apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm actually kind of at least "toward" the end of my rope, with what amounts to being paralyzed with confusion about where to start:

My home computer goes incredibly slow on the internet. At the moment I'm at work, but when I'm at home it's like glacial, and I don't know where to begin.

First I have to say that it's a Dell Vostro that bought in August, and I got about as much memory and stuff as I could afford at the kind, and I followed all the recommendations that their buying software on their site made.

I have Road Runner cable -- is THAT the problem? Should I get Verizon DSL instead?

Or is my Windows VISTA the real culprit?

I'm picturing a world in which Time Warner is going to blame Vista, and vice-versa, but I'm wondering if anyone has had this same exact problem and what they've done about it. The friends of mine who have Verizon DSL do NOT have VISTA, so I feel like it's impossible to compare.

Maybe I need to DOWNGRADE my software to Windows 2003? But won't I just have to eventually turn right around and undo that?

hey, try doing a speed test! go to your ISP's website, search for "speed test". i can't remember the range that's ok, but it should say on the site. or, do an online speed test. i've got a dell, and vista, and cablevision/optimum online (in nyc), and i sometimes have an incredibly spotty connection - currently, i think it's one of the plugs on the modem (it's a bit stripped) or it's my netgear router (five years old and maybe seen its end?)

usually it's not the machines that are screwed up, it's connectors, connections, or something with the ISP's/building's cables.

call your ISP for a test!

Thanks kdkaboom; I'll see if I can figure out how to do what you're talking about.

I'd still love to hear whatever other experiences and thoughts anyone has had with this stuff.

Curtis -
I assure you it's VISTA! I'm on roadrunner too. Right now (even as we speak) I have my old backup 2002ish Gateway with XP Home, and a new 2008 Acer with Vista Home Premium, and a recently reactivated 2006 Gateway with XP Professional all hooked up to the internet. In order of speed in loading web sites - XP Home and XP Pro are virtually identical and lightning fast. Vista is friggin' slower than molasses in January! VISTA IS CRAPOLA! I'm seriously considering going back to XP Pro too. "If it ain't broke don't fix it". XP Is FAR more user friendly. I don't have a clue to what Microsoft was thinking when they created the monster Vista!
Windwolf

Well, I spoke to my computer guy and he assured me that my computer is NOT the problem. And he assured me that Verizon will NOT be faster than Road Runner; that they both have equal problems.

So, he said to call Time Warner, and they could check my speed. So, I did and this LeRoy guy helped me go to some speedcheck site thing and we found out that it was glacial (surprise!).

So, he had me delete all the internet files and it was pretty tedious, and then he took me through the Norton settings, and ultimately decided that my Norton settings were set too strictly, and when I told him that it's the Norton that came with the computer, it made sense to him, because that's the version that is the most strict.

So, he said that if I completely uninstalled Norton, I could get a free internet security software from Time Warner that I would never have to pay for the update downloads for.

Well, Norton is famous for being the gold standard, isn't it?
But it's also known for being maddening, and so I'm really in a quandary and am back to Square One. I have no idea what to do at this point. Yes, it runs SLIGHTLY faster than it did, because of all the deleted internet files, but I'm in no mood to decide between Norton and whatever CAISS thing this Time Warner thing will give me.

I really truly feel like I want to just be like my sister, and NOT have a computer anymore. Just text message people. No browzing; no nothing. The only thing I would miss is Apartment Therapy.

Windwolf -

I'm sure you're right. I'm sure it's the dang Vista. But I don't even know where to begin to get rid of it. And I'm dead sure that the minute that I'm rid of it, Congress is going to pass a law forcing us all to put it back on, or something.

i hate vista just as much as the next person. luckily i don't come into too much contact with it since i run all macs at home and at work. But i do use it when my parents need help on their computer etc. So with that said, i do hate it, but i doubt it is robbing your internet speed that much. People are quick to yell at vista because ultimately it is crap, but it's not going to completely screw your speed. Especially if you pimped your computer out when you got it.

Norton could be the culprit. Once again since i switched to mac i don't use norton, but when i did use it on the PC's and such, i never really encountered it slowing me down, even when set really strictly.

I'd be blaming your internet company still. They all want to rob you (or they are already robbing you, so we'll say rob you more)! Our connection here at work has been pretty sluggish, and they can't find the culprit either. Our provider says it isn't them, and when they do speed tests it's fine. Although i do speed tests and sometimes it's fine, and other times it's ridiculous.

Hey Curtis, I forgot to say happy birthday on Friday. Hope you had a good one.

Vista, from my experience, caches like 60% of your RAM in its new weird "virtual memory" system.. it's uh.. suppose to be faster if you have like 4GB of RAM. If you have like 512-1GB or RAM, it kind of slows everything down.

I can't remember what my RAM is, but I know that I did NOT get the minimum.

Curtis-
I dumped Norton a few months ago and put on AVAST!, which is free for non-commercial users and updates automatically every time I boot up. It is very fast. Norton is terribly slow. Get rid of it.
Also I do a disk cleanup and defragment just about every day. That, too, helps bunches.
To quickly find your RAM - go to "all programs, accessories, system tools, system information" and then look for "total physical memory" - that is your RAM. VISTA really wants at least 2 Gigs.
Windwolf

I just looked. I have 2GB.