I told him to use CCleaner for starters that I had loaded on his computer (and which he owned up to having forgotten about) and he promised me he had been cleaning out all the emails etc.

My question is ... when you delete stuff, where does it go? Does it really free up RAM or can you just run out of RAM and need a new computer. There is no way this "monster" would want money spent on it to add RAM, if your could, but I guess I should ask the question - given he is such a low user. What would you all advise?

Ok Virtual Memory problems can usually be traced to one of three issues.

1 - The hard drive has run out of space and the area allocated to the pagefile/swap file (known as virtual memory and is usually set to 1.5 times the RAM size) is being used for file storage. Delete un-needed files/programs etc.

2 - The Pagefile/Virtual Memory is corrupted. This can be fixed by setting the Virtual Memory setting to 0Mb, rebooting the PC and then setting the Virtual Memory back again, either allowing Windows to configure it automatically or setting it manually.

To find the Virtual Memory settings go to Start- right mouse on My Computer - select Properties - select Advanced tab - Performance (Settings) - Advanced tab - Virtual Memory (Change). Set Virtual Memory to
'No paging file' - Set - OK. Ignore warnings about Virtual Memory and reboot PC. Go back into Virtual Memory settings, Set Virtual Memory setting to 'System Managed Size' - Set - OK. Reboot PC.

3 - This issue sometimes appears when using MS Word or MS Outlook (when Outlook is using MS Word as the editor) and is due to a corrupt default Word template called normal.dot. The fix for this is to close Word/Outlook, search for normal.dot and delete all instances of it. Restarting Word will recreate the normal.dot.

Running CCleaner, Malwarebytes, RegCleaner etc will not fix this issue.

SarahM;330422 wrote: It doesn't help if I scream at it either. [}]

Ah, something that doesn't respond to feminine persuasion, interesting..

Actually you could put XP on - since you have VB that gives you the right to install XPPro, so long as the drivers are available for your machine.

Whether that's the best course of action is another thing, there are a few reasons that coud explain why your fan is operating as it is, not in the least that it simply requires cleaning! As for the other issues, well I'd still start with exactly the same thing suggested for DiDi (although personally I'd rather use DOS than Vista [xx(]).

kiwi_jon; wrote: Running CCleaner, Malwarebytes, RegCleaner etc will not fix this issue.

Well they may not but they could. More importantly it's a simple and reasonably benign operation that'll clear the way of other potential issues and most likely improve machine operation anyway. It's entirely possible messing with the paging file will assist too but it's modifying things and it's also been a long time since I've needed to do that - mind you I'm lucky in that I rarely need to deal with domestic machines that are probably more susceptible to issues than those I do work with. Anyway it'll be interesting to get a report on how it goes in the end.

P.

SarahM;330422 wrote: Jealous of all you ones who have XP I was forced into Windows Vista Business when I bought my computer about two years ago. Lately the fan's going all the time and the computer seems to be working hard. It hangs often and then goes "not responding".

Usually a hard running fan means your computer needs a clean.
A Physical clean, not software.
A lot of the computers I see are so full of dust, furballs and hair, that the fan is struggling to move an adequate amount of cooling air around the inside of the computer. Components get hot, and the computer winds the fan up to try to cool down again.

You'll need to disconnect it, take it outside, open the case and start blowing. Don't use a vacuum, or air compressor unless you know what you are doing.

I used to work in IT a long time ago when I was in the Air Force. Some of the computers that came from the hangars for cleaning..... well they had resident colonies of spiders in there. [}] Not to mention a thick swathe of dust.

I can't really open my computer up because it's a laptop. Might get it serviced and add some RAM. It could do with another 1Gb.

Phaedrus - I could put XP on - infact I would love to. But there are so many things on this Toshiba computer - like the camera and finger print scanner, that don't have XP drivers. I feel I'm too far gone into the world of Vista to turn back now.

I am finding that tracking cookies slow my computer down a lot! When it gets bad I get AVG onto them, have a good clean out, and things are back to normal again. Have set computer to not accept tracking cookies, but still some got through. :confused:

SarahM;330453 wrote: Phaedrus - I could put XP on - infact I would love to. But there are so many things on this Toshiba computer - like the camera and finger print scanner, that don't have XP drivers. I feel I'm too far gone into the world of Vista to turn back now.

Last Christmas, I upgraded Inger's Toshiba laptop from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Toshiba provided all the drivers on their website, and it was basically a walk in the park. Win 7 runs so much better on the same hardware that it's like a different laptop! Recommended [8D]

P - thanks for the Defraggler tip from Piriform. Downloaded and used it today and very impressed. I thought Vista did it's own Defrag but obviously not!

Thanks for your previous replies. Alas - it has not fixed his issues so I have convinced him it is time for a new computer!

So - what would you all recommend? Wants Desktop (not Laptop) and is on Broadband. Presently 1Mb/ps download but I suspect that has more to do with his present computer than what the line is capable of given the area has been upgraded - but I doubt ADSL2. He is not a big user but I suspect once he gets a new computer that actually goes, he will become a big user! You Tube etc listening to music etc.

Has recently bought a Brother MXC 255CW multi function printer. Not a gamer, that I know of,but may discover that as well. Won't want to spend megabucks either. Your advise appreciated.