Trying to help fix my neighbor's computer

[clifford currey 0]

My neighbor just purchased a COMPAQ Presario with Windows Vista.

However, there have been a few problems with it.

For a brand new computer it runs very sloooooooow, she has a cable modem connected but it takes up to 15 minutes for the browser to pop up (she uses Firefox v. 2.0.0.6) and intermittently the keyboard and mouse suddenly stops working, The computer doesn't freeze, the keyboard and mouse just doesn't work and the only way get them to work again is to power down the computer and restart it.

Any ideas?

[Myke 0]

How many processes are running? All computers when bought from companies like Compaq and Sony (the list goes on) come with pre-installed software, most of which is completely unneccessary and actually bogs down your processor. If you have over 60 processes running, you might need to look into the startup options in msconfig (via Run). Don't edit anything else, though.

 

How much memory is in the machine? While Vista claims that it can easily run on 1 GB of RAM, it's highly recommended that you have 2 GB or more.

 

In regards to your mouse and keyboard, are they PS2 or USB?

[clifford currey 0]

The system has 57-59 processes running.

PS2 mouse and keyboard

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium

1.90 GigaHz AMD ATHLON 64 X2 Dual Core

894 MB Ram

Hard Drives: A: 240 GB

B: 9.44GB

 

[malmern 0]

I would recommend a memory upgrade OR uninstall Vista, and install XP

Ps. Be sure that theres XP drivers available for that computer before you uninstall vista.

[Myke 0]

Another thing to look for are the Google tools... I hate these things. The Google Desktop utility is (at least to me) wicked annoying. I uninstall it immediately when setting up a new machine for a user. It really bogs the system down and hasn't ever really helped me out.

 

The other tool is the Google Toolbar for browsers. Disable this thing immediately, as it is only a quick search utility that uses Google's search engine without requiring the user to go to the Google page. It causes problems with pop-ups when you do want them, and all sorts of other issues.

 

When using FireFox, you might want to look into how many plug-ins are enabled. This will also cause the browser to take longer to load up. Just to let you know, FireFox is the slowest browser to open up with, but an amazing broswer.

 

 

I am going to agree with Malmern that you should upgrade your memory to 2 GB. You should not have to uninstall Vista, though. It's an OS that is a pain to deal with initially, but the user experience gets better as you go along.