Major Problems With Windows Vista?

Shermie

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Has anyone been having problems with Windows Vista as of late?

The foul-up has surfaced on Thursday.

It stalls out, freezing up the pc, causing programs, incliding Internet Explorer, to run sporatically, too blasted slow or not at all!! I've tried for several days to run a McAfee virus scan and just friggen couldn't!! The extreme slowness of the OS had stopped me right in the middle of it!

Seems that the OS is atrociously late making Windows updates availible to help maintain the function of the OS, the pc and everything else to help keep the system running smoothly!!

Twenty-seven availible Windows updates had only just became availible sometime after midnight! The OS is still having some problems, butit seems somewhatr better than it has since last Thursday.

I had the pc stored from an earlier backup disk, thinking THAT was the problem. It had went away, but it came right back yesterday! I began to suspect that there was a glitch with Windows Update.

Seems to be getting back on track now, but I think that some improvement is still needed. :shock:
 
Last edited:

Adillo303

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BTW - Vista was replaced by Windows 7, because, so many people were unhappy with it. I believe an upgrade is available.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
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Yeah, seems every other OS from Microsoft is no good! Windows Millenium also was another crappy OS as well.

I might get the upgrade Windows 7 disk as soon as I know if it's safe to use.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
Ummm - You could buy an iMac. Otherwise a Microsoft O/S or Unix / Linux are your choices.
 

Lefty

Yank
Has anyone been having problems with Windows Vista as of late?

The foul-up has surfaced on Thursday.

It stalls out, freezing up the pc, causing programs, incliding Internet Explorer, to run sporatically, too blasted slow or not at all!! I've tried for several days to run a McAfee virus scan and just friggen couldn't!! The extreme slowness of the OS had stopped me right in the middle of it!

Seems that the OS is atrociously late making Windows updates availible to help maintain the function of the OS, the pc and everything else to help keep the system running smoothly!!

Twenty-seven availible Windows updates had only just became availible sometime after midnight! The OS is still having some problems, butit seems somewhatr better than it has since last Thursday.

I had the pc stored from an earlier backup disk, thinking THAT was the problem. It had went away, but it came right back yesterday! I began to suspect that there was a glitch with Windows Update.

Seems to be getting back on track now, but I think that some improvement is still needed. :shock:

This is advice I give anyone on PC problems so please don't take any of the following personally.

1, Internet Explorer is a pig, huge resource hog and many exploits. If you have minimum or lower amounts of memory using a memory hog will limit you further. I recomend using Mozilla FireFox and customizing it for your needs.

2, Macafee (Crapafee) & Norton both have lost sight of what security is and they both miss even average exploits. I recomend Microsoft Security essentials, http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ (free)

3, If you have a problem that is re-surfacing after you restore you are infected and just keep re-activating the bug in your system.

1 tool you may think about is hijack this, http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/ is a free utility that generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. It does not tell you what is bad or good, but you can post the report to their forum and users will quickly reply and tell you what is suspicious. Warning this is for advance users.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. http://www.ccleaner.com/

Good luck.
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
Shermie - I have no idea what WOT is, I always thought it was Wide Open Throttle (I'm a diesel truck nut). Malware bytes is a major remover of spyware / adware / malware and often access is blocked by those types of programs.

It is, however, your machine, do with it as you will.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I agree with most of what you have been told especially about getting Malware it is one of the better programs for its purpose. If blocked then odds are your problem is exactly what Malware is designed to fix.
 

buzzard767

golfaknifeaholic
Gold Site Supporter
Going back to the original question, I've had no significant problems with Vista. Same goes with Windows 7.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
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Shermie - I have no idea what WOT is, I always thought it was Wide Open Throttle (I'm a diesel truck nut). Malware bytes is a major remover of spyware / adware / malware and often access is blocked by those types of programs.

It is, however, your machine, do with it as you will.



WOT is an account system that you can download and install from it's website that is set up to warn you of any impending and potential danger from websites that it suspects might be bogus, illigit or otherwise untrustworthy.

It lets you know which sites are good or bad, who to trust and who to stay away from. It also lets you rate sites yourself and block the ones that you've had trouble with yourself.

Also, it warns you of sites who have compromised the security of peoples'
credit & debit cards once they've bought something on line at certain websites. :idea:
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
If you aren't able to update your antivirus program, I suspect you have a Trojan Horse or some other bad thing. Andy and everyone else is right - Malwarebytes is one of the best programs for detecting, isolating and deleting problems like this. Like Lucky mentioned - Crap Cleaner is something I have on every computer in the house. Both are free programs and highly recommended. Google them and read reviews.

I don't think your problem is Vista - I think it's some malware on your computer. As was mentioned before, too, Internet Explorer isn't the safest browser and leaves you more vulnerable to malware. I use Firefox. Also, Thunderbird is a much safer mail program than MS Outlook.
 

