hello,
I am a certified computer Neanderthal........

have a compaq presario about 1 1/2 years old.....with cd drive......windows xp home......ie 7 .....norton 2007......hp officejet 6210xi......hp photosmat 733 camera.......that's all........no games....use computer 98% for getting rid of stuff on ebay........very careful what I look at and open......

acting strange for a few months and finally got worse.........

did a complete system restore with compaq cd......about three times........
did all updates........added norton 2007....
still not much better........

sometimes slow connecting to internet........finally freezes.......restart computer and works ok for short time......then problem starts again........
same with outlook express email accounts.......

when working in folders and try to delete a one picture folder it takes about 10-20 seconds...(use to be instant).........folder does not disappear......have to use back button to get out .....then go back in and it's gone......

even dumping 20-30 items from recycling bin takes about 2-3 minutes....

hp camera won't upload correctly any more......get a script error ........

did a few of those free computer checks and get different results.......

registry mechanic.........153 problems.........
regcure..............827 problems.......
pc doctor .........215 problems.......
registry cleaner ........82 problems........

some of the errors are

30 active x objects
2-3 shared dlls
1 uninstall entry
19 program shortcuts
446 file/path references
26 file types
328 empty registry keys
1 windows startup item
(combination of all reports)

spyware showed 4 items.......went in and dumped temp files and cookies......rescanned and it showed 0

with so little info given here.......is this something that can be fixed by one of these programs?......don't mind buying them if they will do the job.....

thank you for any help.........

i personally would not use norton... un-install that and get avast: http://www.avast.com/eng/download.html

also, kerio firewall: http://www.kerio.com/download.php?la...-win&server=eu

how much memory (RAM) do you have?

my sisters e-machines is going very slow, she has a few games (sims 2, petz 5....) and only 256mb RAM... even opening firefox takes a while!

sorry .....

don't know what numbers to look for for memory.......

processor speed 2.0ghz
512 kb
l.2 cache
333mhz

that's what is on front label.........

system was restarted front recovery cd.......and only small amount of files added back..............

ran great for over a year with no problems.........never had problem with slowing down

If you right click on My Computer then click Properties you will see your RAM amount.

Also what is the exact Compaq Presario model?

compaq presario

sr 1215 CL


111 GB...............total capacity

Just to verify: the RAM is listed as 111 GB? Perhaps 1 GB? or 1.11 GB?

Anyway just some info that you can browse:

Computer here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...&lang=en&cc=us

FAQ's here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...438014&lang=en

System Recovery here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...438014&lang=en

I was wondering what steps you took to Recover your System. A Clean Install should have removed all your problems. Do you know if you ran a Clean or Full or Factory re-install?

2.00 GHz 448 MB of RAM..........

computer came loaded ..........has a cd for standard recovery and full system recovery...........ran full system recovery ............

70% of files re-entered are pictures.........30% were saved emails ,some with ebay web pages........

could one of these files be causing a problem.........

just looked at the hp site ........never dawned on me to check hp site for computer trouble ......only went there for the printer and camera.......

would another full system recovery with the cd......doing 'advanced' -- 'destructvie recovery' to reformat hard drive be something a neanderthal could do......

if so ....do you recomend unistalling printers,camera and added programs first...then restoring......

thank you for the help.........

More details on Recovery Options:

Recovering from recovery discs
Use the following steps to recover the PC from a set of recovery discs (either CDs or DVDs):

1.
Before recovering, back up files from the My Documents folder and from other folders you may have created.
2.
Disconnect all connected devices (such as the Personal Media Drive, USB drives, printer, and fax), remove media from drives, and remove any recently added internal hardware. Do not disconnect the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power cord.
3.
Turn on the PC and press the Esc key when the first logo screen appears.
4.
Insert the first recovery disc into the top CD or DVD drive.
5.
Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to select the CD or DVD drive containing the recovery disc, and press the Enter key to start.
6.
If a screen displays "Press R for recovery options", press the R key.
7.
A screen with a list of options should appear: R, F, and Q. These options can change depending on the state of the hard drive. For example, if the hard drive is new, only R lists.
Select one of the following methods depending on the type of recovery method you want to perform:
*
Press R to perform a standard system recovery.
*
Press F to perform a destructive recovery. This will format the hard drive. If the hard drive is new or has had the recovery partition damaged, this option will also create new partitions and format the drive.
*
Press Q to quit recovery.
8.
Read and respond to each window and screen that appears.
NOTE: When changing discs, do not press the OK button. Instead, wait for the drive to read the disc and automatically continue the recovery.
NOTE: If you are using a supplemental recovery disc (select models only), you must remove the supplemental disc before restarting the PC.
9.
After the System Recovery is complete, the PC restarts and continues into Windows setup. Complete the setup screens and wait until the computer finishes the setup.
NOTE: It may take a long time to complete Windows setup. This time varies and may take over several hours. Recovery times are most affected by using recovery discs that were ordered from HP and/or the amount of files that were stored in the user account folders (Like My Documents and the Desktop).
10.
Before using your PC, update and protect your PC. For more information, refer to Things To Do After Performing a System Recovery in Windows XP .

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph07145

What you have already done is the equivalent of what Microsoft refers to as a Repair Install. This retains your data and programs while just reloading all the XP operating files.

A Destructive or Clean install formats the hard drive which means it removes all data before reinstalling XP in an immaculate condition.

As your problems are not resolved by the Repair option I would recommend the Destructive. Read all the HP info and back up all your data to another drive or removable media. You will have to reinstall all of your hardware accessories and programs as well as Windows Updates. But this should return your computer to an "as new" condition.

hello,

read the links that were posted ........answered most of my questions......

just completed another full system recovery (reformat)...........a day wasted......followed instructions.........it works...but a little sluggish.......

bought the norton 2007 two weeks ago ....loaded........do not want the hassle of returning......

two questions.........

can this norton 2007 and internet explorer 7 be causing some of this slowdown.........

ran 'regcur scan' before I started using the system too much and it detected several errors already........would you recommend buying any of these registry cleaners,computer repair programs ? only be using computer at minimum capacity.....camera pictures,ebay and email........no music ,no programming,no office work,no fancy picture work........

thank you for all your support..........

I recommend NO commercial software for so called performance enhancement.

There is no real need to clean your registry but you can use free programs if you want. CCleaner is a general all around cleaner. Simple and free with a very good reputation.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Norton in a very heavy or invasive program. It was on my first computer and I would never use it again. However since you have it use it.

It does not make much sense that what you describe would be causing problems.

Is the sluggishness only with the internet? In other words working with your documents and pictures etc. works OK?

What is your internet connection? DSL? Cable? USB or Ethernet? What type of modem are you using? I just wonder if your connection might be causing problems?