for the record this is the last dell i will ever buy.

i have a dell 8600, it is 3 years old. it has had its problems, this and that and the most recent last spring i got the blue screen and it never would boot up, had to take it to a person to fix it.

and i am not even going to get into about dell not even supplying me with all the required start up disk and the disk for the programs that came with the computer.

now here is the problem, the thing gets slow sometimes, very slow, it runs hot as heck, i mean very hot, i get all kinds of pop ups and constant bugging about installing some stupid virus protection, plus it keeps wanting to put on add ons to ie and now it is getting the same error that caused the blue screen last spring, something about system32.

now, all this would not be making me to angry, but i am comparing it to my other laptop, a compaq. my compaq is 5 years old, has a bootleg windows pro installed and has the exact same virus protection and other things installed as my dell and it gets used just as much. i have never ever had any problems with the compaq, it runs smooth, great, and always has been normal (knock on wood).

so what is my dell's deal? why does it constantly have these little stupid problems with it all the time?

 

my advise if you dont want a new one.

back up the important stuff, reformat the hard drive, reload windows, leave the side of the case off, and put a small 5 inch desk fan, (all steal very quiet, one speed, DIY section in walmart 5 bucks), blowing inside the cpu, it will love you for the remainder of the comps life. seriously.

put back the remaing programs you have, and it will run like a champ.

if you have any extra memory slot available, add a bit of ram.

its all easy to do, dell will walk you through it right over the phone, about an hours worth of time.

i built my pc last year for my home gaming computer, the fan trick makes a huge difference.

 

oh yeah by a new norton program if you dont have one yet, norton system works 2007

 

I haven't had a pop-up since I add the Google tool bar a few years ago. It has a pop-up blocker. Just go to Google.com

 

dell laptops have burts into flames because of faulty batteries. I would google your particular model to see if anyone else has had simular problems.

 

it is a laptop, both my computers.

the battery is not one of the faulty ones, i have google tool bar also.

the thing is, both my computers are set up the same, the same everything and even the same use, except that the compaq has a boot leg windows pro and the dell has xp.

the dell has only been doing this for the last year, the hard drive was formatted this spring after the blue screen stuff and now it is going back to its old habits again.
but yet none of it happens to my compaq, both are on the internet at the same time all the time and both get used the same amount for the same sights....but yet the compaq is fine!!!!!

and to add, i have a real old gateway laptop and that stupid thing is fine (except the dark screen) also and i have never installed anything in the way of pop up blocker, anti virus or anything and it will speed right through the internet quicker and with less problems then the dell.

 

Is this a laptop?

If it is make sure you are not restricting the air ports.. Some models have them on the bottom, side, or back.. NEVER EVER use a laptop on a bed or rug.
That will surely kill it.

They sell a cooling pad for laptops to help cooling.

What you have is a serious case of spyware.. Spyware is not specific to any manufacturer. DELL, Gateway, Compaq, and HP all get spyware....

You need to run Spybot Search and Destroy to keep the junk off. Also stay away from some of the free toolbars, Limewire, **** sites, and other junk sites. That is where you pick up the spyware.

The pop ups for some virus protection is junk Don't buy it..

Run Spybot to see if that cleans it. If that doesn't work then try Smitfraudfix. You can google it.. This is used to remove some of the more nasty spyware programs.

You can do as freirefishing recommended and reformat, but I would stay away from Norton System works. It is expensive and not needed.. In my opinion it is junk.. I do like Norton Antivirus and Ghost, but that is about it..

Norton system works has goback as part of the program and that is junk for restoring back to a previous time. When the hd goes bad you are screwed when trying to recover data..

Also most manufacturers do not give you reinstallation discs.. They now have it as a partition on the HD.. This saves them probably $2.00 and causes the owner to have to repurchase Windows when their HD crashes..

Just my 2 cents

 

It sounds like something is conflicting with the XP version. Have you ever tried hitting cntrl/alt and delete to see if anything is running in the backround that should not be? You can also go to system restore and turn the clock back to where it was running better.

 

i looked at the processes running and it seems a bunch, which ones should be running?

its alien to me, i do not know what none of the processes mean that are running.

i will google around and look for the spy stuff and see how that works.

the restore...the thing hasn't been working right forever it seems.

 

Did you click on applications? Sorry I should have told you that.

 

well, don't know how it will be in the long run, but as of right now, after running that spybot thing, the computer runs great and it is much cooler in temp also.

nothing going on in applications other than ie, processes have a bunch of stuff but hey, it works, i am happy, i learned something, all is good, thanks everyone.

 

Great advice. I just did what you said to my old lap top and its running almost new. Thanks.

 

I think you gave good advice until you said this. You let me down buddy.

I truly detest Norton anything. I swear to you, to all of FTE, and to anyone who may stumble on this post, if i ever see Mr. Norton, i will swiftly kick him in the ***** with all of my might. Im gonna **** my foot way back before it too, maybe ill get a running start.

I think at first when the norton programs came out a ways back (pre win 95 i think) it was a good one. Eventually it turned into the biggest p.o.s ive ever used. I am not exagerating.

This is the first time ive ever heard a positive review of that program.

 

also try clearing history and cookies to and oh boy does the cooling fan pad does help with laptops I found that out also if you have a shop vac flip over laptop and where the fan is turn it on to suck all the dirt out i do that every once in awhile as we can't figure out how to open the back of my compaq laptop lol. hope this help you out too.

 

As far as I'm concerned, Norton is a virus itself.

Jason