FryBoy

New member
Windows 7 is not only safe to use, it's far superior to Vista. The installation of the upgrade is simple, albeit time consuming, and the result works very well -- or you can do a clean install, starting from scratch. In that you're having problems, this is a no-brainer -- DO IT!
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
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I agree with Doug that Win 7 is far superior to Vista. But I don't think Sherman's problem is Vista - I think he has malware that needs to be dealt with before he upgrades or does anything else.
 

Shermie

Well-known member
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Ok, I ran the Super-anti-spyware, and the software found 173 potential threats!

The process took well over 4 hours. I've removed the potential threats from the pc and quaranteened them. I'll closely monitor and see now, how the pc will run now.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
One other thing you might consider it to run restore to a previous date. That is a standard part of windows since XP. Now that assumes it is turned on. That is usually something if not a virus (haven't had since Windows 3.1) or malware. Most of the problems I get (rare on my system now) are due to upgrades of existing software.
 

Shermie

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I did that over the weekend.. The problem had went away for only a day, and came right back yesterday!

Hopefully, the malicious spyware is at bay. I'll try to run another virus scan to see if it will work all the way and detect anything further.

Also, a very trusted friend of mine told me that since I have McAfee, to turn off windows Defender, saying that it more than likely was clashing with the mcAfee software and caused things to go haywire. We'll see what else happens.
 
K

Kimchee

Guest
I had McAffee for years, but finally dumped it.
Whenever it was active, my computer CRAWLED.. I couldn't do much
of anything else with it.. both my XP and my Vista computer.
Norton seems MUCH better.
Something to think about.
 

Fisher's Mom

Mother Superior
Super Site Supporter
Avast and Avira are both excellent (and free) antivirus programs. Look into them, Sherm.

Also, I urge you to run Malwarebytes. It is the best and finds things that other programs don't pick up. Seriously. There are things called root kits that will behave exactly as you have described - will block your antivirus software from updating. Not all software will detect root kits.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I'm using AVG's Internet Suite and turn off Windows Firewall as AVG has a much better one. I stopped using both Norton and McAfee years ago as both became memory hogs on my older systems. AVG runs pretty quickly with little hold up.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Avast and Avira are both excellent (and free) antivirus programs. Look into them, Sherm.

Also, I urge you to run Malwarebytes. It is the best and finds things that other programs don't pick up. Seriously. There are things called root kits that will behave exactly as you have described - will block your antivirus software from updating. Not all software will detect root kits.

My version of AVG has a root kits detector as well but I still run Malwarebytes and this is on 3 computers one of which is a server also.
 

Lefty

Yank
I did that over the weekend.. The problem had went away for only a day, and came right back yesterday!

Hopefully, the malicious spyware is at bay. I'll try to run another virus scan to see if it will work all the way and detect anything further.

Also, a very trusted friend of mine told me that since I have McAfee, to turn off windows Defender, saying that it more than likely was clashing with the mcAfee software and caused things to go haywire. We'll see what else happens.

That is true, if you have too much security software running you are likely to get a false positive.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I upgraded from AVG 7 free version to AVG 8 full version which has a lot more protections. Mine expires in Dec of 2011 so then I will decide to upgrade or move on at any rate I got a 3 year upgrade deal for 3 machines for just under $75 which is pretty cheap. My malwarebytes is the freeware version but I'm considering buying it for all 3 machines also, one of which is a server and handles our site security system. All 3 of my machines are mission critical so I can't afford any problems.
 

Shermie

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Well, McAfee was free. A friend of mine bought the software that allows him to install it into up to three computers.
 

joec

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I got a call from my internet supplier (windstream) this week offering me a free year of McAfee and I turned them down. I loved it when it first came out but within a few upgrades got as bad as Norton with over head. Once I tried AVG I've not looked back since Windows 98. Though it is a much larger program now I've not found any slow downs regardless. Some things one just needs to buy and not mess with the free stuff though I do recommend trying it first for a reasonable amount of time before buying if possible.
 

Lefty

Yank
Well, McAfee was free. A friend of mine bought the software that allows him to install it into up to three computers.

With all due respect, a bunch of us have chimed in against McAfee. We have offered alternatives to it and many of them for free. If you choose to keep going with it, you are at your own mercy. Sherman, while this is a cooking site, we have some folks that are adapted in internet security. Please heed the warnings. They are not unfounded.
 

Maverick2272

Stewed Monkey
Super Site Supporter
I get MacAfee free from Comcast, and I still recommend dumping it. It clashes with Windows Defender and misses tons of stuff.

Also, dump IE, I ran it (Version 9 or 10 I think) on the wife's computer and it runs so slow it gets passed by snails. I have also had it claim there is no internet connection while other programs are busy accessing the internet..
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I get MacAfee free from Comcast, and I still recommend dumping it. It clashes with Windows Defender and misses tons of stuff.

Also, dump IE, I ran it (Version 9 or 10 I think) on the wife's computer and it runs so slow it gets passed by snails. I have also had it claim there is no internet connection while other programs are busy accessing the internet..

The latest version of IE is 8 Mav. It actually runs better than the rest on my systems and I've also tried them all. Now with that said results can be different as no to machines are really the same when one things about the software configurations involved.
 
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