New Laptop keeps saying "not responding" I think I found the problem. Thanks.

If it's Vista, that's normal. It happens to me.

Try using "System Mechanic" software, it'll help.

Yes it is Vista. I want my XP back.
But it happens all day long, not just once or twice. i could deal with a quirk every now and then. But I have wasted most of the last 2 days because of this either not working or trying to find a solution. Sometimes it won't even let me shut down and restart for 10 to 30 minutes. I just have to wait til it decides it has had it's rest.

I'll Give the software a try. Thanks,

Jim

Have you tried CCleaner (originally "crap cleaner")? It makes it ridiculously easy to remove extraneous or superfluous apps and processes from your start up sequence and keep it from clogging the works.

If you want to get a real look at what MS is running on your system, download the free app "Process Explorer" to have a look at what is cycling your system or cpu. You can use your Task Manager too, but Process Explorer allows you to identify problems more accurately.

Almost all of the fixes I've done on my windows machines over the past 14 years have something to do with removing various MS pests.

Good luck with it.

Thanks, I'll give that a try also.
I'll do damn near anything at this point.

Jim

Jim,

If you get CCleaner and/or Process Explorer, maybe I can get on Skype with you tomorrow to go through some of the MS crud. I don't use Vista, so I'll not make recommendations as to what you should dump, but maybe we can pinpoint some trouble areas for you to explore further for eradication.

I've been there ... again and again with each new Windows ... um, enhancement.
Lemme know.

Hey Jim,

I've seen Norton Anti Virus cause some really weird problems on several computers before. I would uninstall Norton and see how it responds.

If no change, then reinstall Norton. If it fixes the problem, then you can decide what to do from there.

Reformat the hard drive and install Ubuntu Linux. You will never go back to Microsoft again.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

Are you using a Fujitsu Siemens laptop?

I have had one for nearly two years and it is absolutely useless. The trouble is you can't rely on it to perform badly all the time and it seems that everytime I took it to the supplier - it worked perfectly.

The supplier is lying because every time the machine goes back, they re-load everything (I know this because I keep getting prompted to register the machine and the registration process gets blown apart because it is already registered).

There is no doubt in my mind that the culprit is Vista. As an operating system this is the biggest and most expensive con job that has ever been perpetrated on a gullible public. My machine will be out of guarantee soon and I am hoping to get someone to get rid of Vista and install Windows XP.

Hey everybody,

Thanks for the help.
I don't know if i got it or not, but it hasn't done the not responding all day after I ran all programs you suggested. If it is fine tomorrow I think whatever was doing it is fixed.
If it comes back I got a real cheap laptop for you.

Jim

Nope my bad. It is at it again.
Figures as soon as I post it starts doing it again.
It has been saying not responding for 15 minutes now and no relief in sight.
It has to do with the internet. When I am working offline it is fine.
Anyway thanks and I am just going to put a hammer through the screen.

Jim

You probably have too many programs running in the background.

In the lower left corner of your keyboard you will see a windows key, hold that down, push R. This will give you the run window. Type 'msconfig', this will give you the microsoft configuration utility.
There are tabs at the top, the farthest right says 'startup, click that'. All the checked boxes are programs that run when you start the computer, which if you're like everyone else with a lap top, its pretty much every program you have on the machine.
You probably want to leave things like wireless management programs and antivirus programs on, but uncheck most everything else. You are not removing the programs, they are still there and will start when you access a file that is associated with the program. Hit apply, Hit ok. Restart. When you restart there will be a box that comes up and says that you have used the configuration utility, there is a box in the lower left corner that says 'do not show this at startup' put a check in it.

Yes, i do this about 40 times a day. I am a cube drone..hear me buzz.


Most programs are made to start at windows startup by default. Many of these programs have updater services to look for things like patches and updates. And many of those updater programs check way too much, some daily, some even hourly. There isnt a software manufacturer in the world that updates daily. So what happens is when you decide to do something, like type, start a program, whatever...your processor can't answer your command because its getting hammered by programs like quicktime, adobe reader, ipod synch and no telling what else to start and do updates.

If its still not fast enough, go back to msconfig, go to services, you will see a box that says 'hide all microsoft services', check in that box, then click 'uncheck all'. hit apply, hit ok, restart.

There are some services and programs you want to keep turned on. Again virus, and wireless services at least. The rest is pretty much your choice

This is what I would do if you were one of my clients. Download Avast antivirus. The first time it runs, it scans the entire hard drive BEFORE Windows loads. Once Windows has loaded, uninstall Norton and AVG. Both slow down the computer.

Now download and scan with Malwarebytes.

Michael, I thought no one was gonna suggest msconfig. My only caveat
would be to caution people to never uncheck anything that they don't
know for sure what it is.

That having been said I would put Firefox on there and see if it acts the
same way. This sounds like an IE problem to me.

Tom

Thanks Everyone,

I think I found the biggest problem and hopefully it will help someone down the road.
I have a 250 gig HD almost full and my spyware program was set to run automatically and it wasn't finished running while I was online. It was running in the background and I didn't know it. I had it run once a day and it would take 15 to 20 hours to finish with a full scan.
Now it seems to run normal with only the occasional not responding, but I can live with that. No choice I guess. I am going to put most of the programs on an external drive and try to get this clean with only needed programs and I am sure that will fix any remaining problems.
It seems to most times turn out to be so simple, but when you get so frustrated it is so hard to see.

Thanks to everyone,

Jim