Computer stalling.

Zaharoff said:
... My main computer is a 7. I ignore upgrade pleas and am fierce about weekly malware scans. ...
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Both CCleaner and SUPERAntiSpyware always find junk to remove. But Malwarebytes has never located and removed a single item from my computor.

Another detail, ... whenever the factory setting Windows is replaced by an updated version, the - and + keys for brightness on the keyboard stop working.
 
Knygathin said:
Zaharoff said:
... One system crash - losing everything - convinced me to backup, backup, backup. ...
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F10 held down for a few seconds until a beep is heard while starting up, and then Rescue, helps retrieve files after a system crash.
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Good to know, although in my instance it was the hard drive that snapped.
I replaced that, started all over.
Two years ago, I replaced that HDD with a SSD.
That, and maxxing the RAM, have extended the life of my 15 year old lap.
 
Firefox is devastatingly slow with Windows 7, especially for Aol mail and Outlook mail. Sending and receiving emails can take hours instead of seconds.

In Google Chrome it is no longer possible to open Outlook mail.

And the new Internet regulations where you have to permit/check/uncheck adware/cookies at the start of every new page (EU law - not sure if the same applies in the US), in itself very annoying and time-consuming, is only causing more garbage in the computer. Even if you uncheck all adware and cookies (except required ones), the computer still gets flooded with garbage, which is all the more obvious each time I run CCleaner. It has gotten much worse over the last few years.

For me it is a marvel that ordinary people, who lack understanding of computors and abstract thinking, but still are forced to live in a computerized society (say manual workers, shop clerks, artists, humanitarians, hospital employees), manage to solve such issues. I know many poor people don't have their own computor, but use library computors instead - then they don't have to deal with computer hang-up issues, the staff takes care of it. But still, to identify yourself for some bank transactions and digital errands, you cannot use a library computer - you must have your own computer, with the digital identification programs installed on it.

Those intellectual nerds who make the computers and software programs, have no understanding that ordinary people are not able to understand and follow inconsistent and arbitrary abstract terms, like themselves. Perhaps it is because of the digital age that so many people commit suicide today?
 
Knygathin said:
Firefox is devastatingly slow with Windows 7, especially for Aol mail and Outlook mail. Sending and receiving emails can take hours instead of seconds.
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Add blocking extensions to your Firefox.
Specifically: Disconnect - UBlock Origin - DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials.
Disconnect should be added first, and the browser restarted, before adding UBlock.
I pin those extensions to the taskbar so I can monitor when pages do not load properly.
For what it's worth, I am still rolling with Win 7 even though support ended in 2020.
Rather than CCleaner, Windows has a built in tool.
Hit the Start key and enter = Cleanmgr.exe
Is it your browser that stalls when traveling websites?
Or does your computer itself stall when you are trying to access files or folders?
 
Zaharoff said:
...
Is it your browser that stalls when traveling websites?
Or does your computer itself stall when you are trying to access files or folders?
Click to expand...

I would say it is both, but especially the browser. Things get a little better after each time I have used CCleaner.

I admire your cool of mind and focus in solving such issues. I tend to get emotionally worn down by computer stalling. I panic and never quite catch up on the enemy, who is always ahead of me in one way or another. It is like a multi-levelled illusion, that ever keeps morphing. Nowadays even the antivirus- and cleaner- programs have started spamming my computor with distracting and uncalled-for pop-up windows, in efforts to make me pay for extra services.

Thanks for the tips above! I will try some of it, if I can manage to make it work, when I have collected my senses.
 
Part of your difficulty is that your Win 7 is an old OS (operating system).
Chances are you have RAM limitations. Mine tops at 8 GB; i simply cannot add any more.
Increasingly, websites are ever more complex, with dozens of small videos, obfuscated hyperlinks, advertisements, countless images.
All this adds to pageload, meaning it takes longer.
CCleaner cleans tracking cookies, which is why it helps you.
I think you would be served by adding a few blocking extensions.
~
Is Firefox your only browser? Or is Explorer still in your system somewhere? Not that I am suggesting the latter; IE has not been upgraded in years and is unsafe.
Keep in mind, Firefox is ending support for Win 7 next month.
Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 moving to Extended Support Release | Firefox Help
Other browsers are still being maintained to work with Win 7.
Top Lightweight Browsers for Windows 7 That Work in 2024
Some are full-featured, others more minimalist. I have played with them from time to time.
I understand your issues, however. My wife, my brother, my in-laws, none of them want to spend time arguing with the computer.
"I just want something that works, damnit!"
I hear that.
 
