Do system refresh? or prob caused by Norton 2007? orMaxtor OneTouch III?

  • Thread starter Thread starter J Knox
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J

J Knox

We have an almost three year old HP Pavilion laptop that is running terribly slow and totally unproductive. Toshiba previously suggested we do a system 'refresh' on another computer almost the same age when I was considering more memory; a refresh really means starting over and rewriting the hard drive & reloading all the programs from scratch. I have not done the 'refresh' on the Toshiba, and really loathe the idea. But as I mentioned, the HP laptop is really sick and practically useless.

Besides Norton 2007 installed in the last month or so, the software for a Maxtor OneTouch III was installed (just last week). Since the Maxtor addition, the HP has been quite sick. I'm ready to throw it out the window! (except I cannot realistically do that)

Here are the HP specs:

2.8 GHz, 512MB DDR SDRM, 40 GB hard drive, Windows XP Home Edition

Do you recommend a refresh?
If you have other ideas on this slow, sick computer, please advise.

(In case you're wondering, the Toshiba is still running Norton Internet Security 2005; Windows XP Professional Edition. But I'm not looking for help on this one---yet! Really concerned about the HP described above.)

Thank you very much.
Joni




EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
 
I agree that a refresh would likely be helpful. some people do it annually
just to keep things running fast. 3 years isn't really that old, lots of
computers are still running well at that age. Norton does slow things down,
and I would either get rid of it or at least adjust it so that it isn't
quite as agressive as it likes to be. Adding RAM would definitely help.
You may be able to add ram or pull out a small module (probably a 256 mb)
and replace it with a larger ram module.
 
J said:
We have an almost three year old HP Pavilion laptop that is running terribly
Click to expand...
slow and totally unproductive. Toshiba previously suggested we do a system
'refresh' on another computer almost the same age when I was considering more
memory; a refresh really means starting over and rewriting the hard drive &
reloading all the programs from scratch. I have not done the 'refresh' on
the Toshiba, and really loathe the idea. But as I mentioned, the HP laptop
is really sick and practically useless.
Besides Norton 2007 installed in the last month or so, the software for a
Click to expand...
Maxtor OneTouch III was installed (just last week). Since the Maxtor addition,
the HP has been quite sick. I'm ready to throw it out the window! (except I
cannot realistically do that)
Here are the HP specs:

2.8 GHz, 512MB DDR SDRM, 40 GB hard drive, Windows XP Home Edition

Do you recommend a refresh?
If you have other ideas on this slow, sick computer, please advise.

(In case you're wondering, the Toshiba is still running Norton Internet
Click to expand...
Security 2005; Windows XP Professional Edition. But I'm not looking for
help on this one---yet! Really concerned about the HP described above.)
Thank you very much.
Joni
Click to expand...

There was one other report, of the connection of a Maxtor OneTouch sucking the
life out of a computer. For some reason, even when the Maxtor driver is removed,
the System process still uses 40% when the Maxtor hardware is attached to the
computer. Do you leave the OneTouch attached all the time ?

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.comp.hardware/browse_frm/thread/e3bd86afe13179c1/73118c2a4d5e9ed6

Basically, you've added two things that suck the life out of the computer.
Reinstalling all the software should leave you in exactly the same mess.

I don't quite understand what could be happening with the Maxtor, unless some
part of the software is left behind when it is uninstalled. I'd want to go
through the installer package, to see what it does (look in install directories,
registry, to see how it works). And talk to Maxtor Tech Support, to see if they
have observed this, and have a fix.

Paul
 
You said:
I agree that a refresh would likely be helpful. some people do it annually
just to keep things running fast. 3 years isn't really that old, lots of
computers are still running well at that age. Norton does slow things down,
and I would either get rid of it or at least adjust it so that it isn't
quite as agressive as it likes to be. Adding RAM would definitely help.
You may be able to add ram or pull out a small module (probably a 256 mb)
and replace it with a larger ram module.
Click to expand...

Refresh, meaning reload OS+apps from scratch is pretty drastic. Rather like
buying a new car when the ashtray is full. I suggest making some effort to
find the real problem, before doing a refresh. A few easy things:

1.Update and run a complete AV sweep.
2.Update and run a couple of malware apps (I use AdAware and Spybot).
3.Start->run->msconfig->Startup. Do you recognize all those apps?
4.Watch TaskManager/Processes. What is getting all the CPU time?
5.Empty the RecycleBin, and whatever Norton calls their bin.
6.How full is your HD? Is it loaded with old .LOGs and .TMPs? And, is there
some memory hog that you don't recognize?
7.Anything suspicious on your list of installed apps?

Finally, since this is a hardware NG, check that your CPU is running at full
clock rate. Some laptops will throttle back the clock when the CPU temp
gets dangerously high, which can occur due to accumulated dust.
 
We have an almost three year old HP Pavilion laptop that is running
terribly slow and totally unproductive. Toshiba previously suggested we
do a system 'refresh' on another computer almost the same age when I was
considering more memory; a refresh really means starting over and
rewriting the hard drive & reloading all the programs from scratch. I
have not done the 'refresh' on the Toshiba, and really loathe the idea.
But as I mentioned, the HP laptop is really sick and practically useless.

Besides Norton 2007 installed in the last month or so, the software for a
Maxtor OneTouch III was installed (just last week). Since the Maxtor
addition, the HP has been quite sick. I'm ready to throw it out the
window! (except I cannot realistically do that)

Here are the HP specs:

2.8 GHz, 512MB DDR SDRM, 40 GB hard drive, Windows XP Home Edition

Do you recommend a refresh?
If you have other ideas on this slow, sick computer, please advise.

(In case you're wondering, the Toshiba is still running Norton Internet
Security 2005; Windows XP Professional Edition. But I'm not looking for
help on this one---yet! Really concerned about the HP described above.)

Thank you very much.
Joni




EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
Click to expand...

Have seen numerous complaints about the Maxtor Onetouch series either
failing to work or slowing the PC down drastically.

NAV2007 is NAV, and a form of a firewall. Some slowdown is expected.

One sure fire way to find out the culprit if one of the 2 mentioned.
Restore your original laptop XP. Connect the Maxtor noting any slowdown.
Disconnect the Maxtor, then install NAV2007. Note any slowdown. Now you
tell us your findings.
 
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