Please Help

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I am new to Windows Vista and this whole WD thing. I am wondering if I need
to use an anti-virus program or if using Windows Defender is enough. I had
Norton installed and my system was taking forever, so I uninstalled it and
heard that it is extremely bad to not have one of those systems installed.
Any advice?????
 
Yes,

You should always have an AntiVirus program installed, running, and updated.
Windows Defender is an AntiSpyware/Adware product, Not an Antivirus program.

I you don't like Norton's performance try a different one.
I have been using McAfee for 15 years and have had few problems other than
an occasional false positive. It is very fast and plays well with others.
Other folks in this group will suggest other products, to each their own, but
you really should have something.

?:-)
 
Thanks for your help. I have downloaded McAfee and it is not as slow as
Norton was, but it is still quite a bit slower than when I did not have one
of those programs installed. Any ideas if I might need to change the settings
 
In what way do you find it slow?

What kind of computer are you using.
e.g. amount of memory, processor speed, etc.

I would not even try to use Vista without a Minimum of 2GB of RAM and a
4.2GHz processor.
[Of course I would not use Vista without a Hole in my head until it came out
with Service Pack 2 but that's another story :( ]

Tim
?:-)
 
would suggest you use either AVG (FREE - prefered) or AVAST (free) instead
of norton or macafee.
you will gain 10-20% of you cpu power back.

to properly uninstall either norton or macafee you need to download the
uninstaler from their respective web sites. using standard windows unisntall
does not do it.


Untitled
 
continued ...

I can't think of anything you could do to McAfee or Defender that wouldn't
hinder their operation and put you at risk.

As far as Vista :P is concerned I hear it has a lot of "bells and whistles"
[transparency and things like that] that can be turned off and might make
your system run faster.

Try a search on Yahoo for something like "speeding up vista".

This link might help:
http://speed-up-vista.classes.cnet.com/

I assume you can't do much about your processor but perhaps you could try
increasing memory.

On my XPSP2 machine with McAfee and Defender running I go from boot up to
logon in less than a minute, and that's with letting the system pause a
couple of moments before I actually logon.

?:-)
Tim
Geek w/o Portfolio


Tim Clark said:
In what way do you find it slow?

What kind of computer are you using.
e.g. amount of memory, processor speed, etc.

I would not even try to use Vista without a Minimum of 2GB of RAM and a
4.2GHz processor.
[Of course I would not use Vista without a Hole in my head until it came out
with Service Pack 2 but that's another story :( ]

Tim
?:-)
--
Geek w/o Portfolio
"yogerpups" wrote:
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help. I have downloaded McAfee and it is not as slow as
Norton was, but it is still quite a bit slower than when I did not have one
of those programs installed. Any ideas if I might need to change the settings
on McAfee or WD?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
If you give us some specs we can make a rational recommendation. I agree
with the thinking that Vista is best with 2 gigabytes of ram or more. Ram
is relatively inexpensive these days, in 1 gig packages, anyway, so this may
be a good choice, depending on your skills and what kind of machine you
have.

Aside from that, checking add or remove programs and the list of services to
see whether there are bits of Symantec left behind may well be worth
doing--this is not uncommon.

Removing things you never use from the notification area by the clock and
setting them not to auto-start may help.

--
 
You certainly need Anti-virus program more than Anti-spyware program
especially if you are like me not visiting those sordid sites! Anti-Virus
programs will protect you from any threats you are likly to encounter via
emails and any programs (these are generally free programs from third
parties) you may try to install on your system.

My advice to you is to get something like Windows Live OneCare and you can
read everything about it here:

http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/purchase/trial.htm?sc_cid=mscom_srch

Hope this helps.
 
I use AVG Free antivirus
It holds up to the paid versions of everyone out there and better- it is
totally free
robin
 
As for the specs, I honestly do not know a whole lot about that part of the
computer. :) so, based on the email from when I ordered it this is what it
says:

512MB, DDR2, 533MHz 1 Dimm, for Inspiron 1501
ATI RADEON Xpress1150 Xpress1150 with 256MB HyperMemory for Inspiron 1501
5400RPM SATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 1501

Is that what you mean by specs? I just got this computer about 2 months ago,
so there really are not any programs to uninstall, and it has been slow since
the day it arrived. Should I just send it back?
 
Someone else that really knows Vista might need to help you here.
I can't believe that Dell sold you a Vista machine with only 512 MB of RAM !

Since you brought it up as an option, I would say send it back.
Your machine is slow because it is under powered.

As I said, my personal feelings about Vista aside, I would not touch a Vista
machine with less than 2GB of memory.

Good Luck

?:-\
Tim
 
Hi yogerpups,

I think the same as Jim, i should go for the maximum of 2 Gb memory!!!

Regards >*< TOM >*<


yogerpups schreef:
 
Hi Tom,

Two clarifications,

1. I think you meant "Tim", not "Jim" :P
2. I think you meant "Minimum" of 2 Gb memory, not "maximum" :)

?:-)
Tim
 
I agree with others that 2 gigs of ram would be far better. 1 gig would be
the minimum I'd go with.

The disk is not the fastest spec, but it is not unusually slow for a laptop
drive, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

If this system is still returnable, you might consider seeing what Dell
would be willing to do for you:

This system has in it 1 stick of 512 megs.

The system has two slots, so room for 2 sticks of ram. Dell's spec says a
max of 1 gig per stick, so 2 gigs is the max.

At www.crucial.com, they will sell you 2 gigs of ram for this system for
$60. That would be an excellent investment.

You might even find it cheaper at a local store--the specs to look for are
DDR2 PC2-5300 or DDR2 PC2-4200, and you need two 1 gig pieces.

Since specs of this sort are not your thing, I'm not sure how best to
proceed:

According to Dell's service manual for your system:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1501/en/om_en/pdf/HN926A00.pdf

both ram slots are easily accessible via a cover held by a single small
screw on the bottom of the system. The manual gives instructions for the
operation you need to do--remove the exiting ram, and replace it with two
new SODIMMS. (that's the name for the physical form of the ram required for
this system)

So--if you feel up to it, this is something you might be able to do
yourself. You could also: Buy the ram at a local store, and pay a store
technician to install it. There are probably other permutations--you could
get more ram from Dell and pay their charges for a technician to come out to
put it in. You could buy your own ram, and then take it to a local computer
technician to have it installed.

Having now researched this, I'm not sure whether it is worth calling Dell.
You could--see what they would charge to sell you 2 gigabytes of ram for
this system, and install it.

However, I suspect that buying the ram yourself through a local store or
technician who will install it will be cheaper--and should provide a very
noticeable improvement in the speed of the system.


--
 
Bill,

I just read your most recent post,
You are, of course, correct :)
I did not dig deep enough to find out the maximum RAM that the system in
question could hold, so in this the Minimum for Vista would be the Maximum
for this machine.

Thanks for the clarification,

?:-)
Tim
 
Clarification of my clarification.

BillS has pointed out that this system can Only hold a Maximum of 2GB of RAM.
So you are correct he should go for the maximum [for this system,] 2 GB.

{but did you know that when you wrote it :p }???

?:-)
Tim
 
Hmm - I was forgetting that this is Vista, right? So--one "upgrade path"
would be a USB drive that works with the ReadyBoost feature.
 
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