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computer Halp!
Limp moose
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
so over the past 6 months I have noticed a serious downgrade in performance on my alienware laptop.
the last time I logged into wow I could barely move.
When I play team fortress 2 it lags.
Itunes skips.
What is the deal. Overall the processing power just seems slow and sluggish. I did a virus scan with multiple adware finders and a hijack this. it is not malicious code. Wut is goin on.
I caught a nasty virus about a month ago but with your guys is help killed it. I got avast anti virus to prevent another attack but that had a process that used 100% of my cpu I got rid of it but still lag a bit. Trying to figure out what gives.
is there a hard ware component that might have failed?
the last time I logged into wow I could barely move.
When I play team fortress 2 it lags.
Itunes skips.
What is the deal. Overall the processing power just seems slow and sluggish. I did a virus scan with multiple adware finders and a hijack this. it is not malicious code. Wut is goin on.
I caught a nasty virus about a month ago but with your guys is help killed it. I got avast anti virus to prevent another attack but that had a process that used 100% of my cpu I got rid of it but still lag a bit. Trying to figure out what gives.
is there a hard ware component that might have failed?
Limp moose on
0
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probably not a hardware issue. also, probably not dust buildup since its a laptop.
try running your task manager and then end process all programs that are unnecissary. also, you might want to try defragging your hard drive and doing a disk cleanup to get rid of unneeded files.
-Failing Hard Drive
Start -> Run -> cmd
Type chkdsk c: /r/f
Press enter. If your hard drive is bad, this scan will likely throw up a bunch of error messages. This can take a few hours. You have to replace the hard drive to fix this.
-Overheating
Download and run speedfan. Running at temperatures above ~65-70C is seriously bad. You can try blowing dust out, but it might be a failing fan (in which case, the computer has to be opened up; you probably don't want to do this yourself).
-Too many running programs
Start, Run, msconfig
Under the startup tab, disable everything except anti-virus. Reboot.
-Spyware/Virus
YIKES speed fan has my core temp at almost 80
WHAT CAN I DO TO COOL THIS DOWN! (my laptop has always been hot as fuck.)
Almost every temp is over 70
no but seriously, it depends on a lot of things.
-How are you holding your laptop?
If you have your laptop on your lap, your pant fabric can actually close some of the air vents and thus not allow enough air circulation, causing the laptop to become overheated.
-How many programs are you running?
Press Ctrl + Alt + Del and go to processes, see how many are being done. If you're using too many programs, this causes an overusage of both the RAM and your processor, the more it's used, the more heat it generates.
-How long ago did you get it?
If you got it a couple years back, there might be a large build-up of dust you mgiht want to get rid of. I don't reccomend doing this yourself, opening it often viods warranties. Try taking it back to where you got it or Best Buy or the like and have a staff open it and clean it for you.
-How long has it been since you reformmated?
Have you reformmated ever? Try this: Save your C:/ Drive, or at least whatever files you want to keep on an external harddrive (Yes, get one, they're cheap and give you up to an extra TB of space) and reformat completely. This can get rid of any programs you no longer use but may still run on start-up, as well it might get rid of any remnants of a virus.
Good luck getting that temperature down!
I hope no permanent damage was done.
I got it 2 years ago. I am pretty good about processes and programs running. There has never been a need for me to reformat it so I haven't ever. I usually only run like 10-12 user processes and 20 or so system processes.
That might also be the case, you might have some damage done to the processor and video card from that much heat. Me? I'd get it looked at just in case.
that can not be good.
I feel like best buy would rip me off here.
I purchased online direct from alien ware any warranty Is long since expired. I didn't get any kind of extended care package.
Not sure how to check the processor.
Something like this (although I have no idea how good this one is):
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-NOTEBOOK-COOLER-USB-Powered-Notebook/dp/B0000BVYTV/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235449741&sr=8-1
don't open it up. aside from the fan, the rest of the laptop is not likely to have dust in it. also, its not easy and if you break something, it will be hard to replace. just don't even try. if anything go see a local computer repair shop and ask them to replace the fan.
but if you want to cool down your laptop, buy one of those cooling pads. the work great but make your laptop less portable.