I use CCleaner every other day; hundreds of megabytes of garbage collects onto Google Chrome and Firefox in a couple of days, in spite of me selecting 'No' to unnecessary cookies on all popup windows (following the useless laws from EU).

I downloaded Avast, thinking it would be a regular antivirus program. But it pushed its own default browser into my computer, without I having accepted it. And it promotes deep state agents like Facebook, Twitter, and Google.

1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451, indeed!

(I still have Explorer, but never use it; it only works for the simplest web pages. Google Chrome no longer opens my Outlook Mail, and Firefox only opens it extremely slow. So checking and sending a few emails can take hours.)
 
If you are still running Firefox, your version should be 115.16 ESR.
Check the "Help" tab at the top, then "About" to find out.
Firefox said they will drop ESR support in March 2025.
Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 moving to Extended Support Release | Firefox Help
There are at least 2 browsers that support Win 7.
Midori (based on Floorp which itself is a Firefox fork).
Midori: A Lightweight Open Source Web Browser
Supermium (derived from Chrome) will even work for XP!
Supermium Web Browser
I run very few extensions, all privacy ones.
Disconnect - UBlock Origin - DuckDuckGo Privacy.
Below is a screengrab off Yahoo landing page.
Like most sites, Yahoo is packed with spyware, adverts, trackers.
Disconnect blocks 28, UBlock blocks 195, DDG does not show unless you click, shows another 10.


extensions.jpg



I suggest you experiment with these extensions. If a website won't work, you can always disable the extension per site.
Perhaps try those other browsers I mentioned.
Yes, this can be a pain, but remember be patient and see what benefits you. Remember the old cry, "Stick it to the man!"
 
Do you use Avast also, to protect your computer from intrusions? I decided to uninstall Avast, and their Avast Secure Browser, because it didn't seem to do me much good other than causing annoyance.
 
Here's what I did to get higher performance and security across the board for Windows 10/11 (minimize using earlier versions of any operating system if it's no longer being updated for security).

Hardware - mid-range CPU like an i5, at least 16 GB RAM, SSD, sufficient cooling system (either three or more large fans or all-in-one liquid cooling system).

Bonus: a large-enough casing (not necessarily full tower) such that it'd be easy to clean the insides or remove or replace parts; the new ones with glass walls or windows are helpful, and casing colored brown or white if you want to clean the vents; those with magnetic mesh covering fans are great. I put the casing outdoors and use a blower to clean the insides, but I have to put chopsticks between fan blades or tape them so that they won't move.

Software -

Kerish PC (paid; look for promos with large discounts) (for free, you can also use free versions of Glarysoft or WiseCare; for open-source, try Hellzerg's Optimizer, and to repair the system if needed, FixWin, for stalling, slowdowns, etc.); in all cases, check out the Internet tweaks that can speed up browsing; for free hardware monitoring software, try HWINFO coupled with CrystalDiskInfo.

Kaspersky Standard (you can also use free, but you'll using the Windows firewall; you can also use Avast free--not Avast One--and try to use silent mode and do-not-disturb mode to minimize popups; it comes with a firewall) (you can probably turn off core isolation, etc., in Windows Security because these security programs usually have virtualization).

Firefox browser tweaked using Betterfox (speeds up browsing), with Adguard for desktop (paid; look for promos for lifetime subscriptions; for free, try uBlock Origin addon) (check out the multi-account containers addon).

Look for a fast DNS near your place using

Fastest DNS Speed Test - Find Optimal DNS Server | No Install

and then after configuring it in Firefox (in enable DNS over HTTPS) see if browsing speeds up.

You can also test the security features and speed of the DNS you selected using

dnscheck.tools - check your dns resolvers

You can also configure that in the Windows 11 network settings or in your router, if you wish.

Backup: AOMEI (look for promos for lifetime licenses; for free software, Hasleo Backup) (backup to another drive, preferably external; the backup scheme is up to you; if you lack space, then you can probably do a full backup and daily incrementals, and then the set deleted periodically for a new full backup; in my case, it's monthly; also, make a rescue disk). Optionally, you can also backup some folders to Google Drive or another service automatically.

Downloaders - Internet Download Manager (paid; look for cheap licenses in various stores; for free, you can use Jdownloader2 (look for the ad-free installer) and Xtreme Download Manager; these can do fast regular downloads but also capture or get the URLs of video and audio files from various sites).

