Cluttered Desktop

[dajarrel]

A question for you computer experts.

Will having 40-50 items on your desktop cause your computer to be slow booting up?

I'm bad to put everything on my desktop. It keeps shortcuts handy when I need them. Of course there are several programs there as well. Do I need to flush it?

tia

dj

[Matt Cheely]

Folders man, folders!

[BritinUSA]

There was a whole thread about this late last year. It was something about wallpaper to start with and then migrated to a discussion about cluttered desktops.

[Flexmoney]

If your computer is slower than it used to be, you probably have adware and malware hiding on it.

[Front Man]

If your computer is slower than it used to be, you probably have adware and malware hiding on it.

I cleaned up my start menu and purchased System Mechanic 8.5 as per our Tech Hotline and now my 38 month old notebook runs better than new. (I did double the memory too; XP pro on 2 sticks of 1024, or what ever it is.) System Mechanic keeps the clutter cleaned up.

FM

[Tom S.]

Desk top items won't do much to slow you down except during the initial boot up , but aps running will. Look in your system tray (lower right corner) and see how many apps are running. You can turn them off by going in to msconfig.

Another cause of slowness: not enough hard drive space. Windows uses some of the hard drive as virtual memory. In this case, no space means - no memory - means slower computer.

As pointed out, malware, spyware and viruses will also affect computer speed.

FWIW: Desktop icons are nothing more than shortcuts to programs. Your computer won't run any slower with a hundred of them than it would with only ten. Besides, if a cluttered desktop is a sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desktop?

[dajarrel]

Thanks Guys,

The computer is slow on startup only. I think that is because of the program, DoScan.exe running. It's not a real issue, just something I was curious about.

I regularly run AdAware, SuperAntiSpyware and Spybot to keep the adware and such off which helps tremendously. I also delete temp files and cookies after each session.

Thanks again.

dj

[mjohns930]

As was noted, the icons on your desktop won't slow it down during day to day usage. Make sure you have enough space on your hard drive and you have enough memory. Also like everyone has said any kind of virus will generally slow down your machine. One thing I do to keep my machine running in tip top shape is reinstall my operating system on a regular schedule. Its a gruelling process but I have it down to a science. I do it every two months on my gaming machine. If you want details on how I do it that often and not go crazy and not lose important info just hit me with a PM and I will explain it the best I can. But reinstalling keeps it clean of any virus and keeps the operating system from getting too cluttered with programs running in the background, which will slow it down considerably.

[islandtime]

DoScan is your Norton antivirus. I agree with mjohns930 about totally reinstalling from scratch ever so often. I also restore mine about once a year but I have a clone of my system with everything aleady loaded and ready to go. The steps below should speed you up some. There are some other steps to take but it would be easier to talk you through them over the phone or I can swing by one evening/weekend.

Do the following and let me know if things speed up a bit or not.

Before you begin, open My Computer then click on Tools on the toolbar then choose Folder Options. Next click on the View tab the check the selection next to "show hidden files and folders".

1. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Temp and delete all the files. You may get an error like "file ~DF6272.tmp is in use" or "file ~DF6272.tmp cannot be deleted", this is OK. Skip that file and delete the rest.

2. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Temp and delete all the files. You may get an error like "file ~DF6272.tmp is in use" or "file ~DF6272.tmp cannot be deleted", this is OK. Skip that file and delete the rest.

3. Empty the Recycle Bin

4. Completely shut down the PC. This will clear anything stored in memory (RAM). Once the computer is completely shutdown, restart it again.

5. Once the PC has restarted run Disk Defragmenter.

Edited January 20, 2009 by islandtime

[mjohns930]

DoScan is your Norton antivirus. I agree with mjohns930 about totally reinstalling from scratch ever so often. I also restore mine about once a year but I have a clone of my system with everything aleady loaded and ready to go. The steps below should speed you up some. There are some other steps to take but it would be easier to talk you through them over the phone or I can swing by one evening/weekend.

Do the following and let me know if things speed up a bit or not.

Before you begin, open My Computer then click on Tools on the toolbar then choose Folder Options. Next click on the View tab the check the selection next to "show hidden files and folders".

1. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Local Settings\Temp and delete all the files. You may get an error like "file ~DF6272.tmp is in use" or "file ~DF6272.tmp cannot be deleted", this is OK. Skip that file and delete the rest.

2. Go to C:\WINDOWS\Temp and delete all the files. You may get an error like "file ~DF6272.tmp is in use" or "file ~DF6272.tmp cannot be deleted", this is OK. Skip that file and delete the rest.

3. Empty the Recycle Bin

4. Completely shut down the PC. This will clear anything stored in memory (RAM). Once the computer is completely shutdown, restart it again.

5. Once the PC has restarted run Disk Defragmenter.

I have a couple full clones of my install as well so it goes really fast for me too. But the one thing to remember is you have to do a full install once to make that clone. Also good call on deleting all the temporary files.

[vluc]

could also reconsider having any norton/symantec products on the system in the first place as they are known resource hogs.

[dajarrel]

Thanks guys,

I've been considering dumping the NOrton stuff but feel nekkid running without any anti-virus protection. I dump temp files and cookies every day or so.

I think the big culprit is the DoScan.exe. Maybe once Norton is gone, it'll speed up.

thanks again

dj

[Nik Habicht]

Thanks guys,

I've been considering dumping the NOrton stuff but feel nekkid running without any anti-virus protection. I dump temp files and cookies every day or so.

I think the big culprit is the DoScan.exe. Maybe once Norton is gone, it'll speed up.

thanks again

dj

You definitely need someone's antivirus/internet security package running on your computer.....

I thought I heard recently that Norton wasn't quite the resource hog anymore that it used to be....

[Front Man]

Give free Avira a test ride.

I had an issue with my PC and had our tech hotline fix it; he noticed that I had Avira as my anti virus program and said that was the way to go.

For now anyway.

I used to like AVG but it got a little demanding too.

FM

[wgnoyes]

I thought I heard recently that Norton wasn't quite the resource hog anymore that it used to be....

I gave Norton Internet Security 2009 a whirl recently. Runs VERY well, is not a resource hog, and even gives you performance monitors to show you how much resources it's using. I'll be going to it for real as soon as I scrape up the dough for it!