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Slow, Slow, Slow

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horseshoes | 18:27 Tue 26th Mar 2013 | Technology
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I'm having such a problem with my laptop. It's taking an age to open ANYTHING. I wait so long then I give up and try another page and I'm waiting MINUTES for it to open. What can I do please? I've cleared recent history. I don't know if thet helps but I did it anyway.
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We all encounter slow issues on occasion.

Is it everything you try on the laptop or just surfing the Internet ?

Maybe a good start would be to open up the task amanager and se what is runnign in th background that might be using up the resources, and thus slowing down whateer it is you are waiting for. If you can identify something doing that you can try to stop it.

Also you can run AV and malware scans to see if somehing is hijacking your PC for it's own ends.

And also check how much hard disk drive is free, and how much memeory you have. They are also common causes of things slowing.
As soon as you turn your laptop on, start the Task Manager. (Right-click on the task bar at the bottom of your screen or press Ctrl-Alt-Delete). Click on the 'Processes' tab. Maximise the window, so that it fills the screen, and then minimise it down to the task bar.

The reason for doing that is that I'd like you to examine what the Task Manager shows when everything is going slow but it can be almost impossible to open the Task Manager once problems are already occurring.

Try to use the internet as normal. If everything seems to be grinding to a halt, click on the Task Manager button that's now on your task bar. Look down the 'CPU' column for any high figures. You can ignore 'System Idle Process', which should be showing a figure in the 90s, but anything else in double figures should be noted as it's almost certainly the cause of your problem. (If you don't know what to do about it, post again to tell us the name of the process).

If the only high figure in the 'CPU' column is for 'System Idle Process', look down the 'Mem Usage' column. You're looking for anything with EITHER a very high figure OR a figure which is constantly changing (even if the actual figure is quite low). Either of those symptoms could indicate a possible problem. (In particular, if you've got Microsoft Security Essentials installed, check that MsMpEng.exe doesn't have a high or frequently changing figure next to it). If anything looks unusual, please tell us what it is.

Please tell us as well which browser you're using and whether you've got any add-ons (such as tool bars video downloaders or ad blockers) installed with it. Further, please tell us whether you've tried using a different browser (and what the results was).

AS O_G suggests, it's well worth scanning for malware (which has a nasty habit of slowing computers down). Download, install and run the free version of Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware from here:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/
(NB: When installing it, click to remove the tick which offers you a trial of the 'PRO' version).
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Hi, sorry we had visitors. Thanks for answering. please remember I don't understand anything technological with computer.
Buenchico, I looked at what you asked me, and there is plugin-container.exe which has a reading of 47K+. there are others which are changing but that one is the highest by far. Browser is Mozilla Firefox.
Plugin-container.exe is part of Firefox. (It prevents the whole of Firefox from crashing if a component within it crashes). It has a bit of a history of causing problems by hogging memory. Try clicking on it and selecting 'End Process'. (You'll probably see a warning telling you that your computer is about to explode, your hair will all fall out and the world will end, but go ahead anyway - it won't actually do any harm!). Then try using the internet again.

If Plugin-container.exe is the cause of your problem, check to see if you've got the latest version of Firefox. (Go to Help > About Firefox. The version should be 19.0.2. If it's not, update it). Plugin-container.exe used to slow my computers down to a standstill but recent versions of Firefox don't seem to have the same problem. (Indeed, it doesn't even appear in my Task Manager window, so perhaps it's not even part of the latest version?).
After reading Chris's responses on this thread, I have removed a few of my Firefox add-ons. The speed of my computer have changed remarkably faster. Thanks again Chris.
Question Author
Now I'm going to sound REALLY dense, where do I find go to help.about Firefox? I tried pressing the help after you press start, but that just comes up with Windows XP stuff.
Sorry for the delay in replying. I've been doing other things.

If Firefox has got 'File', 'Edit', View', etc, across the top of the screen (as it usually has in the default view) click on 'Help' and then on 'About Firefox'.

If you've not got those options across the top of your page, the word 'Firefox' should be in an orange box at the top left of your screen. Click on that to get to 'Help'.
Question Author
Yes Chris 19.0.2.
That's odd. I've got that version of Firefox on 3 computers and none of them show Plugin-container.exe as a running process.

Did using 'End process', as above, make any difference?
Question Author
I just saw that there is one with a MUCH higher number. That's firefox.exe 27,8136

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