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General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: CAP1 on January 09, 2009, 02:56:46 PM

Title: internet explorer
Post by: CAP1 on January 09, 2009, 02:56:46 PM
hey guys,

on my machine at home, i've noticed that some websites run fairly slow. ebay is the slowest. i opened my taks manager, and saw it was using over 100k. when i open ebay here, and do the same search, it only uses 49k.

 i have spybot search and destroy, and zone alarm running constantly.

i scan once a week with AVG.....supposedly a military version that i got from the members area on Civil Air Patrols website.

 none of these have found anything more than tracking cookies.

 i ask this, because i hear a lot of guys complaining when their frame rates get down in the 20's.....and i'm kicking but when i'm in the 20's during a furball. thus, i was wondering if there might be something in my machine, and if it also could be affecting me ingame.
 finally, would doing a system restore help?


both machines run XP service pack 2
thanks!
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Denholm on January 09, 2009, 03:28:30 PM
Run Windows Update to ensure you have the latest IE patch. Secondly, on Spybot, disable TeaTimer(.exe). TeaTimer will interfere with AVG and ZoneAlarm. Also, you might want to rid yourself of one of the AVs. The two could interfere with each other with their system monitoring processes attempting to scan the same things at the same time. And as an extra option, try Fire Fox. You can still keep IE, just give FF a shot and see if it helps you out some.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Fulmar on January 09, 2009, 03:52:02 PM
What are your computer specs?

A good ole Defrag never hurt either.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: hyster on January 09, 2009, 04:25:00 PM
A good ole Defrag never hurt either.

or if that dosent help a fresh install of windows. i do mine every 6 mnths or so.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: CAP1 on January 09, 2009, 11:05:11 PM
windows xp pro service pack 2
amd athalon xp2600+
1.92ghz
asus av8 somehting motherboard
1.5gig ddr ram
80gig hd
nvidia geforce 7800gt w/256mb

i had defraged it a few weeks ago to no avail.

if i re-install windows as suggested, do i lose what's on the hd now?

thanks!!
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Fulmar on January 09, 2009, 11:45:52 PM
windows xp pro service pack 2
amd athalon xp2600+
1.92ghz
asus av8 somehting motherboard
1.5gig ddr ram
80gig hd
nvidia geforce 7800gt w/256mb

i had defraged it a few weeks ago to no avail.

if i re-install windows as suggested, do i lose what's on the hd now?

thanks!!

Window installations get muddy and bogged down after a while (from usage, log files, installations/uninstalls etc).  I like to do a complete format and reinstall about once a year.

So if you've never done it on your PC that's what 4-5 years old?  I'd recommend it.  And yes, you'll have to back up all your files if you want to format.  But this is good practice in case your hard drive ever fails.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Getback on January 10, 2009, 12:56:39 AM
Run Windows Update to ensure you have the latest IE patch. Secondly, on Spybot, disable TeaTimer(.exe). TeaTimer will interfere with AVG and ZoneAlarm. Also, you might want to rid yourself of one of the AVs. The two could interfere with each other with their system monitoring processes attempting to scan the same things at the same time. And as an extra option, try Fire Fox. You can still keep IE, just give FF a shot and see if it helps you out some.

I thought it was best to keep windows update off?
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Fulmar on January 10, 2009, 01:15:17 AM
Why keeps windows update off?  Security fixes are always being released.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: BaldEagl on January 10, 2009, 01:26:07 AM
Why keeps windows update off?  Security fixes are always being released.

Except they are only released on the second Tuesday of each month for the most part.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Fulmar on January 10, 2009, 01:36:35 AM
Better than forgetting!
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on January 10, 2009, 03:19:50 AM
It's not safe to use Internet Explorer, especially on XP. It's a direct system level link to your OS for any wannabe hacker. Use an alternative browser such as firefox.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Ghosth on January 10, 2009, 07:53:31 AM
Strong believer in at least a yearly wipe and reinstall. Spend a week or 2 backing up first, makeing sure you have all the latest drivers needed saved to disk.

As for IE, I don't use it, havn't since firefox came out.
Granted its trying to catch up with the times, but its still internet exploder and its still considerably more vulnerable IMO.

