Internet Explorer loads very slowly

[Sharmak]

Hi!
I'm new to techspot. I've been having a problem with my laptop. Here are its specs:
Toshiba Satellite A100
Model #: PSAA8C-SK400E
80GB Hard Drive
1GB Memory
Windows XP SP3
ESET Smart Security 4
This laptop, for some reason, has continually had various problems. I think I've had to reinstall Windows XP about 4-6 times in the last 5 years or so since I bought it because of viruses, BSODs, error messages, etc. It's definitely not a problem with the Internet Connection, because the other computer works fine, and it's actually older. We have Telus as our ISP. We had a problem with our modem, and we had Telus replace it with a newer modem, and the new modem is a different one from the one we had last and has another brand name.

A while after we got the new modem, Internet Explorer 8 started loading a lot slower. It takes a few minutes to load most pages, but if you duplicate a tab, it's very quick. Youtube videos take forever to buffer, and when you are loading a flash application it doesn't load. When you download files, it doesn't download until you refresh a few times and it finally downloads. Google searches take forever to load too. I tried using a portable version of Google Chrome, but unfortunately, it had the same results. When I tried installing Google Chrome from the website, it couldn't download because it took too long. I use a wireless internet connection to connect to the internet & get a Good-Very Good connection, but it was just as slow when I put my laptop a meter away from the modem. I didn't try ethernet, because our laptop does not have the correct ethernet drivers because I didn't install the LAN drivers.

Any help would be accepted, as well as some sort of guide on how to fix this. I am an experienced computer user. I don't make programs in Visual Basic or anything, but I know all the computer parts and can do work involving changing registry entries and restarting certain Windows Services, etc, etc, or whatever it takes. I can also do things harder than that. Help would be greatly appreciated. If you need more exact specs or want a HJT report or whatever, go ahead and post in this topic and I'll tell you more.

 

[Broni]

Welcome aboard

Let's see, if your computer is clean...

Please, complete all steps listed here: https://www.techspot.com/community/...lware-removal-preliminary-instructions.58138/
Make sure, you PASTE all logs. If some log exceeds 50,000 characters post limit, split it between couple of replies.
Attached logs won't be reviewed.

 

[Sharmak]

Welcome aboard

Let's see, if your computer is clean...

Please, complete all steps listed here: https://www.techspot.com/community/...lware-removal-preliminary-instructions.58138/
Make sure, you PASTE all logs. If some log exceeds 50,000 characters post limit, split it between couple of replies.
Attached logs won't be reviewed.

Dear Broni,
I really doubt that this is a virus. I have performed a full system scan with ESET Smart Security, with NO virus. I just had no idea where to put this topic. I think this may be an error with IE8 or my computer. The thread you posted said you had to install 3 different things. Why do you need so much?

Also, I can't download files because its working too slow, and most installers require an internet connection. I have an internet connection, but my internet doesn't work very well and has trouble loading so I can't even download something. Please provide an alternate solution if possible. To tell the truth, I'm glad that you even bothered to reply to this thread, because no one else has replied so far.

 

[Broni]

OK, you have two options:
1. Your topic stays here and you proceed with our instructions, which are very same for every person, so you're not unique.
2. If you insist, it's not a malware issue, I'll ask modes to move this topic to some other forum.

Let me know.

 

[Sharmak]

Yeah, I definitely think its not a malware issue. I'll take Option 2 and try to get it moved. Can you please have the moderators move this? Thx!

 

[Broni]

Sure thing

 

[Sharmak]

Thanks a ton!

 

[Sharmak]

I putting this post here because I need to put a picture in my next post, which the forum won't let me, because it says I need to have at least 5 posts to put a link or picture in a post. This is my 5th post.

 

[Sharmak]

Broni, I think I've fixed part of the problem. Here is how:
I wanted to see if all the Windows Services were working correctly, so I went to Start>Run>services.msc. Services.msc said that the WebClient Service [its related to svchost.exe ] is stopping. I restarted several times, and each time, that's what services.msc said. I thought using chkdsk would work so I went to Start>Run>Cmd>"chkdsk /f". Chkdsk /f fixed the errors on startup, and I noticed that IE8 worked quite faster. It was very noticeable. It wasn't as fast as I'd like, but it took about 20-40 seconds to load each new page, which was faster than before, because it used to take like 5-10 minutes. It's very fast when I search something, but takes a while to buffer youtube videos. It's still too slow, so I'm using my other older computer to type this. So what I'm trying to say is:
The laptop is working much faster, but not as fast as I want it to. It still takes too long, in my opinion, and I'd prefer it to go faster. Are WebClient stopping & svchost.exe related to my problem?? Please carefully look at the picture I have included below. I used the PrtSc SysRq button on my keyboard to capture the picture, and then I pasted it in paint and saved it. Thanks a ton Broni, I owe ya one.

Edit: When the WebClient says "Stopping", I can't press Start, Pause, Resume, or anything like that.

 

[Sharmak]

Jeez, no help at Techspot...
Don't worry, I manually fixed the problem by Reinstalling Windows XP. Thanks alot pfftt..
A little more help from other members would be appreciated.. [Thx Broni, you were the only one that helped]

 

[Broni]

You're very welcome

 

[LookinAround]

If you google webclient stopping sp3 seems that many report similar problem but i don't see any good solution

But a look at the webclient service itself suggests you can simply disable it (its not really needed) and if you change your mind, you can always just turn it back on

Some links to look at:
> What is webClient service?
> BlackViper's page on services also indicates it's generally not needed
> And if you're wondering "WebDav" which is what it's used for (from wikepedia) which sure sounds like it's probably not needed by most users

Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, or WebDAV, is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that allows computer-users to edit and manage files collaboratively on remote World Wide Web servers.

So... in fact, i'm going to disable it myself on my own machine!

One other thought, if problem returns, reset your IE settings and do you cleanup your temp files? (use TFC or CCleaner)

 

[Sharmak]

Oh.. sorry.. I guess you didn't read what I said. The problem is fixed , but if the problem ever persists, I'll make sure to listen to your useful advice

 

[LookinAround]

Hi Sharmak

Thanks for the post.

Tho actually, i did see you said you had solved the problem with a reinstall But i also saw you said this was a recurring problem (so thought i'd take a look). btw re: disabling webclient service, just to add
> I haven't seen any issue since i disabled webclient on my own XP machine and rebooted last night
> I don't do any internet document sharing either (so i disabled it myself after looking the service up!)

Also.. sometimes getting a reply to your post is just a matter of timing also depending on the nature and how common the details of the problem. "Bumping" your own thread after a couple days sometimes helps as well.

See ya later on TechSpot