# Lag Problem



## Nidonemo (Jul 11, 2007)

Okay so here's the basics.

I'll be typing something OFFLINE. I start typing and there's no text for a second, then the text appears, after lag. So it just jumps onto the page.

Same problem ONLINE. (It took me a while to accurately make my forum profile because of this problem.)

I've been told AdAware is BAD for my computer, as it deposits its own spyware and ignores it when it scans for others.

Norton simply pisses me off, begging for money and screaming that I'm no longer subscribed to the service, which seems to be every other week I've had it. 

I've downloaded a version of SpySweeper, same thing, begging and screaming for money I don't have.

What should I do now? This lag is seriously making things incredibly difficult for me.


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## DuncanFox (Jul 11, 2007)

Nidonemo said:
			
		

> I've been told AdAware is BAD for my computer, as it deposits its own spyware and ignores it when it scans for others.



Well, someone was smoking something pretty good, then.Â Â Though it wouldn't surprise me if someone made a fake adware scanner and called it "AdAware" to trick people, the _real_ Ad-Aware is pretty good.

Download it from www.lavasoftusa.com to be sure you get the right program.Â Â Also download Spybot from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ and run that, too.


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## Nidonemo (Jul 11, 2007)

DuncanFox said:
			
		

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Thanks much! What about Viruses?


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## DuncanFox (Jul 11, 2007)

Nidonemo said:
			
		

> Thanks much! What about Viruses?



I've actually done a ton of research on that recently.  The best detection rates are generally had by Kaspersky.  They have a 30-day trial at www.kaspersky.com if you want to try it.  If you want something that'll stay free, AOL Active Virus Shield uses Kaspersky's engine.  It's 100% free, and you don't need to be an AOL subscriber.

(Personally, I use Avast, but I'm pretty good at avoiding viruses on my own, it's really just there as a safety net.)


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## Nidonemo (Jul 11, 2007)

DuncanFox said:
			
		

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Your help is greatly appreciated!


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## net-cat (Jul 11, 2007)

I like AVG for a free virus scanner, personally.

I had something like fifteen viruses pop up today. It would probably help if I disabled my virus scanner while downloading viruses to fuck up virtual machines in VMWare...


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## HaTcH (Jul 12, 2007)

If you're getting lag from typing, perhaps it's your system crying out for more RAM? If you run a lot of programs at once, or are running very intense programs, that can cause the lag. 

Rest assured, it has nothing to do with internet. When you type in a form like the ones here, your text remains on your computer and your computer only, until you hit submit. (Online or off line, it doesn't matter)

I have a very light weight 'Symantec Anti-Virus Corporate' program I got from college, which is like.. from the 90s, but it still updates every week and runs a scan. I haven't had a virus in years, mainly because I stopped using file sharing programs to download software, and switched from Internet Explorer to Firefox. Combine that with a nice large hosts file (so I never see ads) and I've got myself a squeaky clean rig. Firewalls are also nice, I managed to snag a copy of Sygate Personal before Symantec gobbled it up and made it not-free...

Quick tips for speeding up your computer:
1. msconfig. Use it to shut off pretty much everything you don't need starting at boot.
2. Remove all temporary files. (Start>Run, type in %temp% and hit enter. Delete everything in there. Some things you won't be able to delete but just get what you can.
3. Clearing your browser cache(s). Firefox: Tools>Clear Private Data, Internet explorer: Who cares.. who uses IE?
4. Remove windows prefetch files. Start>Run, type in %windir%Prefetch hit enter. Delete everything in there.
5. Remove old System Restore points. If you are using system restore.. which is a total waste of hard drive space IMO, make a new restore point for today. Start>Accessories>System Restore, Create Restore Point. Once thats done, lets remove all the old restore data that we don't need. Easiest way to do this is Disk Cleanup. Start>Run, Type in cleanmgr and hit enter. Select C: and press OK. Let it run for a bit. Goto the 'More Options' tab, Click on 'Clean Up' under 'System Restore.' That will delete all but the most recent restore point (which was the one you just made!)
Watch your hard drive space increase by like 7-10GB when you're done. It's insane. Personally, I keep system restore turned off, as it logs every change to the system, and can even save viruses. That, and its a drain on hard drive space.
5. After you've deleted all these files, it's a good idea to defrag your hard drive. This will relocate the physical data on your disk making directories and their contents closer together (less 'fragmented'). This speeds up hard drive times, and is just a good thing to do every once in a while.


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## Rhainor (Jul 12, 2007)

Ad-Aware is gold.  I'm currently relying on Vista's "Windows Defender" utility to handle adware/spyware protection, but that's just because I did a re-install of the OS recently.  I'll be re-grabbing Ad-Aware at some point.

For virus protection, I've had the best experience with Avira.  The "personal edition classic" is freeware; you can use it forever for free, son long as you're only using it for personal use and not business use.


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## yak (Jul 12, 2007)

If you are having lags typing things in a browser, then IMO it's more likely you have something wrong with it. 
Firefox will lag if you put too much extensions in it, IE will lag as well. 
Also, any and all keylogger software will cause significant lag. Any program that has a "global shortcut" will be intercepting all the characters typed and pass them through itself. Like, i has this issue with the bundled software for my motherboard.


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## Nidonemo (Jul 12, 2007)

Thanks so very much, everyone's assistance has been very helpful!


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## Ron Overdrive (Jul 12, 2007)

A^2 Free is good spyware protection. So's Spybot Search & Destroy. A good Anti-Virus is ClamWin AV.


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