Internet explorer running slowly. To do list pls. Update: still causing trouble.

Great, thanks - will try IE 8

(any safe links for download? Vista reqd.)

 

IE8 is available via Windows Update.

 

Get rid of Google tool bar and it's assortment of shyte.

 

Google is your friend:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/internet-explorer/

 

I've finally installed Explorer 8 (having looked for how to uninstall E7, only to find it wasn't uninstallable), and in combination with loading up a Codecs pack, my computer has taken a serious backward step.

Dell Insprion 1525, plenty of memory, bought last Dec for 450 - and I'm close to throwing it off the desk.

The fan is permanently running now, so the chips must be working overtime, the internet windows are running slowly - it drives like it should have 486 written on it.

I don't mind fixing cars, but fixing things when you can't see what's wrong with them is a whole new art. Where do I start?

In the task manager, it shows iexlpore.exe open 4 times, running memory from 133,380k to 15,009k - bubt I only have 2 internet windows open, not 4

CPU usage is sat at a constant 100%, so is maxed out, from a hotmail window and a CGTI window (aka impossible).

I am also seeing blurry text in the internet sub windows, eg the drop-down Active Topics tab: 15 mins, 30 mins etc - all blurry [:^(]

It's had several re-starts, so plenty of time has passed to calm it down from the installs.

Help!

 

Turned it off & on - CPU usage initially 90%, now 55-60%, with only CGTI open.

Fan still on

Using Explorer, I changed the files to show "large images".

=> CPU straight to 100% use from 60%. It's taking it nothing to max out.

Why?

 

Seems to be IE8 that's causing the screen issues

 

No idea Chris. I've just opened this thread in IE8, and I also have 2 iexplorer.exe processes running. One uses 6Meg memory, one uses 23Meg memory. Neither are affecting system performance though.

When the CPU is running at 100%, open Task Manager, click on the Processes tab, and then click on the CPU column to sort by that. That will show you what's using all the memory. Do the same for Memory column to see what's using the most.

How much memory have you got on the system? Start -> right click on Computer -> Properties. Installed memory (RAM) = ?

Did you try IE in safe mode? That will tell you if it's an add-on that's causing the issues.

 

explorer.exe - CPU reads 48-52

explorer.exe & iexplorer.exe - 1 internet window open & I have explorer.exe at 54,736K and iexplorer at 37,796k

Memory: "3.00GB RAM"
32-bit OS
Vista Home Premium
Processor: "Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5800 @ 2.00GHz 2.00 GHz"

How do I do this?


This computer also has legacy issues with Google desktop, which decided to stop working after a while. Throws a dialogue box after about 20 mins of use saying it hasn't started but I've never noticed it being a problem.

All this feels like buying a brand new car, only to have it throwing faults

 

Can't believe how knackered this computer is. I can't even re-install IE7 via Microsoft.

Help please. I can fix cars, but I can't fix computers

 

Just installed Vista service pack 2 - 20 minutes of faffing, no difference.

Someone help before I buy another computer.

 

1. Check your laptop vents for dust. If the heatsink gets clogged the CPU heats up faster which would explain why the fan is on all the time. When it gets too hot the CPU automatically slows down to try and cool itself

2. Disk defragmentation

3. Check for viruses, malware, whatever using whatever program of your choice. Spybot Search and Destroy is very good for spyware and I have heard good things about Avira for virus protection; both programs are free.

4. Get rid of everything you remember installing before things went to pieces, ie your codecs.

5. Get Media Player Classic - Home Cinema, which is free and supports a huge range of formats. It also enables more efficient decoding of HD content like H.264 which would speed things up during playback.

6. Before you get a new laptop, try a full-on re-install of Windows. When you start the installation process, make sure you choose a Full Format of the hard drive and not a Quick Format.

That's all I can think of for now.

7. Update all your drivers, i.e. the video graphics adapter, wi-fi card, chipset.

8. This is a little extreme but you could check Dell for a new bios.

 

Just binned & restarted.

Checking the rest.

 

Pm'ed.

 

Ok, first things first, your problem isn't only IE, it's Windows Explorer. explorer.exe is Windows Explorer/Desktop etc, iexplorer is IE.

If you've had problems with Google desktop, you're not going to like the news.

Specs of the computer are fine, even for Vista.

I would suggest a re-install of Vista. You seem to have installed a lot of stuff, some of which isn't working properly (Google desktop, video codecs).
If you need a hand, let me know. Or if you can drop it off, I can do it for you in an afternoon.

 

Right, well I've been down to PC World, and have been advised that it should be software maxing up a CPU, but if not, possibly hard drive.

However, it needs a go at the software first.

So I was told to:

• Hit F8 at startup
• Select "repair your computer"
• Choose language
• Choose user
• => password
• Dell factory settings
• Click next
• Tick box
• => and that shoulld be it

Does this look familiar? Is there anything missing?

Before all this I was told to back all my documents up, but there was no mention of anything else.

I've just been doing that, and some MPEGs refuse to copy across, hanging up Explorer.

I never liked the fact that a new computer couldn't play videos off modern phones, but it annoys me beyond belief that I've had to get into a Google codec guessing game to find something to work MPEGs, only to have it shag the computer as a result.

It's not asking much to have commonplace MPEGs working on a modern PC I don't think

 

Back up of IE bookmarks? Use xmarks (www.xmarks.com).
If using Outlook, find .pst files and back those up. Even if using IMAP email, you'll still need the .pst files for Calendar/Tasks/Contacts/Notes etc.

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head.

 

Great, thanks.

Busy moving everything off the PC now.

 

Right, hard drive now formatted using the above F8 routine (quite user-friendly), so the internet seems to be behaving again, no blurry Active Topics menu.

The CPU is still happy to go up to quite high %-ages, though looks better than it was. explore and iexplore no longer appears to be eating CPU, though has quite high memory usage (but nothing in the CPU column).

I'll see if I can stress it a bit - and see how it goes.

I've forgotten my wireless router password, so am hard wired to the router - now having to reset that

'orrible, thankless machines!

 

Vista will use close to 1Gig of memory on idle, so don't worry about high memory usage. The CPU will also go to 100% (or close) whenever you open/run a program. As long as it settles down fairly quickly you're OK.

Try and avoid Google/Yahoo/Whoever's latest Desktop/Toolbar/Latest peice of **** that does nothing for you machine and you should be better off.