laptop help/info

[HandyAndy]

i,m sure this forum has knowledge & skills beyond building cars so does anyone have any idea,s / suggestions why my laptop runs slow in the evenings? its fine during the day but i,ve noticed it really slows down after 6pm:confused:

what i know about computers could be written on the back of a postage stamp :o
mobile communications to me is a carrier pigeon or 2 tins with string attached :o :D
so any help with suggestions to speed up my laptop would be greatly welcomed, at times i have time to make a coffee whilst i,m waiting for a page to load.

cheers
andy

[Chris Gibbs]

It's most likely to be your broadband speed than your laptop Andy.

You are on Broadband aren't you?

You can test your speed at

speed test (http://www.speedtest.net/)

Cheers

Chris :)

[londonsean69]

As Chris says - it's rush hour, everyone gets in from work, boots up and logs on to check their email.

It's BT broadbands latest advertising campaign.

With 20mb broadband I don't really notice:D

[HandyAndy]

thanks Chris,

erm i think so :o i have one of those dongle things stuck in the side of the laptop, its on "3" broadband, the actual laptop is fairly new, 250hd, whatever that does :D

i,ll try that test & see if it helps, the 1 thought i did have was i now have all my build photos on the laptop so thought that might be slowing it down? or maybe i,m way off the mark with that thought :o

it just seems odd that it only really slows down in the evening:confused:

lets hope its not me being a total numpty

cheers
andy

[londonsean69]

250 HD is a 250gb hard drive, it's where everything gets stored.

I very much doubt your photos would be slowing it down, because they are just in storage.

What slows them down is having lots of programs open.

Also, it's a good idea to have a backup of your files (photos) elsewhere - hard drives do fail

As for it slowing only in the evening, it is when most people get on the net. It's a bit like a motorway - during the day, most people who are on there have reason to be (salesmen, delivery drivers etc.), in rush hour, everyone is out.
During the day, the ISP will be full of business traffic, and they pay for dedicated hosting (We have a 1 GB/Second thing going on with IBM), in the evening, everyone is using it, thus clogging it up a bit

[HandyAndy]

cheers Sean,

yes i have my photos on a memory stick too, but also like having my build photos for reference with me during the day etc ,

i,ll try that test that Chris gave link to, i have set my laptop to "backup" on a weekly basis but does this also "clean up" the disk space? not knowing what i,m saying but have read about a system tool called "defrag" , does that get done automatically?
thanks for the help & please excuse my lack of knowledge :o

i still use an abacus not a pocket calculator:D

cheers
andy

ps, sorry i forgot to mention that i usually only have 3 programs working, my email system, this forum & Ebay, it should cope with that do you think?

[gingea1pom]

Andy I have the same dongle thing as you I think a “3”.

When I log on at about 7pm like you I can make a brew whilst a page loads, however when I am back at home, I am plugged into (wirelessly) broadband and it is fast.

Just slow in the evening with a dongle!

cheers Ginge

[Tatey]

Defragging a computer only really made a difference with low speed computers back in the day (or so i understand), so there really isnt much point in doing it.

When you say it slows down in the evening, do you mean just when browsing websites e.g. this forum, or the entire computer, as in when flicking through pictures?

If its the first 1, then its just the internet, and the only way to make it seem like it's not happening, is to get a better internet connect e.g. 20mb broadband, which you'll need to have setup in your house (you can't get it on a dongle at the moment).

[HandyAndy]

ah so its not me then :cool:

i do have a wireless router on the main home computer but its not working at the mo, no idea why, so thats why i,m using the dongle thing.

when the home computer is working i never have a speed prob as i have got 20mb broadband,

i suppose its time for me to get it fixed, hmmm ....with christmas around the corner it might have to wait a bit longer :o :rolleyes:

thanks for your help guys.

cheers
andy

[HandyAndy]

When you say it slows down in the evening, do you mean just when browsing websites e.g. this forum, or the entire computer, as in when flicking through pictures?



some times when i click to view a thread on this forum it takes ages to load & at times it takes soooooo long that the system then crashes saying "internet explorer cannot load this page" or if after i,ve read a post & click to return to the main forum page it seems to get stuck & won,t do anything at all :confused:

cheers
andy

ps.. i take it defrag is a thing of the past? i remember doing it on an old amiga computer, thats right around the same time when the sinclair zx came out, i now feel very old :D

[gingea1pom]

Andy,

I still defrag and I am sure it speeds the compooter up, takes ages though.

[HandyAndy]

Andy,

I still defrag and I am sure it speeds the compooter up, takes ages though.

ok thanks Ginge, i,ll defrag later tonight after i test the broadband speed link & see if it all helps,
i,ve just looked at the system & its telling me i still have 71% of HD space available so that would indicate thats not a problem.

hmmmm

cheers
andy:)

[ozzy1]

You will also find that your 'dongle' you are using at the moment compared to your home network will also have a slower download speed and this can also be affected by where you are in your house (signal strength).Also as stated by everyone more traffic in the evening which slows it down.

[HandyAndy]

thanks Ozzy,

as you say, i,m used to the main home computer speed with 20mb of broadband so when this dongle goes so slow at times its really noticeable :eek:
maybe i should get the home system repaired, kids can do without yet more computer games/ train sets etc for christmas :D

cheers
andy

[ozzy1]

Im sure its prob still faster than my dongle as i work away in the ass end of buttfuck in the middle of nowhere ,just glad to have internet!!

[HandyAndy]

Im sure its prob still faster than my dongle as i work away in the ass end of buttfuck in the middle of nowhere ,just glad to have internet!!

:D sounds just like home from home, some strange place names you have down under :D

thanks for your help,

you,re not near Darwin are you?

andy

[ozzy1]

No, or in Aussie terms nearby,about 20 hour drive.
Live in Perth work away in Newman,WA

[HandyAndy]

i,ve been to Perth once, tho spent many happy drinking days in the orient bar in Sydney ( used to work on cruise ships) happy times in Oz :D

cheers
andy

[ozzy1]

Had happy times in oz in 94/95.Decided had enough of England in 2005 so emigrated here,best decision i ever made.

[VladD]

Hi Andy,

One other thing to check is whether your anti-virus software is scheduled to do a system scan at a set time. It may run in the background, so you may not be aware that it has started, but they do tend to slow things down a lot.

[flyerncle]

Andy try clearing the cache's for internet and cookies etc,you sometimes end up with lots of stuff TSR,(terminate and stay resident) in the memory and this loads everytime you start up.
Control panel and internet settings is where you will find it.
Or give me a bell and I can go through it with you.

[HandyAndy]

thanks VladD / Paul,

i,ll have a go at what you have both suggested & if no luck then maybe Paul could have a look at it later in the week :o :D

me & computers :confused: :confused:

cheers
andy

[flyerncle]

Certainly try mate !:confused:

[HandyAndy]

Certainly try mate !:confused:

i,m sure you,ll have more idea than me :o

like i,ve said before...... when i bought the home pc i bought a cage too......for the mouse :D :rolleyes:

cheers
andy