Individual internet providers and even neighborhoods or houses will be influenced by the amount of traffic. Don't confuse that with a "computer" problem. I avoid any "cloud" or other external storage or programs. With all the "new" neighbors I see walking dogs and jogging there are probably a quantum more folks on our system. "New" neighbors includes all the college kids told to stay home after spring break and the gaming and social networks are probably working overtime.

-- Chuck

 

Yep...so far we have done OK here, but it would not surprise me if we get more TV and Internet interruptions.

 

If you have a question about your internet speed, I suggest going to https://www.speedtest.net/ and run their speed test. I have found it extremely accurate. I pay for 100mbs and actually get around 120mbs when I run the test.

 

Just heard that gaming on line is up 75% over last week. More users = slower internet.

 

^ 285 here, plan calls for 250

 

Hey, Rob...
Windows 10?
Could be a virus. Or could simply be junkware, which is almost as bad.
Task manager may help. press the "Windows" key, between Ctrl key and Alt key. In the white space type "Task Manager" and click to start it.
If you only see a list of currently running applications, there is a button at the bottom labeled something like "more details" that you can click.
You should get a panel with tabs like "Processes", "Performance", "App History", etc. The Processes tab will list all running processes and show various resources usage for each one. You can click on a resource heading, like "CPU" to sort the list. This will help identify any "run away" processes that are heavily using a resource.
Right click on any process name for a pop up menu that lets you look at Properties, including the company that produced the software. (Although this info can be "faked") You can also "Search On Line" and Bing will do a search on the process name.
You can also end any process, but this may cause your computer to misbehave or lock up completely until you reboot.

If you can't shut down your computer with the on-screen power functions, you can hold the hardware Power button down for five seconds and the computer will turn off.

Of course, your problem COULD be network congestion. Some processes that interact with the Internet can lock up your entire system if they get stuck waiting for some network resource. You may have a hardware problem like a failing chunck of memory (and don't we all know about THAT?) but this seems like the least likely problem.

Do you run anti-virus software? Have you tried a system scan yet? If not,you will want to run a "full" scan. Also you could try downloading and running the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. Google that to access the free download and for lots of information on how to use it.


Or...you could get one of the grandkids to fix it for you.

 

Good idea about getting help from grandkids, but I don't think Rob has any grandkids yet.

I know that my 16 year old granddaughter, Josie, can help me with lots of things.

At our senior center, teenagers volunteer to help seniors with tech problems. You make appointments, and they will help you with whatever you need help with...cell phones, computers, etc.

 

I've been having my emails returned that were sent to friends with xxx@comcast.net addresses. I finally looked at the messages, which sent me to a comcast website. Bottom line is that after 4 years Comcast thinks my email could be spam. Being a comcast customer, but not using a comcast email address, I called the number on the message, the Customer Security Assurance Dept. To summarize, after 2 hours talking with four departments (ending up back at the first hopeless one) they didn't do squat for me. I think I am supposed to contact friends I sent emails to and ask them to call Comcast. Yeah, like "sure Morris, I would love to help but if you think I'm spending hours on hold with Comcast, you must have Coronavirus". I'd tell you what I'd like to do, but I won't put it in writing, on the internet.

 

I didn't know ISPs filtered for spam as part of the broadband service. I know they do within their email services but you aren't using those. Mine doesn't seem to, based on how many emails are in my spam folder and how many more sneak past the AOL spam filter.

 

I'm getting 80. I have to look at what I'm paying for. 5G my butt! Or maybe they slow it down at 4:00 am?