Computer trouble

[Anonymous]

Guys my computer has been running slow for ages now. I have Windows 7.

In the beginning there was no problem, but over the last months things really started to get annoying.

First of all I keep getting this big advert for betting coming up and no way to stop it. I never bet by the way nor would I ever click a link that has anything to do with it. I think it interferes with anything I'm doing at that moment. I just click the X and then some time later it will pop up again. There is nothing else I can do. I do have an add blocker, but obviously it doesn't block that.

Often my screen freezes and nothing responds anymore. I will do Ctrl, Alt delete and check the task manager ending the programs. Then I have to start again.

I have taken loads of stuff off my PC since this nonsense started in the hope it would become faster again or functioning better, but nothing seems to help.

I have only used a quarter of the space on my PC.

I have defragmented the hard drive a couple of months ago.

Before my computer starts working or warming up, it might take 15 minutes before I can post a smiley on a thread. Then when I want to open another site, again it takes ages. It's like it needs caffeine for half an hour before it can start functioning a bit normal.

At the moment I will close any tabs that I'm not using, but it's a bit of a pain having to log in every time. It doesn't seem to have made any difference. I could have many tabs open in the past without a problem.

On a daily basis I feel like throwing my PC out of the window. I'm sat next to one, so it's very tempting!

Does anyone has similar problems? If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me before I do something stupid.

[otherego]

Mozilla Firefox keeps sending download instructions - interesting - instructions to download what? It might merely be asking you to download the current version. Firefox releases a new version every six weeks (I think), but often releases security/performance fixes in between. Like everything else, it needs to be kept up to date in order to remain reasonably secure.

Check your Firefox update settings for more information - on the Windows version, I think it's under Tools > Options and so on.

If the download instructions are not Firefox related, it might be time to do a couple of scans with your antivirus, with Malwarebytes and with AdwCleaner.

As for Chrome - hmmmm. If you like that sort of thing... It's a good enough browser, but it's very much Google, with all that that implies with respect to your privacy. At least do your homework first with respect to its settings, and resist its demands that you log into Google and stay logged in. Unless you genuinely find the tracking and profiling useful - I assume there are some folk who like that sort of thing.

[tommy.irene]

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/technology/slow-computer-why-your-pc-or-mac-is-sluggish-and-how-to...

..Slow PCs can be a pain, and when they crash and lose all of your work, they can be even worse. .. But there's often a simple reason that their feeling lethargic — here's how to work out what's wrong, and what to do about it. Tried turning it off and on again?

[malacandran]

Perhaps many problems with a computer, are caused by its hard-drive,. This is a spinning disc, driven by an electric motor.

The motor never gets any maintenance. It doesn't get serviced, cleaned or lubricated.  It just gets electricity put in, when you switch it on

So is it surprising that after years of use,  it eventually breaks down

I mean suppose you have a car, and never have it serviced.  You just put petrol in it, and drive it around. What will happen?