Off Topic Techy advice please!

IT Professional of too many years here - getting to this thread a bit late.

But as Toby is already giving you all the right information I can sit back and let y'all carry on.

And by the way the CHKDSK syntax is CHKDSK /F /R

The F and R switches imply each other but slap them both on just to be safe. Also I believe the command has been updated and given some more options under Windows 10. But as Windows 10 is best avoided for now that point is moot.

 

For the last month or so my 'net surfing' activities have been remarkably slow for some reason - and are getting slower by the day. When attempting to get onto web sites, I get a message in the bottom left hand corner of the screen that says 'Resolving host...' - has anyone got any idea what that means?

Not to mention how to make the damned machine speed up again...

 

Do the following first BB...

Check your Domain Name Server (DNS) settings in advanced TCP/IP settings. The option for Obtain DNS Server address automatically should be checked (unless you are using a corporate network).

You could also try the tracert (trace route) command in a DOS window and this should give you an idea of where the response to your site request is being held up.

 

I'd add that when you look at the DNS settings, change them to Google's rather than using the default ones (which will be the DNS supplied by the ISP).

What operating system is it BB?

If Windows. click the Windows button in the bottom left and start typing 'Network and Sharing Center', it should suggest it to you after a word or 2.

On the screen that appears, click 'Change Adapter Settings' in the top left

This screen will show you the network connections and adapters on your machine. Right click the one that's currently connecting you to the internet and select Properties.

In the screen that appears, scroll in the list until you see Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and double click it.

In the bottom half of the screen that appears, you can set the DNS servers your machine will call when trying to resolve a web address. Set them to (these are the ones I use on my machine at home)

8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4

These are Google's DNS servers, they're generally the most reliable.

If you have any network devices at home that need to speak to each other let me know and I'll tell you how to get your router's DNS address.

Think that makes sense?

In regards to speeding up your PC there are too many variables, I couldn't do anything without a remote session.

 

I keep getting blocked from websites for this reason, it's driving me mad so thanks both for the info to get this sorted - it has saved me a google excursion to various forums. Aren't computers supposed to be plug & play these days and not have problems like this. Goodness knows what the non tech savvy folk do (go to PC World and get charged a mint for sorting out a problem that should not exist in the first place.)

 

I'm not going to complain, it keeps me in a job

 

Thanks to both for the replies.

I never thought in my life that I'd say anything like this, but I've set the DNS servers to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 and will see how that goes...

 

For the speed of your laptop, try:

Clearing the desktop of anything saved there (helps with startup time)
Right click the task bar at the bottom and select Start Task Manager. Switch to the 'Processes' tab and see what's using the most resources (depends on Windows version) and uninstall any software you don't need that's using resources
Avoid using too many tabs on browsers, Chrome especially is a resource hog
Clear some hard drive space (if low)
Clear Temp files (click Windows button and type %temp% then delete the entire contents of the folder)

Ideally you'd need an SSD hard drive in there, makes such a difference, but you'd need to buy a hard drive and a caddy for it, would be a small investment (like £100)

If you've got Windows 8 or 10 I reckon it's your Disk running at 100%, it's a bug in the new versions of Windows. There are a few fixes available for it, it can depend on each machine.

 

Thanks again Toby. Have tried the 'resources uninstall' idea - got rid of one program I didn't even know was there. Also realised that I should probably close Spotify when not using it...

I do use Chrome and do tend to have quite a few tabs on the go at any point in time, although I've always done that without this problem cropping up - but will take your advise and reduce...

Re the Temp folder - for some reason I have two (not a great deal in either to be honest) - when you say delete the entire contents, does that include all the file folders in them too?

I use Windows 7 - the later versions look like a step too far for my tech-challenged brain.

 

Glad you're using Windows 7, it's my favourite OS and the one I'm on now.

Right, for the Temp folder, what are the options? When you open one of them, the path (as in the location of the folder at the top of the window) should be in Appdata\Local\Temp, if it's not then it's a folder created by some random bit of software. Select all the files in that folder and delete them (PM me a screenshot first if you're not sure). If any messages pop up saying the file is in use, just skip them. It should delete thousands of files.

After that, click Windows button again and type in msconfig. this will open up your System Configuration menu. Select the 'Startup' tab and untick anything that you recognise that you don't need to start up when your PC turns on. Things like Spotify, iTunes, etc...If there's Windows in the name I wouldn't touch it if I were you.

I'd still recommend one of these though

http://www.ebuyer.com/747869-samsun...19&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CNO6l5_RyM8CFYsy0wodcxcIkA

http://www.ebuyer.com/229064-starte...ve-docking-station-for-2-5-3-5-hdd-satdocku3s

You just need a screwdriver and about 1h-1.5h to change your hard drive to a brand new fast one. It'll make your laptop fly. I'd be happy to assist via PM.

Should probably get back to work now :/ I'm not very busy as you may have noticed...

 

The solid state drive I have installed for mine just whizzes. My machine starts up in no time now

 

A quick word of thanks to Toby - I don't know which bit did the trick, but the laptop is working fine now. It's so fast that it gets to where I want to go before I finish typing...