Others:

Set Windows to update every four or five weeks; let the others be used as beta testers.

Use Autoruns (free) and check Services in Windows to see what you can disable or set to manual instead of running automatically during startup.

You can install various secondary scanners, like Norton Power Eraser, Malwarebytes, Panda Cloud Security, ESET Kit, etc., but make sure that they don't run in real-time.

For a privacy browser that you can use for various purposes, maybe Mullvad (uses Mullvad DNS by default and uBlock Origin; exclude it in Adguard if you use that).

For free VPN that you might need for one thing or another, UrbanVPN (lots of countries to select) and PrivadoVPN (you can probably set anything they add in Services to manual, and disable anything that they run automatically).
 
Whew! paeng. Your document reminds me of a far-reaching future science fiction landscape, a sea of technological gadgets and incomprehensible structures, like Metropolis or something. : O : )

One really needs to be a computer wiz to make the PC work smoothly, and to implement the various devices and abstract capricious software, and an analytical researcher to sort out what one really needs out of endless commercial offerings. No wonder elderly people and ordinary bohemians like me are lost.

Since society demands that you use computers today, I think perhaps it would have been preferable if it was the concern of the nation to provide its people with dependable computers, like other necessary infrastructures, instead of leaving it all to the capitalist market. It really would have facilitated usability if the technology was uniform.
 
Regularly use CCleaner. Nearly 500 MB worth of cookies alone, stacking up in Google Chrome in less than three days. And 300 MB in Firefox. In spite of always filling in EU's law enforced pop up window form, for every webpage, and always choosing "necessary cookies only" or "deny all". 800 MB total of cookies stalling my computer. And cookies are supposed to be "help tools".
 
Aarrgghh!
My workhorse computer (20 year old Win 7) crashed yesterday.
Event Log indicates ... a lot of events.
Been working on her for almost 10 hours now.
Knygathin, I feel your pain!

cartoon-of-angry-man-or-businessman-working-or-typing-on-computer-laptop.jpg
 
Here's an easier way after I just reset a laptop from 2015 and using Win 10:

After Windows runs, update the system.

Get Windows Automatic Updates Manager and set it to replace updates and update every 30 days. Then use it to update right away. Lots of drivers will be installed.

Get Open-Shell and ExplorerPatcher if you're used to Windows 7.

Get Optimizer by Hellzerg and optimize the network and the system; you'll get fast Internet speeds after that. Turn off all telemetry and turn on privacy settings.

Bonuses:

Use any dark mode settings in Windows and apps, and night light.

Get Firefox with uBlock Origin (you can use the default mode for now) and the multi-account containers extension (puts various sites in their own containers so that they can't track you across different sites).

Get one of the ff. free security programs to replace Microsoft Defender (which is slow): Avast (the most complete; don't get Avast One), AVG, Kaspersky (the lightest), or Bitdefender (set-and-forget but anti-ransomeware lacking).

Get DNSJumper, turn on IPv6, see which server's the fastest, and use that.

You might find cheap SSDs (like those from ADATA) for your system drive. Use those instead of the hard drive to speed things up.

To clone the system hard drive easily to the SSD, get an cheap drive enclosure, put the SSD in it, attach it to the PC, and then use Disk Genius free to migrate the system from the hard drive to the SSD. Swap the hard drive with the SSD and boot to see if it works. After you're sure that everything's fine, then you can put the old hard drive into the enclosure and then use that to backup your system.

To back up, get Hasleo Backup Suite.
 
Zaharoff said:
Aarrgghh!
My workhorse computer (20 year old Win 7) crashed yesterday. [AARRGGHH!!]
...
Been working on her for almost 10 hours now. [AARRGGHH!]
Knygathin, I feel your pain!
Click to expand...

EVERYONE IS HAPPY as long as things are cruising along smoothly. But then suddenly one wheel hits a rock, and the computor grinds to a halt - and it is INSUFFERABLE!!

There are 2 alternatives: Either one is a computer wiz and fixes the snags oneself. Or, one pays lots of money to hire experts who keep everything in prime new shape (loosing independent control over your computer by leaving it in their grubby hands).
I am a very bad computer wiz that finds makeshift, half-assed solutions online, that last for a while, before next collapse. But my Windows 7 (lovable old dinosaur) is now extremely slow, especially for reading and writing emails in Outlook Mail (my suspicion is that this is intentional sabotage, to force me to switch to newer Windows).
 
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