And for me I don't autoupdate anything, certainly not my OS.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: hyster on January 10, 2009, 08:22:04 AM
something i suggest people to do when they reinstall windows is to partition there hard drive into 2 drives.
u have a 80g drive so could do 30g for windows install and 50g for storage.the size of the partitions depends on what u have or intend to have installed on your drives.
if u install a lot of programs like games then u might need a bigger main partition but if u have loads of mp3's,video's or other things stored on your drive then u could have a bigger storage partition.

what this means is that if all Ur mp3's and movie's are on Ur d: drive when u reinstall windows these files will not be touched in any way so when windows is back on the files are allready there so no need to back these files up (always back up important stuff to disk no matter what though).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_(computing) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_(computing))
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348)
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Denholm on January 10, 2009, 01:40:09 PM
I thought it was best to keep windows update off?
While that might be a wiser decision, we still need to make sure that he received that critical IE update released last December.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: CAP1 on January 10, 2009, 04:51:22 PM
While that might be a wiser decision, we still need to make sure that he received that critical IE update released last December.

hhmm...and i DID hav e auto update off.......
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Denholm on January 10, 2009, 04:54:35 PM
www.windowsupdate.com (Use Internet Explorer)

Press, "Custom." Make sure anything listed in the, "High Priority" section is downloaded and installed.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: doleboy on January 10, 2009, 08:32:24 PM
It's not safe to use Internet Explorer, especially on XP. It's a direct system level link to your OS for any wannabe hacker.

 :O Don't talk bollocks.  :rofl
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: drdeathx on January 11, 2009, 01:22:58 AM
Get Mozilla Firefox and ditch IE! its  better!   :rock

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Fulmar on January 11, 2009, 01:37:40 AM
The more popular Firefox becomes, the more it is being targeted by spammers and hackers.  Which is unfortunate.  I don't choose Firefox for security really anymore, but I choose it for the vast amount of handy plugins that are available for it.

My belief is, your risks on the internet and mostly determined and where you go and what you do.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: TilDeath on January 11, 2009, 02:14:50 AM
Except they are only released on the second Tuesday of each month for the most part.
Which will end the end of April I think.  No more patches for XP
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: TilDeath on January 11, 2009, 02:16:18 AM
The more popular Firefox becomes, the more it is being targeted by spammers and hackers.  Which is unfortunate.  I don't choose Firefox for security really anymore, but I choose it for the vast amount of handy plugins that are available for it.

My belief is, your risks on the internet and mostly determined and where you go and what you do.
I agree about the plugins.  I do believe that FF is a much more secure browser given the addins like Ab Block plus etc etc
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Bino on January 11, 2009, 10:16:33 AM
something i suggest people to do when they reinstall windows is to partition there hard drive into 2 drives.
u have a 80g drive so could do 30g for windows install and 50g for storage.the size of the partitions depends on what u have or intend to have installed on your drives.
if u install a lot of programs like games then u might need a bigger main partition but if u have loads of mp3's,video's or other things stored on your drive then u could have a bigger storage partition.

what this means is that if all Ur mp3's and movie's are on Ur d: drive when u reinstall windows these files will not be touched in any way so when windows is back on the files are allready there so no need to back these files up (always back up important stuff to disk no matter what though).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_(computing) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_(computing))
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348)



Good advice, Hyster.  :salute

The Windows admins at the last several places I've worked (I'm a Linux/Unix guy), always spec'd new machines to have at least two internal drives, one strictly for the operating system and another for applications.  Often, one or both of these "drives" would be RAID1 (mirrored) arrays. Makes maintenance easier, and avoids several kinds of problems.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: drdeathx on January 11, 2009, 02:24:38 PM
Firefox over IE? be the judge but I like FF much better!

Check this link:

http://www.websitedesignpartners.com/firefox.html
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: MrRiplEy[H] on January 11, 2009, 02:51:57 PM
:O Don't talk bollocks.  :rofl

It's not bollocks. 99% of users who complain about spyware or viruses are IE users. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: MOSQ on January 11, 2009, 06:59:39 PM
For sheer browsing speed I've found Google Chrome to be great. However it's still a beta, some websites look weird and it's missing all the cool plugins of FF. I really like the no frills clean look and speed though.
Title: Re: internet explorer
Post by: Skuzzy on January 11, 2009, 09:48:07 PM
It's not bollocks. 99% of users who complain about spyware or viruses are IE users. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Quite right, as most people use the completely insecure defaults supplied by Microsoft.  With the defaults, it is really easy to get a virus/spyware/malware.  Not just via IE either.  Outlook Express is also a huge gaping security hole.

Any application using the explorer libraries is also a problem, as long as you leave the "Internet Options->Security" set to the defaults.  Microsoft tried to change them once and it caused a massive amount of problems because suddenly things stopped working that use to work.

I cannot use another browser due to the Sun Java problems I had when I tried using it before.  If it could be cleanly removed, I would try it again, but it takes a complete OS reinstall to get rid of the Sun Java stuff.  As it completely takes over the Microsoft Java stuff it is not worth the risk for me to try it and run into those problems again.  Standards, that are not standards, makes one a bit nuts.

I do not run with the defaults and have never had a problem.  I do not bother with anti-virus or anti-anything programs either.  One thing about most software, there are always alternatives.  Pick what works for you best, but do not use the security defaults as supplied by Microsoft for the OS.